How's your funnel look?

Marketing and business in general is not at a loss for graphs and pictures that take complex ideas and try to represent them more logically. However, when approaching a project for the first time, one of the most useful I've found has been a classic brand/purchase funnel. Using this approach can help identify short and long term opportunities for focus and can be tailored easily to look at existing consumers of your product/service or the general market as a whole. Most of you reading this have experience in this, but I do find that many don't. Below is a basic brand funnel (sorry for the chicken scratch). It can help you measure yourself, your competitors and your market as a whole. Additionally, it provides a GREAT tool from which to measure the impact of programs you develop and execute.

As I mentioned, using this funnel can easily identify areas of focus, both long term and short term. The "X" is a measure of difference between the segments and can be measured in percentage of total surveyed. So if you surveyed 100 people, 75 of which new your brand/product (in total aided+unaided - see below) the the top number would be 75%. If then the number of folks who purchased is 50%, the difference is a loss of 25%. If then the number of those that re-purchase is 10%, the loss would be 15% and so on.

1. Awareness - This is a basic measure of what the awareness of your brand or product is. It should always be measured in a few ways. Firstly measure what kinds of brands (or products) come to mind when a consumer thinks about your category. Second, prompt them with yours and other competitive names. This is called "aided" awareness. Putting the two together will provide a total awareness measure. It'll also help you understand where your opportunities lie in growing or strengthening your position within the mind of your target consumer. So, to put it simply, you must measure aided and unaided awareness to drive your total awareness number.


2. Purchase - Has the consumer ever purchased your product? Simple question right? In the case of using this for an overall market view, it can provide great insight into how the strength of the category is converting people from "do you know about this kind of stuff?" to "did you ever buy it?" When asking about your specific product, it can identify issues if say, your awareness is high, but purchase is low. It could be a pricing issue, perception of quality issue etc...


3. Re-purchase - With exceptions, many manufacturers aren't looking for a one time sale. They want repeat customers and preferably, for life. This area measured can help immensely to understanding product issues. If someone bought it once, but didn't buy it again. There's something going on there. It may be that the product just lasts forever, or that your product stinks.


4. Recommendation - This is a very important metric. It ultimately helps identify if the product or service you deliver is meeting and beating your consumers expectation so that they will easily recommend it.

Here's what it takes to get this stuff done and some thoughts on what it means.

• Behind all this is a lot of leg work and research. this can be costly or can be done pretty inexpensively. I would always recommend getting someone who has experience in market research to help
• Use this to measure not only yourself, but your competitors and the market as a whole. Please, though, make sure you are targeting this to likely users of your product otherwise the data isn't very useful.
• It's very easy to focus on the awareness numbers exclusively. Everyone wants their product or service to be the #1 in their market, however this can be a bit of a trap. Yes, you want a have a #1 brand awareness position, but so many factors lead to that. Like having a product people try and like and recommend right? Also, watch carefully the aided and unaided data points. This can help focus your attention.

The results here are actually the beginning of your strategic planning process and I have over simplified. If something is coming up in this funnel that's not right, it helps point you in the right direction for focus, but YOU WILL have to do more to understand the issues around it. Hope this helps.

Go Local & Relevant To Go Big

So I've been wondering a lot lately about the print business. I used to do a lot of buying in print (on the client side) and so have been watching with great interest the shift in eyeballs over the last few years. Now, I'm no expert, let me get that clear, but I've always had a soft spot for print, in any form. Why? for me it's been the emotional connection of senses, touching, feeling, smelling the information. Tough to replicate on a computing device...yet.

Most interesting to me has been the failure of many, and the success of a few and upstart of others. All of it feeds into my theory of having to local to go big.

When things get tough, people nest. It's like a genetic predisposition that can't be stopped. When in trouble, people slow down and reach out for metaphorical hugs. That means that interest in things outside of people's sphere of influence or engagement become less critical, less time sensitive.

On a personal basis, that means more focus on local news, interests and activities - like what to do with the kids this weekend - or general interest/hobbies etc. Less on global events or general information.

To me, this explains the relative stability of targeted publications, whether business or local news, and the instability of publications that have a broader editorial content. It also explains the growth in targeted and local publications, like the recent launches of Nassau Parent and Suffolk Parent or the general success of focused publications like Fortune or the Business Journal network.

I think publishers need to further investigate this nesting trend and become more relevant to their consumers by providing information and content on things that impact us on local or targeted basis. Do this in print, but also do this digitally. I'd be very willing to spend a few $$ a month on content delivered from my local newspaper on local things to do...

Tapping what's out there

So many manufacturers these days are in an innovation funk. However, right under their noses are thousands of new product ideas.

Here is the issue as I see it. Many product manufacturers never actually want to see their consumers again. They consider them expense line once the product is out of the warehouse. Once the widget has left the door, either to a reseller or direct to the consumer, it's onto the next sale. Little done in fostering a relationship. Very little done in building ongoing contact and rarely asking if they actually liked what they received...

With the power of the consumer clearly now leading change in the marketplace, many are waking up to this and trying to get some sort of conversation going. I applaud this as it's no longer a nice to do, it's a must do, however many are not spending as much time as possible. Why? It's hard work.

This causes many products to be developed in a vacuum. Utilizing broad based assumptions and hunches or in better organizations, pretty sterile research. There is a better way and one that can be less costly and deliver better, more tailored (relevant) products.

While integrating your consumers into your business has many benefits, one of the most beneficial I believe is in driving innovation, historically a massive expense to any organization. Getting started on this is not hard to do. Fully embracing it can be. Here's a few steps that can help.

1. Listen to what, if anything, your consumers are saying. Do this at every level you can. You call center, blogs, trade shows, media, etc.
2. Ask your consumers to rate your products or providing feedback. This doesn't cost very much to do at all and the benefits are far reaching, both in development of new products and in sales/marketing.
3. Involve "super users" in the innovation process. Yes, ask your consumers what they want to see and bounce ideas of them.

These three steps can help develop a process by which innovation is truly a reflection of your consumer's needs and wants, not just the function of the product.

So, when innovation block rears it's ugly head, where do you think your first call should be. Yep, your consumers. They got a thousand ideas on how to make your product better.

Are you ever off the clock?

I've been watching with great interest the news over the last few days regarding a PR and social media veteran A quick synopsis. Upon landing in his clients hometown, a tweet appeared disparaging said city. Now, this was done under his personal twitter account and not as part of any program for this client, but under his own personal brand. However, it offended the client and a storm has brewed. I'm not interested in discussing the play by play, so I won't and as far as I'm concerned, apologies have been issued and that's that.

However, this has really planted a question in my mind.

Can Personal brands and Professional duties co-exist?

As with many of these questions, who knows right? A very murky subject. Can you ever NOT be representing the clients you work for, even when you aren't on the "clock" per se or acting in your own "branded space". Clearly this recent event has made it pretty clear. NO is the answer.

Today's marketing and communications environment is one where you are encouraged to develop your own "brand", distinguish yourself and showcase you bleeding edge knowledge. Yet, unless you are self employed, this is at a complete opposite to whom your employer wants you to be in the end. They love the free spirit, forward thinking attitude but beware....

I think we're in for a very interesting time here. Soon, PR, Marketing, "social media experts" and the like will have to either turn over their personal brands when they take on clients or write into contracts specific language protecting their Independence...I can't wait to see.

What are your thoughts?