- Can we talk about funnels all the time in marketing?
Purchase funnels, sales funnels, inbound funnels,
but regardless of the name,
they're all ultimately describing the same concept.
A funnel is really just a way
to represent the customer's journey
as they move towards the purchase
of your product or service.
At the top, or the widest part of the funnel,
is where a buyer starts their journey.
And the bottom, the narrowest part,
is where they complete it.
So our goal as marketers is to funnel prospects into buyers
moving them from the top to the bottom of the funnel.
The shape reflects the fact that a large number of people
will never complete the journey through the funnel.
You'll expose your product or service to a lot of people,
the top of the funnel,
but only a small fraction will actually convert.
Now we tend to segment the funnel into four areas.
Awareness, interest, desire and action.
At the top, is awareness.
A prospect has to become aware of not only what they want,
but who's offering it.
This is when a prospect is introduced to your brand,
but keep in mind,
they're also likely exposed to the competition as well.
Now, below awareness, we have interest.
At this stage,
a consumer begins to explore the products
or services available to them in more detail.
Next, comes desire, which we can also call consideration.
It's here that the prospect wants to make a purchase
but it may or may not be with your brand.
They're in the final stages of evaluating
whether or not to commit.
And finally, action.
They're either going to buy, or they're not.
They may select your company, another company,
or based on their findings
decide they're not making a purchase at all.
Now this is the foundational funnel,
and we call it the item model.
You may also see it with one last step known as loyalty.
Essentially, the act of retaining the customer.
We often reference these different segments
as top of funnel, middle of the funnel,
and bottom of the funnel.
Towards the bottom of the funnel,
you have a consumer who is really close
to making a purchase.
Bottom funnel marketing focuses on identifying consumers
who are in buying decisions and then converting them.
Search advertising is exceptional for this.
At the top of the funnel,
you're focused on making leads aware of your solution.
If there's zero top of the funnel marketing,
well, there's nobody coming out the other side,
you have to get them in the door
before you can sell to them.
And as you might expect,
middle of the funnel marketing is the nurturing process
to keep the lead moving.
It's giving them a great experience
and all the information they need
at just the right time to make their decision.
It's crucial to understand which stage your customer is at
so you can deliver marketing that helps them
get to the next stage.