Theory Related to Flipping the Funnel - Assignment Example

? Flip the tunnel Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Theory related to flipping the funnel 4 Merits 5 Application in the B2B context 6 Reference 7 Introduction The world of the 21st century is progressing at a rapid pace. It is doing so on the line of fast change and tremendous development. It is important to highlight that the fast change of the current century is being powered on the lines of highly connected telecommunications technology that has advanced in a tremendous way in the recent past. It needs to be mentioned that throughout the previous decade there was a tremendous surge in penetration of internet based connectivity in various parts of the world. As a result of a fact acceptance of the single mode of connectivity which has developed on the lines of internet powered virtual platform in various corners of the world, the world has been transformed into a single connected global entity. This has increasingly paved the way for easy synchronization of various trends related to globalization that are emerging from the different corners of the world. It is important and utterly relevant to acknowledge that the new trends of globalization that are getting diffused and scattered in various parts of the world are paving the way for new business opportunities. Faced with fluctuating economic growth rates in the developed and advanced economies of the world, the multiple business organizations around the world are increasingly looking forward to the process of capitalizing on the new business opportunities that are emerging as a result of diffusion of globalization. Firms, irrespective of their geographical presence are increasingly concentrating on the process of entering into newer markets. While many barriers in regards to policy exist for entering into new markets, foreign firms are increasingly concentrating on the process of entering the markets of high growth through the formation of joint ventures and collaborations. It is important to highlight that whatever may be the method employed by the organization for the purpose of entering newer markets with high growth rates, the presence of multiple companies increasingly results in ascending the competition level of the particular market. Hence, to sustain in the market as well as develop a critical edge with regards to its competing rivals, it becomes critically important for organizations to effectively market their products and services. With the changing times and social values of the society, it becomes the role and responsibility of the marketers to continuously upgrade the methodology and tactics of marketing so as to continuously succeed in effectively delivering value to the consumers. While doing so, the marketers continuously keep on designing new tactics and strategies for value communication there by making the previously existing ones, quite backdated and invalid. Theory related to flipping the funnel In the traditional theories of marketing, a lot of importance is given to the frameworks and concepts like the marketing mix, segmentation, targeting and positioning, AIDA model etc. It has to be said that the marketing mix, which forms one of the founding pillars of the concepts related to traditional marketing talks and discusses about factors like product, place, promotion and price. The factor of product represented value creation, while place highlighted value distribution. Similarly, the factor of promotion talked about value communication, while prices discussed about value capture. The AIDA model, which often acted as a guiding light for the multiple variables and factors of the marketing mix, talked about the issues related to awareness, interest, desire and action. However, it has to be acknowledged that the traditional forms and tactics of marketing which have been followed over the decades has been developed in a time frame, when the technology was not a major point of influence in the lives of the masses. Today, the individuals and the society at large live a very digitally enabled and extremely technology influenced lifestyle. The masses living in various parts of the world are highly tech savvy in nature. Also, the lifestyle of the people all over the world has undergone a strong and significant transformation. Today, the masses live in a situation, where they are cash rich and time poor. So, naturally, the virtual world becomes to them a lot of convenience, be it in the lines of a product or service purchase or in regards to networking with their peer and closer ones. The changing trends of society as well as technology have swapped the importance of top of mind positioning with top of page positioning in the virtual space for communication of value of products and services. Also, the importance of 4P’s has been replaced with the factors of six Cs, which talks about content, community, commerce, context, customization, and conversation. Now talking in context of the AIDA model, which has been addressed as the marketing funnel in the recommended book, the multiple variables which comprised the model does not hold much significance in the digital age. Today’s digitally aided world promotes an environment, where word of mouth and word of mouse based influence leads to significant amount of research being conducted by the researcher. Thus the extensive research conducted by the tech savvy buyer automatically promotes a non linear buying behaviour. Also, to stay in competition in the digital age, the focus of the organization is to target qualified prospective buyers rather than the audience at large. Merits So, talking about the merits associated with the flipping of the tunnel, it can be said that the flipped tunnel marketing takes into account the research factor of the audience as well as the prospects related to prospective buyer targeting. In talking more about the merits, it has to be said that the flipped funnel takes into account that the human beings conduct extensive research in their search for relevant product or service information. Also, the continuous discovery of new value proposition induces new demands thereby making them highly unpredictable by nature. Another merit that has to be figured is the factor that flipped funnel promotes selective targeting of prospective buyers for products and services (Jaffe, 2010, p. 8). Finally, it has to be said that the satisfaction factor is given a strong importance in the entire concept related to flipped model. Application in the B2B context It is relevant to mention that the business to business marketing happens mostly in the cases of industrial marketing. This particular segment of marketing is different as compared to that of business to consumer marketing. It is highly important to note that in the case of business to business marketing, the products that are marketed are of extremely high value in nature. Also, the process of buying and acquisition of high value products is largely dependent on the joint decision of the various members of the buying centre of a particular organization. Talking in regards to the business to business marketing scenario, an important characteristic is that the sale of high value product or service often takes place if the particular offering is successful in solving a particular pain point for the buying organization. Herein, comes the relevance of the theory associated with flipping the funnel. The flipped funnel theory talks about targeting the audience on the basis of their buying prospective. In discussing the application of the flipped funnel theory in the business to business marketing context, it can be said that the targeting of customers on the basis of buying prospects will in offering strategic solution to the pin points faced by the business based customers. By implementing the flipped funnel approach in the business to business context, the marketer will actually able to better market their products and services, while fully understanding the needs, wants as well as the limitations of the customers. This will help in a great way in significantly lowering the cost related to acquisition of new customers. Reference Jaffe, J. (2010). FLIP THE FUNNEL. USA: John Wiley and Sons. Read More