Guide to Implementing Marketing Funnels

Your Guide to Implementing Marketing Funnels

If you have been in the business world for a while now, you have probably heard of the sales funnel or the marketing funnel. A lot of people seem to use these terms interchangeably, but is there a distinction between them? Today, I would like to cover why they are not the same thing, and how we can implement the latter one into our organizations.

For those of us who are not familiar with the concepts at all, do not worry. I will go into some of the background information as well today. You could get a head start by checking out a blog post like this one, of course, but do not feel pressured to. I will do my best to provide some good information as well!

Understanding What a Marketing Funnel Is

The first thing that I would like to point out is that there is a difference between marketing and sales. It can be a bit foggy, of course, and sometimes the lines are blurred. Still, I do think it is worth remembering this to understand how the two different funnels are distinct as well.

As a customer considers making a purchase, they go along a path to do so. That is what the funnel is based upon, so be sure to remember that. So, what is the difference between the types, then?

Well, the marketing angle is of course going to be altered. In fact, the key thing to note here is that when a marketer is tackling this concept, they typically try to target their audience along a variety of the stages of the process. This is the main change between the two, since a salesperson tends to walk a consumer through each of them to eventually land the sale.

If you are wondering why that it is called a funnel in the first place, let me clear that up for you now. The main reason is that as you progress through, inevitably some potential customers will end up “falling out” of the funnel. Essentially, they will not end up interested or decide to stop the interaction. This is perfectly natural, so do not panic if it happens.

The Stages of a Marketing Funnel

Now that I have covered the basics, you are ready to learn more of the in-depth stuff! One potential resource to check out is this one, https://www.clickfunnels.com/blog/sales-funnel-vs-marketing-funnel/, which I have utilized a few times now as I researched the topic.

The first stage is called “awareness.” It is pretty much what it sounds like on the tin, of course. It involves getting the name of your brand or company out there and starting to build recognition for it. This is how customers become aware of you and the products or services that you have to offer.

Just keep in mind that you should be performing this outreach to attract the people that are within your target audience. It would be a waste of resources and money to advertise to people who will be completely uninterested in our products, after all. So, as you are doing your best to attract attention, always remember that critical point.

The next step is called interest. This is when you start to gauge how interested the prospects that you garnered in the prior stage actually are with your business. Typically, they begin to do some research and comparing brands for the product that they are interested in.

The strategy of implementing the marketing funnel is related to proper market research. Well, considering market research services may help you get better benefits with the associated marketing process.

If you made a good first impression, they will hopefully lean towards you as their choice of brand or company. What should you be doing now, though? It can be a bit difficult to figure out, but the primary goal is to teach that potential customer about how your product can benefit them more than your competitors’.

Just be careful not to come on too strong or appear too “salesy.” It tends to do the opposite of what we would like it to. So long as you are not overbearing, though, you should be fine!

What comes next? That would be the “desire” phase. This is usually when a customer starts to feel more strongly about your product or service. They might be thinking to themselves “I want it,” or something else along those lines. As I am sure you can imagine, that makes this step crucial in landing the sale.

Now, the goal for the marketer in this phase might not be very intuitive at first, but hopefully it will make sense once I explain it. You will want to push your salespeople into nudging those leads that demonstrate high levels of interest and intention. Ideally, they will end up making their purchase with further reassurance about the value that you and your brand have to offer.

Unfortunately, it can be easy to lose sight of that. As the internet grows in popularity, that seems to be the case even more. So, what are some other notes before we progress to the final stage?

The last two that I mentioned, those being interest and desire, can often coincide. Sometimes, we instead call it the “nurturing” phase in that we are nurturing these leads into becoming paying consumers. Just make sure that you continue to engage with them!

The final step is called “action,” which is where they make their purchase. Do not lose sight of the long-term goals that you have here, though. While it is easy to simply celebrate the successful sale, there is still more that you can do.

Essentially, you want to give the customer the best experience possible to help encourage them to become a repeat buyer in the future. This also can allow you to capitalize on something known as word-of-mouth marketing, where they will end up spreading the word of their positive experience with the people that they know and give you more prospective leads with no cost to you!

While this might all seem a bit complex, once you dive in and start applying these techniques it will get easier for you.