In today’s fast-paced digital world, businesses have to constantly be implementing initiatives to reach their target audience and drive more people to their brand. With so many competitors on the market, grabbing and keeping attention is only going to become harder. A crucial tool you need to organize and streamline these efforts is a digital marketing funnel.
We dive into what digital marketing funnels are, different types of funnels, the benefits of utilizing them, and tools you can use to manage them. With the right approach, you’ll see that funnels aren’t just for driving sales. They are what turns customers into loyal, repeat buyers.
What is a Digital Marketing Funnel?
A marketing funnel is a visual representation of each stage your buyer personas will go through before making a desired purchase or action. It helps businesses outline what needs to happen to transform a total stranger into a lifetime loyal customer.
Companies can guide people to their funnels through a variety of methods which we’ll go over. However, not all leads become customers. To increase the amount of people who move forward towards making a purchase, businesses should cater each stage of the funnel to exactly where a customer is in their buying journey.
For example, try to think about a time when you saw a product and immediately purchased it (we’re talking within seconds). Odds are that hasn’t happened to you for a long time, if ever. According to the University of Maryland, a consumer has to interact with your brand on seven separate occasions before making a purchase.
The job of a funnel is to make sure each of these seven interactions build upon the last, and continually develop trust between you and your customer. Building this credibility with them is what moves them forward through the different stages of the funnel.
Using a Funnel to Track your Customer Journeys
- Awareness: At this stage, potential customers become aware of your business for the first time. Your content should be catered to creating a lasting, positive first impression.
- Interest: This stage is about presenting your products or services as solutions to problems your customers have. Their interest starts to peak from valuable information you offer them.
- Desire: This is when customers seriously start to consider you as something they need. This is when you want to showcase the success of past customers, and prove that you’re a solution.
- Action: This is the final step when a customer makes a purchase. Your goal is to reassure them, thank them, and further prove that you’re a reliable resource in their life.
These four foundational stages are great for planning your funnel. Use them and consider how someone feels about your brand in that specific stage. Carefully consider what you want to include in your content and how it will provide them recognizable value.
As you continue to research and learn more about marketing funnels, you’ll quickly discover that multiple models exist. The important thing to remember is that the purpose of using a funnel is to provide your customers with a structured journey that leads them towards conversion.
Stages of a Funnel
No matter which framework you use to map out the customer journey, there will always be three core areas of the funnel you need to plan your marketing strategies around. Each of these separate areas have different objectives that will guide how you interact with your audience and move them towards conversion.
Top of the Funnel (TOFU)
This is where the customer’s journey begins. At this point they are making their first point of contact with your company and scoping everything out.
Goal: Create a Positive First Impression
Content Focus: Blogs, social media, videos, paid ads, lead magnets
Middle of the Funnel (MOFU)
In this stage they’re aware of your brand and now need further proof to establish that you can provide them value.
Goal: Showcase How you Solve Their Problem
Content Focus: Showcase reviews/testimonials, segmented email flows, consistent content that provides value
Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU)
This is where the final decision happens, and you give everything your audience needs to make a purchase.
Goal: CONVERT
Content Focus: Limited time discounts, exclusive offers, Post Purchase Engagement
Use a CRM to Manage your Funnel
To help you build and manage this structure, utilize a CRM. It is crucial that you don’t launch campaigns without having a system in place to keep track of their progress, measure results, and manage your leads. A CRM serves as your centralized headquarters where you can do all of that.
Examples of how a CRM helps streamline your funnel:
- Track Customer Behavior: A CRM allows you to look at your list of customers and see exactly where they are in the funnel. This visibility gives you what you need to create more targeted communication with them.
- Automate Responses: Make your life easier by setting up automated emails and messages to engage with your customers. You can set up messages to engage with them at different times and touchpoints. Whether that’s nurturing a possible lead over time with blogs, or sending personalized emails offering VIP access to regular customers, automation allows consistent communication with minimal effort.
- Measure Effectiveness: Track the performance of your campaigns overtime to see where it needs improving. The data within your CRM system will show you exactly what areas can be optimized to increase conversions.
3 Different Types of CRM Funnels for Marketing
Email Funnel
Setting up a structured series of automated emails to communicate with your customers is a great form of engagement. According to Optinmonster, 30% of marketers report email marketing as having the largest ROI. What that means is that the time and resources you put into email marketing will generate a higher return compared to other marketing efforts.
Examples of Email Marketing Funnels:
- Launch Campaign: A launch campaign is a great opportunity to engage the loyal customers of your brand. You can introduce the new product/service and showcase its benefits. This builds excitement and anticipation leading up to the launch.
- Holiday Promotions: The holiday season is a wonderful time to boost sales. Utilize this time to promote seasonal discounts, offers, and bundles. Since holidays only last for a limited time, it’s a great opportunity to include urgency-driven messages.
- Post Purchase: Once someone makes a purchase, their journey with you is not over. After the sale, send them messages like thank-you emails, tips on how to use the product, and ask for reviews. This keeps your brand on their mind and encourages repeat purchases.
- Long-term Nurture: For customers who engage but aren’t ready to buy, a long term nurture funnel keeps them engaged with your brand. Continually sending them valuable content like blogs, insights, recommendations, and guides will build your relationship over time and slowly position you as a reliable resource in their life. Eventually, when they’re ready, they’ll convert.
PRO TIP: SEGMENT YOUR LIST! Automated flows have higher conversion rates than campaign flows because they tend to go out to specifically segmented lists that were tagged on previous customer behavior. You can tag a person based on their specific interests and create content to send them about those interests, increasing the chance they’ll engage with it and will eventually convert.
Landing Page
Landing pages are great for driving traffic towards a specific action. Whether that’s scheduling during a limited time campaign, opting into receiving a lead magnet, signing up for an exclusive offer, or other brand initiative. A well-designed landing page focuses on leading visitors forward through the funnel.
Typically when planning a landing page you start with a strong call to action (CTA). That call to action should be the most noticeable, easiest thing to interact with, and the most prominent thing about your landing page.
Everything else-from design to copy should draw support and attention to this action. Offer valuable content and imagery that resonates with your target audience and clearly showcase the benefits of taking the action you’re asking them to.
Example of a Great Landing Page: The Farmer’s Dog
What makes this page successful?
- 5 Clear CTAs directing to the same place
- Customer Proof
- Copy that speaks to their target persona
- Clearly showcases the benefit of their product
- Simple yet effective imagery
Lead Magnet
A lead magnet can be a powerful way to connect with potential customers. By offering them specific, highly valuable information, you get their contact information and a potential lead. Your lead magnet needs to address a specific pain point for your target audience to prove to them that you have authority in the field.
- Lead Magnet Ideas:
- eBooks or Guides
- Free Trials
- Free Templates
- Checklists
- Webinars
- Helpful Infographics
Remember, your lead magnet should always be a splinter of your services. You want to give them a glimpse at the benefits you offer and make them excited to engage with your brand more. This strategy is extremely effective for lead generation.
What Are the Benefits of Using a Funnel?
Marketing funnels are the path that complete strangers take before turning into a paying customer. It allows you to lay out a strategic framework that fosters connections. Here are some additional key benefits of using a funnel:
- Specific Messaging: You can build funnels around specific interests and pain points of your target audience. By segmenting your customers based on these categories, you can engage them more effectively.
- Budget management: By tracking what strategies and campaigns drive the most conversions, you can focus your resources on the more successful initiatives. This maximizes your marketing efforts and allows for a more efficient use of time.
- Measurable Results: Funnel tracking is made easy within a CRM. You can easily see the metrics at each stage, analyzing the performance of content. You can see what works and what doesn’t, enabling you to adjust accordingly.
- More Conversions: The specific messaging and valuable data insights give you what you need to optimize your funnel for conversions. Continually look for ways to further personalize your funnels with content that resonates with your audience and drives results.
Don’t Forget to Optimize
The greatest part about using a CRM is that if you launch a funnel and you see something isn’t working, you can change it! Monitoring its performance and making small adjustments to content will help you build out each part of your funnel to better resonate with your audience.
The more you can target your audience’s specific needs, wants, goals, and aspirations the more conversions you’ll see. Which ultimately leads to growth! A CRM serves as a centralized place where you can manage all communications with customers in one place.
This not only streamlines your sales process but also enhances your ability to connect with customers and build relationships effectively. With the right tools and data, you can turn insights into action that will move your business forward.
If you’ve been wanting to implement a CRM or need other web development/digital marketing assistance, reach out to us! Our team is dedicated to setting up our clients for long term success. We’ll discuss systems you can set in place to streamline your operations and optimize customer engagement. Let’s turn your goals into actual growth!