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The concept of a digital marketing funnel has been around for a long time, and it has changed quite a bit as digital marketing has evolved. The funnel is a marketing strategy designed to attract people to your business, then guide them to conversion.
Having a well-defined funnel can save you considerable resources, as it will ensure all your marketing efforts are tailored to the various stages in the customer journey. As a result, you will waste less energy, time, and money trying to figure things out.
By the end of this article, you’ll see just how valuable a digital marketing funnel can be to your bottom line.
The traditional marketing funnel has three stages:
Let’s look at each one in more detail in relation to pay-per-click advertising.
The key purpose of the top of the funnel is to create brand awareness. This is when people are just discovering their need for a product or service. Companies get increase brand awareness by publishing relevant content, such as blogs, eBooks, webinars, and email courses, as well as by having a presence on social media.
In doing this, you can build brand recognition so that people begin to equate your brand with particular products and services. In other words, you look to establish trust so that people see your company as the best solution for a specific problem or pain point.
At this point, people are aware they have a need for something. Now, they are starting to consider possible solutions and specific brands. In the middle of the funnel, prospects may have read your blog or clicked on a PPC ad you ran on Google Ads. From there, they could now be considering several options that you presented on your blog or landing page.
In the digital marketing funnel, the middle is a crucial stage as it bridges the top and bottom of the funnel. If the middle does not offer a smooth, seamless journey between awareness and conversion, it’s unlikely you will make a lot of sales.
This is where you seek to maximize your conversions, and quite often, boost revenue for your PPC digital marketing efforts.
Be aware that a conversion is not only a sale. It is whenever a user completes an action you have defined as a ‘conversion’ for a specific campaign, for example:
The prospects that make it to the bottom of the funnel aren’t guaranteed to go all the way. However, if you have optimized your funnel, there is a good chance they will convert.
You can use Google Analytics to visualize your consumer data. The funnels in this program allow you to see data visualizations at each stage, making it easy to identify where people are dropping off. With these insights, you can optimize your funnel to make the customer journey smoother.
Every step of a conversion funnel represents a specific action that users must take. With that being the case, it’s essential that each step has its own dedicated web page and URL.
However, not every marketer has a funnel. This strategy may be very popular, but it is by no means mandatory or universal.
Which begs the question:
What else can you do? How will leads convert if you aren’t using a digital marketing funnel?
In a marketing funnel, customers are the outcome. All your efforts attracting prospects and driving them through your funnel has just one singular goal in mind – conversion. The funnel isn’t designed to engage customers beyond the point of conversion, which is a problem for any company who wants to nurture loyalty and build an audience that will stick around.
A more recent school of thought has grown steadily over the past few years, leading some professionals to question the sustainability of the marketing funnel.
It’s time to say hello to the flywheel.
By the very nature of its design, a flywheel builds up energy, then uses it to continue spinning. This self-perpetuating motion is something that modern marketers want to replicate.
As a flywheel gathers momentum, its energy increases. This depends on three factors:
So, how does this apply to your business and the digital marketing funnel?
A successful company will seek to be agile, so they can adapt their strategies to all three of these factors. For example:
For many years, marketers have trusted the digital marketing funnel as their go-to strategy for acquiring new customers. The digital landscape is shifting, and while a lot of people still believe in the funnel, there is a new alternative available now.
The marketing flywheel is geared to go beyond the point of conversion, encouraging greater fluidity throughout the customer journey. This amplifies customer retention and loyalty.
Not every business using PPC for digital marketing will have the same approach, and so the way in which you manage your marketing will depend on your specific business model.
The best advice is to evaluate your business first so you can figure out which aspects and assets can be the most effective at driving growth. Whether you choose a funnel or a flywheel is up to you. In the end, you just need to make sure you focus on your strengths and look to eliminate any flaws.
Ultimately, that will create a smooth customer journey that can help you get more conversions, customers, and profit.
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