Before we explore the best marketing funnel strategies, let us understand the “marketing funnel” process. A marketing funnel is a strategic visualization of the customer journey from lead to committed buyer. It shows the various steps that a prospective customer takes to move from one stage to the next.
A marketing funnel is designed based on the four stages of a typical buyer journey – AIDA (Attention Interest Desire Action). Visually, a traditional marketing funnel could look like this:
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Customers today are more informed, more connected and more empowered, thanks to digitalization and online channels. The growth of digital marketing and growing consumption of content on digital devices has led to modifications in the traditional AIDA model of a marketing funnel. The ideal digital marketing funnel has five key stages, covering customer acquisition and retention. These stages are:
A digital marketing funnel can be represented visually as under:
This concept can also be represented by mapping each stage of the customer journey at different parts of the funnel:
This approach can be shown below:
It must be borne in mind that regardless of how the specific stages of the marketing funnel are identified or labelled, the function of the funnel remains the same: Attract, Engage and Convert all possible leads to become customers.
A “marketing funnel” reflects the state of mind of the consumer during the entire purchase cycle. This state of mind is not static or predictable and can take several forms and shapes before the customer even begins to consider the company’s product or brand.
From the company’s point of view, a marketing funnel is a valuable tool for the marketing team to design plans to attract, engage and convert potential customers through relevant marketing material. It is valuable because it is a measurable activity and can help prevent customer leakages, i.e., customers dropping out at different stages before buying.
Customer purchase behaviour has changed dramatically over the last few years, particularly post 2019, due to the impact of the Covid pandemic. The marketing funnel has also taken on greater importance in recent years because of the growth of digital marketing, which makes it possible for marketers to focus on individual consumers at a very granular level and develop measurable means of promoting brands.
To get the maximum benefit out of its marketing funnel, the company should have a full-funnel strategy that helps it get a 360-degree view of the customer journey, build lasting relationships and offer better brand experiences.
To do this, the company must start by defining its buyer personas or profiles. The goals of each persona should be matched with company goals, and the company should identify the right channels to reach and engage these customers.
Let us now examine a few top-of-the-funnel marketing strategies that will help companies effectively map the entire customer journey and gain several benefits:
Strategy 1: Place customers at the heart of the marketing funnel
Strategy 2: Define the objectives of each stage of the marketing funnel
Strategy 3: Create a meaningful customer journey
Strategy 4: Establish outcomes (KPIs) for each stage of the marketing funnel
Strategy 5: Use different marketing channels for different stages
Strategy 6: Focus on the complete brand experience
Strategy 7: Use SEO optimization and CRM tools
The Top Of The Funnel (TOFU) segment is the most important segment of the funnel because it generates customer leads at the very start of the customer cycle and helps the brand engage potential customers.
The TOFU segment drives brand awareness, educates potential customers and creates excitement around the brand that captures the attention of the customer.
A smart company uses smart and relevant content at the TOFU stage to be visible to potential customers and move these potential customers to the BOFU stage faster, which helps it save money and time.
The risk of low or zero conversion at this stage is very high. The company should focus on conversion rates rather than higher-level engagement rates. The major tools or content platforms that the company should use at this stage include:
Marketing funnels these days are becoming more “circular” shaped than “funnel-shaped” due to the high number of touchpoints and influencers at every stage of the purchase cycle. Customers may go directly to the purchase stage upon becoming aware of the product or company, or they may spend more time at the consideration stage evaluating several options before making a decision.
A marketing funnel is a valuable source of customer data, and every company needs to ensure that it has developed the correct metrics to judge and evaluate the effectiveness of every stage of the marketing funnel. Developing a seamless user experience is at the heart of every customer engagement and is a vital component of a company’s marketing funnel strategy. Every company today needs to place the customer at the centre of their business operations.
The marketing funnel is not the same as the customer journey process. The marketing funnel strategy should ideally be derived from the customer journey to understand and simplify the customer buying process, eliminate the maximum friction points and boost the ROI or effectiveness of the marketing funnel.
The company needs to look very closely at its customer journey, customer experience platforms and customer behaviour patterns to get total visibility of its customer base and identify opportunities that may not have been evident earlier. A well thought out and structured yet flexible marketing funnel strategy helps a company achieve its customer acquisition goals faster, with lesser investment and better ROI.
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