F**k The Funnel..
Optimize for Buyer Paths!
B2B buyers' journeys today are complex.
Thanks to digital evolution, 70% of B2B buyers fully define their needs on their own before engaging with a sales representative.
In fact, 44% of B2B buyers identify specific solutions before reaching out to a seller.
In spite of this, marketing leaders spend a lot of time determining whether the lead came from an inbound or an outbound source.
There is not one attribution software in the world that can 100% accurately determine the buyer journey and conversion path.
In today’s world, buyer journeys and conversion paths can’t fit into one of the boxes: Inbound vs Outbound.
For example, a prospect saw a LinkedIn ad and downloaded the ebook. Now they were getting nurturing emails and the periodic newsletter, but for one year they didn’t ask for a demo.
However, a BDR from the outbound team reached out to the same prospect via phone in the 13th month, and now the deal is moving forward.
Is this an inbound lead or an outbound lead?
I believe this question is irrelevant. It is the buyer journey, or more specifically the path to conversion, that is relevant.
As an example, suppose we know that people who attend two virtual events, watch three product marketing videos on our website, and read at least eight editions of our weekly newsletter, convert 70% of the time to won deals.
By optimizing for this specific conversion path, we can convert 70% of people into customers. It is not an optimization of a channel, it is not an optimization of a funnel. In this case, you are optimizing the buyer journey so the conversion path can be replicated.
This is the future of attribution. Not the source attribution, but the buyer path attribution.
The next unicorn in the world will be the company that provides marketers with buyer paths and conversion probabilities.
Marketers who master replicating the best conversion buyer paths will win the most deals.
Until then f**k the channels, f**k the funnel. Optimize for Buyer Paths!