Step-by-Step Guide to a Marketing Funnel: How Businesses Can Use Them
A marketing funnel is a process in which potential customers are guided from awareness of your company to the point where they make a purchase. Marketing funnels are used by companies and organizations to increase their customer base, generate more leads, and ultimately achieve better conversion rates.
There is no one-size-fits-all model for marketing funnels – each business needs to find out what will work best for them. This article will cover everything you need to know about how businesses can use marketing funnels.
How do marketing funnels work?
Marketing funnels work by directing potential customers from one stage to the next. They do this by lowering customer risk and increasing their desire for your product or service.
At each step of a marketing funnel, marketers must decide what action will be taken with those who are not yet qualified as a prospect – they can either move them up in the funnel (to “buyer” status) or move them to the side (to “lead” status).
What are the stages of a marketing funnel?
Marketing funnels have six stages: capture, funnel builder, identify lead and buyer targets, define conversion process for leads to buyers, measure and optimize.
The first stage is the “capture.” This is when a person becomes aware of your product or service (through advertising) and starts thinking about it. This can be done through advertisements, social media campaigns, and any other form of marketing.
The next stage is the “funnel builder.” This is where customers are given a reason to act now with your offer. This could be done in different ways like giving discounts or free shipping on orders over $50 (to make it seem more urgent) or having a short-term sale.
The third stage is the “identify lead and buyer targets.” This is where you have to identify which type of customer will be best for your offer, whether it’s an individual or a business (or both). You need to know if they are interested in what you’re offering and how much they’re willing to spend.
The fourth stage is defining conversion goals. This is where you’ll define what success looks like to you, whether it’s a customer placing an order or signing up for your email list.
The fifth stage of the funnel is the “seller.” This is where you’ll build a website and offer your product or service up for sale – this will be in exchange for payment from your customer (whether that’s with cash, credit card, or PayPal). The next steps would include email marketing campaigns, direct mail, and social media marketing campaigns.
The final stage is “measure and optimize.” In this stage, you’ll measure your target audience’s response to the offer, and optimize it based on what you’ve learned.
What are some examples of a marketing funnel?
A great example of a marketing funnel is an ecommerce site funnel, which starts with a customer coming onto your website (your landing page) and making it through all the way to purchase (e.g., they put in their billing information). A consumer who starts on a landing page and then makes it to the checkout might have been exposed to many of your marketing efforts along the way.
Other examples of marketing funnels:
- Ebooks, webinars or teleseminar series that can be purchased in a bundle to save on the cost of individual purchases.
- An opt in page with a trial offer, followed by monthly subscription options to access all content.
- Toolkit or video series that includes “free” or “paid” content.
How do you create a marketing funnel?
The first step in creating a marketing funnel is to decide what your goal for the funnel is. Once you’ve done that, you’ll need an offer and a call-to-action.
An offer can be as simple as offering a valuable tip or insight in exchange for their email address. The CTA should provide added value with something they won’t find anywhere else.
Next, provide the content and tools you want to offer. This can be a series of blog posts or videos on YouTube, for example. The more valuable this content is when they sign up, the more likely people will buy your products later down the line. You should also give them an opt out option after subscribing so that if they want they can unsubscribe at any time.
An email collection form is the next part of a marketing funnel, and it needs to be designed well so that people sign up for your emails without skipping over them or getting frustrated with how many steps there are. You should also provide an incentive to subscribe in some way – usually this type of offer will be for some type of free information.
A landing page is the next step in a marketing funnel and it’s one that many people ignore or forget to create altogether. Landing pages are where your potential customer will first give you their email address, so they need to be optimized as much as possible with strong offers and relevant content (such as images).
What should businesses do after they create a marketing funnel?
- Once you have an offer, make sure that people know about it so they can take advantage of what you are offering. Pay-per-click advertising, social media ads and email marketing campaigns can all be effective for getting your offer in front of the right people at the cost that is best suited to your budget.
- Once someone has taken action, ensure that you capture their contact details in order to stay in touch (via email or a CRM system) and send them reminders about your products.
- Measure the success of your funnel by tracking how many leads convert to customers, track impressions per contact form submission, conversion rates for media ads and other marketing efforts.
- Be sure to test new ideas. A funnel is not static so it’s vital that you test new ideas and strategies to see what works best for your business.
- Create backlinks: Try linking from the content created as part of steps one or two, into more promotional materials that will encourage people to take action.
- Improve conversion rates: Track where prospects are exiting at each stage of the funnel by using exit popups on your website and adding a “What’s Next” button to the bottom of your email, so people know what they need to do next.
- Track the funnel: Use analytics tools like Google Analytics or CrazyEgg that let you track how users interact with the site by providing heat maps and click tracking.
What are the benefits of marketing funnels?
Funnels are a great way to track the process of conversion, and provide businesses with customer insights that they never could have obtained before. They offer marketers information on where their leads went wrong when converting or buying so that they can make any necessary adjustments in order to increase conversions for future customers. The best part is, marketing funnels don’t have to be daunting with the right tools.
How do you measure the success of a marketing funnel?
A marketing funnel’s success is measured by its conversion rate and the number of people that are converted. This is done through a funnel conversion rate, which calculates the number of customers that are converted divided by the total amount of visitors at each stage.
One way to measure this success would be with Google analytics’ goal funnels. You can set up goals and then track them in order to see where your marketing efforts are paying off.
A goal funnel is a way to measure the success of your marketing efforts. The conversion rate and number of people that are converted can be measured by Google analytics’ goal funnels.
How do online communities fit into a marketing funnel?
A goal funnel is a way to measure how well you’re doing in terms of online communities. One example would be when someone from an online community recommends your product to their friends. If that person has a good experience and gets the value they needed, then it’s likely for them to recommend your brand again; spreading the word about your product.
What are some other benefits of using online communities? Well, it’s cheaper than paying to advertise on TV or print ads. It also doesn’t take up much time and can be done while you’re at work; which gives the impression that you have more free time- even if you don’t.
You can use online communities to establish your authority in a niche, which leads people who are looking for expertise to come directly to you instead of having them Google it and find the answer on someone else’s blog or website. This is good because more traffic from qualified prospects means more sales. It gives customers the feeling like they’re contributing or helping out, and it’s more likely for them to buy from someone who has their best interest at heart.
Do you want to learn how to use marketing funnels to build your business?
Marketing funnels can be an effective and affordable way to grow your business. They can be used by any size business, from a single person freelancer or solopreneur - all the way up to large corporations with thousands of employees.
That's why a variety of online training programs offer strategies for using marketing funnels. I Buy I Review purchases these programs and reviews them to determine if they're legitimate or a scam.
One recently reviewed online training program is Wealth Affiliate. Check out I Buy I Review’s Wealth Affiliate review here.
I buy and review courses so you don’t have to. Sometimes, I even find courses that are legitimate and worthwhile; and that’s how I accidentally came across one that led me to building a 6-figure business in a little under 5 years. Now, I still review courses because it’s my favorite hobby. 🙂 Learn more about me here.
