“After you’ve done a thing the same way for two years, look it over carefully. After five years, look at it with suspicion. And after ten years, throw it away and start all over.” —Alfred Edward Perlman, noted railroad executive
In recent years, there’s been a noticeable shift in the marketplace, with new and enhanced trends allowing brands to communicate with their target audiences in ways that simply weren’t possible before. The internet offers us various platforms that are tailored for marketing, meaning we’re no longer limited to a single method of reaching people. This has been a game changer for businesses both large and small!
While making the leap from outdated concepts to more fluid digital marketing formulas can feel a little overwhelming, this kind of forward movement is necessary for growth. Traditional efforts we could once count on are becoming obsolete and continuing to rely on them can lead to stagnant sales numbers. A perfect example of this is the AIDA marketing funnel: Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.
This four-step concept has evolved over time to incorporate different types of marketing methods and strategies. Originally, it followed a more linear path to gather qualified leads and convert them into clients. Today, however, this process takes a multi-faceted approach in order to get the best results!
A modern digital marketing funnel combines a number of different tactics and techniques to help a brand:
- increase their targeted exposure over time
- gather better quality leads that can be converted with ease
- and nurture potential clients in such a way that they feel compelled to share their experience with others.
The digital marketing funnel is relevant for any type and size of business. Done properly, this model can help you reach a larger audience, achieve a favorable conversion rate, and give you clarity on what needs to be improved in order to achieve stronger marketing results. It also allows you to monitor a client’s retention journey, which is critical to your brand’s long-term success.
Digital marketing funnels don’t need to be complicated, but you do need to understand how this method works in order to employ it correctly. Building a digital marketing funnel will help your business achieve a particular goal or objective by drawing in targeted traffic from various sources. This traffic then travels through your funnel – starting at the top as a lead, then moving to the middle, and then down to the bottom, where they become a paying client who spreads the word about your business.
There are six stages to a successful digital marketing funnel. Let’s take a closer look at what those stages are, and how they work together to help you attract and retain clients!
Stage 1: Exposure
The most basic step towards a successful digital marketing funnel begins with brand awareness. In order to engage with your brand, your audience first needs to know it exists. Digital marketing tends to work more efficiently than traditional methods of advertising, as people are able to share your content and generate more awareness through “word-of-mouth” exposure. To this end, you should be working to:
- improve your ranking in Google and other major search engines for targeted keywords
- create and share content that delivers real value
- build a community that is loyal and responsive
- occasionally invest in digital advertising that provides proven results
Remember that none of these methods will be effective in the long-term if you aren’t tracking your progress to learn what works and what doesn’t.
Stage 2: Discovery
Once people land on your site or social media platforms, you need to ensure they hang around and discover the products and services you have to offer. To entice viewers to explore all the ways your brand can add value to their user experience, consider:
- offering informative, educated, and reliable content that is also easy to read and understand
- recommending relevant products or services with discounts before someone leaves your website
- using an exit pop-up on your website to invite visitors to subscribe to emails
Your goal should always be to procure something from a viewer before they leave, even if it’s something as simple as their contact information. Keeping the lines of communication open is always a win.
Stage 3: Consideration
If you’re able to offer a positive experience to visitors, you increase their chances of moving on to the consideration stage. Knowing your target audience and their needs is crucial at this stage, as it creates a smooth funnel where obvious concerns are addressed before any queries come your way. This creates a trust factor with prospective clients and allows you to devise more refined and targeted marketing tactics.
A good example of this is a comprehensive FAQ on your site along with a testimonial page. This can answer almost any question a visitor may have, and can also remove any last-minute doubts and objections they may have, increasing the chances of conversion.
Stage 4: Conversion
Regardless of what your business is, a high conversion rate is what you should be aiming for. When someone has passed through the consideration stage and is in the mindset to commit, you don’t want this to be there you lose them! Making the process as easy as possible is part of perfecting your digital marketing funnel. There will always be the chance of “cracks” in the funnel, through which prospective clients can slip. Identifying any potential weak points where the conversion process can be disturbed is essential.
Stage 5: Customer Relationship
Taking your business to the next level depends on nurturing customer relationships. It’s up to you to give customers the value they deserve so they don’t feel compelled to seek it elsewhere! Instead of overwhelming both prospective and current clients with sales emails, work on providing high-quality customer service by answering their questions and solving any issues in a timely manner, as well as offering relevant content that has value to them. Every successful business relationship boils down to that one key word: value. The way you nurture that relationship with your customers will eventually set you apart from your competitors.
Stage 6: Retention
Creating strong customer relationships can be time-consuming and may require an ongoing investment, but it’s a simpler and less costly process than gaining all new clients. How much value you deliver directly affects your retention rate, and the more customers you retain, the more repeat business you’ll gain.
The great thing about a digital marketing funnel is that each of the stages are interdependent, so strengthening one area will have a positive effect on the others. As you improve on each of these stages and the overall process, it leads to complete business growth. Next month, we’ll discuss the different types of digital marketing funnels and help you plan out the one that will be most profitable for you.
Our experienced team is here to help you and support all your marketing efforts! Neon Canvas is happy to provide more information on how our own digital marketing services can generate leads and profits for your business. Get in touch to learn more!
As always, thank you for allowing us to grow alongside your brand. We appreciate you.
Kyle Fagala, DDS, MDS
Co-Founder, Neon Canvas