Although marketing strategies vary, one element remains universal: the marketing funnel. Comprehending your marketing funnel is crucial for pinpointing the most effective content and strategies to guide customers through their journey. This article will deconstruct the marketing funnel, explaining its significance for your business, its necessity, and how to utilize it for maximum success.
Contents
- What is the marketing funnel?
- Why is the marketing funnel important?
- What are the stages of the marketing funnel?
What is the marketing funnel?
The marketing funnel illustrates the customer journey from initial brand unfamiliarity to conversion. Commonly divided into four stages, the specific number and names can differ depending on the source. A widely recognized model includes:
- Awareness
- Interest
- Desire
- Action We’ll delve deeper into these phases later.
The funnel shape visually represents the natural customer drop-off throughout the journey. Not everyone who becomes aware of your brand will become a customer. The objective is to maximize the number who do.
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Why is the marketing funnel important?
A marketing funnel is essential because most individuals are not immediately prepared to buy. This holds true across industries, with varying degrees. Today, with extensive choices and research tools, this is even more relevant. Let’s examine how the marketing funnel addresses this buying behavior.
Guides your content strategy
Content effectiveness varies across each buying journey stage due to differing customer intents. A marketing funnel enables the creation of a content marketing funnel, equipping you to guide leads effectively.
Increases conversions
Without a marketing funnel, you’re expecting a significant leap from brand awareness to purchase without guidance, resulting in low conversion rates. The marketing funnel starts with low-friction education, with each subsequent offer requiring incremental commitment. This increases conversion rates at each stage, leading more leads to conversion.
Identifies problem areas
The marketing funnel breaks down the conversion action into smaller steps, allowing for benchmark conversion rates at each stage. This enables monitoring and adjustment. For example, low demo conversion rates despite high-quality leads may indicate a need to revisit bottom-funnel and sales enablement content.
What are the stages of the marketing funnel?
Now that you understand the marketing funnel’s importance, let’s review its stages and corresponding marketing strategies. Note that content formats like blog posts, PDFs, web pages, ads, emails, and videos remain consistent across stages; the topic shifts.
Awareness stage
At the awareness stage (top of funnel or TOF), the consumer recognizes their pain points but not your business or even the offered product/service. Your goal is to illuminate the problem behind their symptoms, highlight solutions, and establish your presence. What the consumer is doing: Seeking information about their pain points online. Their informational keyword intent leads to searches like “how to increase/decrease/improve X” and “why is X happening.” Best strategies: Offer helpful advice and educate on the root problem using blog posts, ebooks, PR, events, newsletters, guest blogging, social ads for guides, display ads, and more. Example: My company, Hatch, offers a text automation platform for contractors. However, contractors in the awareness stage are more concerned with symptoms: unresponsive leads and burnt-out sales reps. We address this with a blog post on reasons your leads aren’t responding.
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Interest stage
Here, the customer understands the problem and potential solutions, including yours. Your goal is to pique their interest in your specific solution, not necessarily your brand yet. What the consumer is doing: Researching solutions. Their keyword intent remains informational but shifts from symptoms to solutions. Best strategies: Educate on various solutions and showcase your solution’s superiority. Utilize free trials, product guides, explainer videos, buying guides, and search ads. Example: Continuing with Hatch, the customer now understands that slow lead outreach is the problem behind unresponsive leads. A middle-of-the-funnel content piece would be this Speed to Lead Playbook, providing strategies for faster outreach, including automated texting (Hatch’s solution).
Desire stage
Now, the customer is interested in your solution. Your goal is to convince them that your brand is the best provider. What the consumer is doing: Evaluating your business against competitors, seeking recommendations, and reading reviews. Their keyword intent becomes commercial with searches like “reviews,” “compare,” “vs., “alternatives,” and “best.” Best strategies: Differentiate yourself from competitors using one-pagers, comparison pages, case studies, testimonials, internal battle cards, and reviews. A compelling brand story can also help you stand out. Example: In this stage, the Hatch example uses a post on Hatch vs. Podium to compare and contrast two texting platforms, highlighting their suitability for different businesses.
Action stage
Here, the customer believes your solution is the best. Your goal is to instill confidence for an immediate purchase. What the consumer is doing: Evaluating your offerings, comparing packages, calculating prices, and finalizing vetting. Their keyword intent is navigational (revisiting your site and review platforms) and transactional (seeking purchase information). Best strategies: Justify your pricing, create urgency, and appeal to emotions. Offer promotions, use compelling calls to action, and write persuasive copy. Example: For Hatch, this would involve the demo page or pricing page.
Maximize conversions with your marketing funnel
Understanding your marketing funnel is crucial for any business. Invest time in mapping it to boost conversions, enhance customer experience, and ultimately, acquire more customers. If you encounter challenges, we’re here to help you navigate each stage of your marketing funnel effectively.