Chasing Growth, Fix the Funnel First

Plus - The one tip that never leaves the list

June 10, 2026

Uncover the strategic secrets of global B2B marketing with Doug Jones, Director of Global Marketing at Aerotech.

Most marketing strategies for SMBs fail because they’re built on vague goals, siloed thinking, and a lack of strategic clarity. Doug reveals how Aerotech leverages detailed strategy maps, gap analyses, and a meticulous 47-point framework to consistently hit ambitious targets. If you’re a marketer looking to move beyond tactical chaos and develop a scalable, strategic attack plan, this episode is a must-watch.

Fast Funnel Fixes

Your audience is smart and they’re short on time. If they land on your opt-in page and get generic content, they’re gone.

Tell them exactly what you are sending, how often and why
Example: Get our once monthly newsletter for growth marketers focused on results with emerging resources, stats and AI tips. Subscribers who know what to expect have lower unsubscribe rates.

Go through your own funnel…often
Sign up and get that welcome email. Does it deliver on the promise? Whether it was a PDF download, a video. Do all the links work? This is good practice quarterly. Also, if you wouldn’t want the second email, neither do they. Edit and adjust.

Evaluate the value and your CTAs
If your emails are mostly "pick us, buy this" then you're burning trust. Case studies, stats, resources, useful frameworks, these are what you need. Giving away knowledge is how you actually build the relationship. People buy from brands they like and trust. Save the hard CTA for after you've given them something worth reading. One clear next step per email. Want a demo? Want a reply? Ask.

Track clicks, not opens
Opens are increasingly unreliable. Apple MPP inflates them, bots push them. Clicks are intent. Clicks tell you who's actually engaged and what they care about. Set up click-based segmentation so your hottest leads get treated differently than cold ones. And if a subscriber hasn't clicked anything in 90 days, that's a re-engagement flow.

Use behavior-based automation
Drip sequences that go based on the calendar are fine. But sequences that go based on what someone clicked, downloaded or visited? That's where the ROI lives. If someone clicks your pricing page link in email 3, they shouldn't get email 4 about brand awareness, they should get a sales follow-up.

And a tip that will always be on this list: Remove unengaged subscribers.
Keep your list clean!

Klaviyo

It’s behavior-based flow builder is great for any marketer who wants to stop sending the same email to everyone and start sending the right one to the right person at the right moment.

  • Click-triggered flows so engaged subscribers get a different path

  • Predictive analytics that flag who's about to churn before they do

  • A/B testing at the flow level, not just subject lines

  • SMS + email in one automation

  • Deliverability dashboard built in