What is today’s Marketing Funnel? Is it time for a dramatic change?

Mark Wilson, CMO at Avaya Inc., said the traditional marketing funnel is broken, and marketing is in a period of transformation that demands deep analysis of information and the development of engaging content.

In a closing keynote speech at BtoB’s Leading Edge virtual trade show, titled “Truly, Instantly, Deeply: The New Buyer’s Journey,” Wilson said there are three big conversations happening in the marketing world when it comes to digital marketing and demand generation.

– See more at: http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130621/EVENT09/306219996/1581/rss01&rssfeed=rss01#sthash.4OqzjdBN.dpufThe first conversation is about the buyer’s journey, he said. “The sales and marketing funnel we’ve all grown to love and invest in is flawed in many, many steps along the way,” he said.

Wilson said three aspects are transforming the buyer’s journey: The ease of accessing information when researching products and services; the ability to connect on social networks with peers who can influence buying decisions; and the “consumerization” of the b2b buying experience.

The second big marketing conversation is about Big Data and the implications for marketers, including hiring the right people to analyze all the data and use it to inform marketing efforts, Wilson said.

The third conversation is about content marketing. “It has never been easier to get a message in front of a decision-maker,” he said. “The challenge is, decision-makers have never been better at parsing out irrelevant messages and poor content.”

Since he joined Avaya as CMO almost a year ago, Wilson has put a strong content-marketing program into place, including the creation of an editorial team and a publishing team to create and deliver content and new content offerings, such as a 44-page monthly print and online magazine featuring customer case studies and a 160-page guide to enterprise collaboration.

In the last six months, Avaya has seen a quadrupling in the number of pages viewed on company blogs, and a 30% quarter-over-quarter growth in social media engagement, he said.