Unleash Business Success by Understanding the Marketing Funnel

Awareness

There is a lot of debate about whether marketing funnels are still relevant. However, it is important to understand how the process of becoming a customer works to make sure your business is on the right track.

The first stage of the marketing funnel is awareness, where potential customers discover your product or service. This is typically done through social media advertising, SEO, and content like blog posts and eBooks.

It is important to use tools like Semrush to help you find what terms your potential customers are using when searching for products and services online. This will help you target keywords that are likely to have high-awareness searches.

Once potential customers are aware of your brand, they may move on to the next stage of the funnel, which is interest. In this stage, potential customers begin looking into specific features or benefits of your products or services. This is where it is helpful to create educational content that can be found via search engines. This is the best way to capture the attention of interested leads.

Interest

The top of the funnel, also known as the awareness or discovery stage, is where potential customers become familiar with your business and its products. You may reach this audience through social media posts, ad campaigns, or blog content. At this point, you’re trying to get people interested in your brand and the problems it solves.

This can be a tricky part of the funnel because it’s easy to lose customers before they even purchase anything. However, you can help your prospects move through the interest stage by offering valuable content that highlights your product benefits and business ethos.

Some marketers have tried to make the marketing funnel more accurate by turning it into a flywheel, which emphasizes how each aspect of the customer journey impacts other aspects. For example, if you improve one area of the funnel, it will positively affect the others. In the case of a marketing flywheel, this can mean more sales and customer loyalty. It’s also a great way to divide up responsibilities between marketing and sales teams. Having clear ownership can help both departments work together to convert leads into customers.

Desire

This is where the marketing team shares information about products or services that can satisfy the wants and needs of prospects. This can be done through email campaigns, search engine optimization (SEO), and other content like blog posts, videos, and infographics.

At this stage, prospects are generally looking for more information about your product or service than what’s available at the top of the funnel. Use tools like Semrush to find out what keywords your prospects are searching and then focus on generating content around those words. This might include downloadable eBooks, webinars, or other educational materials.

This stage is also where you might see salespeople taking a more active role, especially for B2B companies. For B2C companies, this is often the point where a trial offer or promo code can be extended to prospective customers. The bottom of the funnel is also where loyalty and advocacy can be nurtured, with customers being encouraged to purchase again and recommend your brand to friends. This is a great way to generate ongoing revenue.

Action

Ultimately, the goal of top-funnel marketing is to generate interest in a company’s products and services. This includes social media campaigns, search engine optimization (SEO) and content like blog posts or white papers.

The middle of the funnel, or MOFU, involves educating prospects on how your product can solve their problems. This stage requires nurturing, so consider using lead scoring to prioritize leads that are purchase-ready and then sending them to a sales rep for follow up.

Bottom of the funnel strategies, or BOFU, are all about conversion. This includes creating online content that answers common questions, such as FAQ pages or a video series on how to use a product. Many marketers also focus on customer success stories, such as how a particular product helped a client reach their goals.

While lower-funnel activities may secure the quick sales that business leaders crave, they will not fuel long-term growth. Educating leadership on the brand-building impact of upper-funnel initiatives will instill confidence that investing in these efforts will eventually pay off. One way to do this is by measuring the latent sales impact of upper-funnel marketing, such as awareness and brand equity.

Loyalty

The marketing funnel model is a valuable tool for marketers. It’s a way to identify potential customers and track their progress through each stage of the journey. It can be used to create campaigns that target specific audiences and improve brand awareness, consideration, and conversion. It can also be used to develop a loyal audience and create ongoing relationships with customers.

The first step is to create a strong brand identity with consumers. This includes establishing a clear value proposition, providing product information, and developing a simple purchasing process. It is also important to provide a variety of payment options, and ensure that data security is in place.

Once a consumer has completed their purchase, they should be encouraged to make repeat purchases and recommend the brand to others. This is where loyalty programs and referral programs can help to encourage repeat sales and build long-term relationships.