The marketing funnel – turning your potential customers into loyal supporters

The marketing funnel is a simple, visual way to describe every customer journey.

Before any of us becomes a loyal advocate for a brand, we go through certain stages that get us there. This means we will have received relevant, timely and effective marketing that has appealed to us and prompted us to act.

That’s the essence of the marketing funnel.

There are variations in the phrases used to describe the funnel, such as the ‘conversion’ or ‘purchase’ funnel, and in the stages they include. But what’s known as the ‘AIDA’ funnel was the original, and we feel that it best describes the emotional response to becoming a loyal customer:

Our funnel has the important addition of ‘advocacy’ at the bottom – because through this, your loyal customers become a core part of your marketing.

Here we explain how you can use the marketing funnel to plan your digital marketing strategy, which will make sure you not only attract and retain your customers, they’ll become advocates for your brand.

The marketing funnel concept

Awareness

At the top of the funnel, where it’s widest, are all the possible purchasers. So, people who might at some point in their life need your services, who are in the right location for you and can afford you. There are lots of these people and your job at this point in their journey is to make them aware of your services.

So, for example, if you make celebration cakes, this is about making as many people as possible know about your delicious cakes, even though they might not currently have a celebration planned.

Interest

The next level down has fewer people in it, but this is where they have expressed an interest in the type of product or service you provide. So, at this point, they’re doing a bit of research, and becoming more educated about the purchase. Your job at this point is to grab their attention and show them what you’re about.

To use our cake analogy, these people have a special occasion which they need a cake for, so you need to ensure that they find your business.

You found us! Now see how we make your celebration even more special…

Desire

The third level of the funnel is desire, getting the customer to want to buy from you.

You need to be answering their questions, showing your expertise and proving that you are the right option.

So, for our example cake business, it’s the time to communicate why you’re the best choice. You might show them photos of your stunning cakes, talk about the choice and creativity on offer, or demonstrate that you have hundreds of happy customers locally. The important thing is getting your message across.

Look at all the beautiful cakes we’ve made for happy customers, always delicious, always to your specification, whatever the occasion

Action

The next bit of the funnel is action. There are fewer people in this bit, but this is the crucial stage where a prospect becomes a customer.

This is where the customer goes ahead and orders a cake.

Thank you for your order, we’re excited to make your special cake

Advocacy

In some models the funnel stops after action, but we prefer the model that includes advocacy as a final stage, because these are customers that are so happy they not only come back to you time and again, they also refer you to their friends and family.

So, they’ll come back to you for 18^th, 30^th and 50^th birthdays and refer you to their best friend for her daughter’s wedding day. For the investment in one customer, you end up with many.

Hello again…another special birthday, how lovely

Why is the marketing funnel important?

Using the marketing funnel and understanding how it relates to your business can be powerful – it will give you a greater return on your marketing investment (ROI).

It will help you deliver the right message, at the right time, to your potential and existing customers.

For example, your funnel might help you to realise that you are losing most of your potential customers at the interest stage – when they are researching your product or service. If this is the case, you might change your Google Ads messaging to better communicate the value of your service, to help you stand out from your competitors.

Or perhaps you’ll realise that you’ve taken your eye off the ball when it comes to the awareness stage and are only focussing on the people further down the funnel. It’s always important to keep topping up the funnel!

Getting started

A great way to start the process is by mapping out your customers’ journey and there’s no better way to do this than putting yourself in their shoes.

One of the most important benefits of the marketing funnel is its measurability. So, after you’ve mapped your customer journey, set goals for each stage in the funnel – these goals will guide the marketing tactics that best suit your business.

Setting goals

As an example, your goals might include:

• Awareness: 5,000 Google Display Ad impressions per month in your target location
• Interest: 300 Google Search Ads clicks
• Desire: 20 new followers on your social media platform per month plus an average number of website page views of at least 2 per visitor
• Action: 15 new enquiries per month and a 5% of your existing customer base making another purchase
• Advocacy: 5 new Google reviews per month and 1 referral from an existing customer

It isn’t all about Google

Depending on your business, Google may not be the main route your customers use to find you.

For example, if you are a large engineering firm working on national infrastructure projects, then Google Search Ads may not be a good use of your marketing budget.

Your goals might include:

• Awareness: strengthening your LinkedIn presence with regular posts about projects and success stories
• Interest: a more dedicated and consistent approach to social media to increase engagement along with your number of followers each month
• Desire: having an excellent website which showcases your credentials to give a good impression when you’re tendering for jobs
• Action: a measurable uplift in enquiries
• Advocacy: effective use of customer testimonials to reinforce the quality of your service

Tactics to use at each stage of the marketing funnel

Awareness

The marketing activity at this stage is about making people release your product or service exists. Most of the people reached by this activity won’t currently need your services, but they might at some point.

With awareness marketing, it’s critical to understand who your customers are. A good way to approach this is by understanding your existing customer base and their demographic, this will help you attract similar customers. You can create customer personas to do this – listing all the features of your ideal customer to help you pinpoint how to target them.

These are some of the tactics you could consider to raise awareness of your products or services.

Display or social media advertising

• These are adverts that pop up on websites or social media sites. You might see them because you’re of a particular demographic, in the right location, or have shown an interest in something similar.
• These ads enable advertisers to get to the right demographic (including specific locations) and raise awareness. However, people will see the ad even if they’re not searching for your services right now, it’s not targeting at people actively seeking your product or service.
• With this type of advertising, there is complete flexibility to spend as little or as much as you want, so it’s a good option for most businesses, from sole traders to national companies.

Word of mouth

• This is one of the most important ways for any business to raise awareness.
• While this happens offline, it’s important that when someone has received a recommendation, they can easily find your business online – be that through your website, social media pages or ads.
• We’ll talk more about how to get more word of mouth recommendations in the ‘advocacy’ stage.

Print marketing, eg door drops or magazine ads

• If you’re using print marketing, it’s good to consider how you can expand on this through your digital marketing channels. For example, QR codes are great for people to link from a door drop back to your website or your social media page.

Interest

Your potential customers are interested in purchasing the services you offer, though not necessarily from your business, so it’s key that you’re not only front of mind, but that you grab their attention.

Google Guaranteed aka Local Services

• This is a type of advert which appears right at the very top of Google when someone searches for the services you offer. See example below:

• It’s “guaranteed” because Google will reimburse the customer if the quality isn’t good enough (to a certain limit).
• These Local Services adverts highlight the most important information to help you attract customers to your business: your service, location, business hours and reviews.
• Your ad will show a preview of your business profile, so that when users click on your ad, they’ll find your profile.
• Local Services ads are only available to certain “trades” – if your trade is eligible, then they are essential, whether you’re a large business or a sole trader.
• They are a cost-effective approach because you only pay when you get to speak to the customer (literally, you only pay when the call connects), rather than paying for a click as with Google Search Ads – see below.
• The cost can vary depending on how much competition there is and how much budget you’re prepared to put in. As a guide it could be around £10 for every contact, but this will vary quite widely from trade to trade.
• The accreditation process will require you to jump through a few hoops, for example providing insurance details and having a certain minimum number of  Google Business Profile reviews.

Google Search Ads

• These are ‘pay per click’ (PPC) adverts, which appear at the top of Google’s search results, ensuring that your brand is seen before your competitors’. See examples below:

• Unlike Google Guaranteed ads, you pay for a click through to your website, rather than an actual customer contact.
• Google Search Ads, unlike Google Guaranteed Ads, are available to almost all businesses.
• Google Search Ads are highly effective for lead generation and brand awareness, delivering a strong return on your investment.
• They can appear in both Google search results and map listings.
• These ads are excellent at generating ‘warm leads’, they are found by people who have searched for your services, which suggests they have an intent to purchase.
• While you don’t have to spend a fortune on Google Search Ads, a larger spend is directly connected with greater exposure and more leads.
• Costs per click are driven by the number of customers searching and how many of your competitors are also “bidding” on the same search terms. If there are fewer customers and more competitors, this pushes up the cost per click.

Read our case study demonstrating how Google ads can be used strategically to target specific locations, and fine-tuned to appear only when someone makes a relevant search.

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

• Having a strong “organic” Google ranking is essential to attract those potential customers who ignore the ads at the top of the page.
• You need a suitable website to achieve this – one that’s full of quality, authoritative and relevant content.
• With SEO, there are three key elements to consider:
  • On page – This relates to the content on your website. Keyword research will help to identify which search terms your ideal customers are using. Writing quality content about those topics will demonstrate your website’s expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness to Google (and your human audience).
  • Off page – these are strategies that happen outside of your website to help boost your SEO, predominantly this relates to getting lots of links to your website from other, high quality websites.
  • Technical – your website needs to be set up so that Google can understand it. This means technical adjustments ‘behind-the-scenes’ really do matter. Your website also needs to load quickly, be secure and work perfectly on any device.

Read our case study demonstrating the power of high quality content and how to “get in early” and beat the competition to the top spots in Google.

• An effective SEO strategy is to use targeted “landing” pages to appeal to defined customer groups.
• Landing pages use specific keyword combinations to target potential customers with a very focused approach. They can target people searching in a particular location, for example if you’re based in Uckfield but want to reach people in Heathfield, you might set up a landing page to target that location.
• Landing pages can also be used to support other marketing activity, such as online advertising. They are a very accurate way to measure customer activity such as bounce rate, conversions, traffic source, and page views to help you understand how your marketing is performing.

Google Business Profile

• This will appear when people search for you by name, but also when people search locally for the service you provide (via the Google map search results).
•  Every business should have one, it’s free and easy to set up.

Advice and tips for optimising your Google Business Profile:

1. Make sure your details are correct.
2. Add information about your products and services.
3. Make sure you’re listed under the correct category(ies).
4. Add some good photos.
5. Make sure you get lots of reviews and, ideally, respond to each one. See below:

Desire

Your business has been found by potential customers who are interested in your product or service. Now it’s time to convince them to buy from you.

Google Business Profile

• Your Google Business Profile is usually seen when your company is searched for by name, so it’s as important to optimise it for the ‘Desire’ stage as it is for creating ‘Interest’.

Website conversion optimisation

• Navigation – if you have a website, make sure it’s working hard for you. Consider your customer’s journey through it – is it easy for them to get to the information they need and receive the messages that you want to get across to them?
• FAQs – including relevant and helpful ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ is an effective way to reassure and, ultimately, convince your potential customers that they are making the right choice. FAQs are also a great way to reinforce keywords for SEO. 
• Blogs – like FAQs blog articles are a great way to showcase your expertise and, because they tend to be more in-depth than FAQs, are a great tactic to serve your SEO objectives too.
• Call to action – a strong call to action will usually involve asking the website visitor to pick up the phone or send an email. But this might not be the right approach for every page on your website, so you might consider a free download or a quote enquiry form for a softer sell.

Read our case study demonstrating the importance of a website that’s simple to navigate and the benefits of close alignment with the business location.

Some people might take a while to make their minds up, or you might naturally have a long decision making process. Digital marketing can help you keep those leads warm:

Email marketing

• If a prospect isn’t ready to go ahead yet, adding them to an email marketing list will gently remind them about your services, and give you the potential to entice them with special offers.
• It’s also a great way to reinforce the reasons to buy from you, for example by sharing photos of your recent work or client testimonials.
• Systems like MailChimp offer a free service to send marketing emails, including providing you with an online sign up form.
• Before embarking on any email marketing, you should ensure that you have the correct permissions from everyone you add to your mailing list.
• And don’t inundate people with emails! A rule of thumb should be the more frequently they purchase from you then the more frequently you email them – so if you’re a coffee shop you might email customers weekly to tell them about your latest offers or new coffee flavours. If you’re selling home improvements then once a month might be a better frequency.

Re-marketing advertising

• This is the type of marketing that follows you around the internet – when you’ve looked at an online clothing store, for example, and suddenly see the jumper you were interested in appear in your Facebook feed.
• They’re a great way to remind customers about your service and encourage them to take the next step and purchase from you

Events such as webinars

• Depending on your business, webinars can be a great way to showcase your expertise and draw people in.
• You can promote them through your email marketing lists, social media and word of mouth. It’s also great to send personal invitations to prospects you’re nurturing.

Action

You’ve successfully convinced your customer to go ahead and purchase your product or service.

But, bearing in mind that it’s cheaper to keep an existing client than find a new one, you shouldn’t stop marketing to them.

Email marketing

• Email is a low-cost way to keep in touch with your customers and remind them about your expertise.
• Ensure your email communications are relevant and useful, for example give seasonal advice or inspiring ideas.
• Email services such as MailChimp are free if you have a small database and aren’t emailing very often. For example, with MailChimp’s Free Plan, you can manage up to 500 contacts and send up to 1,000 emails per month.

Organic social media

• Social media, when kept up to date with engaging content, is a great tool for reminding your customers about your services and encouraging them to use you again.
• With regular, high quality content you’ll build a community of users that enjoy seeing your posts and have you front of mind when they, or someone they know, has need of your services.
• Choose the platform(s) where your customers are most likely to be. Maybe start with just one platform and see how you go at keeping that up to date – rather than launching on four different ones and then struggling to update them all.
• Social media platforms are free to use, although some (such as Facebook and X) offer paid verification services for businesses.
• Most also allow you to schedule your posts in the future, though you can also use scheduling services (such as HootSuite, Later, Buffer or SocialPilot, to name just a few) which allow you to schedule across multiple platforms at the same time.

Loyalty programme

• Having some form of loyalty recognition is a must. It doesn’t have to be expensive – it could be as simple as a free download or a discount for repeat orders.
• Our financial adviser sent me the most amazing bunch of flowers on my 50^th – such a kind gesture that certainly influenced my loyalty! But, something as simple as a thank you email to recognise a customer’s loyalty can really make an impression.
• Your website, social media pages and email communications are all ways to promote your loyalty scheme – it’s a great way to demonstrate to prospective customers how you value your clients.

Advocacy

Even better than just keeping your customers, why not turn them into a sales force?!

Referral programme

• Sometimes known as a ‘member get member’ scheme, referral programmes encourage your customers to recommend you to their friends and family, and generally reward all parties.
• Pop-ups on your website, social media posts and personalised email communications are all excellent ways to promote your referral programme.

Our client, Window Wise, run a successful referral programme.

Email marketing

Timely and appropriate email marketing to your existing customers will keep your business front of mind. It’s a great way to tell your customers about special offers and events, new product or service launches and, of course, your referral programme.

Competitions and events

• Competitions, prize draws and online events (such as podcasts, webinars and streaming new product launches) are a good way to create interest amongst your existing customers, and encourage them to recommend you.
• Social media and email communications are perfect to raise awareness about a particular campaign, event or product – creating a buzz about your business can be infectious!

We can help you at every stage of your customer journey

We make sure you squeeze every ounce of benefit from your marketing budget and activities.

Whether you need help with SEO, the best approach to Google Ads, or long-term support with your content, our experienced team can guide you through the most beneficial approach.

Discover how digital marketing can help you achieve your ambitions. Contact us.