Awareness – Interest – Desire – Action

In 1898, Elias St.Elmo Lewis developed a model that mapped the consumers’ journey. Today, we call his framework the sales funnel.

Some Marcom philosophers posit that the sales funnel is dead on arrival today. But Beth, an Associate Professor of Advertising at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication says not so fast.

What has changed is both how and how fast consumers move through the funnel.

In reality, the funnel isn’t dead; it has simply narrowed. With the immediacy and always-on nature of digital media, how we process and react to advertising has changed. Consumers are increasingly jumping straight from awareness to action, moving almost instantaneously through the interest and desire phase.

One might ask why marketers insist on using a formula from the late 19th century. Of course, the funnel has been updated for digital. Now, it’s also known as the conversion funnel or inbound marketing funnel.

Do you know what a drip campaign is? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

Let’s see if I’m any good at explaining it. The horribly named drip campaign, also known as a nurture campaign, is a relentless form of email marketing to segmented lists via an automation tool like HubSpot.

Drip (try it). Drip drip (try it this way). Drip drip drip (try it this way or that way, but try it).

Why bother with all this tomfoolery? Marketing qualified leads!