Action to Advocacy Funnel
During my time working for media companies and creative agencies I’ve sat in board rooms with clients on many occasions, discussing the metrics and outcomes of recent campaigns. In these meetings, the primary topic of discussion was often conversion - and it’s easy to understand why. Each conversion means that our tactics worked, and that the customers we targeted took the actions we wanted them to. Over time though I’ve learned that our interest in our customers doesn’t often move much beyond conversion. We focus so much on it that it naturally pulls from our ability to give any attention to making advocates out of these customers. After the conversion point, we should be working to deepen connection with our people, inviting them into deeper relationship with us and a more intimate understanding of our brand's purposes. So how does a funnel like that compare to the design of a standard conversion funnel? The truth is: the adjustment is slight but the impact is significant.
If you’re not fluent in sales or marketing funnels, don’t worry! Many people love to preach them as science when they’re really still just theory. That said, they’re worth testing, so I’m going to give you a little context on how they work. Here’s how each phase of the funnel breaks down. At the top we have Awareness which is where your customer is introduced to the brand. Examples of this are digital ads, short-form video, or blog posts - exactly like this one! Next we have Interest. Interest is sparked through an invitation to deeper engagement. A common example of this is called a ‘gated offer.’ A gated offer is the gift of exclusive content to a user who is willing to share contact information with you. They provide their email address, you give them access to a special ebook, one-time-only webinar, or something similar. Next is Consideration. This phase easily takes the longest, and I’m going to tell you now that we should all be okay that it does. Many agencies deploy nurturing campaigns with their target users; sometimes sending them anywhere between 10 to 20 extra emails to try to sway the user into a purchasing decision. If you ask me, our only goal during the Consideration phase should be patience. Don’t try to convince. Don’t try to coerce. Continue to feed their interest, teaching them about the value you alone provide. Consideration is defined as “careful thought over a period of time” and if we give people the space to do exactly that, it will be to their benefit and ours. After Consideration comes Intent. Intent is the most important phase, and like Consideration, it’s out of our control. Some funnels - especially digital marketing funnels - rename this phase the Evaluation phase. Why? Mostly it’s so they can implement a final sales push: one last barrage of another dozen or so emails to push the user over the line of action. The problem with forcing action? When someone is forced to take action once, they won’t choose to do it a second time. There will be no personal sense of purpose causing them to engage with longevity. This is why Intent is so important. A common synonym for intent is purpose - and your customers need to come to their own conclusions about your product. You can help shape their understanding so that authentic intent might be sparked, but you cannot force it if it doesn’t exist. You’ll simply make them do something they don’t want to do: spending countless resources on a conversion that really doesn’t have much value. Action is the final phase, and that’s when they make the decision we’ve been encouraging them to make all along: a purchase, a subscription, etc. Once the action has been taken, how often are you following up with these customers? Do you still show interest in them? Do you still feed their interest in your brand; continuing to teach them about the value only you can provide? What more have you told them about your story? Your origin? The positions you take in the world and the reasons why you exist? Do you share this part of your brand identity with your customers? You can, and you should. Doing so builds deeper relationship, and over time, that relationship causes them to become advocates for you, for your brand, and for the positions you take in the world.
What if our customers became such passionate advocates of us that we didn't need to market at our current volume to fill the top of the funnel? What if our customers' advocacy for us did that on its own?
Imagine for a moment what our world would be like.
If you have questions or need help building a brand that’s good for society, we are here for you.
