The tunnel conventionally represented as conversion marketing funnel is a simple representation; understandable that take place in a sequenced process of buying cycle (phase by phase), programmatic and convergent (closing and purchase). Individuals who cross the funnel, according to pre-established scenarios (nurturing and (re) targeting content), are gradually "stored" (the spirit of classification / segmentation) in boxes (prospects, leads, ...) according to their progressive journey. From a logical thought, even a mnemonic one , we fell in the overused model as if it were carved in stone. Prospect / client experience, is first and foremost human and so shaped by belief, doubt, abandonment, mere curiosity, moody, zapping, heterogeneous and paradoxical behaviors, serendipity, irrationality ... Many intangible and moving elements which can’t be captured into conversion funnel . As marketing practitionner I realized like others, that this mechanism of the funnel was too well-oiled, too simple even if it is accepted as a representation, a convention, a model for action. Models are reducers of uncertainty, of complexity, simplistic they are not reality but they reassure. Simulated somehow reality is more difficult and the prospect , future hot Lead or potential customer is above all a human being within which must be embodied Marketing and its actors. Listen, (dis) engagement, conversation, sharing, positive or negative buzz on social media ... provide us daily proof that our tools, our practices, our KPIs ... are not adapted to integrate this human dynamic, complex and abundant . It’s clear that the new playground for marketers is the Social Web, 'living' Web, whose raw material is the Human before being the bytes of information.

1. 7 metaphorical variations around
Customer conversion funnel
Denis FAILLY

2. Summary
Foreword
Funnel
« simplicity & linearity »
A prospect irrationnal and multiple
« A non sequential conversion journey »
The Labyrinth
« Journey is at least as important as the goal »
Quantum tunneling in customer conversion
« Quantum prospect», tunnels in the funnel
Some holes in customer conversion
« Virtuous strip or spatio – temporal shifts »
Chaos and catastrophe
« A prospect between balance and tipping point »
Strange attractor
« A field based approach of the buying cycle » Denis Failly

3. Foreword
The metaphorical figures inspired by Sciences, which follow and which are gradually complex, are not intended to deliver
operational transpositions, they invite us rather to incorporate more complexity into our thinking, our schemes, sometimes
too formatted.
It is quite healthy to revisit the way we see our marketing practices and reconsider more closely the mechanical, automatic,
systematic application of certain models, considered such universal matrix or grail.
The marketing funnel
The tunnel conventionally represented as conversion marketing funnel is a simple representation; understandable that take
place in a sequenced process of buying cycle (phase by phase), programmatic and convergent (closing and purchase).
Individuals who cross the funnel, according to pre-established scenarios (nurturing and (re) targeting content), are gradually
"stored" (the spirit of classification / segmentation) in boxes (prospects, leads, ...) according to their progressive journey .
Awareness, Consideration, Evaluation, Selection, Purchase
Attention, Interest, Desire, Purchase (AIDA model)
From a logical thought, even a mnemonic one , we fell in the overused model as if it were carved in stone.
Obviously we feel that nothing is easy and that behind the appearances of light arises the shadow of reality which is
probably quite different; a bit like constellations which we give us the impression that the stars are on the same plane,
wheras they are spaced by several light years.
Denis Failly
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4. We never bathe twice in the same river (Heraclitus)
Prospect / client experience, is first and foremost human and so shaped by belief, doubt, abandonment, mere curiosity,
moody, zapping, heterogeneous and paradoxical behaviors, serendipity, irrationality ... Many intangible and moving
elements which can’t be captured into conversion funnel .
As marketing practitionner I realized like others, that this mechanism of the funnel was too well-oiled, too simple even if it
is accepted as a representation, a convention, a model for action.
The long quiet river of models
Models are reducers of uncertainty, of complexity, simplistic they are not reality but they reassure.
Simulated somehow reality is more difficult and the prospect , future hot Lead or potential customer is above all a human
being within which must be embodied Marketing and its actors.
Listen, (dis) engagement, conversation, sharing, positive or negative buzz on social media ... provide us daily proof that our
tools, our practices, our KPIs ... are not adapted to integrate this human dynamic, complex and abundant . It’s clear that the
new playground for marketers is the Social Web, 'living' Web, whose raw material is the Human before being the bytes of
information.
As the boundaries between B2B and B2C, metaphorical figures below, do not pose a real dividing line, because they are
porous thus the so called “rationality” of Professional under constraint in position of decision / action has to face his human
condition, irrational by nature as stated above.
Do we need simple tools to face complex realities ? Wide-ranging debate, suggesting also the limits of the famous "Keep it
Simple Stupid! '
Denis Failly
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5. Algorithm: great evening of knowledge or ghost with empty hands ?
No doubt that the rise of Big Data and data mining techniques will give more meaning to the data (static or dynamic) to
refine the understanding of the dynamics of customer through its cycle, his "journey." .
We could discover that there is no funnel and behaviors are more duality wave / particle type (by analogy with quantum
physics).
The individual "particle" could be examined as carrying a profile, a behavorial dynamic, a probability of presence in the
“vicinity of” a stimuli /responses - actions field (concept of attractor) related to received sollicitations (emails, various
contents, business offers...) and dependent on his whim of the moment (availability, mood, attention level…)
Hosted in the cloud, huge amounts of data will be collected on the fly (real time) , catching possibly erratic behavior of each
prospect or customer, considered individually this time. A new customer knowledge will all the richer that the data will be
multidimensional .
New relationships, learning algorithm will perform new classifications and micro segments.
We might go so far as to say that this new "nuclear"and in-depth knowledge will make each individual, his own segment
adressable with hyper-personalized and real time contents.
What about the quality? (semantic layer, analysis of conversation and text mining?)
Naturally remain the questions of ethics and privacy ... and Big Data, algorithms and other automated solutions can’t do
everything.
Denis Failly
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6. Does marketing try to find itself ?
Finally, and more broadly, in light of Social Web and other societal phenomena, marketing pundits know how to produce
numerous articles like "x key success factors for" or tools catalogs, even number of books sometimes mutually redundant…,
but the discipline has neither revisited its foundations nor the validity of its procedures and methods for "knowing".
A marketing epistemology is lacking.
Customers changes, exchanges and interactions spaces are diversifying; actors and markets are transforming and initiatives
abound. Societal and paradoxical behaviors get involved (the “AND” connective takes precedence over the “OR” that
disjoint). In short, conjunction / disjunction, Order and Chaos (chaordism) coexist; we are well entered into the paradigm of
complexity (from the latin “Complexus” : what is woven together)
Sometimes proclaimed as an ideology, the marketing, continues with rationalizing methods, tools, models and rhetoric,
against the current of the "unitas multiplex" (unity in diversity, diversity in unity) which composed each individual, the
Persona based approach is a interesting beginning and proof the relevance of qualitative data in the analysis.
I remain convinced that the marketing that acts, and think about also, should not only refer to itself (reflexivity) but has to
be trans-disciplinary with some cross-fertilizations with its own sphere of thinking, practices and prosperity, but it must also
go look elsewhere as in the sciences, for example (a kind of benchmarking).
It is interesting to note that far from being a science, Marketing by using some of the scientific methods (mathematics,
statistics, analytic approach ...), remained in what I call a "borrowing base“ built on Cartesian paradigm. Except that
Sciences exceeded now this paradigm (cf. biology and complexity of life, quantum physics effects, ...).
Obviously It is not intended to venture into knowledge of areas that we don’t master but just to open new fruitful windows
of perception.
That's why we chose the conversion tunnel as starting point for news representations (purely metaphorical) of the
conversion journey.
Denis Failly
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7. Representation upgrade of conversion funnel
Strange attractor
Chaos / Catastrophe
Complexity
Cusp
Möbius Strip
Tunnel effect
Complication
Simplicity
Labyrinth
Spectrum
Funnel
Denis Failly
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8. Funnel Variant
Funnel and Buying Cycle
« simplicity & linearity »
Eviction Containment by
(abandonment, off-target…) retargeting for example
Buying cycle
Opportunities
Selection Purchase
Qualified leads
Pre-leads Evaluation
Visitors Consideration White
paper
Awareness
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9. A prospect irrationnal and multiple
« A non sequential conversion journey »
Complex vision Prospect less rational
drop shadow of the real Psychological, behavorial,
Multi-dimensionnal individual identity spectrum, wide
- opinions and moving.
- attitudes
- behaviors
- past experiences
- constraints (costs, deadlines)
Consumer/ Decision maker journey
probable and non linear
Distorted perception of the
real
Appearances light
Individual (indi-visible)
uni-dimensionnal
- apparent and distorted Consumer/Decision maker journey
vision, assumed and mechanistic
- linear and reductionnist Awareness Consideration Evaluation Selection Purchase Denis Failly
based approach. -7-

10. The Labyrinth
The Labyrinth
« Journey is at least as important as the goal »
« Journey is at least as important as the goal »
Awareness Consideration Evaluation Selection Purchase
Persistents Dead end
Semi commited
Wait and See
attitude
Buyers
Dead end : « Wall » off-target,
- Outdate email database
- No attractive emails
or landing pages
- Low quality contents… Withdrawal
behaviors Dead end Denis Failly
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11. The Labyrinth
« Journey is at least as important as the goal »
Contents (quality, quantity, variety, exclusivity, periodicity, recurrence, diffusion mode,
experience, ability ownership, ability to meet customer needs (solutions ...) ...
…impact on the behaviors that can be : multiple, non linear, iterative, reluctant,
withdrawal…
- search
- compare
- jump from one phase to another (buying cycle)
- contents sharing - inactive
- off target
- non-decision-maker
- under constraint (cost / deadlines)
- Lurkers : passive observer, collector of
- semi -committed (time constraint / budget ...) contents (white papers ...)
- buys - no committed
- influence, recommend / evangelize
- Persistents (those who follow the cycle on
a given phase or those who repeat the cycle at
the beginning (Awareness ...) by themselves or due
to the marketer
Denis Failly
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12. Quantum tunneling in customer conversion
« Quantum prospect», tunnels in the funnel
Based metaphorically on Quantum tunelling the prospect can "jump" the classical stages sequentially , without going through the steps
Intermediaries, this is all the more in B2B where purchases can be complex solutions and where time horizon purchases / sales may range from 6
months to 2 years or more.
Example :
A Consumer or Decision maker P is firstly requested in Awareness
Conversion funnel
stage, via marketing content (white paper, article, video ...) targeted
(emailing, call to action, landing page) to be gradually accompanied in
phase "Consideration" where a demo product is proposed, he may
continue his "journey" as he may suspend it or withdraw after :
« tunnel effect»
- a disappointment on your content (quality, consistency ...),
- an unexpected event, P
- he is not the final decision maker, P P
- compression budget, P
- a better offer from competitors
- a negative word of mouth, ...
Conversely, he may be in “wait and see” attitude, or turn back to better « tunnel effect»
understand your world (awareness / consideration) and initiate a new Abandonment, P
cycle or even leapfrog to the selection phase to reach a purchase ... and withdrawal Purchase
or eviction Selection
finally it may abandon because he is not directly concerned or also be Evaluation
removed by you as off-target ...
Thus many reasons exist for not follow a straight tunnel conversion Consideration
mapped out.
Awareness
Denis Failly
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13. Some holes in customer conversion
« Virtuous strip or spatio – temporal shifts »
Mobius strip and Whormholes Awareness prospect off-target
or abandonent
Purchase
Whormholes Consideration
prospect off-target
or abandonment
Selection
Prospect performs some spatio (buying cycle phases) – temporal shifts (planning and scheduling of
emailing/contents campaign via marketing automation).
Moving or in "wait and see" attitude, or even between two phases of buying cycle, ready to topple to
next stage it may not always be possible to relate the prospect to a segment of belonging (such
cold/hot lead, opportunity) beforhand defined and frozen. It can be said it exists a certain statistical
probability of prospect presence here or there (in the conversion cycle). Denis Failly
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14. Chaos and catastrophe*
« A prospect between balance and tipping point »
Behavioral surface (cusp )
Space of possibilities
• Behaviors
-AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, purchase) Neutral zone, balance edge before
-Loyalty/ Non loyalty tipping
-Zapping, abandonment…
• Status
- Prospect (cold, hot…)
- Lead
- Opportunity Space Dots surface of individuals / variables
- Customer of possibilities projected on 2 dimensions
Behavioral dynamic conducive
• Various phases of buying cycle to progressive conversion
Awareness,… Bifurcation
NO GO “Don’t know” GO Behavioral dynamic non conducive
and oriented towards abandonment
“Maybe”
Prospect in balance position :
• Status quo, in balance but ready to tip (depends on contents quality, attractivity, persuasiveness of marketing…),
• Wait and see attitude, doubt, disappointment…abandonment oriented
Prospect in “decision making ” with 2 terms :
the prospect knows where is going the prospect is off - target or in withdrawal situation
•The word "catastrophe" should be considered here in the sense of the Greek etymology "Katastrophe" ie "sudden change and Denis Failly
unplanned" upheaval, which can lead to : runaway instability (chaos), a new order, or a new equilibrium.
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15. Attracteur étrange
Strange attractor
Unefield basedpar les champs du cycle de vie»
« A approche approach of the buying cycle
Instead of following linearly and sequentially a
buying cycle on which his position would be clearly
identified, the prospect would be “in the vicinity of”
a given space ( or the borders of a phase of cycle)
and would progress by converging towards the
center of a given phase of buying cycle.
The strength of attraction depends on the contents
(quality, ability to meet needs…).
Awareness
Consideration
Evaluation
Selection
Purchase
Denis Failly
Denis Failly
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16. Conditions of use
Read more http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
Denis Failly
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17. Thanks You
My blogs
Epistémo Marketing : http://denisfailly.blogspirit.com/
Entretiens du Futur : http://entretiens-du-futur.blogspirit.com/
Digital Watch
Beyond Marketing : http://www.scoop.it/t/beyond-marketing/
Presentations
SlideShare : http://fr.slideshare.net/dfailly
Profile
http://fr.linkedin.com/in/denisfailly
http://fr.viadeo.com/fr/profile/denis.failly
https://twitter.com/dfailly
Denis Failly
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