People don’t just magically buy your products and services. That would be awesome if they did. But they don’t.
In reality, there’s a process, a journey, people go through that leads them to purchase.
In business, we call this a marketing funnel. And it’s a helpful tool you can use to better align your marketing efforts to your target audience’s needs.
In this article, we’ll uncover the basics of a marketing funnel and how it works.
What is a Marketing Funnel?
Think of a marketing funnel as a roadmap. This roadmap can guide you through your customer’s buying journey process. You can align strategies and content to this roadmap to help influence prospects to become customers and lifelong fans.
The Marketing Funnel Stages
The Marketing Funnel can be divided into three different stages: Top of Funnel (TOFU), Middle of the Funnel (MOFU), and Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU). During these phases, it’s your job to convince the prospect to get to know you, like you, and trust you.
Top of the Funnel (TOFU)
The first entry point into your brand starts with awareness.
At this stage, you recognize that a problem exists or a need/opportunity has come about. During this stage, it’s important that your brand shows up as prospects are searching for a solution.
How to Align Marketing Content to TOFU
At this stage of the funnel, high-level content works wonders. Try to focus on marketing strategies that help prospects get to know you.
- Blogs
- Videos
- SEO
- Ads
Middle of the Funnel (MOFU)
The next stage is the information phase. At this point, you’re interested and gathering information.
Eventually, you’ll use that information to transition into an evaluation phase where you weigh your options. During this stage, you’ll want to make sure your brand provides enough information and value for them to get to like you.
How to Align Marketing Content to MOFU
To provide value during the MOFU stage of the funnel consider implementing any of the following:
- Email Sign Up
- Downloadables
- FAQs page
- Webinars
Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU)
The final stage is known as the purchase phase. Prospects in this stage are ready to buy. It’s your job to make sure the process is clear, smooth, and easy to do.
While there are several different frameworks you can use for reference. The AIDA model is an easy one to wrap your head around.
How to Align Marketing Content to BOFU
In this final stage, encouraging the prospect to take action is critical. Content strategies that work best in this stage include:
- Case Studies
- Free Demo/Trials
- Reviews
The AIDA Model
As you create your marketing funnel, you can use the AIDA Model as a framework for success.
How do you use this marketing funnel?
The key areas where marketing strategies are used include:
- Awareness – Use digital marketing methods such as SEO and PPC ads to raise brand awareness and boost your visibility online.
- Interest – Create marketing material such as blog posts or videos to engage your audience and give them a reason to follow you.
- Desire – Write marketing copy in order to advertise a product or service in a way that speaks directly to the consumer. This marketing material might include testimonials from existing customers, case studies about previous projects and more basic basic marketing like email marketing campaigns and sales funnels which can be used for products on an eCommerce store.
- Action – Use video marketing methods such as live webinars or demo’s on your website or social media channels to demonstrate how products work and why they should buy from you over competitors. A sales funnel may also be utilized at this point in order to close the sale while also creating marketing material for the post-sales process.
- Loyalty – Develop a referral program or a customer loyalty program to continue to upsell, cross-sell and increase the lifetime value of your customer.
Need help with your marketing funnel?
If you need help mapping out a marketing funnel for your organization, get in touch with Woods Creative.