Marketing funnels are an ancient concept well-known and followed by marketers religiously. New-age digital marketers have modernised the usage of this funnel, making it widely used for formulating digital marketing strategies.
So, if you are a digital marketer who plans your next strategy, you must have an in-depth understanding of the digital marketing funnel. We are going to explain the entire concept of the funnel in digital marketing from scratch.
Even if you are a newbie in marketing you can gain a complete understanding of this topic here.
What Is Marketing Funnel?
A marketing funnel is a visual representation of a buyer’s purchasing journey.
It is a search process that someone goes through before leading to a purchase.
Salespersons represent this entire journey in four stages. So that can identify in which stage their customer is in. This helps them pitch in the right direction which moves the customer to the next stage.
The same funnel is also used by the marketing team to set their marketing goals. Marketing actions are also based on the stage of the customer.
This same concept is now used in digital marketing to tap customers at each stage with different techniques. So, let us dive fully into this concept now.
What is a digital marketing Funnel?
The marketing funnel principles are applied to digital marketing to visualise a buyer’s online purchase journey. In a traditional marketing funnel, we get to know about the different stages that buyers go through before making a final purchase.
But in the digital marketing funnel, we get to know how a buyer will respond to an online brand before making a purchase.
Digital marketers create their long-term content strategy based on these four stages. Content forms and marketing channels vary in each stage.
Organic searches come into play over here. According to statistics, 70% of smartphone users search online before buying something.
Funnel in digital marketing helps to target the right set of keywords so that these searches get converted into sales.
Stages Of Digital Marketing Funnel
There are in total 4 stages of the funnel in digital marketing. We will cover every stage in detail.
As a digital marketing agency, we specialise in creating digital marketing strategies.
So, we will guide you about content creation strategies at each stage.
1) Awareness stage-
In this stage, a person is going through a problem. He is trying to figure out what the exact problem is.
After he has given a frame to his problem, he starts finding solutions. He researches possible solutions. According to the latest survey most people Google to research their problems.
For example, a small businessman is using traditional marketing methods and is unable to survive in competition. So, he will research the new marketing ways. He might Google for the latest marketing methods, new marketing methods or better ways than traditional marketing.
Content forms to be used include educational blogs, how-to/what-is videos, e-books, how-to webinars and social media marketing
These forms of content are usually searched for internet at this stage. If you want to target customers at this stage you must search for LSI keywords that define the problem or solution
To a problem. This will improve your organic searches.
Let us take the same previous example, now if you are a digital marketing agency, you can create a blog on the topic of digital marketing ways to market, the difference between traditional and digital marketing etc.
This is the stage where you have an opportunity to gather personal information about your customers to establish relationships or generate new leads. Say, if a person visits your site to read a piece of content, you can request their email IDs, contact numbers etc.
2) Consideration stage-
In this stage, the person has identified his problem and searched for multiple solutions. Now at this stage, he conducts individual research on every possible solution.
Say, the small business has multiple solutions to its problem. He can switch to digital marketing or combine digital marketing with traditional marketing. Now he will study both prospects separately.
This is the time your brand becomes part of customers solution. Now you can convert these potential customers into customers through follow-up.
Content forms to be used- case studies, demo videos, FAQs articles, and content that positions you as an industry expert.
This is the most vital stage in the funnel. Digital marketers use social media marketing, and search engine marketing to build relationships with the audience at this stage.
For example, if the small business owner, sees or reads about a success story of a small business posted by your agency, he would be lured towards digital marketing. He will surely contact your agency to discuss his project.
3) Decision stage
This is the final stage in the funnel of digital marketing. Here the person has shortlisted all these solutions, vendors who can provide it, pros and cons of each.
After analysing all, he makes a final decision to purchase a product.
Content forms used = free trials, consultations, and educational articles related to products, PPC campaigns, and e-mail marketing.
4) Loyalty stage-
In some of the funnels, it is also considered as the after-sales or customer relationship stage.
Getting a single conversion is not enough. Brands need to strategise to retain their customers. Once a buyer purchases your product, it becomes your customer.
Companies maintain customer relationships by welcoming valuable feedback, and reviews, offering bonus points or after-sales support.
Continuous communication with your customers is important in this competitive world. If your customer is dissatisfied with your product or service, they will switch to other options.
So getting authentic feedback is essential at this stage.
New Types Of Digital Marketing Funnels
1. Micro-moments digital marketing funnel
Image source: Google images
Micro-moments are those moments when a user feels an urge and conducts research to fulfil that on a digital device.
The types of moments are-
- I want to know
- I want to go
- I want to go
- I want to buy
This concept is developed by Google. In this type of funnel, marketers need to brainstorm how to engage the audience when they have those moments.
2. Looping digital marketing funnel
Image source: Google images
This type of funnel is a little different from traditional funnel. It is very flexible and any business can modify it according to their needs. There are 6 stages in this funnel
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Research and discovery loop
- Post-purchase experience
- Loyalty loop
These stages follow circularly, so you can stitch this funnel according to your buyer persona.
3. Hourglass digital marketing funnel
Image source: Google images
This type of funnel is represented in an hourglass shape. Unlike the previous funnels, it focuses on nurturing customer relationships.
The journey is divided into two steps pre-purchase and post-purchase.
The pre-purchase stages are-
- Engagement
- Education
- Research
- Evaluation
- Justification
- Purchase
The post-purchase stages are-
- Adoption
- Retention
- Expansion
- Advocacy
Other types of funnels are-
- Content funnel
- E-mail funnel
- Lead generation funnel
- Sales funnel
All of these are an expanded form of funnels in digital marketing. Each one comes with its own advantages and disadvantages.
Importance of Funnel In Digital Marketing
Funnel in digital marketing helps the marketing team channel their marketing effort in the correct direction. It makes the efforts more fruitful.
- Right content to the right audience-
The most delicious aspect of utilising a digital marketing funnel is that streamlines the actions in the required direction.
The content marketing team knows about the exact mindset of the audience at each stage.
They prepare their content marketing strategies accordingly.
This also enables SEO strategy planners to plan adequately for each stage.
In this way, a company is able to target each set of audiences differently. As well as cater for their exact needs, which generates more leads to the trial and error method.
We have already discussed the diverse content types you can inculcate into your strategies for better output.
- Increased efficiency
When the arrow is shot accurately it always hits the target. The same goes with digital marketing, when you target the audience correctly, you get conversions.
The sales and marketing team can work in a more aligned manner with a predetermined framework in hand. Their actions produce more results.
Setting the right course for sails saves time, energy, and resources which improves overall efficiency.
Conclusion
We have climbed the mountain of the funnel and come to the bottom with you. Hopefully, you have received some useful insights about the digital marketing funnel.
Though it is a very broad topic, we have provided a gist of this concept to help you understand the basic concepts.
The concept of funnel is evolving at a rapid rate, with modernised funnels coming into play. It has become very important for a marketer to understand them and utilise them to produce ace marketing results.
FAQs
| Q1 How can we measure the success of our campaigns based on the funnel? A1 Campaigns are measured in the following ways-TrafficConversion ratesCustomer lifetime value |
| Q2 What are the common mistakes made while creating a funnel? A2 The common mistakes could be wrongly defining the audience, not optimising for mobile, and failing to track or update metrics. |
| Q3 What tools do you use for funnelling? A3 use of tools depends upon the type of funnel, we generally use, HubSpot, Salesforce, MailChimp, click funnels, Google Analytics etc. |
