Three metaphors in B2B content marketing and how they can lead you astray. Content Marketing is guided by the language we use to describe our activities. So metaphors can really shape our thinking. Three in particular are widely used and can be misleading.

1. THREEPOISONOUS
METAPHORSIN
B2BMARKETING.

2. METAPHORSARE
POWERFULTHINGS
THATHELPUSMAKE
SENSEOFTHEWORLD.

3. BUTSOMETIMES
METAPHORSSTOP
WORKING. ANDLEADUSDOWN
THEWRONGPATHS.

4. THISISABOUTTHREE
METAPHORSTHATARE
CENTRALTOB2BMARKETING.

5. METAPHORSTHAT
AREBROKENBUT
ARESTILLBEING
USEDEVERYDAY.

6. IT’SIMPORTANTBECAUSE
PEOPLETENDTOFORGET
THATMETAPHORSARE
JUSTMETAPHORS. SOTHEYENDUPACTING
ASIFTHEMETAPHORS
WERETRUE.

7. ANDTHATLEADSTO
LAZYMARKETING.
MARKETINGTHAT
MAKESFATAL
ASSUMPTIONS.

8. THEFIRST
POISONOUS
METAPHOR…

9. THEFUNNEL.

10. INSOMEWAYS,
THEFUNNELIS
ANEFFECTIVE
METAPHOR. AFTERALL…

11. THERE
ARE
LOTSOF
POTENTIAL
BUYERSIN
THEWORLD…

12. ANDONLY
AFEWOF
THEMKNOW
ANYTHING
ABOUTYOU…

13. ANDEVEN
FEWER
ACTUALLY
MAKE
THEMSELVES
KNOWN…

14. ANDEVEN
FEWER
ENGAGE
WITHYOUR
SALES
PEOPLE…

15. ANDA
VERYFEW
ENDUP
BUYING.

16. SOWHAT’S
WRONGWITH
THEFUNNEL
METAPHOR? TWOTHINGS.

17. REAL-WORLD
FUNNELSBENEFIT
FROMGRAVITY.

18. AFORCETHAT,
IFYOUDONOTHING
ATALL,COMPELS
EVERYTHINGPUTINTO
THETOPTOFLOWOUT
THEBOTTOM.

19. THEB2BMARKETING
FUNNELWORKSIN
EXACTLYTHE
OPPOSITEWAY.

20. THEFORCESACTING
ONPROSPECTSTAKE
THEMAWAY FROMYOU,
NOTCLOSERTOYOU.

21. B2BMARKETING
FUNNELSSHOULD
REALLYBESHOWN
UPSIDEDOWN.

22. WENEEDTO
COUNTER THE
NATURALFORCES
THATDRIVE
PEOPLEAWAY
FROMUS.

23. REAL-WORLD
FUNNELSALSO
HAVEHARDSIDES.

24. THERE’SONLY
ONEWAYOUT.

25. B2BMARKETING
FUNNELSDON’T
WORKLIKETHAT.

26. THEREARE
THOUSANDS
OFWAYSOUT.
ANDONLYAFEW
THATLEADTOYOUR
SALESPEOPLE.

27. SOIFYOUMARKETASIF
THERE’SSUCHATHINGAS
GRAVITYANDBELIEVETHAT
YOURMARKETINGFUNNEL
ISHARDTOESCAPEFROM…
YOURMARKETINGWILLSUCK.

28. ASSUMINGTHATPEOPLEWILL
TUMBLEDOWNYOURFUNNEL
UNTILTHEYBUYSOMETHINGIS
JUSTPLAINWRONG.
IT’SJUSTA
METAPHOR.

29. THESECOND
POISONOUS
METAPHOR…

30. THEPURCHASE
JOURNEY.

31. YES,PURCHASEPROCESSES
AREKIND OFLIKEJOURNEYS.

32. PEOPLEWHOENDUPBUYING
STARTEDOUTREALLYFAR
AWAYANDNOWTHEY’RE
REALLYCLOSE.
LOOKSLIKEA
JOURNEYRIGHT?

33. NOPE.
REAL-WORLDJOURNEYS
HAVESOMEIMPORTANT
THINGSTHATB2BPURCHASE
PROCESSESDONOT.

34. PEOPLEONREAL-WORLD
JOURNEYSSTARTWITH
INTENTIONS.

35. THEYKNOWWHERETHEY
WANTTOGOBEFORETHEY
EVENSETOFF.
THEYBUYAMAP.
THEYPACKALUNCH.
THEYPEETHEKIDS.

36. REAL-WORLDJOURNEYS
ARESELF-MOTIVATED.
PEOPLEGOPLACESBECAUSE
THEYREALLYWANTTOGETTHERE.
THEYNEEDNOEXTRAINCENTIVE.

37. INCONTRAST,
B2BPURCHASERS
DONOTINTEND
TOBUYYOUR
PRODUCTS.
THEIRMOTIVATION
DOESN’TINCLUDE
YOU(UNLESSYOU
DOSOMETHINGTO
CHANGETHAT).

38. B2BPURCHASERS
AREGROPINGAROUND
INTHEDARK.
THINKINGABOUT
THEIROWN
PROBLEMS.

39. OCCASIONALLY,
THEYSTUMBLEOVER
SOMEKINDOFLUMP.
THATLUMP
ISYOU.

40. THEYMAYORMAY
NOTINVESTIGATE
THELUMP.
PROBABLYNOT.

41. IFTHEYDO,
THEYMAYORMAY
NOTGETINTOUCH.

42. ANDEVENIFTHEYGET
INTOUCH,THEIR‘JOURNEY’
HASJUSTBEGUN.
MOSTOFTHEM
WILLSTILL
WANDEROFF.

43. NOWYOUMAYCHOOSE
TOCALLALLTHISGROPING
ANDSTUMBLINGAJOURNEY.
(IWOULDN’T.)

44. BUTINB2B,BUYERSARE
NOTHEADINGYOURWAY
ALLONTHEIROWN.
THEYDON’THAVEAMAP.
THEYHAVEN’TPACKEDLUNCH.
THEYDON’TKNOWYOUEXIST.

45. ASSUMINGTHATPEOPLE
AREONAJOURNEYTOYOU
ISAFATALASSUMPTION.
IT’SJUSTA
METAPHOR.

46. THETHIRD
POISONOUS
METAPHOR…

47. THE“FOLLOWER”.

48. WHETHERIT’SONTWITTEROR
FACEBOOKORLINKEDINORGOOGLE+,
YOUR‘FOLLOWERS’AREN’TREALLY
FOLLOWING YOUANDTHEY’RENOT
YOUR‘FRIENDS’ ANDYOU’RENOT
REALLYINTHEIR‘CIRCLES’.

49. THOSEARE
METAPHORS.

50. INSOCIALMEDIA,THERE’S
ONLYONEWAYTOGET
PEOPLETOREALLYFOLLOW
YOUANDREALLYBEYOUR
FRIENDANDREALLYINVITE
YOUINTOTHEIRCIRCLES.

51. YOUHAVETOEARNIT.
WHICHISALOT
HARDERTHAN
GETTINGTHEM
TOCLICK‘FOLLOW’.

52. YOUR‘FOLLOWERS’ARE
STRANGERSWHOHAVE
GIVENYOU–ATBEST–
AMICROSECOND EVERY
MONTHORSOTOGETON
THEIRRADAR. THAT’SALL
THEYARE.

53. IFYOU’REBUSYCOUNTING
YOURFOLLOWERSAND
COLLECTING‘LIKES’,YOU’RE
IGNORINGTHETHINGTHAT
REALLYMATTERS.

54. THETHINGTHATREALLY
MATTERSINSOCIALMEDIAIS
EARNINGAREPUTATION
ASANINTELLIGENT,
CONSISTENT,ENTERTAINING
SOURCEOFINSIGHT.

55. IFYOUCANDOTHAT,TENOFYOUR
FOLLOWERSWILLBEWORTHTHE
MILLIONPHANTOMFANSOFTHAT
‘PERSONALBRANDGURU’WHO
PUMPSHISBANALEFFLUENTINTO
THETWEETOSPHEREEVERYHOUR,
ONTHEHOUR. YOUKNOWTHEGUY.

56. ‘FOLLOWERS’
AND‘FRIENDS’
AREMETAPHORS. LOOKBEHINDYOU.
SEEANYEAGERFACES,
AWAITINGYOURNEXTPOST?
ITHOUGHTNOT.

57. LET’SREVIEW.

58. FUNNELSAREN’T
REALLYFUNNELS.
THEYDON’T
HAVEGRAVITY
ANDTHEYDON’T
HAVEHARDSIDES.

59. PURCHASEJOURNEYS
AREN’TREALLYJOURNEYS.
YOURPROSPECTS
AREN’TSKIPPING
DOWNTHEYELLOW-
BRICKROADTOYOU.

60. YOURFOLLOWERS
AREN’TREALLYFOLLOWERS.
THEY’REJUSTPEOPLEWHO
AREDESPERATELYLOOKING
FORFOLLOWERS.

61. SOWHATDOES
THISMEAN?

62. ITMEANSYOUHAVETO
CREATETHEGRAVITY
INTHEFUNNEL.
THEFORCETHATIMPELS
PROSPECTSTOWARDSYOU.

63. ANDYOUHAVETO
BUILDTHEHARD
SIDESTHATKEEP
PEOPLEENGAGED.
MAKINGITHARDERFOR
THEMTOWANDERAWAY.

64. ANDYOUHAVETO
TURNTHELIGHT
ONSOTHEYSEE
WHERETHEYARE
ANDWHYTHEY
NEEDYOU.
SOTHEYSTOP
GROPINGAND
STUMBLINGAND
STARTLISTENING.

65. ANDYOUHAVE
TOEARNTHE
REAL ATTENTION
OFYOURSOCIAL
MEDIACONTACTS. SOTHEYSITUP
ANDTUNEIN
WHENYOUTWEET.

66. ANDYOUDOALL
THISWITHONE
EASY-TO-SAY
BUTNOTSO
EASY-TO-DELIVER
THING… DRUMROLL…

67. YOUDOITWITHCLEAR,
COMPELLING,INTERESTING,
USEFUL,PASSIONATE,FUN,
INTELLIGENT,ARTICULATE,
BEAUTIFUL,LOGICAL,
DISCOVERABLE,MAGNETIC…

68. CONTENT.

69. CONTENTTHATHELPS
PEOPLEDOTHEIRJOBS,
SOLVETHEIRPROBLEMSOR
SEIZETHEIROPPORTUNITIES.

70. THAT’STHEONLYTHING
THATFILLSFUNNELSAND
INCITESJOURNEYSAND
INSPIRESFOLLOWERS.

71. SODOMOREOFTHAT.
(ANDLESSOF
EVERYTHINGELSE).

72. THANKSFORCLICKING.

73. COMEANDGETSOME.
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sharpen yours.
TheB2BMarketing
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tantrum.
TheB2BContent
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if you’re a B2B marketer. It’s
pretty simple, really.