Types, implementation & optimization of marketing funnels

Exceptional marketing funnels don’t spring into existence overnight. They develop from a unified strategy and fluid communication between sales and marketing teams. While it takes time and effort, building a marketing funnel is the key to turning prospects into paying customers.

What’s a marketing and sales funnel?

Your customers go through a process before they buy.?Sometimes this involves a salesperson and it almost certainly involves online research.?Companies that perform best at sales and marketing understand?marketing and sales funnels?very well and nurture their prospects along the way to get leads and close more sales.

Sales and marketing funnels go by different names.?They are also known as the “customer journey” or “sales process.” Whatever you call them, these processes are critical to optimizing sales for your company.

Two types of funnels

Many CEOs confuse sales processes with digital marketing funnels.??There are two fundamental types of funnels — a sales funnel and a digital marketing funnel.?They often go by different names and are easily confused with one another. However, they are very different.

The Sales Funnel

For most companies, the sales funnel is the relationship a prospective customer has with your sales team — from their first communication to closing the sale to follow-up to a prospering, ongoing relationship. The sales funnel is heavy on relationships, trust and interactions between people.

Although the sales funnel is very important, the internet has changed how it works. The sales funnel now relies much more on the prospect’s online research and highly targeted presentations from the sales team. In the past, people would need to be qualified by a salesperson armed with probing questions to uncover needs. Now the sales prospect has done their homework and the salesperson must customize their presentation to meet very specific requests.

In some cases the prospect will know more than the sales rep because of their online research.

Sales funnels should have milestones and a process for keeping in touch. The keys to reaching milestones in the sales funnel are built on trust and mutual understanding.

The Digital Marketing Funnel

The digital marketing funnel is used to nurture prospects through their online research and generate qualified leads for the sales team. In the past, selling was more about finding prospects to become sales leads. Now marketing is about helping prospects find your company and become a sales lead.

Many marketers don’t realize how this works. Marketers have tremendous impact on lead generation by creating opportunities for prospects to interact with their company anonymously online before they are ready to talk with a sales rep.

The digital marketing funnel is the path prospective customers take online from their first experience of your brand, products or services through to purchase.?It often continues even after the sales process has started.

What is the difference between the marketing and sales funnel?

Some people use the terms “marketing funnel” and “sales funnel” interchangeably; in fact, some combine them into one term: the marketing sales funnel. In reality, they’re two parts of a whole. The marketing and sales functions of a company or organization have their own goals, and their respective funnels support those goals. The marketing function is tasked with creating and managing a brand, generating awareness, and driving sales-qualified leads, whereas the sales function is focused on increasing products or services sold, both initially and repeatedly. Using one to inform the other can help teams stay in sync and create an optimal customer experience.

How does the marketing funnel differ for B2C and B2B brands?

To help you better understand how the marketing funnel differs for B2C and B2B brands, take a look at the modified diagram below, which outlines B2C and B2B consumer actions and conversions in each stage of the funnel.

The differences between B2B and B2C marketing funnels.

Business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) prospects have similarities, but the marketing funnels employed to attract and turn them into paying customers are often different.

• Most B2C consumers navigate the funnel alone or with a small group of trusted advisors (usually friends and family), while B2B consumers typically have a larger, cross-departmental buying group. The average B2B buying group is?5.4 people .
• In?B2B, for example, companies may need to convince multiple decisionmakers to buy their products, so the sales cycle is often longer. Firms must generally supply more information when selling to businesses, and there is less likely to be impulse purchasing, or purchasing based on consumer desire alone.
• The?B2C?sales funnel is often shorter — relying on converting an individual, rather than a business, team or department — into a customer. B2C marketing often seeks to create an emotional connection. As a result, more money is spent on channels like social media and TV advertising in B2C.
• B2C consumers may never directly interact with a company representative, especially on ecommerce websites, while B2B consumers typically interact with a sales representative in the lower end of the funnel.

Marketing funnel examples: B2B vs B2C.

Business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing funnels are similar in purpose, but they’re worlds apart in how leads are moved through the funnel.

B2B marketing funnels

1. B2B marketers’ leads tend to be professionals performing detailed research to find products and services that will help improve their company in some way, and the sales cycle tends to be longer.
2. This B2B funnel didn’t involve an appeal to emotions or decisions made on a whim. When B2B sales happen, it’s because B2B prospects have identified a business need, thoroughly researched the options, and come to a conclusion about the best fit for their needs. It’s mostly a matter of getting in front of these leads?through digital exposure ?and establishing the level of trust needed for direct communication.
3. In a B2B marketing funnel, a prospect might search for software on Google, find your landing page, and download a free eBook. They later come back to download a report with more details about your product. After performing further research on your software, company, and any competitors, the lead reaches out to request a demo (or your sales rep may reach out proactively). Sales can then present a product package that’s suited to the customer’s needs based on the comprehensive profile that’s already been created with the assistance of CRM and marketing automation tools.

B2C marketing funnels

1. B2C leads are often marketed to as if they don’t know what they want. For instance, B2C marketers rarely provide customers with detailed reports. They’re more likely to use testimonials or attention-grabbing ads and stories that appeal to emotions.
2. A B2C lead might begin their journey by clicking a banner ad at the top of a website they visit, then provide an email address through a pop-up on the store page and save products to their ‘favorites’ for future viewing and consideration. After receiving a follow-up email, they return the next day to add items in their cart before checking out — making use of a promo code they received in that email.
3. ?The simple B2C funnel encourages the lead to visit your store and browse, while also creating a low-pressure scenario that allows the lead to mentally prepare to buy something they like. If they change their mind, they can save an item for later.

No matter when a lead exits the funnel, they will leave behind valuable information for B2B and B2C marketers. What’s important is making the best possible use of that information to make sure that fewer leads leave the funnel in the future.

?Full-funnel marketing measurement

Without measurement and analysis, it’s impossible to know the effectiveness of a brand’s full-funnel?marketing strategy . Here are three approaches for measuring and optimizing your full-funnel strategy.

1. Understand how channels impact each other

A full-funnel approach might include advertising across many channels to reach customers at any stage of the funnel. It’s important to determine benchmarks for success early to adequately measure the impact of each channel on a brand’s key performance indicators (KPIs). Each phase of the funnel includes its own success metrics.

Top-of-the-funnel (TOFU)

When advertisers need to gain widespread brand awareness among consumers, TOFU metrics measure:

• unique reach
• completion rate
• click-through rate (CTR)

Middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU)

MOFU metrics help demonstrate when consumers have a greater likelihood to purchase. These benchmarks measure:

• detail page views
• new-to-brand percentage
• branded search index

Bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU)

These are the marketing metrics that measure the purchase end of the funnel and calculate:

• return on advertising spend (ROAS)
• advertising cost of sales (ACOS)
• customer acquisition cost (CAC)
• orders or units sold

By comparing TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU benchmarks, advertisers can optimize their spend at all stages of the funnel.

2. Customize messages to the different stages of the shopping journey

Using an?ad server ?allows brands to ensure they’re serving relevant ads, and reaching audiences with the right message based on where they are in the shopping journey. For example, a brand could use an ad server to create a rule to show audiences who’ve previously viewed its product a different call to action (CTA) or image than to audiences that hadn’t viewed their product before. This allows brands to connect with shoppers no matter where they are in their path to purchase.

3. Compare spend to peers

Various tools allow brands to gain insight into how their advertising spend stacks up against an aggregate set of peers in their product category. This can be helpful information to learn so that marketers are aware of whether they’re over- or under-indexing on sales, branded search, and other metrics.

?What are the main 3 Types of Digital Marketing Funnels?

There are times when marketing efforts are not successful, and businesses do not see expected returns, despite investing in paid social media campaigns. Why does this happen, and how can this be resolved?

Simply spending on paid ads or any other form of marketing cannot on its own be the basis of getting good returns for the business. Instead, marketing efforts need to be based on a strong foundation.?

When you adopt a digital marketing funnel, you are able to help your business grow and attain its goals. It can have a positive impact and offer many benefits, including:

• Content marketing strategies directed to your target audience?
• An understanding of your target audience, their motivations for looking for and buying your product
• Knowing which strategies work at what stage and why
• Finding ways to build and nurture customer relationships

All this points to only one thing. You can have a highly effective marketing strategy based on a well-research marketing funnel and an insight into your buyers’ journey. It is certainly a more productive way to go about marketing your brand rather than making assumptions about what your audience wants.?

The journey digital marketing covers is a non-linear one. Therefore, from a business viewpoint, the path shoppers take from being potential customers to existing customers is different for different people.?

So the digital marketing funnel does not have a fixed structure, and there is no one type of funnel. This article breaks down three different types of digital marketing funnels that are being used most commonly and successfully by businesses. They are as mentioned below in the graphic below.?

1.?Hourglass Digital Marketing Funnel

This type of digital marketing funnel involves a comprehensive outlook of the customer journey. Building and fostering customer relationships is at the crux of this journey.?

The pre and post-purchase stages of this marketing funnel are expanded upon below:?

• Engagement involves building brand awareness. It is the first step.
• Education is about identifying the problem.?
• Research is needed to discover the solution.
• Evaluation of the product or service provides a solution to the problem.
• Justification validates the product purchase.
• Purchase is the stage where the product is bought.

Here are the steps in the post-purchase stage:

• Adoption is the step where the customer starts using the product
• Retention is about taking care of user satisfaction
• Expansion is possible when the customer is happy with their experience, and you can upsell or cross-sell
• Advocacy of your brand by customers is the final step.?

As mentioned above, the hourglass digital marketing funnel involves ten steps and takes a detailed approach to customer experience, including the pre and post-purchase stages.?

2. Looping Digital Marketing Funnel

There are only six stages in this digital marketing funnel, and it is not as structured as the hourglass funnel described above. It is also more flexible. The six stages are as follows.

• Awareness of the problem
• Consideration is about finding the solution?
• Research and discovery loop involves looking for solutions, and where the customer gathers information to solve the problem or need
• Purchase?
• Post-purchase is where the focus is on extending the customer experience, so they come back?
• Loyalty loop is where the customer ?builds a bond with your brand when they continue to get a good experience?

Due to the flexible nature of the looping marketing funnel, any business can utilize it. It can be tailored to suit the specific needs of a business too.?

3.?Micro-moments Digital Marketing Funnel

A concept developed by Google, it’s a type of marketing funnel that is based on micro-moments. It focuses on the reasons that motivate users to enter the funnel. As depicted in the graphic above, four moments comprise the micro-moments digital marketing funnel.?

• Want to know moment

When customers search for specific information, they need to get their questions answered.

• What to go moment

These are the moments where customers look for specific information about somewhere they want to go. Typically, it could be a local business they are looking for.?

• Want to do moment

These moments are where customers are seeking for a solution to a certain problem.

• Want to buy moment

It is where the customer is interested in buying something.

What sets it apart from the hourglass and looping digital marketing funnels is, it involves anticipating customer needs based on the moments.??

Top 8 Funnel Digital Marketing Strategies you must know

Consumers at the top of the funnel offer the highest scope of opportunities for businesses. At this point, the customers are still searching and are not yet considering or deciding to buy from your brand.?

They are open to exploring their options for what they are interested in purchasing or a possible solution to a problem. There can be multiple ways to reach your customers at this stage. So?businesses can employ different strategies ?for the same.

SEO strategies for top-of-funnel customers

SEO is a remarkable tool in improving business visibility since it enables you to reach customers organically. The user search terms can also provide insight into the stage of the customer journey.?

If a potential customer is looking for general information, they are still exploring, which means providing the right information at the right time is essential.?

An informative piece of content, like a blog or a guide, will drive your customer on the path of discovering your business. With SEO, your business can achieve brand building. You can become a go-to resource for customers at the early buying stage.??

How can you determine the best digital marketing strategy for your business?

The digital marketing experts at Brainvire can offer valuable insights into this aspect and help you develop the best possible marketing strategies for your business.

Content marketing strategies for top-of-funnel customers

Content marketing is critical for a modern business. Around 70 percent of users would prefer a blog to be the source of information about a company rather than an ad.?

What’s more, users are more attracted to businesses that offer custom content, be it in the form of infographics or a blog post on topics of relevance.?Optimizing your content with SEO ?is also a good idea.?

With SEO-rich content, you have a higher chance of being discovered through search results. Search results on the first page have the most likelihood of being noticed. Your business will barely have any visibility and very little website traffic if it appears on the second page of the search results.

Social media marketing strategies for top-of-funnel customer

Social media sites are among the most visited sites in the world. Therefore,?social media marketing ?is of great value in reaching top-of-the-funnel users.?Building brand awareness ?has now become quite effective and common on social media platforms.?

Figure out your target audience’s preferred social media platforms to acquaint them with your brand and show them how it matches their expectations.?Influencer marketing ?can also be effective in promoting your brand.

It is a quick and direct way to make contact with top-of-the-funnel customers. Since influencers are already trusted, that can also benefit your brand by improving your brand’s first impression.?

Video marketing strategies for top-of-funnel customer

Videos are extremely effective and popularly consumed content. You can post videos about your products and related information, promotional videos, etc.?

Research shows that even watching a single video can increase brand association. Also, the likelihood of buying can increase after watching a video.??

Middle of the Funnel Digital Marketing Strategies

User actions are different in the middle of a digital marketing funnel. A lot of actions take place in this stage. Some are interested in one specific product; some are looking at multiple brands.?

Here are some strategies that work well at this stage in the funnel.

Email marketing:?This is a proven way to reach out to your customers and communicate with them about your product. At the same time, your emailers need to have content that is of interest to your clients. Therefore, it is a good idea to include updates, offers, any other information related to your brand and relevant to the customer.?

There can be several reasons why users sign up for your emailers. It is a good idea to segment the audience as per their motivations to buy your products.

SEO:?It can also be useful here. However, the approach for targeting keywords is different at this stage compared to those for top-of-the-funnel customers.?

Content Marketing:?Here, too, the idea is to adapt the content marketing strategies to suit the middle of the funnel customers. At this stage, more comprehensive and in-depth content is required. A how-to-guide, for instance, could be a good example.?

Bottom of the Funnel Digital Marketing Strategies

Customers at this stage can be the most important for some businesses. They’re ready to make a purchase or call or go to the actual location. To make sure customers at this stage take notice of the brands, many companies add paid marketing efforts to the mix. Here are a few tips on how to maximize returns at this stage.?

PPC strategies for Bottom of the funnel Customers

Pay-per-click advertising helps companies attract customers who are ready to buy. So it covers the ‘want-to-buy’ micro-moment customers. Along with that, PPC can also help reach out to customers who have been researching the products they are looking for.?

Upon?developing a PPC campaign , you need to gauge the potential customers’ shopping potential.?Your campaign budget must be within limits to suit the budgets of your target audience.?

But also make sure that you are able to make returns on your investment. Another important factor to consider is your target audience’s motivation for buying. Once you understand your target audience, it can easily inform your marketing strategies.?

Email marketing for bottom-of-the-funnel customers

Email marketing is a highly dependable strategy for bottom-of-the-funnel users. In fact, email marketing is more effective in generating sales as compared to other lead generation methods.?

Yet another important tactic is segmenting your audience. Depending on whether your audience is ready to pre-order or has abandoned shopping carts, you can plan to send out emailers accordingly.?

Understanding your audience’s intent is crucial in creating a marketing strategy. It can also help in cultivating loyalty toward your brand.?

SEO strategies for bottom-of-the-funnel customers

Using SEO for bottom-of-the-funnel users by focusing on actionable words can be helpful. For instance, using the word ‘buy’ shows intent to purchase. However, it should be noted that SEO focusing on the bottom of the buying funnel is often quite competitive.?

That’s why every business is ready with its website optimized with these high-value keywords. But on the other hand, if a website marketing funnel is optimized for targeting every stage of the funnel, that can help eliminate competition and improve brand visibility.?

What steps are needed to create digital marketing funnels?

1. Digital marketing channels and content

Assuming you already have a solid marketing strategy, excellent content and professional branding elements, the first step is to understand the preferred?channels?and?content?preferences of your targeted prospects.

Where do your prospects go to get content and what types of content do they prefer??Answer this question by getting inside the head of your target market to understand how they use the internet to research your products and services. Keep in mind they will be using a variety of devices with various screen sizes.?

This is often a challenge for many companies because people have their own preferences for how they take in information online and how they choose to interact with your online content. Establishing a successful digital marketing funnel requires you to find the channels most appropriate to reach your company’s goals for leads and sales.

Content Channels

Where do our prospects go to research on the internet?

• Your company website
• Email newsletters
• Social media websites
• Other market and industry related websites
• Association and conference websites
• Amazon
• Other channels?

Content Types

What types of content do our prospects prefer?

• Website content
• Blog posts
• Videos on YouTube and other social media sites
• Webinars
• eBooks
• Podcasts
• Audio recordings
• Other content types?

You won’t be able to cover every channel, but start with the top five channels and content types and make sure to have a presence in each one.

2. The digital lead nurturing process and touch points

After selecting the channels and content types, the next step is determining the paths people take within each of these areas. To do this, you need to understand the key places people will interact with your brand online. Let’s call these?touch points.

Start with the various touch points in your digital marketing funnel and list them in order by their level of importance.

Here are?10 examples of touch points?used in many digital marketing funnels. The most important touch points are lower on the list because they’re lower in the funnel.

1. Website visit to home page
2. Website visit to services and products pages
3. Website visit to resources and blogs
4. Referral from associated website
5. Social media visits
6. Follow on social media
7. Email newsletter sign-up
8. Webinar attendance
9. eBook download
10. Speak to a salesperson

Each of these touch points should trigger various digital marketing follow-ups. Remember, people will jump around in the process and these steps are not always completed in order. All of these touch points should include very clear calls to action (CTAs) so people can reach out to a salesperson when ready.?

3. Set conversion points and CTAs?

These are the critical CTA areas where prospects go from being anonymous to making contact with your company. Each part of the digital marketing funnel must have a conversion point included.

Here are a few examples of conversion points and CTAs:

• “Contact us” submission form
• Email newsletter sign-up
• Demo or free consultation
• Live chat
• Social media follow or like
• Blog subscription
• eBook or PDF download request
• Webinar sign-up
• Workshop or seminar sign-up
• Phone call to your company
• Email to a sales rep

Make sure all your conversion points are tracked in Google Analytics, Hubspot or a similar reporting application. Also, keep in mind people prefer to make contact in various ways; your favorite method for contacting a company will not be necessarily be shared by everyone in your target market.?

4. Establish Data and Analytics Tracking

Most of the steps in your funnel should be tracked in Google Analytics or Hubspot. This includes landing pages, email sign-ups, social media engagements, contact form submissions, webinar sign-ups and those listed above.

Companies should schedule regular digital marketing meetings and hold people accountable to completing and delivering reports and the proper tracking and reporting of CTAs. These meetings ensure the work is getting done.?

Digital Marketing Funnel Example

Here is an example of a digital marketing funnel that applies to most companies as they work to generate leads for their sales teams. This funnel will establish the flow through the various touch points people experience when they interact with your brand on the internet. These touch points will need to be customized to your company based on the content types and channels.

Touch points

1. Website visit from Google search or ad

This is a very common first touch point. At this point, the prospect is still anonymous and has not made contact. They will need to engage through a CTA before you can start the nurturing process. Your website must have excellent content, be very easy to use and motivate people to contact you and move through the funnel to the next steps. The website is doing the marketing work and heavy lifting at this point in the funnel.

2. Social media visit and follow

You can start marketing to people with social media content once they follow or like your social media pages but this approach has limitations, as social media is a challenging method for converting leads and sales. Social media is effective at getting people into an event like a webinar or seminar. It is also good at staying in touch, but don’t count on people converting from social media in large numbers. Video is also very popular on social media along with photography and eye-catching graphics.

3. Email newsletter subscription

This is an important step in the funnel as the prospect now agrees to no longer be anonymous and is willing to give their email address. This shows they value your content and want to hear from your company. It’s a big step in the funnel. Keep in mind, however, that many people avoid using their corporate email address when subscribing to email newsletters.

4. eBook download with email address

At this point the prospect has expressed interest in your content and is willing to give you their contact information. This is another major step in the funnel and should lead to more intensive communications and follow-up emails. It may not yet require contact from a salesperson. People may still not use their company email address to get an eBook.

5. Webinar sign-up

This touch point may be ranked higher than an eBook download because they are now willing to show up and meet you virtually. Most people attending a webinar should get an email or phone call from a salesperson as an introduction and key follow-up to get their feedback on the webinar training. If you have put in the time to present a webinar for free, the prospect should be willing to engage with a member of your sales team.

6. Contact form

This is a request to speak to a salesperson and should be followed up on very quickly — the same day if possible. This is perhaps the most important part of the digital marketing funnel.

7. Schedule a call with a salesperson

This is often where the digital marketing funnel ends and the sales funnel begins. Contacts that fall out of the sales process can go back into the digital marketing funnel.

All of these steps and touch points can be tracked in your reporting, digital statistics and analytics. Because you can track this data so closely, it is also possible to track the ROI of this work and measure the return in closed business.

Tools and Resources

There are many excellent resources available to implement and track digital marketing funnels. One of the best is?Hubspot, however there are several alternatives.?Google Analytics?is a must-have tool and resource.?Companies using these tools and tracking success rates will out-perform those that don’t.

Each of the resources below has extensive content. Evaluate the ones that work best for your company and budget.

• Google Analytics
• Google Search Console
• Hubspot
• Google AdWords
• Leadfeeder
• Salesforce
• Mailchimp
• Pardot
• Bombora

Key Takeaways?

The importance of a digital marketing funnel cannot be overstated. It is vital to understand its importance for growing your business.?

The different types of digital marketing funnels adopt many ways for a business to understand how their customers interact with their content and what they need in order to convert them.?

Right from the start, when someone comes to know about your business, until the time of purchase, there are opportunities to reach out to your customers at every step.?

That is what the digital marketing funnel is all about. It helps businesses identify, determine, and take advantage of every opportunity to know the customer better so they can serve them better.?

Digital marketing funnels are the driving force of a business. They are the most effective way to get leads and convert them into customers. As a result, they can increase sales for your business.?

It starts with someone who visits your website and then follows a series of steps. These steps could include adding an item to their cart, signing up for an email list, or downloading an ebook.

There are three major types of digital marketing funnels. They include the hourglass funnel, looping funnel, and micro-moments funnel. Each have their advantages and characteristics which can benefit businesses.?

Here are a few benefits of using a digital marketing funnel for your business:

• Helps build trust with potential customers
• Increases customer loyalty
• Increases conversion rates

In conclusion, a digital marketing funnel for your business is a useful tool for measuring, tracking and optimizing your marketing efforts. It also helps you identify what is working and what isn’t and offer your customers the best possible experience.?