The Sand-Mill Model: shaping the Customer Journey

In this article, we will see how the Sand-Mill Model works.

It is a framework composed of a Hopper, a Wheel, and the Advocacy Base, three elements that reproduce the dynamics of the toy we all played with on the beach as children: the sand mill, or “sand-mill”.

Che cos’è il Sand-Mill Model

If you work in marketing, you know: acquiring a new customer is much more expensive and difficult than reselling to a satisfied customer.
Yet many companies focus their strategies on acquiring new customers and neglect the value of the relationship with acquired customers.

After studying in depth which frameworks have been used over time to shape Customer Journeys, I identified strengths and weaknesses in each of them.
I then tried to "connect the dots" and find a common thread, a framework to support marketers in building effective journeys.

The Sand-Mill Model is the result of this work. It is a framework to implement inbound marketing and build strategies for proactive management of Customer Journeys.

Focuses on elements such as:

• The context in which Customer Journeys take shape, as combinations of touchpoints that are always unique and different from each other
• The role of Funnels (and the content they consist of) in aligning these Customer Journeys with the sales path built by the company
• The cyclical relationship between company and customer, enabled by Marketing Automation, personalization, and Conversational Marketing
• The fact that "Referral" is not the final stage of the Customer Journey: companies must start maximizing the touchpoints that users can generate at every stage of the relationship.

The components of the Sand-Mill Model

The Sand-Mill Model is a system that takes into account 4 elements:

• The Sea of Micro-Moments where Customer Journeys take shape.
• The Funnel, which identifies the path through which brands can guide users from awareness to purchase.
• The Reacquisition Wheel which represents the continuation of the relationship between brand and customer, which can turn into a more profitable relationship; each spin of the Wheel represents a new purchase. Brands can strategically define reacquisition cycles, work to remove frictions, engage users more, and make these spins faster.
• The Advocacy Base consists of the set of contact points generated by the "fan-base" that supports the brand and is its true strength. Satisfied users can create touch-points that accumulate on this base and interact with other users in the Sea of Micro-Moments.

 

You can download the free ebook preview by clicking here.

 

The characteristics of the Sand-Mill Model

It is contextualized in the Sea of Micro-Moments

Today's customer journeys (all different from each other) take shape in the Sea of Micro-Moments and consist of a sequence of touch-points, points of contact between companies and consumers.

It is precisely within this context that companies, to exist, must build a content path capable of attracting and retaining users, providing value.
In short: the Funnel can no longer be understood as a sterile isolated construct, but it is essential to contextualize it.

 

Users can enter at any stage of the Funnel

We all know the Funnel: it is the path that allows us to align The sales funnel (built by the company) with the purchase path that the consumer is following.
It is made up of content divided into stages that reflect the user's level of awareness of the company's offer.
One peculiarity: that of the Sand-Mill Model is not a one-way funnel where users only enter from the top. It is a Funnel immersed in the Sea of Micromoments and therefore users can enter and exit at any stage.

With this awareness, strategists will be able to define the right content and the right lead magnets to be able to attract and convert users in each phase of their (personal) customer journey, identifying objectives and level of awareness regarding the market and the company's offer.

Once users become contacts in our Funnel, we can use automated communications and retargeting to take them by the hand and guide them towards the next steps of their Customer Journey.

After the moment of purchase, leads become customers and enter the Rebuy Wheel.

Separate prospects (in the Funnel) and customers (in the Wheel)

Users enter the Wheel after the moment of purchase, when they transform from leads into customers.

If the Funnel represents a cost (the cost of customer acquisition), in the Rebuy Wheel revenues.

Our ability to increase the number of rotations allows us to maximize the Life Time Value: each of them represents a new purchase.

This awareness enables us to develop strategies for different user segments, based on spending volume, monitoring of behavioral data, and purchase history.

This makes communication in the Reacquisition Wheel increasingly personalized and effective.

The Sand-Mill Model is supported by the Advocacy Base 

The Advocacy Base has a real support function for the entire system: it ensures its solidity and sustainability of results over time.

Today, the initial attractiveness of a brand is influenced by the presence of satisfied consumers and users who support it.

The Advocacy Base is therefore made up of the touch-points that are created and spread in the Sea of Micro-Moments, by those prospects (in the Funnel) and customers (in the Wheel) united by a positive sentiment towards the brand.

Among these touchpoints are reviews, posts on social networks and in communities, direct product recommendations.

Users navigating the Sea of Micro-Moments, in different stages of their Customer Journey, can come into contact with the touchpoints that make up the Advocacy Base and be influenced by them, deviating their path towards the Funnel.

This awareness, at a strategic level, leads us to identify which are the most effective user-generated touch-points in our strategies and to implement campaigns, initiatives, and automations useful to stimulate their generation.
Examples include referral programs, automations to request reviews, building brand communities, and organizing contests to stimulate user-generated content and touchpoints.

What is the Sand-Mill Model

The Sand-Mill model is a framework that allows companies to:

• Map and understand customer journeys.
• Maximize inbound marketing and marketing automation.
• Adopt an effective logic in developing strategies for managing Customer Journeys.
• Build repurchase cycles to maximize the Life Time Value of acquired customers.
• Stimulate the generation of touch-points by users in support of the entire marketing strategy.

Start using it in your company or for your project.
The first step? Download for free the preview ebook of the Sand-Mill Model!