Flip the Funnel: How to Use Existing Customers to Gain New Ones

CONVERSATION: A PERFECT MARRIAGE OF CONTEXT + COMMUNITY

Whereas the brand is strongest in the center in the messaging world of content, it is effectively vanquished from the conversational arena—it is, essentially, on the outside looking in. In the world of conversation, the key ingredient is influence, dominated by the army of Davids⁴⁶—a collection of like-minded individuals. Look closely and you’ll see yourself as an individual frolicking somewhere in the middle.

This is where the ordinary become the extraordinary, where stay-at-home moms become all powerful Mommy bloggers. This world is a parallel universe where a brand is not just foreign; it’s positively alien. Here, the brand orbits around the stratosphere of conversation on a continuous and at times desperate mission to gain new insights and entry points into the strange and seemingly angry local residents (Figure 14.3). And separating the brand from its consumers are rings of resistance that become harder to penetrate the further in they go. Think fan pages on Facebook if you need a reminder as to what is cool and what is not.

Figure 14.3 Conversational Hub—Influence

Source: © Joseph Jaffe.

Of course, the same scenario is a lot less daunting when we’re talking about current customers (especially the loyal ones) versus prospective ones (consumers). That’s the whole point of establishing a flipped-funnel approach: ...