Digital Marketing Funnel
Updated: Dec 24, 2022
The intention of every marketing strategy is to generate sales. Each advertising effort is dispatched with the sole reason for change which could be anything from clicking on a page to purchasing an item.
A marketing funnel is the most common and proven way of attempting to change over those individuals from the crowd into a customer and afterward persuade them to keep on buying items.
The marketing funnel is an essential model that addresses the whole purchasing excursion of the personas, from the second they know your image until the time they become clients or customers. This idea is generally utilized among sales reps yet has likewise turned into a major asset for the accomplishment of promoting activities.
AIDA Model
An effective marketing funnel must include stages right from attracting the suspects to converting them to leads and then nurturing them into customers, while it must also cater to retaining those customers.
Most funnels follow the AIDA approach. We are not diving into B2C or B2B approaches in detail, instead, we will stick to the marketing activities one needs to digitally take into account. While AIDA considers four major stages, there is a fifth stage that is crucial to businesses, after generating sales which would be customer retention.
The above AIDA Model recognizes the intellectual stages an individual goes through during the purchasing cycle of an item or administration. It's a purchasing funnel where buyers go forward and backward at each stage, to help them in making the last buy.
It's as of now, not a physical relationship absolutely between the purchaser and the brand as it used to be since online media has stretched out to accomplish the various objectives of AIDA through data added by different clients by means of informal communities and networks.
Brands utilize the AIDA model to decide the manner in which they should make and circulate promoting messages to their interest group at each phase of the purchaser's excursion.
Now let us see what goes with each stage of the funnel:
Awareness :
This is the stage where businesses create awareness of their brand without being pushy and analyze the segment of the audience. This is the stage where a lot of creative content is marketed in order to attract customers or prospects. They are considered suspects at this stage.
Content Marketing plays a key role at this stage along with the platform used to create awareness. Re-evaluation of both content and medium is necessary, use of appropriate KPIs like CTR is required to measure the success of this stage. For relevant metrics check our post on Marketing Metrics.
A few ways in which businesses create awareness :
Sponsored social media posts
SEO
Guest posting or guest podcasting
eBooks and whitepapers
Independent research
Webinars
Videos
Infographics
In-person events
For instance, You want customers to find your website when they search for information relevant to your brand online. So it is worth putting time into executing SEO best practices so you show up in web search tool results pages.
Counting the right data when your organization shows up on SERPs is critical.
Interest :
In this stage, it is known that the suspect has shown interest and turned into a lead who is attracted to the brand or its idea and wants to know more about it. However, they are still not prepared to make a purchase. It would be crucial for any business to build a relationship with the leads and understand their end goals. This can be done through content like feelers that foster the brand voice along with determining the lead's intent and end goals. Also keeping a close watch on what interests them in the content, and which links they click will help in building the relationship. Answering their queries and concerns will establish the brand as an expert in the field and assist in the smooth transition to the next stage.
Following are a few ways in which this can be achieved :
Email campaigns
Blog posts
Lead magnets
Chatbots
Social media accounts
Free trials
Retargeting campaigns
For instance, blog posts flash intriguing items that grandstand the ability of the brand in a connecting way. A decent method to maintain and expand on their advantage is to get them to buy your pamphlet and later send them applicable items via email.
Desire :
At this stage of the funnel, the lead has intentions to make a purchase but is not 100% sure. This is when the lead turns into a prospect, as they think of the budget, impact of buying, and post-buying effects. This is when the business showcases the prospects, the benefits of making the purchase by highlighting the positive outcomes of the buy compared to not buying. This is the stage when a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) turns into a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) depending on their interest.
Following are some content types that can be used to escalate the desire:
Testimonials
Pricing pages
Case studies
Discount codes
Customer reviews and product recommendations
Live demos or tutorial webinars
Consultations
Product comparisons
For instance, hearing directly from your existing customers can be incredibly persuasive when buyers are still considering whether you are right for them.
Action :
This is the stage where the lead actually makes a purchase. The business must make sure that the lead is provided with enough materials to fit into the customer category. It should not be only about closing a deal. If the business wants to make progress then at this stage it must provide enough support to the customer in understanding the usage of the product or service they have bought or any kind of post-buying assistance. At this stage, the sales team is in action and the processes henceforth fall under BOFU (Bottom of the Funnel).
Following are a couple of tests :
Insider or client achievement tips
Uncommon offers
Item execution or preparing online classes
Packaged bundles
Follow-up email crusades
A Call to Action (CTA) that is well composed, outwardly engaging, and stands apart on your site page is the way to getting clients to at last change over. This could be through pursuing a free preliminary, booking a demo, or guaranteeing a markdown.
Retention :
Brand royalty goes in hand with customer loyalty. At this stage, content must add value to the customer beyond just sales. The focus must be on long-term relationships. Referrals and word-of-mouth are influenced at this stage.
Following are a few ways :
Referral programs
Upsell campaigns
Re-engagement email campaigns
Product-specific webinars and tutorials
Live demonstrations
Anatomy of Digital Marketing Funnel
Funnel concepts are so crucial in any Digital Marketing Strategy. Now based on funnel segment positions we can classify the users into TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU.
TOFU: Top of the Funnel Users
This stage is where problem/need recognition happens. Businesses can attract users if they have identified user needs and are able to provide a solution that can add value to the customer. At times users may not know the solution to the problem when businesses can tap into this area.
MOFU: Middle of the Funnel Users
This stage involves information search and careful evaluation. When a business approaches a user with various solutions, the user performs a lot of information searches to identify the right solution. Once the user has identified the solution for their problem/need, they will tend to evaluate these solutions with alternatives in the market. This is when businesses can create content appealing to the user in making a purchase decision. Usually, this journey begins with engagement to nurturing to turning strong prospects or Sales Qualified Leads (SQL).
BOFU: Bottom of the Funnel Users
This stage involves some action i.e. a purchase decision. After a lot of scrutiny, a user moves to the purchase decision stage. Businesses can provide additional content that will make the users feel confident in making the purchase. At this stage, negative reviews and comments from other customers can prove to be a setback for the purchase. Businesses have to take measures to improve on these comments and feedback so that they don’t lose loyal customers.