Actually I have recently heard an interesting comparison of online marketing or growth hacking to a dating experience from more than one source. The idea is that online marketing takes a customer through a journey. Dating is also a journey towards finding your (it is hoped) lifetime partner. So how does it work?
Acquisition = blind date
First the customer needs to know that a certain company/product/ or service exists - this is done via dissemination in various channels. Today social media is the starting point for most of the acquisition campaigns. These campaigns are geared to capture leads, get the prospect to sign into a distribution list (perhaps in return for a free gift or coupon) so that the company can start the communication process and the prospect enters the sale/marketing funnel
This is like going on a blond date. You saw an advert somewhere on social media or a dating site and now you opted in for the first meeting. You probably gave the other person you email or phone number so that you can coordinate this first meeting. The communication process has started.
Activation = relationship
Now the comply has the name of the prospect and its time to gain their trust. This is done by repeatedly sending more information to this person about the company or the service and generally keeping the service in the awareness of the prospect until they take some action and become an active customer.
In the dating world, this is the part in which people go out on dates repeatedly. If the communication is working, they will continue to date and will enter into the relationship phase. During the relationship phase there are various stages and hurdles that have to be faced (like meeting the partner's parents, deciding to move in together etc.). These are the "small sale" stages, each time one of these hurdles has been met and removed, it compares to the selling of a small product or service, on the road towards the main goal/ flagship product.
Retention (resulting in revenue and referrals) = matrimony
Now that a company has an active customer is all about getting them to make repeated purchases an also to spend more money in each purchase. up-selling, cross-selling and getting the customer more and more engaged with the product, so that the always keep coming for more. Alternatively this could mean getting the customer to trust the company enough in order to buy its flagship product, which is also the most expensive products. This could also means to get the customer into purchasing a retainer - retention mean getting the customer to always purchase, making them a source for growing your revenue. Happy customers will also hopefully refer you to new prospects and thus serve to further grow your income.
This is a lot like matrimony. Once you get married, your partner has effeminately signed up for the biggest product, you! As the marriage progresses there is always retention and re-selling points: steps that you will take together that will get you more and more engaged and involved with each other. For example - buying a house together, and having children. Here the revenue is not money but rather deepening of the relationship and partnership. The more things you go through together with your partner the more deep the commitment you will have towards one another. It terms of the commitment currency, you are spending more and more in this relationship, becoming more committed and "repurchasing the product" every day - your commitment to your partner only grows.
By repurchasing everyday and staying in the marriage, you are serving as a reference for others to enter the marriage state. You will of course not wish to refer others to being married to your specific partner :-)
As I mentioned at the beginning of this response - I have heard this in various sources recently, but I liked the inforgrahic Quicksprout has put together on this subject, so I ma sharing it here with you.
www.quicksprout.com/the-definitive-guide-to-growth-hacking-chapter-4/
This also reminds me of a blog post I wrote a couple of year's back for a blogging competition for a job seeking website - in which I compared getting a job to dating.
First you go to the interview (blind date/ first meeting) then you negotiate the terms of employment (relationship) and then you get the job (matrimony). In the post I used another marketing model usually referred to as AIDA. More on that in another response...here is the link to the blog I wrote.
https://jobmob.co.il/blog/market-yourself-for-dating-and-job-search/
(reference to the link in my blog:
http://contentguru4all.blogspot.co.il/2013/09/i-wrote-post-for-bloggers-competition.html)
Wishing you a great weekend and happy reading,
Ofra
