Bye Funnel. Bye Friction.

Bye Funnel. Bye Friction.?

What’s the most dangerous thing we do as B2B marketers that we don’t even realize is an issue??

We assume we will convert prospective buyers to customers.?

Because we’ve educated them and they’ve gone through the journey.?

“But isn’t that how it works?”

Well, many of us have wondered if the funnel is dead. But most of us are still stuck in “funnel thinking” – without fully realizing it.?

It’s some sneaky sh!t. And here’s the sad reality:

Most ideas in B2B marketing are still either based on or leading to “funnel thinking.”

Whether we’re talking about content marketing, demand generation or some kind of pain point oriented marketing, here’s what we’ve basically convinced ourselves:?

1. We develop a POV around the problem
2. We create a bunch of content about it
3. We build awareness with an ICP
4. Buyers start getting interested
5. Yay – we created demand
6. Yay – we drove pipeline
7. Yay – we got revenue

As if that’s the most reliable and efficient way to drive growth. As if that scales and compounds. And as if that isn’t funnel thinking.?

Get the message out there, attract potential buyers and see them move through the whatchamacallit.?

Yeah, basically the funnel.?

Introducing the Formula

Rather than assuming the POV and content we develop will lead to a boatload of new customers, we need to figure out a freakin’ formula.?

How do we actually get a large number of potential buyers to turn into paying customers??

How?! What exactly has to happen??

We see it coming down to the right combination of three key ingredients:

1. Distribution: What is the main way you consistently get in front of buyers that helps them develop a habit of consuming your stuff?
2. Aha moments: What shift in your buyers’ world do they need to see and how are you getting that across through a brand narrative?
3. Your core value: What is the primary way buyers get a taste of the value that your solution delivers – before they commit to buying?

These ingredients make up the formula for how to be successful with customer acquisition in 2024 and beyond.?

Without compounding distribution, we don’t get enough at-bats.?

Without reaching aha moments, we don’t properly connect.?

Without letting buyers taste the value, we can’t convert enough.

The Low Friction Acquisition Method

So… B2B marketing has largely boiled down to a game of:?

• Getting as many buyers as possible into the funnel
• Making assumptions about where they are on the journey
• Adding friction throughout to move them through and convert

Perhaps not the words you would choose, but we see versions of this all the time.?

And what else do we see??

Acquisition costs going up. No compounding results. And funnel thinking as the blocker.?

Pushing people through a funnel that doesn’t even really exist is a ridiculously expensive proposition, especially now that the economy is limping and channels are saturated.

But this is the approach. And at the end of it, we celebrate the revenue from it. Yay, revenue! Really? But it’s not making us better at customer acquisition.?

That’s why it’s clear to us that a new marketing orientation is needed.

Setting buyers up to develop habits around consuming your stuff is the key to avoiding friction.

Low Friction Acquisition works when:

• Distribution scales and sustains
• Aha moments actually move buyers
• Core value is experienced pre purchase

This isn’t easy to accomplish, but it’s refreshingly simple.?

Fix your distribution problem with an emphasis on building habits for buyers. It’s about one primary form of distribution.

Lead buyers to aha moments from these habits. It’s not about that generic “provide value” advice – it’s about aha moments.

Understand that the job is ultimately to have buyers experience the core value of the business – before they even buy from you.

That’s low friction.?

From what we’re seeing with the companies we work with, that’s how you now acquire customers.

And for the record, it’s fundamentally different from yesteryear’s darling, demand generation.