In the last few years, you may have been positioning your marketing around a Flywheel strategy vs the Funnel and that is because the Flywheel encompasses the full client to customer journey. To offer some context, The flywheel is an 18th-century invention that was used to store rotational energy. A revolving wheel device, it functioned to increase the momentum of machinery and provide stability by creating an energy reserve during machine power interruptions.
The flywheel marketing analogy moves customers from the bottom of a funnel to the middle of the wheel. The flywheel has three sections hug the customer center: attract, engage, and delight. These three components represent marketing’s involvement in every step of the customer journey.
What's most important about the progression from the funnel to the flywheel is the shift to a customer-centric mindset. A flywheel marketing approach revolves brings customers to the focus and works to attract the right people through meaningful and useful content, engaging those people by building trust and helping them overcome their problems -- how and when it is convenient for them -- and delighting them through remarkable customer experiences that promote advocacy.
The numbers support this kind of approach. In fact, it costs significantly more to gain a new customer than it does to retain a current one. With rising customer acquisition costs (CAC), it makes sense that a marketer motivated by influencing revenue would want to play in the customer advocacy and engagement space, in addition to increasing your customer base.
This year in particular has challenged many marketers on how to connect with new leads, as well as keep customers engaged. We all know it's an incredibly demanding marketing landscape where marketers need to embrace sustainable practices. If your focus is purely on moving buyers through your funnel, you are missing opportunities for longer-term growth and efficiencies.
Flywheels were designed to build momentum and help you harvest the energy it took to acquire a new customer. Where funnels come to a halt when you reach the bottom, the flywheel allows you to build efforts to continue presenting opportunities for growth. Funnel-focused marketers are expending energy to attract and close new customers over and over again, starting from scratch each time, vs dedicating resources and efforts to expanding customer relationships.
The flywheel provides a methodology that allows you to take the journey with your customers, build long-lasting relationships with them, and continue to help them be successful through continued interactions with your brand.
Given the positives marketers and businesses can have by moving to a Flywheel approach let's discuss exactly how you can create campaigns for customers. We all know how much work it takes to acquire a new client/customer so it's in the companies best interest to create incentives for customers to stick around. Product improvement is one thing, but customer service, brand engagement, and the overall feeling of being more than just a number go a long way when it comes to retention. Your marketing campaigns should encourage people to:
Share feedback (reviews) Promote your brand willingly (tell a friend/referral) Engage in more products/services as time goes on (upsell/growth opportunities)Engage in R+D to help future service and product roll-out based on demand Brian Halligan, HubSpot co-founder, reminds us why taking a customer-centric approach will yield lasting results. "Word of mouth and positive experiences are two of the most valuable ways to grow your business – and that’s why the flywheel model works," says Halligan-and it's true. In a review driven world, it's important to ensure you do what you say, and eliminate as much friction as you can during the lifecycle from lead-customer and beyond.
If you need help moving from Funnel to Flywheel our team is happy to help you make this transition. Let's talk about ways to make your brand more engaging and customer-centric for growth heading into the new year.
