The failing of the funnel: what this model lacks
A strong brand story doesn’t just attract new customers; it keeps your existing ones coming back. A unique brand connects your audience to your organization. They become fans, ambassadors for your brand. In another blog, we explored the “audience journey”—the path your audience takes from first encountering your brand to purchasing your product or service. The “funnel” your audience moves through helps expand your brand story and address the needs at each phase of their journey. However, there’s one limitation to this funnel, especially noticeable in longer purchase processes.
The Paradox of the Funnel
The one major shortcoming of the funnel? A funnel works like a.. well, a funnel—what reaches the bottom stays at the bottom. In other words, the audience is simply output in this model.
Let’s be honest… you want your customers to be so happy with your brand that they keep coming back for more!
Existing customers are input, not output. After all, they’re a valuable gauge for that pressing question: what does your audience need?
From funnel to circle
In 2018, Mike Lieberman and Eric Keiles introduced the “Cyclonic Buyer Journey.” This model replaces the traditional sales funnel with a circular customer journey, especially suited to longer buying cycles. These are often higher-cost purchases where buyers take more time to research—think of a new production line (B2B) or a new TV or dishwasher (B2C).
The funnel-shaped audience journey provides a solid foundation and the same phases recur in the cyclonic journey, but the beauty of a circle: the end is a new beginning!
The Cyclonic Buyer Journey
This model consists of eight phases, which can broadly be assigned to Marketing, Sales, and Service—three separate departments within organizations that form the customer journey together. The phases also include Awareness (See), Consideration (Think), and Decision (Do), but with a deeper focus on the audience’s experience throughout.
Want to learn more about each phase? We’ve included a brief overview of each one at the end of this blog.
A content strategy that turns customers into fans
When crafting the communication strategy for your product or service, it’s essential to understand the challenges your audience faces. Even more important is recognizing that not everyone is in the same situation. While your product or service may solve a common challenge, one customer may feel the need urgently and be ready to buy right away, while another is just beginning to recognize the issue and wants to do some research first.
Create content for (nearly) every stage of the cyclonic customer journey, and you’ll address the questions that arise throughout the buying process. Are you using your content to guide potential customers along their journey, from (pre-) awareness to purchase? Then you’ve truly struck gold!
Tell your gr8 story with us
To create impactful campaigns that specifically address your audience’s challenges, you’ll need to understand them better than ever before.
Curious how we’d approach that for your plans? Get in touch and stop by for an introduction —we’re always eager to hear your story!
gr8 deep-dive
All phases of the Cyclonic Buyer Journey
Pre-awareness
There are potential customers who aren’t yet aware of their challenges or even that solutions exist for certain problems—let alone that you could help them. We call this phase “pre-awareness.” With content that sparks interest and opens their eyes, you create awareness. The beginning of their journey!
Awareness (See)
This is the first “active” step in the customer journey. Your potential customer is now aware of their challenge and starts looking for a solution. They might ask family or friends for advice, browse social media, or turn to search engines. It’s a crucial phase because your solution needs to be discoverable here!
Education
Once your audience becomes aware of their challenge or the existence of a solution, they’ll want to explore the available options. In the Cyclonic Buyer Journey, this is seen as a separate phase because today’s vast amount of content means prospects often take time to educate themselves—especially for higher-cost purchases or longer buying cycles. So be sure to meet them where they are: provide answers to their questions.
Consideration (Think)
Now that your potential customer has gathered all the options and done their research, it’s time to narrow down to a few concrete choices. This is a crucial moment to offer guidance! After all, you want to ensure your solution isn’t ruled out at this stage. What makes your product or service the better choice compared to other options?
Evaluation
With only a few options left, the critical comparison begins. Your potential customer will now look at prices, extra benefits, and the unique strengths that set each provider apart. Your communication’s job in this phase? Stand out! This is where your brand story aligns with the customer’s story: they’re the hero, and you’re the guide who helps them overcome obstacles.
Rationalization
The Rationalization phase is the decision-making stage that moves beyond emotions. Here, your potential customer wants to address any remaining doubts and tough questions before purchasing. Think of questions around ROI, payment terms, guarantees, and so on. You’ve already won them over emotionally with your story; now it’s up to marketing and sales to work together to overcome the final hurdle. Help your prospect make a rational decision, too.
Decision (Do)
In this phase, a (potential) customer makes the final decision and proceeds with the purchase. It’s crucial to make this as simple as possible for them! Is there an easy application form, or is the quote process overly complicated?
Ongoing Delivery
You’ve won over the (new) customer—congratulations! But, as we mentioned at the beginning of this blog, this is just the start. Now it’s time to truly serve your customer. Make them a fan of your company so that when they face a similar challenge… they’ll always come back to you!