Who Killed The Marketing Funnel? Accidental Marketers.

That's the title for my contribution to the "Age of Conversation 2" which is currently being pieced together by editors Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton as I write this.  My contribution will include the above visual—here's a brief snippet:

"The traditional marketing funnel is dead.  Who killed it?  You and I did with a little help from this thing we call the Web.  Well, OK—we really didn’t kill it, we just traded the linear funnel metaphor for something more organic and cyclical. I like to call this “The Marketing Spiral”.

Other contributers include:

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

That's some list eh?  Phew.

 

Comments

[David Meerman Scott]

David, Now this sounds interesting. I've been talking about this for years. Can't wait to read your take.

[Gavin Heaton]

Reminds me, at least a little, of the "cage of death" where motorbikes ride around inside a cage, coming within moments of catastrophe. Now, I have seen some spectacular marketing catastrophes, but I wonder whether social media is increasing the likelihood of such a situation. I wait, with baited breath, to find out ;)

[Robyn]

David, your graphics are so meaningful! Such artistry puts you over the top along with just the right content approaches that bring readers on board. Thanks for my link in the midst of the huddle of 275!

[Dan Schawbel]

David, look forward to reading your chapter.

[Mark Bean]

Love your work David.
This graphic reminds me of a change management process I use sometimes use in my presentations about records management. Yours is much sexier though.

[Jeremy Gregg]

David, I have a confession: I gave a presentation last week about Online Communities, and I totally ripped off some of your visuals -- but I promise, all had attribution in the presentation! I also gave all the participants a recommendation to add your RSS feed to their emails. :)

Seriously, I am continually impressed by your work, and will keep referring people to your blog. Keep it up!

Jeremy Gregg, Editor
The Raiser's Razor
http://theraiser.blogspot.com

[C.B. Whittemore]

David, funnels, spirals and motorcycles... This will definitely be a good read. Thanks for getting the word out and including the cool graphics!

[RyanB]

Hey David -
Do you mind if I grab this snippet for my "catalog"? I've been rounding up excerpts.
-Ryan

[Steve Mann]

So when do buyers buy in the marketing Spiral? Is that "interaction"???

[Matt Mantey]

I don't think the conceptual funnel has changed a bit. Maybe now, it just multiplies (positively or negatively) more efficiently.

The rings are tagged a little differently and are more specific (much better and more active than the academic funnel), so therefore should be more incrementally measurable. Problem is, there's no evidence at all that this granularity leads to significant business outcomes.

Reco, invert the diagram and have awareness on the outer level working toward affinity at the bottom. Add CRM/nurturing activities and land at a conversion event.

Same funnel, just at any point, it's really easy to promote or denounce the experience.