You probably remember the classic conversion funnel, also known as the marketing and sales funnel. Well, we want to tell you that this strategic model has evolved into the inbound methodology and we now call it the ‘Flywheel’.
In essence, both are analogies: the funnel represents a wide entrance that narrows, just as we guide our customers through their purchasing process.
What is the Flywheel?
The term “Flywheel Marketing” refers to a marketing strategy that is based on moving from thinking of our sales process
as a funnel to considering it a wheel that spins and spins without stopping. This approach was popularized thanks to the inbound methodology developed by HubSpot .
The “flywheel” is an analogy used to describe how businesses indonesia phone number list should focus on maintaining
and increasing the energy of their customers as they move through their lifecycle. Rather than viewing the sales and
marketing process as a linear funnel, where customers are pushed through the stages to conversion and then forgotten
about, the flywheel approach involves a continual focus on customer satisfaction and retention.
How does it relate to the Inbound Marketing Flywheel?
The name comes from the wheel-shaped representation of the efficiency of a strategy, based on the growth impact that a
satisfied customer can mean. In this sense, James Watt, who designed this model, proposes that, just as occurs with the
wheels of a car or a train, the stored energy will depend on the speed at which the vehicle rotates, friction, size or interference.
The above can be summed up as follows: If a customer is the methodology really happy with their purchasing process,
they are more likely to recommend your company to their circle and you will get new customers. From this point of view,
recommendations and word of mouth are decisive factors 7 tips to improve your writing and create valuable content when a person decides to make a purchase.
The wheel will speed up if you put force into those areas that have the greatest impact on the growth of your business.
Let’s use the Customer Service area as an example: If this team has managed to help the customer, it is very likely that
this good experience will be transmitted to other people who could end up purchasing your product or service.
Hubspot Chart
One of the most relevant aspects of this model is that all teams that encounter the customer at some point have the task
of attracting, delighting and interacting with them. That is why your marketing, sales and customer service teams need to
be perfectly aligned to deliver the best experience to those who come into contact with your company.
Dynamic Elements of the Flywheel
The flywheel has a fixed structure, and has several dynamic elements that distinguish it from the conversion funnel and help us better understand the nature of the marketing and sales process.
The speed
The more momentum we give to a wheel, the faster it will spin. To increase the initial speed of the wheel, we must apply
more force in the areas where it can have the most impact.
In the funnel model, all efforts were focused on attracting and acquiring customers, but here we also use resources to
delight those customers and improve their experience. It is also important to make sure that all the forces we apply are
oriented in the same direction.
Friction
Constant friction slows the wheel down, so it’s important to minimize it. Common areas of friction include escalating
interactions with customers, customer churn, and the whatsapp filter methodology lack of coordination between team
members. An important thing to note is that marketing automation processes and tools also help us reduce friction.
The characteristics of the wheel
The analogies continue. The heavier a wheel is, the more inertia it generates. As you increase speed and decrease friction, you bring more satisfied customers onto the wheel.
And the more customers you have, the more the wheel will “weigh” and the more energy it will generate as it moves. Customers will also weigh more, the more loyal they are and the greater their life cycle value. In other words, we generate positive inertia for the brand as we successfully complete the sales process and improve the customer experience.
The marketing funnel is still alive
We can conclude that the funnel is the first part of the entire digital marketing strategy. Initially, the customer must be captured/attracted through an inbound marketing strategy, as we have been doing until now, following the pattern, at the top of the funnel, “marketing”, then “sales” and finally the “customer” to satisfy them.
But now, instead of completing, closing or ending the marketing and sales funnel, once you reach the bottom of the funnel (the phase where it is necessary to “delight the customer”, you need to put it back into circulation.
In this way, while we have achieved success on the one hand, we must prepare for the upselling and cross-selling phases, which is ultimately what we are all looking for (repeat sales) and, of course, continue to offer value to the customer. At that point, we will begin, together with our customers, the new turn of the wheel.a