Digital Marketing Funnel Stages
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Pathlabs Marketing |
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April 7, 2023 |
Do you need help to build trust with your target audience? One way to address this challenge is through funnel-stage marketing, which involves mapping out the customer journey and creating campaigns that align with each stage of the funnel.
In this guide, we'll walk you through the digital marketing funnel stages and provide tips on defining KPIs and planning campaigns that resonate with your audience at each stage of their journey. We wrote this guide to assist you in optimizing your campaigns and establishing trust with both potential and existing customers.
What Is Sales Funnel Marketing?
Sales funnel marketing is a model that describes the journey a customer takes from the initial stage of awareness to the final stage of conversion. We describe this journey as the digital marketing funnel. While the funnel is typically divided into three stages - Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion - some marketers also include a fourth stage: Customer Retention.
What Are the Digital Marketing Funnel Stages?
Awareness
The first stage of the funnel is all about getting your brand in front of your target audience. At this stage, potential customers may still need to learn about your business, so creating content that grabs their attention is essential. Blog posts, social media updates, paid social, paid search, and search engine optimization (SEO) techniques can help attract potential customers to your website. A well-rounded digital marketing strategy should include a mix of both content creation and advertising to attract, engage, and convert potential customers.
Consideration
Once your audience knows your brand, it's time to engage with them. This stage is about creating content that builds trust and credibility with your target audience. Case studies, customer reviews, and email campaigns can engage potential customers and encourage them to consider your products or services. In the consideration stage, you can use retargeting ads to remind potential customers of your products or services. In the conversion stage, you can use ads to encourage potential customers to take action, such as offering a special promotion or discount.
Conversion
In the third stage, potential customers are ready to make a decision. You aim to make it as easy as possible for them to convert. This stage involves creating content that convinces potential customers to take action, such as landing pages with clear calls to action or special offers.
Customer Retention
After conversion, it’s all about building a long-term relationship with your customers. So, for the purposes of this article, we’ll include a fourth stage focused on building long-term relationships with customers. At this stage, you aim to keep your customers happy and engaged, encouraging them to become brand ambassadors and make repeat purchases. Content marketing, email newsletters, and social media updates can help keep your customers engaged and loyal.
To use ads for retention, you can create targeted campaigns that focus on providing value and building loyalty with existing customers. For example, you can use retargeting ads to remind customers of products they have previously purchased or offer personalized promotions based on their past behavior. You can also use ads to promote your loyalty program or encourage customers to leave reviews and share their experiences with your brand. By continuing to engage with and provide value to your existing customers, you can increase the likelihood that they will remain loyal and continue to make repeat purchases.
Why Is a Full-Funnel Approach So Important?
A full-funnel approach ensures that your campaign aligns with each stage of the funnel, from awareness to conversion. By taking this approach, you ensure that your marketing efforts reach potential and existing customers at every stage of their journey, building trust and credibility.
“Using a full-funnel marketing approach is like planting a tree: you start with a seed, give it water and sunlight, and watch it grow into a sturdy tree. Thinking full-funnel nurtures your audience, builds brand loyalty, and helps you reap long-term benefits. But, like a tree, it takes time and patience to see results.”
How to Optimize Campaigns for Each Stage of the Marketing Funnel
To effectively target potential customers throughout the marketing funnel, optimizing your campaigns for each stage is essential. Here are some tips:
Top of Funnel: Awareness
At the top of the funnel, the goal is to create brand awareness and attract potential customers who may need to become more familiar with your brand or products. Creating content that speaks to your target audience's pain points and needs is essential to optimize your campaigns.
Some tips for optimizing your top-of-funnel campaigns include:
Conduct market research to identify your target audience's pain points and needs.
Create content, such as blog posts, infographics, and videos, that speaks to those pain points and needs.
Use SEO techniques to ensure your content is easily discoverable on search engines.
Use social media advertising to reach potential customers who may have yet to hear of your brand.
Middle of Funnel: Consideration
In the middle of the funnel, your goal is to engage potential customers and encourage them to consider your products or services. Creating content that provides value to your target audience, such as case studies, customer reviews, and educational content, is crucial to optimize your campaigns.
Some tips for optimizing your middle-of-funnel campaigns include:
Create content that showcases the benefits of your products or services, such as case studies and customer success stories.
Use retargeting campaigns to re-engage potential customers who have already shown an interest in your brand or products.
Consider offering free trials or demos to encourage potential customers to try your products or services.
Use email marketing to nurture relationships with potential customers and provide them with valuable information and resources.
Bottom of Funnel: Conversion
At the bottom of the funnel, the goal is to convert potential customers into paying customers. To optimize your campaigns, creating landing pages with clear calls to action and special offers that encourage potential customers to take action is important.
Some tips for optimizing your bottom-of-funnel campaigns include:
Create landing pages that are specific to each product or service you offer.
Include clear calls to action on your landing pages, such as "Buy Now" or "Sign Up Today," on your landing pages.
Consider offering special promotions or discounts to incentivize potential customers to purchase.
Use retargeting campaigns to remind potential customers about products or services they've shown an interest in.
By optimizing your campaigns for each stage of the marketing funnel, you can effectively target potential customers and increase your chances of converting them into paying customers.
“Time and time again, I see advertisers make one big mistake when media planning. They invest only in low funnel campaigns. It might be the right strategy in the short run, but choosing the full-funnel approach is key to long-term media planning and scaling a business.”
Defining KPIs for the Digital Marketing Sales Funnel Stages
Once you've educated your clients on the importance of a full-funnel approach to digital marketing, it's time to define your key performance indicators (KPIs) for each stage of the funnel. Align each step with your KPIs so you can measure your progress and ensure your efforts are working towards the client's goals.
Let's take a closer look at each stage of the digital marketing funnel and the KPIs you should be tracking:
Awareness Stage KPIs:
The funnel's first stage is about introducing your brand, product, or service to your target audience. Your KPIs at this stage should focus on increasing brand awareness and getting your message in front of as many people as possible.
Some key metrics to track include:
Impressions: This measures the number of times your target audience sees the ad.
Reach: This measures the number of unique individuals who saw your ad.
Click-through rate (CTR): This measures the number of clicks your ad received divided by the number of impressions. It's a good indicator of how compelling your ad is.
Consideration Stage KPIs:
Once you've introduced your brand to your target audience, it's time to engage and educate them. Your KPIs at this stage should focus on nurturing your audience and encouraging them to develop feelings and opinions about your brand.
Some key metrics to track include:
Engagement rate: This measures the number of likes, comments, and shares your content receives.
Time on site: This measures how long visitors spend on your website. It's a good indicator of how engaging your content is.
Pageviews per session: This measures the number of pages a visitor views during a single session on your website.
Conversion Stage KPIs:
The final stage of the funnel is all about driving action. Your KPIs at this stage should focus on getting your audience to take specific actions, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.
Some key metrics to track include:
Conversion rate: This measures the percentage of visitors who take the desired action.
Cost per conversion: This measures how much you spend to achieve each conversion.
Return on ad spend (ROAS): This measures how much revenue you're generating for every dollar you spend on advertising.
By defining your KPIs for each stage of the funnel, you can track your progress, optimize your campaigns, and ensure that you're delivering results for your clients. Remember to regularly report your progress to your clients and adjust your strategies as needed to ensure you're on track to meet your goals.
How to Get Clients on Board With Full-Funnel Approach
Implementing a full-funnel marketing strategy requires buy-in from your clients. Here are some tips and best practices for getting your clients on board with funnel-stage marketing:
Benefits of a Full-Funnel Strategy
Emphasize the benefits of a full-funnel approach, including:
Increased brand awareness
Higher quality leads
Improved customer retention
Increased Brand Awareness
Targeting potential customers at the top of the funnel can:
Introduce them to your brand
Establish your brand as a trustworthy authority
Increase engagement
Improve brand recognition and recall
Higher Quality Leads
Focusing on the middle of the funnel can:
Engage with potential customers
Build relationships with them over time
Increase the likelihood of conversion
Improved Customer Retention
Continuing to engage with customers even after they've made a purchase can:
Foster loyalty
Encourage repeat business
Be achieved through email marketing, social media advertising, and personalized retargeting campaigns.
Presenting Your Marketing Plan
Present your marketing plan in a way that resonates with your clients' business goals and challenges. This will help address common objections to full-funnel marketing, such as:
Budget constraints
Lack of resources
Skepticism about the effectiveness of the approach
By defining KPIs for each stage of the funnel, you can demonstrate the value of a full-funnel approach and show how it can help achieve your clients' business goals.
Of course, your clients may still be skeptical about the effectiveness of a full-funnel approach. That's why it's essential to present your marketing plan in a way that resonates with your business goals and challenges.
FAQ: Full-Funnel Digital Marketing
Why is it important to align advertising KPIs to funnel stages?
Aligning KPIs to funnel stages helps digital marketers strategically plan for every stage of the user journey. It helps to align goals, tactics, and creative efforts, nurture audiences, and work towards fulfilling business goals.
What are the stages of the digital marketing funnel?
The digital marketing funnel stages are Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion.
Are conversion-stage-only campaigns okay?
Focusing only on the bottom of the funnel might bring someone to your client's site after seeing an ad. But it is likely short-sighted. A holistic approach, focusing on every stage of the funnel, helps to capture a wider audience, stay top of mind, create trust and familiarity, educate, convince, and then finally convert or hit the final action-oriented goal.
How do I leverage all digital marketing funnel stages to create trust?
Nurturing your client's audience through all digital marketing funnel stages provides ample opportunity for consumers to recognize the brand, decide if the brand is on the up and up, make a confident purchase, and become repeat and loyal customers.
In Conclusion…
Now that you have a better understanding of the digital marketing funnel stages, you can start planning campaigns that resonate with your audience at each stage of their journey. Remember to define KPIs for each stage and track your progress over time to ensure you meet your goals. By adopting a full-funnel approach to marketing, you can build trust with potential and existing customers and drive long-term success for your business. Happy funneling!
