The customer is always right. This phrase has become the core motto of modern day marketing. Gone are the days where the business could treat their customers the way they wanted to. And primordial are the days, when customers had not many brands to choose from. Thanks to the saturating markets, increased customer awareness and growing internet usage, customer satisfaction has become the center of marketing. 

You can put your heart and soul on your business and creating a website for your products and services. However, if the results are not what you expected, you need to know that it is you who needs to change, not your customers.

According to the Rule of Seven, a buyer needs to hear your message seven times before they will take any action and make a purchase. However, in today’s agile marketing world, even the Rule of Seven seems outdated. So what is it that you need to do, to leave an impression on the audience and drive them into making a purchase? 

The answer is marketing funnel. A marketing funnel, also sometimes known as the conversion funnel, or sales funnel assumes that buying decisions are not winged, or made on a whim. Rather, it is the result of an ongoing, continuous exposure to a certain brand overtime.

The buyer first hears about the brand. Then they get to know a bit more about it, and seek information regarding that enterprise. Afterwards, they look for more information and make an informed decision to purchase a product or service from the brand. 

We will discuss the following subjects in this blog:

1. How Does a Marketing Funnel Work?
2. Why do we call it a Funnel?
3. Categories of the Marketing Funnel
4. Marketing Campaigns for Each Phase of the Funnel
5. Why Should You Go For Marketing Funnels
6. Content Marketing and Marketing Funnels
7. Conclusion

How Does a Marketing Funnel Work?

A buyer’s journey consists of: 

1. Problem or need recognition, 
2. Search for information, 
3. Evaluating the alternatives, 
4. Making the decision to purchase, 
5. And the post purchase behavior. 

This idea manifested itself in the form of conversion funnel. Marketing funnels are commonly based on the ‘AIDA’ model:

1. Awareness
2. Interest
3. Desire
4. Action

Why do we call it a Funnel?

Marketing does not mean pushing the product down people’s throats. People involved should not be coerced into buying right away. On the other hand, it begins with capturing leads or potential customers who are interested in your brand. It is obvious only a fraction of the leads will purchase your product. As the leads continue to advance through the different stages of the decision process, some will abandon the effort without making a purchase. In other words, the top of the funnel is designed to entice and reel in as many people as possible. It could be through newsletters, e-books and social media links, among others. 

Hence the crowd becomes thinner, and results in the visual representation of a funnel.

Categories of the Marketing Funnel

The marketing funnel can be divided into three distinct categories.

1. Top of the Funnel: awareness
2. Middle of the Funnel: consideration
3. Bottom of the Funnel: conversion

The goal of the marketing funnel is to guide buyers from the top to the bottom of the funnel. In the top part of the funnel a wide number of potential buyers are getting information about your brand. While on the bottom of the funnel qualified leads are making a purchase from you.

Top of the Funnel

The marketing funnel begins from the top where prospects become aware of your brand and begin to engage with it. It is wide and wants to catch as many prospective customers as possible. Every potential lead will fall into the top of the funnel. The top of the funnel is about increasing brand awareness, and earning the people’s trust. 

At this point, you are not going to be selling anything to the people. It is mainly concerned with creating brand recognition. For example, you can put a discount offer on your products. The discount will caste a broad net, and invite everyone who passes by your shop, or sees your promotion on their page.  You can create landing pages, infographics to introduce your page, share posts on your social media account as well.

Middle of the Funnel

The funnel narrow downs at this point as the qualified buyers are sieved through the top of the funnel. Potential buyers enter the middle of the funnel after they have engaged with your brand in a meaningful way. Your job and responsibility at this point is to support those potential buyers, as they continue to research on your product or services. They are still deciding whether your product will satiate their needs. 

At this stage, those customers might also be looking at your competition, and other alternatives. Hence, you need to prove to them why you are better than rest. 

Example, after the discount offer attracts the customer they will see various products displayed on the website, or the physical shop. The customer will test and check various products, such as the shoe size, the type and comfort level. You can also share case studies and product comparisons, create landing pages specific to each customer segments, write blogs or white paper, respond to their comments, answer questions and solve problems, to provide value to the customers.

The Bottom of the Funnel

The funnel further narrows down. The qualified buyers decide your brand is one for them. At this stage they need the final nudge to make the purchase. At this stage, you have to make them feel good about the decision of purchasing from your brand. The bottom of the funnel requires you to validate the buyer’s decision. Make them happy that they chose your brand. 

For example, for a new customer, the decision to make a purchase from an unknown brand, or a relatively new one is really difficult. Just when they are about to choose the option of “payment options”, or at the register to buy the product, you can inform them of the 2 weeks return policy. 

You can also offer a demo to visitors. This way they can experience your product first hand. You can also share social proof like reviews and testimonies to strengthen trust with them. 

Send segmenting e-mail marketing campaigns such as sending email to users who have abandoned their shopping cart, or you can put a survey on the checkout page.

Marketing Campaigns for Each Phase of the Funnel

An effective marketing funnel requires targeted marketing campaigns. You need to meet prospective buyers and where they are. You need to know how to maneuver their behavior to lead to the final stage of the funnel.

Why Should You Go For Marketing Funnels

As a brand your success depends not only on the quality of your product, but how you present it and market it to customers. From your website, to the packaging of the products, every element has a massive effect on the customer’s journey through the funnel. This is why impressing the people who visit your digital or physical shop so important. You need to give them a way to stay in touch with you. 

Marketing funnels offer a wide array of benefits, including

1. Better brand recognition
2. Better buying experience for the clients and customers
3. Creates relevant content for your audience
4. It increases conversion rates
5. Increases customer loyalty and referrals.

Better Brand Recognition

The top of the marketing funnel increases brand awareness. It also creates recognition. Thus, the chances of converting leads into buyers also rises.

Provides a Better Buying Experience for Clients and Customers

The marketing funnel does not solely focus on your brand. It considers the demands of the customers, and their needs. You work on improving the buying experience for the consumers with your brand. 

Creates Relevant Content for your Audience

The marketing funnel allows you to tailor messages for specific groups based on their position in the funnel. 

It Increases Conversion Rates

The relevant content and creation of tailored marketing increases the likelihood for converting leads to buyers.

Increases Customer Loyalty and Referrals

A happy customer will definitely return to your brand, and refer it to their peers and friends. Hence, you will get repeat business and referrals. 

Content Marketing and Marketing Funnels

Content is the king of today’s marketing world. Younger generations are using various means of avoiding advertisements such as ad blockers, and ad-free subscriptions Traditional marketing has reduced in effectiveness.

However, they continuously look for content online. They do their research before making any purchase. It is elemental for you to create content-rich posts, logs, e-books, graphics and interviews etc. to add value to your funnel.

Content will boost your website’s SEO rankings, making it easier for your audience to find you on the internet.

It will also give you more chances to attract more customers through quality content.

Knowledgeable content helps you become the expert in your field.

Content provides continuous value even after the customers have made a purchase.

Top of the Funnel: Awareness

Content is a sound way of getting your brand in front of your target audience. The more people who see your content, the more leads you will generate. 

You can opt for the several options for the Top of the Funnel Content Marketing:

1. Broad blog posts
2. Website copy
3. Ads
4. Articles
5. General social media posts
6. Infographics
7. Landing pages
8. Motion graphics
9. Press releases
10. Overview of products and services

Middle of the Funnel: Lead Generating and Nurturing

The Middle of the Funnel buyers are looking for specific information. They know about your company, but want to dig deeper to make sure you are worth their money and time. You can convince them through the following content marketing techniques:

1. Customer stories
2. Case studies
3. Email campaigns
4. eBooks
5. Guides
6. Interviews
7. Detailed product and service descriptions
8. Targeted social media posts
9. Targeted ad campaigns

Bottom of the Funnel: Sales

Content can also nudge the audience in the right direction as they are preparing themselves to make their purchase official. The bottom of the funnel sales content should make your buyers feel good about their decision to do business with you. 

Here are a few options for BoFu content marketing:

1. Sales scripts
2. Sales page copy
3. Order confirmation email
4. Follow-up communication after the sale

Conclusion

The marketing funnel, or conversion funnel is an important part of the twenty first century marketing. Understanding the consumer behavior, and making sure they choose you over thousands of other brands can be a tedious task, and overwhelm you. In such cases, you need to focus on making sure you push out quality content to come off as the expert in your field.

For a new business, patience is the key. Understanding the customer behavior can be time taking. Start by reeling in a huge audience through e-books, emails, and discount offers, etc. Once you have grabbed their attention, you need to convince them to do business with you. Outshine your competition by providing them with help, posting customer reviews on your social media handles, generating tutorials, etc. to appear committed towards customer satisfaction.

Lastly, when the customer is just about to make the purchase at the counter, or on your website, ensure quality through various means. It could include giving them a gift, a compliment, a coupon, or offering them two weeks return policy. It will ensure the customer that you offer quality, and care for your customers’ satisfaction.

If you are still confused about the sales funnel, Ternion Solutions can help you determine the best one for your brand. We can also provide you help in generating emails, how to utilize newsletters at various stages and give you a detailed insight to maximize your business strategy at every phase of the marketing funnel.