A journey down the framework of a marketing funnel
My name is Cory, I am the President of Creative Return and the host of The Insider’s Guide To Finance. The following are my insights and learnings from the interviews and dealings I have with talented entrepreneurs, operators, and financiers. I hope you find them valuable in your endeavours.
I love models. Mental models that is.
In marketing, the go-to model is the Marketing Funnel. It is a framework to view how you get someone from being unaware to a paying advocate. Most often applied to customer engagement, this model is entirely applicable to investor relations as well.
You are currently in a number of companies marketing funnels and you may not even know it. It all starts with Awareness then Interest, Consideration, Conversion, and Advocacy.
Investor Relations and Marketing Funnels
When applied to the world of IR, investors start with a problem ie. They need a good company to invest in. When they become 'aware' of you as an opportunity it is where you begin to earn their 'interest'. Both of these stages can be done through digital marketing, conferences, media, PR, etc. The point is that you as a company are delivering a compelling story that captures their interest and gives them enough reason for 'consideration'.
The consideration stage is where multiple brand touchpoints support an investor's initial assumptions that you are worthy of their investment. It is a form of subjective due diligence where investors are being reaffirmed of their initial inclinations.
Multiple forms of media and even calls with management factor into this stage. When this information is available, easily consumable, and congruent in its messaging, you begin to build their confidence in you as an investment. This stage can be measured in weeks or months but it needs to be done.
The ultimate goal is conversion. This is where capable capital goes from being an investor into a shareholder. That's what we all want, isn't it?
For conversion, depending on the size of the cheque or the kind of investor, it may become an offline engagement where CEOs and IR Pros move into personal selling mode. If done well, they close the deal.
The takeaway I offer here is a way to view the marketing and sales process and highlight the multiple touchpoints needed throughout the stages.
Perhaps a way to sum this up is that no one gets married on the first date... You have to do some wooing before you get the prize.
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