Funnel Thinking

Heey there,

Today we will be talking about why thinking about funnel stages might not always lead to the right decisions.

Check out the episode with Steffen to see him explain his views.

We'll start today again with a random fun fact.

Did you know that Barbie & Ken are actually related?
I'll let you know why at the end of today's course.

However, if you find these insights valuable, the best way to support our work is by inviting your friends to become Dot Connecters and learn more about Connecting The Dots between marketing activities and financial goals.

Topic Of Today

• 🎙 Episode Highlight: Rethinking the Funnel

• 📝 Steffen's Insights on Content and Sales

• 🤿 Deep Dive: Steffen's ideas

• 📌 Actionable Tips

• 📚 Homework

• 💡 Pro Tip

🎉 Connecting The Dots: Rethinking the B2B Buyer Journey 🎉

In a recent episode of Connecting The Dots, we heard an interesting take from Steffen Hedebrandt (Founder of dreamdata.io) that might just change the way you think about B2B buyer journeys.

1. 🎙 An Episode Highlight: Rethinking the Funnel

Steffen shared a perspective that challenges traditional funnel thinking.
While funnels can provide a structured approach to understanding customer journeys, Steffen emphasised that individual customers don't necessarily follow such a linear path. In fact, they rarely, if ever do it in a B2B setting.

They don't care where we think they are in the funnel; they engage with content that resonates with them, regardless of its position in the funnel.

For instance, a lead deep into the sales process might still engage with top-funnel content & share it with other stakeholders inside of their corresponding business.
Conversely, an early-stage prospect might dive straight into detailed product information or DPA.

The key takeaway? Quality content is king. It's essential to consistently put out high-value content that caters to all stages of the buyer's journey.

2. 📝 Steffen's Insights on Content and Sales

Content Quality Over Quantity: Make sure that every piece of content you release is high-quality. Low-quality content can tarnish your brand's reputation. BUT a key thing to remember here: high-quality content does not depend on the best equipment, the purest sound/video quality, and no typos. Of course, these make a difference, but your content's quality mainly depends on its value & relevance to your target audience. Your content can be of the highest-quality looks & feel wise, if it has no value to your target audience, I guarantee they won't give a crap about it. On the other hand, when you produce highly relevant, value-based content, no one will care about some typos, misspoken words or a bad hair day.

Content for All Stakeholders: Think about all the personas involved in the buying decision. Does your website cater to all or at least most of them? If for example security personnel are always part of the decision-making process and yet you don't have content addressing security concerns, you're missing out on a lot of great opportunities.

Empower Sales with Content: Your content pieces & website should answer the most relevant pain points and questions your customer might have. This approach not only streamlines the sales process but also ensures that salespeople aren't the sole gatekeepers of information.

3. 🤿 Deep Dive: Steffen's ideas about Attribution Models & B2B Sales

For those who want to delve deeper into Steffen's insights, check out our full episode with him or his appearance on Segmetrics's podcast.

4. 📌 Actionable Tips

• Re-evaluate your content strategy. Are you catering to all potential stakeholders in the buying decision?

• Prioritize quality over quantity. Every piece of content should reflect your brand's commitment to providing value.

• Empower your sales & customer success teams with comprehensive content that answers potential questions from your target audience.

📚 Homework:

Listen to the full episode if you haven't already.

Review your website & content pieces and identify any gaps in content topics that cater to potential stakeholders in the buying decision.

Reflect on your current content strategy. Are you thinking too rigidly about funnels?

While structured funnels can provide a roadmap, remember that every customer's journey is unique.

Prioritise understanding their needs and providing relevant value at every touchpoint, rather than trying to fit them into a predefined path.

Fun fact answer:  Mattel founder Ruth Handler decided to name the dolls after her children, Barbara and Kenneth, which means that the couple was inspired by a real-life brother and sister duo.

Isn't that just fun?

Keep learning and growing! 🚀 ❤️

New episodes of Connecting The Dots & Business Companion are coming out regularly, so stay tuned.

Subscribe to our podcast and keep an eye on your inbox for the next edition of our newsletter as well.

LinkedIn posts worth reading this week:


1. Ads Library...but for Google
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2. Ending all paid search
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3. 4 cold email subject line frameworks
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