Marketing Funnels Made Easy: Find Out How to Build One Today!

Have you ever seen a clever ad from a brand you have never seen before? How often are you likely to make a purchase on-the-spot? Unless it is something you know you just have to have, the likelihood of you purchasing right away is slim to none. The reason for this is because you as a customer are at the top of the marketing funnel.

In order to make informed purchasing decisions, especially very large ones, you will more than likely move through the marketing funnel. This marketing funnel is how businesses nurture relationships with their target audience, move them into a more trusting relationship and become top-of-mind when that customer is ready to convert and make a purchase.

What Is a Marketing Funnel and How Do You Build One?

What is a marketing funnel by definition? A marketing funnel is how each of those relationship-building phases are organized to help make converting customers more efficiently and effectively. With each phase, the number of actual potential customers becomes narrowed down until what you are left with is a group of customers ready and willing to actually purchase your product or service. There are four basic phases, although some companies have adopted a new model to include more and account for loyalty and advocacy. But for the purposes of understanding the foundations of marketing funnels, we’ll stick to the main four phases in this marketing funnel diagram.

In the Awareness phase, also known as the top of the marketing funnel, the potential customer realizes they have a problem and may have seen one of your social media posts, advertisements, or heard of your business through a friend. This phase is just their first touch points with your business. This phase yields the largest pool of potential customers in your marketing funnel.

Some strategies for this phase may include branded content such as Articles, Advertisements, Social Media, Videos, Paid Search/Landing Pages and Direct Mail. For example, if you are an e-commerce store that sells jewelry, your potential customers have decided to look at your website after seeing one of your social media ads. 

This potential customer has an upcoming wedding to attend and has decided to save a few of their favorite earrings and necklaces in a favorites list on your webstore. In order to save those items for later, they have agreed to sign up for an account with your website and opted in to your newsletter for upcoming sales and new product offers. This has brought that potential customer to the Interest phase of the marketing funnel. This phase moves potential customers to the middle of the marketing funnel.

Some strategies that can be helpful during this phase include Email Newsletters, Webinars, Videos, Blogs and Drip Campaigns. 

Now that your potential customer has decided to interact with your jewelry company more, they have seen first hand through your email newsletter and return visits to your website that they like your offerings and feel comfortable enough to put their favorite products into their cart. This has now moved this potential customer to the Desire phase, also the middle of the marketing funnel. In this phase, the potential customer has decided to leave their items in their cart for another day or two while they decide if they truly want to spend the money. They may even look up reviews during this phase to see if the product they are about to purchase is going to solve their initial problem and if the products are high quality.

Some strategies that may be implemented at this phase are: Brochures, Microsites and Whitepapers. A strategy that is used for the potential customer in the jewelry example is a one-time-use coupon for their initial purchase. That coupon, along with how their relationship has been nurtured throughout the marketing process has now pushed them over into the Action phase or bottom of the marketing funnel.

What Are the Benefits of a Marketing Funnel?

By having an actionable plan for each phase of the marketing funnel, you are able to simplify the customer journey and spend time and money more efficiently. These phases also allow you to see where potential customers drop off, where you can readjust your strategy to capture the attention of those potential customers again and refine your marketing plan to yield the best results