Burn the funnel: A marketing model for businesses eager to grow

It is widely accepted that “brand marketing” and “performance marketing” should complement each other, but only a few companies, especially startups, can afford to invest in both effectively. The conventional marketing funnel further complicates matters by dividing budgets, campaigns, partners, and metrics. 

Rocketship Brands

Today, more than 1,300 “unicorn” startups exist globally, each valued at over $1 billion. In the past year alone, venture capitalists have invested $200 billion in such promising companies, with an additional $200 billion at their disposal. This massive influx of capital is unprecedented, doubling the amount the Medicis spent on funding the Renaissance in real terms.

Despite their innovative products, most of these companies need to improve their marketing strategies focused on performance marketing tactics like paid search ads, email campaigns, digital display ads, affiliate programs, and influencer videos. While these methods effectively drive customer acquisition and can be measured and optimized daily, they often neglect the long-term benefits of building a strong brand.

Rocketship Brands, transitioning from Series B funding to IPOs or acquisitions, face a dilemma. They require rapid scale and revenue growth but need more resources to invest in marketing due to a focus on profitability and product development. Consequently, they prioritize short-term performance marketing over long-term brand-building efforts, potentially undermining customer loyalty and trust in the long run. 

But what’s a Rocketship Brand to do?

Rocketship Brands need help with marketing strategies. While traditional wisdom advocates for significant investments in brand-building and emotional connections, the reality for cash-strapped startups is quite different. The conventional model of allocating 60% of the budget to brand-building may not be feasible for companies seeking rapid growth. Even the adjusted recommendation of 35% to 57% for startups poses challenges for those struggling with limited resources.

For Rocketship Brands with modest marketing budgets, balancing the allocation between brand-building and performance marketing becomes a critical issue. The need for quick growth and establishing trust and emotional equity complicates the decision-making process. While brand-building is acknowledged as essential for long-term success, the practicality of implementing such strategies within constrained budgets remains a significant hurdle.

To navigate this problem, Rocketship Brands must explore innovative approaches that blend performance marketing with brand-building efforts effectively. By reevaluating traditional marketing paradigms and discarding outdated models like the marketing funnel, these companies can pave the way for a new era of strategic marketing that aligns with their unique needs and aspirations.

The crime of the marketing funnel

The marketing funnel, created long ago, shows how people become customers:

1. They learn about a product.
2. They become interested.
3. They might prefer it, buy it, and hopefully stay loyal.

But this model doesn’t fit today’s fast-changing world. It’s like saying you have to follow certain steps to buy something, when in reality, it’s much messier.

The problem with the funnel isn’t just that it’s outdated, but it also makes marketers think they have to choose between making people love their brand or just getting them to buy stuff. It’s like saying you can either be cool or make money, but not both. This divide makes marketing less effective.

Instead, we should mix both approaches. Every marketing effort should make people like the brand more and also make sales. By ditching the strict funnel and combining brand-building with selling, marketers can do better.

Brandmotions

Many start-ups opt for “product-led growth” due to budget constraints, offering free or discounted trials to convert customers quickly. However, outbound marketing remains essential as you must reach people before offering your product. Brandmotions and branded promotions offer a solution by inviting people to experience your product inexpensively while creating an emotional connection. Utilize traditional promotional techniques rooted in brand values to engage customers emotionally:

• Instead of a free LLC, honor moms as CEOs.
• Offer 50% off as an invitation to build lifelong habits.
• Provide a two-for-one deal as a gift for someone in need.

Brandmotions are emotional promotions that inspire action, focusing on changing behavior with irresistible offers that bypass traditional persuasion tactics.

Step 1: Define your brand action

When defining your brand action, it’s crucial to align it with your brand mission and purpose, clarifying what you want people to do. A powerful brand action should be clear, measurable, and inspiring. It should possess three key characteristics:

Ambitious: Inspire people with grand undertakings and epic movements, urging them to disrupt norms and create significant change.

Authentic: Ensure your brand’s actions are genuine and have a credible connection to the cause, demonstrating a commitment to helping people take critical steps.

Asymmetrical: Stand out by offering unique brand actions that differ from industry norms, providing fresh and innovative ideas that capture attention and engagement.

By incorporating these elements into your brand action, you can create a compelling and impactful message that resonates with your audience and drives meaningful change.

Step 2: Define your offer

We rarely ask our colleagues from finance and operations to get involved with marketing, but this is a perfect opportunity to do so. In simple terms, what is the best promotional offer that your company can afford to make? Can you give away 10,000 free samples or offer a three-month free subscription? Do you have a loss leader that you can share with the market, or can you arrange a discount with a commercial partner? Can you provide a large number of “points” to your members?

It’s important to note that this offer should align with your brand’s goals. If you want people to try out your AI product, then offering free access to your AI app is a good idea. However, if you want people to adopt a protein-rich diet, then there are better fits than offering a Netflix discount.

Step 3: Create your Brandmotion

Crafting your Brandmotion is a crucial part of the process of adding your brand action to your commercial offer. However, it requires extensive creative thinking. It’s not easy to come up with imaginative ideas to promote your brand. For instance, it requires a leap of imagination to transform a simple offer like “50% off your first meal-kit box” to “a free extra meal for each member of the family that cooks together.” Nevertheless, this process of crafting your Brandmotion should be enjoyable.

To make your offer unique, consider the actions you want people to take and the incentives that would motivate them. If they need a push, offer a discount for referring a friend or create a task or game. To capture value before a giveaway, consider an offer that ties it to the future, such as offering the second month for free.