Many of us will be familiar with the traditional marketing funnel.

It looks a bit like this.

There are different variations to the marketing funnel but they all essentially demonstrate the same thing, that is a model for understanding the process of turning leads into customers.

But have you heard of the flywheel? I came across the idea of the flywheel after reading an article by HubSpot.

What I find interesting about the comparison is that with the traditional ‘Sales/Conversion funnel’ the process effectively comes to an end once you’ve acquired a customer.

By contrast, the flywheel is a process that’s ongoing, it doesn’t have an end. It puts customers as the centre of your sales process and by keeping those customers happy, they will help you with referrals and repeat sales.

This video by Hubspot is great at explaining the concept of the flywheel and why more businesses should consider adopting it as part of their marketing strategy.

I liked the idea behind the flywheel as it aligns with the values of the business I currently work for.

I definitely agree with the point that the traditional marketing funnel thinks of customers as an outcome, without much thought on what comes next. But I suppose that’s not the purpose of the traditional funnel.

You can read more about the flywheel here.