If you have a business you need a marketing funnel. Why? Because marketing is all about building trust, rapport and providing value. It’s all about presenting your message at just the right time to the right set of eyes–and a marketing funnel, if built correctly, will warm up your leads and walk them through an irresistible journey and ends at the ultimate destination–conversion!
So you have a website–great! However, even if your website is super kickass, its only one piece of the buyer’s journey puzzle. If you’re driving paid traffic to your site and expecting customers to buy or call the moment they come in contact with your brand, then you’re basically taking your hard-earned ad spend and lighting it on fire. Just like any real-time relationship, you can’t ask someone to get married on the first date–your customers need to get to know your brand, find value and come to the conclusion that they need your product or service on their own.
That’s right: you need to guide your customers not disrupt them at every turn.
So What Exactly is a Marketing Funnel?
A marketing funnel is the journey you create for your customer. That’s it. From learning about your business to watching a video, downloading a piece of content to participating in a webinar, the entire journey should be mapped out thoughtfully and with your client avatar in mind. Your goals will vary but the overarching focus should include: building brand awareness and trust, instilling social proof, and creating a desire for your product or service. And of course it doesn’t hurt to be genuinely helpful and thoughtful, engaging delighting your audience as often as possible. Because we all want to be heard and paid attention to 😉
Main Components of a Marketing Funnel
1. Awareness (Top of the Funnel)
This is the stage when a potential customer becomes aware of your service or product. This can happen through advertisements, a Google search, or even word of mouth. At this stage of the funnel, you’re encouraging your audience to return to your site, engage with your brand and spend more time finding value with your content.
Examples of Top of the Funnel Content:
- Blogs
- Social media
- Landing pages
- Ebooks
2. Interest (Middle of the Funnel)
Once your potential customer reaches the interest stage within the funnel, they may run their own research and compare offerings from your competitors. Never be pushy with your product or service–no one likes a relentless salesperson! At this stage keep it classy, keep the customer engaged and put your best foot forward.
Examples of Middle of the Funnel Content:
- Lead Magnets
- Newsletter Campaigns
- Case Studies
- Webinars
- Videos
3. Decision (Bottom of the Funnel)
This is the stage of the marketing funnel when your potential customer is closer–perhaps even on the brink–of making a purchase. For a first time buyer audience, we recommend a low barrier to entry product or service. Though it has been known to happen, you simply cannot expect new customers to go for the whole enchilada (high ticket sale) the first time around. Instead, consider an enticing, high value but low cost item–an offer that they can’t refuse. Once money has changed hands and you’ve had a chance to prove your value, it will be much easier to sell to this customer again and again and again…
Examples of Bottom of the Funnel Content:
- Special (limited time!) offers
- Contests & Giveaways
- Complimentary Training
- Free Trials
- Introductory Incentives
4. Action and Refinement
The last component of a well-oiled marketing funnel is action: this is where your where your warm lead becomes an active customer. Reaching the bottom of the funnel does not mean that the process is complete. It’s important to stay top of mind, continue to listen actively, improve your customer service and continue to delight your clients at every turn. By nurturing your customers, going the extra mile and valuing their feedback you are building brand ambassadors for life! You can increase customer retention by expressing gratitude,making yourself available to fans and recognizing brand loyalty as often and creatively as possible.
- Surveys
- Nurture Sequence Emails
- Ratings & Reviews
- Feedback
- Referral bonuses
- Gifts! Because everyone loves presents.
Benefits of a Marketing Funnel
There are countless benefits to having a marketing funnel in place. It can simplify the customer journey and, when applied with proper strategy, it can help you reach your goals at a quicker clip. Other benefits to a marketing funnel include:
- An increase in conversion rates
- Creating a fully automated funnel so it saves time and effort
- Helps to identify problem areas within the business
- Provide helpful details and insights on customer behavior
If you would like to build a journey for your audience, increase conversions and turn past client into return customers send us a message.
