10/08/2024
The year is 1898.
You're in the wild, wild, WILD west of advertising.
For the last 8 years, this new sugary drink "Coca-Cola" has had a strangely addictive taste, and everyone seems hooked to it.
This "advertising" thing is nothing more than a few people talking about you in the newspapers, but it's been around for almost 50 years already...
This guy, Elmo Willis (not the muppet, a real person), starts explaining that in selling, there are actually 4 stages.
Get them to know you, be interesting, and when they show interest, take their money.
And as it sounds, it's a sales framework created for salespeople so that they can break down the stages in which someone desires to make a purchase.
We're talking about a time before the first car, before the planes, before cameras, and even shaving wasn't a thing for another 2 years (Gillette in 1901).
Yet, 90% of marketers use AIDA today, 125 years later in 2023.
At a time when AI has disrupted advertising, sooo many people call AIDA the basis of their so-called Top, Middle and Bottom of the funnel.
So let's shake things a little bit and get people up to 2023.
One of my favourite customer journey models is the hourglass.
Here's what new it takes into consideration:
1. Evaluation - people look up your online reputation.
They check your socials. They look at your competitors. It's no longer one-directional, which is why brands have to be everywhere if they want to grow.
2. Adoption - You still need to educate your customers (i.e. in the immediate post-purchase phase) about what are the benefits of your product and form a relationship.
With money-back guarantees and the famous buyer's remorse, you are exponentially increasing the chance of an unsatisfied customer right after a purchase.
3. Retention - Everyone knows a returning customer is 20x cheaper than a new one, so why do most people focus on acquisition?
What's better:
Buying a customer in a competitive digital landscape, giving them a first offer discount and then hoping they would come back.
Or, providing extra education, extra value, extra resources, extra products that are all problem solvers so that someone purchases again and again...
And here's the kicker... For less.
4. Expansion - More products and more services mean you become a better brand, constantly reinvesting in the growth of the business that serves more customers better.
5. Advocacy - To this day, every marketer agrees the strongest form of advertising is word of mouth. Why not simply ask your customers for a referral once they trust you?
Once you plan your customer journey around this model, your LTV perspective will never be the same.
