My name is Matthew Bredel and as of March, 2007, I am a full-time, work-at-home internet marketer.
For close to 10 years, I worked for a defense company which was an OK job, but I was so uninspired in life and frankly, I needed some more money. That is when I first discovered internet marketing! Now I admit that I didn't start making thousands in my first couple of months (in fact, I lost my shirt!), but I finally saw the "internet light"...
I was reading over an email this morning from Gary Ambrose posing the question:
“Is Funnel Marketing Obsolete?”
Of course, this went on to talk about someone who think so, check out there product, yadda-yadda-yadda.
That is fine, but the question is an interesting one, especially in this new era of Social Marketing.
Is the Funnel dead?
The answer: ABSOLUTELY [...]
I was reading over an email this morning from Gary Ambrose posing the question:
“Is Funnel Marketing Obsolete?”
Of course, this went on to talk about someone who think so, check out there product, yadda-yadda-yadda.
That is fine, but the question is an interesting one, especially in this new era of Social Marketing.
Is the Funnel dead?
The answer: ABSOLUTELY NOT!
It is kind of a silly notion, actually. True, the funnel is different right now, but true success online DEPENDS on the funnel. Lead generation and funnelling will never die because it is too profitable. Not only that, as the internet continues to grow, we find information and products becoming cheaper by the second.
If you are not funnelling your clients, you are probably not maximizing your profits or you are trying too hard to compete with other prices and competitors who DO funnel there customers.
Now understand that “funnel” is not a bad term, either. Getting a free sample at Costco IS funnel marketing. 30-day free trials of online products is part of a funnel, too.
I always love Frank Kern’s current funnel of:
Shipping only product ->
Monthly membership ($297/month) ->
Mass Control ($2000) ->
Mastermind Group ($2800/month)
And I have no problem with this. Remember that for a funnel to work, you need to continue to prove yourself at every step, or they will not continue. That is good marketing.
With Social Marketing, buying changes a bit. People are more ready to buy higher up in the funnel because of the proof is already there. The “Free offer” in not needed.
This is the greatness of Social Marketing: you can skip perhaps the most costly step of marketing (which is the low cost loss-leader).
Is funnel marketing dead? Nope. It is more alive than ever. And if you have a customer willing to buy your fishing lures, my next question to you is:
Have they bought that $500 fishing pole from you too???
cheers…matt
|
Don't Buy Another Money Making Product Until You Watch These FREE Videos! |
My thought is the Funnel will likely not ever be obsolete. Or at least some variation of it will always be in play. Cross sell, upsell, downsell. The concept of the funnel is old and not going anywhere. It works in most aspects of sale, not just online. When you buy a car, upsell to the loaded version, buy a new couch, cross sell a fabric protection package, cell phone and bundled addons, the list goes on.
Great post guys!
Cheers!
Jeromy
January 21st, 2009 at 12:32 pm
You’re right, Jeromy! Funnel marketing IS one of the most fundamental concepts of marketing, in general…IT IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE!
January 21st, 2009 at 7:08 pm
[...] my blog post last week called Is Funnel Marketing Obsolete?, I got a few questions from people wanting to either understand what funnel marketing is or how [...]
January 26th, 2009 at 4:30 pm