How to Find & Solve Problems in Your Digital Marketing Funnel

You know that marketing funnels are important. But how do you know if you’ve made the “right” marketing funnel? Would you be able to tell if it was broken? If it was broken, could you fix it?

I’ll answer all these questions and more. Let’s move through the funnel step by step.

Top of Funnel: Awareness

The top of the marketing funnel represents the largest and “easiest” part of the sales process: getting your content seen. However, publishing content isn’t enough to inform prospects about your product or service.

Some owners believe if they just put content online, their prospects will find it. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth.

Uploading a post isn’t the same as distributing it, and your content can’t be discovered if it lacks the resources to get anywhere.

Suspect the top of your funnel is full of holes? Check these metrics to find out:

• Monthly sessions (How many people are seeing your content?)
• Engagement rate (Are they looking at the other content on your site, or are they bouncing somewhere else?)
• Return visits (Do they care enough to come back?)
• Time on site (They clicked, but are they actually looking at your content?)

If any of these indicators are trending down, evaluate the following common problem spots:

1. Content Distribution

If your blog isn’t circulated through SEO, social media, email newsletters, paid advertising, etc., the top of your funnel may be leaky. This could be due to a lack of SEO strategy, including no targeted keywords or backlinks and not diversifying traffic sources.

Make sure you can answer these questions:

• Are you continually ranking for new high-intent keywords? If not, do you have an SEO strategy?
• Have you chosen targeted keywords for each of your posts to rank for?
• How is your site’s content structured? Is new content buried eight clicks from the homepage, or can visitors easily access it?

2. Content-Audience Mismatch

Beyond getting your content seen, you may be creating content that doesn’t connect with your audience.

This usually happens when companies broaden their topics to appeal to as many people as possible. It leads to watered-down, unfocused content irrelevant to their core audience.

Dumbing down technical content for a sophisticated audience also leads to an audience mismatch. It makes you come off as an outsider who doesn’t understand their world.

To make content appropriate for your target audience, make sure:

• You understand your audience’s voice and communication preferences.
• You understand your audience’s jargon, sophistication level, and needs.
• Your content is informative and answers the right questions at the right times.

3. Publishing Confusion

There’s no one-size-fits-all publishing schedule. The Seth Godins and Gary Vees of the world scream to publish, publish, publish, but that may not be best for your team.

That’s why I believe in testing.

• Think you’re creating too much content? Test it by creating less and getting feedback.
• Don’t think you have enough content? Test it by creating more.
• Does your content seem self-serving? Test it by asking your audience if they agree.
• Do you feel your content is boring with no emotional impact? Test it by adding more emotional triggers.
• Do you think publishing on a different day of the week would work better? Test it.

Even when I think I have a process nailed, I want to test it to prove myself wrong. You’ll never improve if you’re unwilling to identify a better approach.

Middle of the Funnel: Conflicted

Once your prospects educate themselves enough to realize they have a problem, it’s time for them to evaluate solutions.

Middle-stage marketing educates and motivates them to raise their hand and identify themselves. This typically involves signing up for a free resource (also called a lead magnet) in exchange for their email.

Examples of middle-of-the-funnel content include:

• Webinars
• Tutorials
• Testimonials
• Ebooks
• Case studies
• Buyer guides

Your content must connect with your prospects’ pain points so they’re triggered to pursue a solution. But how can you tell if your offerings aren’t working?

1. Low Email Opt-ins

As with content creation, you can’t just toss up an email opt-in and assume potential clients will rush to hand over their emails.

If your visitors aren’t opting in to your offers, investigate the following:

1. Do you have poor calls to action? If you’re unsure, ask yourself if you would sign up for your own opt-in.
2. Are your landing pages converting? Are you addressing your visitors’ pain points, or are you assuming that once they find the page, they’ll create a pain point for themselves?

Email is the only channel you own. If visitors aren’t opting in to your content, you’re missing out on valuable leads.

2. Social Proof

Maybe people are opting into your email list but not moving forward. One problem could be a lack of case studies or testimonials, meaning you have no proof that your product or service does what you say it does.

You probably wouldn’t spend money on a service or product without knowing what others think of it. You can’t control your reviews, but you can control the testimonials you publish. Take advantage.

3. Unqualified Leads

Or, even if you’re acquiring lots of leads, maybe they’re unqualified. A high-converting lead magnet with low-quality leads means you’ve hit a pain point for a broader audience than you’re after.

Focus your lead magnet on a specific audience and problem. That way, when someone signs up to receive it, you know they’re interested in what you offer.

Bottom of the Funnel: Informed

At this point in the marketing funnel, your prospect is ready to make a decision and has already contacted you. Bottom-of-the-funnel content helps the prospect make that decision and reaffirms it once it’s been made.

Even though the bottom of the funnel is “the goal,” it isn’t the end of the client’s journey. After making the sale, the bottom of the funnel turns into post-client processes of gathering testimonials, conducting case studies, and introducing new products or solutions.

The funnel can last as long as you want it to, but many owners struggle to solidify customers for the following reasons:

1. No Late-Stage Content

Bottom-of-the-funnel content is usually the smallest amount of content a business has in terms of quantity. But in many ways, it’s the most important because it leads to revenue and repeat customers.

You don’t have to have obsessive calls to action at this stage. Late-stage content includes:

• Product showcases and demos
• Comparison charts
• Success stories
• Pricing guides

At this stage, we’re building the prospect’s confidence in your solution. If that isn’t happening, you could have the following problem.

2. No Follow-Up or Sales Process to Close

For most business owners, leads come from the website, go through the email sequence, and then on to the newsletter, where they’re forgotten.

Besides clients contacting you to close the sale, do you have systems to meet prospects where they are? Investigate these areas:

• Email segments
• Onboarding systems
• Personal follow-ups
• Additional touchpoints or offers
• Re-targeting previous prospects

Review your sales funnel with your team once a quarter. As your company grows, you’re less likely to lose leads and important customer insights if you test and tweak your funnel along the way.