Marketing and sales have always shared the task of securing the growth of companies, and models such as the sales funnel are considered a popular approach. Once run through, however, it loses its applicability to the further development of customers. Quite different with the circulatory model of the flywheel . Read how you can use flywheel marketing to attract, inspire and develop customers in the long term.
The goal: constant increase in success
Flywheel marketing is a modern strategy that is used to retain and acquire new customers. The flywheel is intended to constantly increase the company’s success. In other words, once it gets going, it should always run faster and more smoothly. It is therefore also referred to as the successor to the sales funnel.
The term flywheel was taken from mechanics. Flywheels are constructs that – once started with little energy expenditure – store this energy very efficiently and continue to run by themselves for a while. Each additional energy then increases the speed of the wheel. It is used, for example, in motors and sewing machines.
The visualization: The focus is on the customer
Flywheel Marketing transfers this principle to the mechanisms of customer acquisition, for which the sales funnel has previously served as an image:
the funnel, in which a prospect is won as a buyer through various steps, finally ends with a conversion. The funnel model as a linear process thus has a defined conclusion, which is followed by a restart. The next potential customer is approached.
But has this really exhausted the potential of the new customer you just won? no – Therefore, the central change in the model of the flywheel is the view of the customer and puts him in the center.
The bridge: The flywheel starts where the sales funnel ends
Inbound also worked with the image of the sales funnel for a long time. Perhaps that is why the limits of the funnel model were perceived here. Because the inbound methodology has always tried to inspire customers even after the deal has been completed and to win them over as promoters as well as to leverage cross- and upselling potential.
Where the sales funnel ends with the acquisition of a customer, the flywheel continues to turn in marketing.
As a cycle, it picks up on the needs of the customer from the moment of conversion and, with additional services, ensures enthusiasm and further purchases.
The further development: Service becomes the driving force
The outer circle of the flywheel shows the development from strangers to customers and beyond. It encloses the three phases of the inbound methodology.
In the core, the drivers of the flywheel are indicated.
After all, CRM – Customer Relationship Management – is the focus of the presentation.
What’s new: In addition to the funnel, the flywheel uses service as a drive.
Additional support, proximity to the customer, blogs, guides, webinars, social media posts, community management,… – All of these efforts should continue to inspire customers and ultimately turn them into multipliers for the company. According to the flywheel principle, every new customer becomes an investment that drives the flywheel and continues to pay off through long-term value.
The benefit: How companies benefit from the flywheel
In the long run, the flywheel strategy can be very rewarding. The prices for customer acquisition via platforms such as Google and Facebook have increased significantly in recent years. However, when it becomes extremely expensive to keep customers buying new products , the focus shifts more towards making more money with existing customers or letting them act as ambassadors for your own product.
So satisfied customers drive the wheel, while dissatisfied customers can stop the wheel.
Conclusion
Flywheel Marketing with its flywheel model illustrates an important aspect of the future of marketing: excellent service is becoming your own marketing strategy. Because with the right service, you increase cross- and upselling potential, are recommended and save on expensive customer acquisition.