Marketing as an Ecosystem (Not a Funnel) [Infographic]

Marketing as an Ecosystem (Not a Funnel) [Infographic]:

I love the word “ecosystem” when it refers to attracting and nurturing new customers via content, search, and social media—because it nicely conjures up the kind of balanced approach required to do it well. It also dramatizes how this approach is not a funnel, but rather, a circle.

You can have killer content, for example, but if you haven’t optimized it from both a search and social perspective … well, switch to writing novels and call it a day. Similarly, you can impeccably optimize pages that will bring you boatloads of traffic like Ellis Island once attracted immigrants. But if the content they find on your pages is useless and salesy or your approach is all one-way broadcast, that’s a crying shame. Or you can have a sweet social presence, but without good content to nurture … well, you get my point.

So, I particularly like this infographic from Volinsky Consulting on the Inbound Marketing Ecosystem because it nicely lays out the interconnectedness of content, search, and social in a Lion King/Circle of Life kind of way. (Plus, it throws in marketing automation for good measure.)

Particularly gripping for me is that last point and final takeaway: Leads acquired via this content, search, and social mix cost 62 percent less than your average inbound lead.

Is that overstating things? I don’t think so, but you doubting types can see the research that backs up that claim here. I also love the handy content-tactics chart.

Do I agree with all of this? Not exactly. For example, I don’t know who the 28 percent of companies are that think trade shows have become less important in the last six months, but I’d like to have a stern private word with them. Jeanne Hopkins, VP of Marketing for Hubspot, muses that online strategies are more efficient and less expensive than in-person events. That’s true, but nothing beats face-to-face interaction. I don’t see in-person events and online events as hostile suitemates … but working nicely in tandem. In other words, it’s not either/or—it’s both.

But I digress. The infographic is terrific. So here it is. View. Enjoy.

Created by Volinsky Consulting