What Is a Marketing Flywheel?

Many marketers have long thought of their process as a funnel. A large group of people are attracted to the company at the top of the funnel, and a much smaller group of people come out the bottom of the funnel as converted customers. But the funnel model leaves out a key marketing reality. In an actual funnel, what comes out the bottom has no impact on what goes into the top. In marketing, however, the customers at the bottom of the funnel can either help or hinder your growth.

Instead of a funnel, think of your marketing process as a flywheel, with your customers in the middle. Force—in this case, happy customers—will make your flywheel spin and help your company grow. Friction—or unhappy customers—will slow it down and hinder your organizational growth.

Using this flywheel model, you can start to identify sources of force and friction, and start aligning your goals, processes, and investments to your customers’ needs.