A marketing funnel is one of the fundamental parts of the marketing process that describes a simple path that customers follow to make a purchase. It is a handy platform for communication and interaction with customers; when analyzed carefully, a marketing funnel will help its users know what a company needs to do to influence customers at this stage. This will help attract potential customers, increase sales, build loyalty, and increase brand awareness.
From what we have read above and what we will read below, it is clear and will become evident that a marketing funnel is necessary. However, the question is, how does it work? Does it have specific stages? Can it be better explained with an example? Well, yes, it is possible, and by the end of the blog, you will have the answers. So read on and find out the relevance of the content.
What is a marketing funnel?
A marketing chimney or sales funnel is a marketing model of the customer journey that represents customers’ buying stages after learning about a particular service, business or product. The shape of the funnel shows how the audience narrows as they move towards a purchase. While a company wants to minimize churn, it must accept that some people will leave at every stage. It always generates high-quality leads that will eventually come.
While the reality of the customer journey is complex, a marketing funnel can provide a simplified structure for marketers. It helps to understand the audience, adapt the approach if necessary, identify any weak points and address them along the customer journey, and contextualize all the marketing results. Together, they help create an effective strategy, leading to conversions or sales.
How does a marketing/sales funnel work?
A marketing funnel works as its name suggests. It starts wide, then narrows and focuses towards the end, forming a funnel shape. For example, a company’s website will have thousands of visitors, but only a certain percentage will research the products, and a smaller percentage will become customers.
As the sales funnel works, it helps to take direct action by guiding customers through the funnel process to ensure that they have a high probability of taking the desired action from the company.
Marketing Funnel Stages: With Examples
There is no generally accepted version of the sales funnel, as customers go through different stages on their way to purchase. However, below, we have tried to describe 4 stages of the marketing funnel, which include:
- Awareness or Brand Recognition Stage
- Consideration
- Conversion and
Awareness
The first stage begins with customer research. It involves ways to attract customers to the brand and then help them recognize and remember it. The goal is to keep the brand in the customer’s mind by using multiple customer touchpoints throughout the buying process.
The awareness created here can be achieved through television, digital advertising, social media campaigns, audio advertising, content marketing, etc.
Consideration
The goal is to increase customers’ likelihood of considering the brand and its products when purchasing. This is why you need to make sure that marketing messages solve a problem, try to highlight an interest or answer any questions that customers may have. Remember that customers are aware of the brand at this stage, which helps them differentiate it from others marketing funnel. Therefore, brands must educate and inform customers to help them understand how their product or solution will meet their needs.
Examples: Positive customer reviews, case studies, webinars, customer testimonials, etc.
Conversion/Decision or Purchase Phase
Here, the goal is still to get customers to purchase the service/product because they feel they have made the right decision by getting the solution they need. So, this stage is an opportunity for the brand to invest in a strategy to help it stand out in the category and differentiate itself from similar products.
In this case, creating a detailed website with product pages and offering exceptional customer service will be essential to build trust in customers when making a purchasing decision.
This stage is easy to measure, but remember that the previous two stages are essential because they directly impact customer conversion.
Loyalty
Loyalty can be increased through a seamless shopping experience or faster delivery of goods and services. For example, Starbucks offers free drinks based on customer surveys, which makes customers feel more satisfied. This helps them stay in the consumer’s mind when they have to choose between other brands.
It is important to have positive interactions during and after the purchase stage. This helps influence whether the buyer will become a repeat customer. Without any plan to build customer loyalty, brands will find it challenging to retain customers marketing funnel. Therefore, engaging with customers who invest in the brands’ services and products is essential to build loyalty.
To make engagement marketing effective, you can continue with social media activation, loyalty programs, or email loyalty campaigns. This will have an impact on increasing brand loyalty. Make sure to read the comparison between the top and bottom funnels.
Final Words
Now you know the entire funnel marketing strategy and how it helps increase awareness and conversion. Hopefully, this makes sense to you now and will be implemented later in the omnichannel journey marketing funnel. Trust us, and you will soon see the results yourself through brand awareness, duplicate or more purchases, increased consideration, etc. While counting the results, remember to customize your sales funnel to the user personality to make your strategy as effective as possible.