Understanding Marketing Funnel Stages: How It Drive Sales?
The Power of Marketing Funnel Stages: Why They Matter?
‘Many people often believe that having excellent products or services makes it easy for you to crack marketing.’ But guess what? It’s not that simple! That’s where killer marketing strategy comes in; ‘Marketing Funnel’.
Let’s first understand- What Is Marketing Funnel? It is an important tool for businesses of all sizes. They help businesses to understand their customer better, create more effective marketing campaigns, & increase sales. The marketing funnel illustrates your customer’s journey with you. It all starts from first learning about your product or service to making a purchase. It guides your strategies to boost sales and grow your business.
However, grasping the concept of the digital marketing funnel isn’t enough. Without understanding its stages and how it works, it’s difficult to fully enjoy its benefits. In this article, we will discuss marketing funnel stages: what they are, and how they apply.
What Are The Marketing Funnel Stages? How Does It Work?
The stages of the marketing funnel vary from the business goals, it’s not fixed. Businesses customize their funnels to align with their specific objectives. It is called a “funnel” because, similar to the shape of a funnel, it illustrates how the number of potential customers decreases as they move through each stage of the funnel. For example, the journey of a business to business and business to consumer tends to work differently.
Below are the marketing stages to grow your business:
The marketing sales funnel draws its roots from the age-old model [AIDA], which was developed by E.St.Elmo Lewis, an advertising advocate. A widely used marketing & advertising strategy for over a century. Use these different stages of the AIDA framework to attract prospective customers.
Attention/Awareness–
When someone first learns about your brand or product.
- Objective- Grab the audience’s notice
- Strategy to achieve- Use compelling headlines & visuals.
- Example- You can create awareness with social media post, blogs, press, ads, podcasts, sponsored content, and influencers.
Interest–
When someone shows interest in your product or service.
- Objective – Foster curiosity and interest.
- Strategy to achieve- Offer valuable and relevant information.
- Example- Tell about how your product is beneficial for you in a way that creates curiosity.
Desire–
This stage is also known as ‘consideration’. It includes building a strong desire or need for the offering by highlighting its emotional and practical benefits.
- Objective – Stoke a strong desire or need.
- Strategy to achieve – Highlights emotional and practical advantages.
- Example- Illustrate how your solutions fulfill desires and provide remarkable benefits.
Action–
Finally, help your audience to purchase.
- Objective- Guide the audience to take a specific action.
- Strategy to achieve- Include a clear and compelling call to action.
- Example- Deploy a ‘‘Buy Now’’ button or a ‘‘Sign up’’ link to prompt immediate engagement.
The following stages provide a well-structured approach to conversion funnel marketing strategies. It not only helps in guiding the marketing team. But also assists the sales team in effectively leading target customers through the journey from awareness to action. In addition, this approach is also beneficial, if you are a social media marketing company for small business seeking to expand your clientele and boost business.
However, you can also simplify any marketing funnel into three stages-
Top of the funnel-
This is the ‘awareness stage’, which represents the widest part of the funnel. The primary purpose of this stage is to educate, inform, and engage. It can be done by creating blog posts, social media content, and infographics that capture user’s attention and provide value.
Middle of the funnel-
This is the ‘interest stage’, in which your goal is to nurture audiences who have displayed interest in your offering but have not purchased yet. This is where the magic of relationship-building happens. At this stage, it’s all about providing more in-depth information to guide your leads further down the funnel.
Bottom of the funnel-
This is the combination of two stages decision and actions stage. In which the primary goal is to turn leads into customers. Here, you present convincing reasons to choose your products or services & guide them to take the desired action.
How To Build A Winning Marketing Strategy?
Successful brands often differentiate themselves by executing a comprehensive full funnel marketing strategy. But what exactly does this strategy entail, & how can you create a successful one for your business?
A full funnel marketing strategy entails customizing your marketing messages to align with the current stage of a customer’s purchasing journey. Rather than just focusing on sales, it considers the entire journey of the customer and aims to foster relationships & improve brand interactions. By connecting funnel marketing strategy with the marketing funnel, you ensure a holistic & continuous approach to customer engagement and conversions. For building a winning marketing strategy it is best to focus on both approaches. This means that you’re not just focusing on acquiring new customers but also nurturing the existing ones, which is equally essential for long-term success.
Cookie tips– For a prosperous business strategy, be sure to check out our article on the 7 Cs For Successful Digital Marketing. It is the icing on top that can lead to 100% results.
Closure
Hence, incorporating the marketing funnel stages into your overall marketing strategy will help you optimize your efforts and achieve long-term success. It provides a structured framework to guide customers from awareness to action. By customizing your marketing efforts to each stage, you can create a more personalized & effective customer journey.