The State of the Sales & Marketing Funnel

Introduction

The classic B2B sales and marketing funnel is a model that has served marketers well for decades. An entire ecosystem of job titles, roles, responsibilities and technologies now exists around the funnel. Funnel management has evolved as a science with precise measurements that marketers use to manage and optimize a set of complimentary tools, processes and relationships that have to work in harmony to pull things through the funnel. But whether marketers realize it or not, they’re no longer working with their grandfather’s funnel.

A sustained period of barely perceptible change with the funnel has taken most marketers to an unfamiliar place. Top of funnel performance in the not too distant past was often the worst. It was predictably unreliable, with a chronic shortage of leads to feed the more efficient, demanding and hungry sales process at the bottom. An expansive collection of tools, technologies and solutions has been directed at the funnel’s traditionally weak point – the top – to increase the inflowing leads from a trickle, to a stream to now in many cases, a deluge. While marketers welcome the lead flow, for most it simply moves the problem to another funnel location.

The reality for many marketers is they now have more people interacting with their content. There are ever greater numbers of things to follow-up on, to route, to track and to push through the funnel. Demand Metric, in partnership with MRP, has completed a study about the current state of the funnel. The “funnel flow” survey measured how well leads flow through the sales and marketing funnel. This report shares the data and analysis from this research effort, providing insights on how to optimize the flow of leads through the funnel.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Executive Summary

Current State of the Funnel

Top-of-Funnel: Capturing & Migrating Leads

Mid-Funnel: Nurturing Leads

Bottom-Funnel: Closing Sales

Analyst Bottom Line

Acknowledgements


Appendix - Survey Background
 

Research Methodology

This 2016 Brand Consistency Impact Study survey was administered online during the period of August 8th through September 28th, 2016. During this period, 247 responses were collected, 234 of which were qualified and complete enough for inclusion in the analysis. Only valid or correlated findings are shared in this report.