- Funnel marketing is an approach that markets to consumers from their first interaction with a brand until they become a paid customer and beyond.
- Funnel marketing is modeled after the marketing funnel, a concept that tells the company how it should market to consumers based on their position in the funnel itself. The notion of a customer embarking on a journey when interacting with a brand was first proposed by Elias St. Elmo Lewis in 1898.
- Funnel marketing typically considers three stages of a non-linear marketing funnel. These are top of the funnel (TOFU), middle of the funnel (MOFU), and bottom of the funnel (BOFU). Particular marketing strategies at each stage are adapted to the level of familiarity the consumer has with a brand.
Aspect | Explanation |
---|---|
Funnel Marketing | Funnel Marketing, also known as a sales funnel, is a marketing strategy that represents the customer journey from initial awareness to final purchase. It’s visualized as a funnel because it narrows down as potential customers progress through stages. |
Stages | A typical funnel includes several stages: Awareness, Interest, Consideration, Intent, and Purchase (often referred to as AIDA). These stages represent how potential customers become aware of a product or service and eventually make a purchase. |
Awareness | The Awareness stage is at the top of the funnel. It’s about creating brand visibility and making potential customers aware of your products or services. Marketing efforts here include advertising, content marketing, and social media exposure. |
Interest | In the Interest stage, potential customers express curiosity in your offerings. They might engage with content, sign up for newsletters, or follow your social media accounts. The goal is to keep their attention and move them further down the funnel. |
Consideration | During the Consideration stage, potential customers actively evaluate your offerings. They might compare your products/services with competitors, read reviews, and seek additional information. Content like product guides or case studies can be useful here. |
Intent | The Intent stage signifies that potential customers are seriously considering a purchase. They might add items to a shopping cart, request price quotes, or sign up for trials. At this point, personalized offers and assistance can help close the deal. |
Purchase | The final stage, Purchase, is when potential customers become paying customers. They complete transactions, buy products or services, and become part of your customer base. Successful funnel marketing results in conversions at this stage. |
Post-Purchase | Funnel marketing doesn’t end at the purchase stage. It extends to post-purchase activities, such as providing excellent customer service, requesting reviews, and encouraging repeat business. Satisfied customers can become advocates and refer others. |
Metrics | Funnel marketing relies on key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure effectiveness. These may include conversion rates (the percentage of people moving from one stage to the next), customer acquisition cost, and customer lifetime value. |
Tools | Various marketing tools and technologies support funnel marketing, including customer relationship management (CRM) software, email marketing platforms, analytics tools, and marketing automation software for personalized communication. |
Benefits | Funnel marketing helps businesses efficiently guide potential customers through the buying process, increasing the likelihood of conversions. It also allows for data-driven decision-making and optimization of marketing efforts at each stage. |
Challenges | Challenges in funnel marketing include understanding customer behavior, creating compelling content, and optimizing the funnel for higher conversions. Additionally, competition and changing market dynamics can affect funnel performance. |
Examples | Examples of funnel marketing can be seen in various industries. For instance, an e-commerce company might use targeted ads and email campaigns to move users from awareness to purchase. A B2B software provider might offer whitepapers and demos to nurture leads. |
What is funnel marketing?
Funnel marketing is an approach that markets to consumers from their first interaction with a brand until they become a paid customer and beyond.
At its core, funnel marketing encompasses a customer’s journey with a brand.
The approach, of course, is modeled after the marketing funnel, a concept that tells the company how it should market to consumers based on their position in the funnel itself. When used correctly, a brand can attract, engage, and convert prospects to drive sales, loyalty, brand awareness, and repeat purchases.
The notion that a customer progressed through various stages with a business was first proposed by Elias St. Elmo Lewis in 1898. Lewis’s model mapped a metaphorical journey from the minute a customer interacts with a brand to the point of action or purchase. However, it would be another 26 years before author William W. Townsend would associate Lewis’s interpretation with the notion of a funnel.
While Lewin’s model featured the four steps of awareness, interest, desire, and action (AIDA), many businesses today use a simplified but more relevant three-stage version. We will explain this in more detail in the next section.
Three-stage funnel marketing
In a theoretical sense, the marketing funnel is linear. Prospects start their journey at the top of the funnel and end it at the bottom where a conversion is made. In practice, however, most prospects move in and out of the funnel at will before they convert. Some others will make it to the bottom without converting and drop off the radar completely.
Let’s now look at the three stages of funnel marketing.
1 – Top of the funnel (TOFU)
At the top of the funnel, prospects become aware of a brand and interact with it for the first time. Since most will not know much about a product or service, this initial stage should focus on marketing that increases brand awareness.
Here are some ways a marketing team can attract prospects:
- Share the company’s USP on social media.
- Run targeted, paid ads in podcasts or on social media, and
- Build a landing page that introduces the brand, product, or service.
2 – Middle of the funnel (MOFU)
A prospect reaches the MOFU only after they’ve made a meaningful interaction with a brand. What constitutes a meaningful interaction is open for discussion, but it may be that the consumer has subscribed to an email list or is following the brand on social media.
The second stage must focus on building trust with the prospect via further engagement. In other words:
- Invite the prospect to participate in a survey. This can be a good way to perform conversion rate optimization (CRO) and identify the drivers, barriers, and hooks individual encounters with a brand.
- Explain how a product or service solves a customer problem and adds value. Increasingly, brands are turning to white papers for this purpose.
- Share product comparisons, demonstrations, or relevant case studies.
3 – Bottom of the funnel (BOFU)
The BOFU is the last place a prospect visits before a conversion takes place. At this point, the business has done the hard work of attracting the attention of a prospect, building a relationship with them, and earning their trust.
The focus here is to convert the prospect. This can be done in the following ways:
- Offer a free trial or demonstration of the product or service.
- Write a guide for prospects who hold last-minute doubts, concerns, or any other factor that could hinder a conversion.
- Demonstrate social proof in the form of testimonies and reviews, and
- Segment the email list according to specific actions. For example, a unique email sequence could be sent to a prospect who abandons their cart.
Case Studies
Top of the Funnel (TOFU):
- Social Media Advertising: Brands create awareness by running targeted ads on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, introducing their products or services to a wide audience.
- Content Marketing: Blog posts, infographics, and videos are used to provide valuable information to potential customers and generate interest in the brand.
- Email Subscription Pop-ups: Websites use pop-ups to encourage visitors to subscribe to their newsletters, capturing leads and building a connection.
- Webinars and Workshops: Hosting online events or workshops on topics related to the industry helps brands showcase their expertise and attract prospects.
Middle of the Funnel (MOFU):
- Email Drip Campaigns: Brands send a series of targeted emails to engage and nurture leads, providing more detailed information and building trust.
- Ebooks and Whitepapers: In-depth resources are offered in exchange for contact information, providing value and showcasing the brand’s knowledge.
- Webinar Follow-ups: After a webinar, brands send follow-up emails with additional resources and personalized content to keep prospects engaged.
- Lead Scoring: Automation tools score leads based on their engagement level, helping sales teams prioritize high-value prospects.
Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU):
- Free Trials: Software companies offer free trials of their products, allowing prospects to experience the value before making a purchase.
- Abandoned Cart Emails: E-commerce sites send reminders and incentives to users who abandon their shopping carts, encouraging them to complete the purchase.
- Customer Testimonials: Brands showcase reviews, testimonials, and case studies to demonstrate the benefits of their products or services.
- Limited-Time Offers: Urgency is created by offering time-sensitive discounts or promotions to incentivize prospects to take action.
Key Highlights of Funnel Marketing:
- Definition: Funnel marketing is an approach that targets consumers throughout their entire journey with a brand, from their initial interaction to becoming paying customers and beyond.
- Origin of the Marketing Funnel: The concept of a marketing funnel was first introduced by Elias St. Elmo Lewis in 1898, conceptualizing the customer’s journey from awareness to action.
- Three-Stage Funnel: Funnel marketing typically considers three stages of a non-linear marketing funnel:
- Top of the Funnel (TOFU): Prospects become aware of the brand for the first time. Focus is on increasing brand awareness.
- Middle of the Funnel (MOFU): Prospects have meaningful interactions with the brand, such as subscribing to emails or following on social media. Building trust and engagement is the goal.
- Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU): The final stage where prospects are ready to convert. The focus shifts to conversion strategies.
- AIDA Model: AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. It is a widely used marketing model that describes the customer’s journey and helps organizations optimize their marketing activities based on these stages.
- Conversion Strategies at Each Stage:
- TOFU: Increase brand awareness through social media, paid ads, and informative landing pages.
- MOFU: Build trust through surveys, explaining value propositions, sharing product comparisons, and case studies.
- BOFU: Convert prospects with free trials, demonstrations, guides, social proof, and segmented email campaigns.
Related Concepts | Description | When to Apply |
---|---|---|
Customer Journey Mapping | Customer Journey Mapping is a process of visualizing and analyzing the various touchpoints and interactions that customers have with a brand throughout their buying journey. It involves identifying key stages, channels, and touchpoints across different marketing channels and platforms, mapping out the customer’s path from awareness to purchase and beyond. Customer journey mapping helps marketers understand customer needs, pain points, and preferences at each stage of the funnel, enabling them to optimize experiences and drive conversions. | – When discussing customer experience and user engagement. – Particularly in understanding how customers interact with a brand across multiple channels, devices, and touchpoints, and in exploring techniques to create seamless, personalized experiences, address friction points, and guide customers through the sales funnel to increase conversion rates and customer satisfaction. |
Lead Generation | Lead Generation is the process of attracting and capturing potential customers’ interest or inquiries about a product or service. It involves various marketing tactics and channels, such as content marketing, social media, email campaigns, and paid advertising, to generate leads and fill the top of the marketing funnel. Lead generation strategies aim to identify and qualify prospects who are likely to become customers, nurturing them through the sales funnel until they are ready to make a purchase. | – When discussing sales pipelines and customer acquisition strategies. – Particularly in understanding how to attract and capture leads through targeted outreach, inbound marketing, and lead magnets, and in exploring techniques to optimize lead generation efforts, such as A/B testing, lead scoring, and marketing automation, to increase lead quality and conversion rates and drive business growth. |
Content Marketing | Content Marketing is a strategic approach to creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and engage a target audience. It involves producing various content formats, such as blog posts, videos, infographics, whitepapers, and podcasts, tailored to address audience needs, pain points, and interests at different stages of the buyer’s journey. Content marketing aims to build brand awareness, establish thought leadership, and nurture relationships with prospects, ultimately driving conversions and customer loyalty. | – When discussing brand storytelling and audience engagement. – Particularly in understanding how to create compelling content that resonates with target audiences, drives traffic, and generates leads, and in exploring techniques to develop content strategies, optimize content distribution, and measure content performance to achieve marketing objectives and maximize ROI. |
Email Marketing | Email Marketing is a digital marketing strategy that involves sending targeted, personalized emails to a segmented audience to nurture leads, promote products or services, and build customer relationships. It encompasses various email types, such as newsletters, promotional emails, transactional emails, and automated drip campaigns, designed to engage recipients at different stages of the customer journey and drive conversions. Email marketing relies on segmentation, personalization, and analytics to deliver relevant content and optimize campaign performance. | – When discussing customer engagement and marketing automation. – Particularly in understanding how to leverage email campaigns to communicate with prospects and customers, deliver value-added content, and drive conversions, and in exploring techniques to segment email lists, personalize messaging, and track email metrics to improve deliverability, open rates, and conversion rates in email marketing initiatives. |
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) | Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a digital marketing strategy that aims to increase a website’s visibility and organic traffic from search engine results pages (SERPs). It involves optimizing website content, structure, and technical elements to rank higher in search engine algorithms for relevant keywords and queries. SEO tactics include keyword research, on-page optimization, link building, and technical SEO enhancements to improve website authority, relevance, and user experience, driving organic traffic and lead generation. | – When discussing online visibility and website traffic growth. – Particularly in understanding how to improve search engine rankings, increase organic traffic, and attract qualified leads through SEO best practices, and in exploring techniques to conduct keyword research, optimize website content, and monitor search engine performance to enhance online presence, user engagement, and lead generation efforts. |
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising | Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising is an online advertising model where advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. It allows businesses to bid on keywords or target specific demographics, interests, or behaviors to display ads prominently in search engine results or on other websites and platforms. PPC campaigns can drive targeted traffic to landing pages, product pages, or lead capture forms, enabling marketers to generate leads and conversions quickly and measure campaign performance effectively. | – When discussing paid advertising and lead generation tactics. – Particularly in understanding how to create and optimize PPC campaigns to reach target audiences, drive traffic, and capture leads, and in exploring techniques to set campaign budgets, bid strategies, and ad targeting options to maximize ROI, lead quality, and conversion rates in paid advertising initiatives. |
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) | Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the process of improving the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a form. It involves analyzing user behavior, testing design elements, and optimizing website content and user experience to remove barriers and encourage conversions. CRO strategies focus on increasing conversion rates at various stages of the marketing funnel, driving revenue growth and maximizing ROI. | – When discussing website performance and user experience design. – Particularly in understanding how to analyze user behavior, identify conversion barriers, and optimize website elements, such as calls-to-action, forms, and landing pages, and in exploring techniques to conduct A/B testing, user testing, and data analysis to improve conversion rates, reduce bounce rates, and increase customer engagement and satisfaction. |
Marketing Automation | Marketing Automation is the use of software platforms and technologies to automate repetitive marketing tasks, workflows, and campaigns, such as email marketing, lead nurturing, and customer segmentation. It allows marketers to streamline processes, deliver personalized messages, and engage with leads and customers at scale, based on predefined triggers, behaviors, or criteria. Marketing automation enhances efficiency, consistency, and effectiveness in managing leads throughout the sales funnel and improving marketing ROI. | – When discussing lead nurturing and workflow optimization. – Particularly in understanding how to automate marketing processes, personalize customer interactions, and nurture leads through targeted messaging, and in exploring techniques to implement marketing automation platforms, create automated workflows, and analyze performance metrics to drive efficiency, effectiveness, and scalability in marketing operations. |
Analytics and Data-driven Marketing | Analytics and Data-driven Marketing is an approach to marketing that relies on data analysis, metrics, and insights to inform decision-making, optimize strategies, and measure performance effectively. It involves collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data from various sources, such as website analytics, customer behavior, and campaign performance, to understand audience preferences, track marketing effectiveness, and drive continuous improvement. Data-driven marketing enables marketers to make informed decisions, allocate resources efficiently, and achieve better results across the marketing funnel. | – When discussing marketing measurement and performance optimization. – Particularly in understanding how to leverage data analytics, metrics, and key performance indicators (KPIs) to track marketing ROI, identify trends, and optimize marketing strategies, and in exploring techniques to implement data-driven marketing technologies, conduct data analysis, and derive actionable insights to drive business growth and competitive advantage. |
Read Next: Business Engineering, Pirate Funnel, Growth Marketing.
Visual Marketing Glossary
Read more:
Read also: