If you are similar to most business leaders, you continuously want to learn about different marketing approaches. You may have heard about full-funnel marketing, but you may not know how it works. Are you unsure about what a marketing funnel is? Do not fret because we have the answer for you. The following will discuss what full-funnel marketing is and how your business can take advantage of the new approach.
A marketing funnel is a process that a company uses to guide potential customers from their first interaction with the brand to becoming a paying customer.
A typical marketing strategy for promoting a website or product typically consists of a mix of paid ads, social media outreach, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and content marketing.
While the concept is simple enough, conversion funnels can be very complex for a multitude of reasons, including:
- There are many different marketing channels to choose from (paid ads, SEO, etc.)
- Your customers may have varied pain points (a doctor who wants a survey tool may have different needs from a teacher who needs a survey tool)
- Every customer has a different level of awareness (some have heard of your brand and are looking at alternatives and others don’t even know that solutions exist)
As you can see from the variables above, creating a marketing funnel can become quite complex.
If you’ve never sat down and formally created a marketing funnel, you likely already have one without realizing it.
What Is an Example of a Marketing Funnel?
An example of a marketing funnel or purchase funnel could be someone who travels the buying journey via:
- Blog Post > Email List > Conversion
- Podcast Ad > Blog Post > Conversion
- Facebook Ad > Landing Page > Conversion
- Influencer Social Post > Landing Page > Conversion
If people are purchasing your product or service online, you have a marketing funnel.
It’s important to remember that your marketing model may not be as linear as it appears on paper. There are often changes and discontinuities as people actually go through your marketing funnel.
Full-Funnel Marketing Explained
Full-funnel marketing is a type of marketing that takes into account the entire process of how a consumer makes a purchase decision. It is designed to target consumers at every stage of the buying process, from awareness to purchase.
Historically, marketing has relied on a “funnel” model that breaks down the buying process into distinct stages, from the initial “lead” stage where consumers first express interest in a product, to the final stage where the purchase is made.
Full-funnel marketing maps out the buyer’s journey from start to finish and does not separate the stages. They are not looked at separately, but as part of the same process. You nurture your leads at every stage. Full-funnel marketing uses the latest technologies to impact every aspect of the buying process.
Stages of the Marketing Funnel
The marketing funnel refers to the stages a customer goes through when making a purchase. The three stages are awareness, consideration, and conversion. Here’s how each stage generally works.
AWARENESS
This is the stage when consumers first recognize they have a problem or opportunity that needs to be addressed. At the awareness stage, consumers first realize they have a problem or opportunity. This stage of marketing is focused on getting potential customers interested in your product or service.
Often, the buyer’s journey begins with a pain point. The consumer has a problem and starts looking for a solution. The consumer gradually becomes more focused as they research online and talk to their friends, and they start to more clearly define the original problem. In addition to this, they begin to look for an answer to their issue.
At some point, people become aware of your business and what you have to offer. You want your products and services to fix the consumer’s problem.
You shouldn’t be passive during the awareness stage. While it is important for consumers to do their research, it is not solely their responsibility. There are various ways you can market your business to potential customers, such as through marketing outreach, targeted advertising, blogging, social media campaigns, and so on. By utilizing one or more of these methods, you can reach a larger audience and draw in more business. The goal of this stage is to generate leads by collecting the names and contact information of interested consumers so that you can cultivate them later on.
CONSIDERATION
When your marketing team is considering your leads, they are starting to qualify them. At this stage, your relationship with consumers becomes more two-way and interactive. Your goal is to educate potential customers about all the products and services your business has to offer.
The final stage in Consumer’s buying journey is the consideration stage. This is when businesses show the consumer how their product will help to solve the problem which the consumer identified in the awareness stage.
This is the stage where you want to make sure your product is as appealing as possible to your target customer. Promotions, free trials, and curated content are all useful tools during this stage. If you personalize your marketing campaign during the consideration stage, it will be more effective. Social media outreach can be a great way to connect with potential customers quickly and on a regular basis.
This is a key period for building trust. Building a rapport with customers and gaining their trust is key to maintaining a loyal customer base. After all, you don’t want to just make a few quick conversions. It is beneficial to create long-term relationships with customers who will market your company by word-of-mouth.
CONVERSION
Conversion is the last stage in the marketing funnel. This is the moment when the consumer converts into a paying customer.
It may be tempting to think of conversion as the end of the journey, but it is not. If you want to build a group of loyal customers, conversion is the start of a new adventure. To ensure your customers have a positive buying experience, it is important to make the process smooth and enjoyable.
If you’re running an ecommerce business, try to remove any possible obstacles that could prevent someone from completing a purchase. Many people prefer to have the option to purchase something with one click instead of having to fill out a long form. Your check-out process should be quick and easy. You want your customers to leave your business with a positive impression so they will tell their friends good things about your business.
The Purpose Behind Taking a Full-Funnel Approach to Marketing
The way people shop has changed, so marketing strategies need to change too.
GENERATE UNDERSTANDING OF THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY
The full-funnel approach is based on an understanding of how people shop today.
Consumers today are anything but passive. You cannot simply move them through the different stages of the old buyer’s journey. Today’s shoppers are amazingly well-informed. They’re surrounded by information constantly. people who are actively interested in what they are buying and want to have a say in the process
The full-funnel approach recognizes that the buyer’s journey is not linear and treats it as a feature, not as a bug.
REACH YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE DURING EACH PHASE OF THE FUNNEL
A full-funnel strategy accounts for the fact that consumers move quickly between the different stages of the buying journey. It is important to be able to adapt your messaging so that you can reach people at every stage.
The full-funnel approach leads consumers through multiple stages, eventually pushing them to make a one-time purchase. The main focus is not on acquiring new customers, but on maintaining a good relationship with each customer. It is increasingly important to create strong relationships with every client and to see the buyer’s journey as an ongoing, repeating process, rather than as a single, linear path.
BUILD TRUST WITH CONSUMERS
Consumers today do most of their research online. Most people these days get a lot of their information from social media, blogs, and websites.
It’s crucial to come across as a dependable and truthful purveyor of information to potential customers. Your goal as a business should be to have consumers returning to you at different stages of their buyer’s journey to look for more information about your products or services. You will want to make yourself appear to be as unbiased as possible when giving information about your field.
Your business must provide information in a wide variety of formats. At different stages of their journey, your consumers will likely prefer to consume different kinds of content. You should be able to offer content that is rich with information and comes in a variety of formats, such as social media posts, videos, webinars, and long-form blog posts. It is important to inform your clients not only about your products and services, but also about your sector in general.
How to Build a Marketing Funnel for Your Content
It is not realistic for most companies to manage all of the different channels (podcasting, paid search, social media, email marketing, newsletters, e-books, whitepapers, etc.) effectively.
It may be more effective to start at the bottom of the funnel and work your way up. Those already at the bottom of the funnel are much more likely to make a purchase and become repeat customers.
Stage 1 Channels – Problem/Need Recognition (TOFU)
Your customer may be aware that they have an issue, but they might not be actuslly looking for a solution.
For example, let’s say you sell cooling vests that keep outdoor workers cool in the summertime. You could use Google Ads to target people who live in hot climates and share your product with them. Your target audience may be annoyed by the heat, but they may not be aware that there are products to help them, so they are unlikely to search for a solution.
However, if they see or hear an advertisement for a cooling vest, they might have an “aha!” moment and think that it could help them with their hot flashes.
To capture people’s attention at this stage, most businesses use outbound marketing or advertising.
Stage 2 Channels – Information Search (MOFU)
Now that you have customers who are interested in finding a solution to their problem, the next step is to give them the information they want.
At the end of the first stage of your campaign, you should have included a CTA that would lead people to the next stage of the funnel, or further down the funnel.
If your product is simple and doesn’t require much explanation, you can link to its sales page directly. We will assume that the product is complex and requires some education, even though this isn’t necessarily the case. If you want your blog post to be successful, focus on writing authoritatively about a pain point that your audience can relate to. This will help build trust between you and your readers.
Stage 3 Channels – Evaluation of Alternatives (MOFU)
At this stage in the marketing funnel, your potential customers are already aware that there are solutions to their problems. If they continue down the funnel, the next stage is evaluating different solutions.
The purchase intent, or the likelihood that someone will buy a product, dramatically increases when people move from merely educating themselves on the pain, to actively evaluating solutions.
At this point, your messaging should focus less on educating the audience about the problem and more on why your solution is the best way to solve it.
For example, highlight any unique features or advantages your solution has over the competition.
Stage 4 Channels – Purchase Decision (BOFU)
You have almost finished the task. Now you just have to make it easy for the customer to purchase what they want to turn the prospect into a paying customer.
To accomplish this, you can deploy various CRO tactics.
Here are just a few conversion rate optimization tactics you can leverage:
- Add a 30-day money-back guarantee
- Offer a free trial (or $1 trial to prove intent)
- Offer a pay-by-performance pricing model
- Add customer support chat for last minute objections
- Better yet, add an FAQ section made up of last minute objections
- Add reviews around your purchase page
A heat map like CrazyEgg can show you where people are scrolling on your website and help you identify ways to remove any obstacles.
How To Implement Full-Funnel Marketing Strategies in Your Business
Full-funnel marketing is a new and exciting marketing strategy. But it represents a big change. It is beneficial to consult with experienced marketing professionals to gain assistance with maximizing your new approach.
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