Funnels have a love and hate relationship when it comes to businesses, and that is because most people do not understand them. A marketing funnel is a complete breakdown of your customer’s purchase journey. It is a journey that lists everything from when a customer gets to know about your product or service where they buy from you. A marketing funnel usually consists of 5 phases:
- Awareness: Letting consumers know that your brand exists.
- Adaptation: Convincing them that your product or service is the right choice.
- Conversion: Removing their doubts to increase the chance of making a sale.
- Commitment: Ensure that they come back to your product or service.
- Advocacy: Hoping that they’ll refer your brand to others or make additional purchases.
Here are Six Ways You Can Improve Your Marketing Funnel:
- Network Campaigns
The purpose of a funnel is to secure customer engagement by letting them know about your product or service. Once you have the audience, you can improve your marketing funnel by building your audience using marketing strategies like pay per clicks (PPC) campaigns or other affiliate marketing strategies. Though it could be a slow start, you will see the outcome over time (typically six to twelve months). When it comes to funnels, gradual equates to consistent engagement over time.
- Landing Pages
Landing pages are emerging out of the need to have an immediate response from consumers. As compared to a simple homepage, a landing page calls your customers to action. Its goal is to get emails or contact information from consumers. When a client visits your site for the first time, the automatic response will be to keep them in touch with your brand; therefore, you’ll focus on your landing page to result in more than one engagement action, which would be to attract them with a discount, new product, or service.
- Targeted Content
It is impossible not to have heard the concept of search engine optimization (though mostly referred to as SEO) if you are operating anywhere on the internet (and especially in business). You have to improve your content and ensure your site has something beneficial for your prospective and recurring customers. This can be done by adding new products or services regularly or writing a blog for your site. Blogs have become a sure way to attract an audience to your site, leading to increased traffic and sales on your site.
- Committed Engagement
Engaging the customers is one of the best ways you can improve your marketing funnel. Once you get the details of your visitors, you can create e-mail marketing campaigns for them. Keeping them up-to-date with your newsletters and discount offers will make them revisit your website over and over.
- Referrals & Upsells
Try engaging with other sites for referrals or offer client referral incentives (i.e., refer a friend and receive 15% off if they make a purchase). You’ll be able to get new consumers or brand awareness. Since there will be some people to visit your site, they may exit the funnel before reaching the purchase phase. To improve your marketing funnel, convince them by offering specific incentives like free shipping or other discounts at checkout. Customers always like it when you offer them a way to save money, and everyone likes the word free.
- Build a Journey
The last and most important way you can improve your marketing funnel is to build a meaningful journey with the client. Concentrate on every phase separately by creating strategies for your consumers to stay connected and ensure that you don’t have a weak phase. Remember, a journey means longevity and consistency in travel. Look at your funnel the same way. As stated before, a quick sale does not mean you have built a relationship with your consumers. To build a relationship takes time, and that is why creating a journey often equates to long-term success.
A marketing funnel is an essential process if you’re stepping into the eCommerce market. The benefits and sales it can generate make the process worthwhile. And if you consider the shape of a funnel, you will realize the purpose is longevity, which means in time, strategy, marketing, purchasing, and consistent revenue.