Marketing is a powerful tool to create brand awareness and interest in the targeted audience. Every brand or service provider has a different set of audiences, so their marketing strategy to create more leads and sales will be different. In this article, we will closely look at marketing funnel stages how to get more leads and sales at each one.
Most marketing funnel strategies fail because of inadequate research and utilization of tools. In this article, we explain how you can research and learn about your customers, platforms to contact them, and methods to make them your customers.
Marketing Funnel Stages and How to Get More From It
The marketing funnel is divided into three parts – top funnel (aware), middle funnel (engage), and bottom funnel (convert). Each funnel stage has a different purpose, and therefore, its execution has to be unique. As a marketer or business owner, you must draft a different strategy to conquer each stage and get more leads.
Stage 1: Top Funnel or Aware
The first move to the prospect should be about introducing the brand. It should answer all ‘W’ questions. What is the brand about? What is its purpose? Why is the brand famous? Where is the brand located? What services does it provide? What to expect from the brand?
You should provide all the answers to the ‘W’ question through blog posts, online ads, videos, e-mails, e-books, and more. You can choose any platform where your targeted audience is located. Remember, the purpose of the marketing funnel is to attract customer attention. So, find platforms where you can get your brand maximum exposure. For instance, you may find clients on professional platforms like LinkedIn if you run an online marketing business. Contact them by locating their email addresses via a LinkedIn email finder.
Tools you can use to create awareness: Google ads, FB ads, and content marketing.
Step 2: Middle Funnel or Engage
Prospects who have found your brand USPs attractive would move to the second stage of the marketing funnel – engagement. They would start looking for more information about the brand. They may look up on the internet to find more details. Therefore, you must have the information ready. The content that is useful for the prospects and for you to get more leads may include – a whitepaper, case studies, drip campaign email, and newsletters, webinars and videos.
The second stage is the most crucial stage, where you have the opportunity to convert leads into customers. The prospects interested in learning more about your brand may subscribe to e-mail or start following your brand on social media. The content, therefore, should be informative and high-quality. It should have a call-to-action message.
Tools you can use to engage the prospect: subscriber link, Instagram, e-mail subscription, and cold emails.
Step 3: Bottom Funnel or Convert
By now, the marketing funnel has created awareness and a desire for the brand. The final step is to convert the lead into customers. You should have attractive offers for them to become your customers. The offers could be anything, such as free maintenance services, a free one-week trial, and a free product demo.
This is also the stage where customers are introduced to pricing. The product’s pricing information should be made available to customers in the last stage of the funnel. Create a call to action by urging customers to try the product. Tell them how the product can benefit them and do not miss on reading lower funnel vs upper funnel before creating your CTA.
Tools you can use to convert the prospect: referral programs, limited-time deals, and discount coupons.
Once you have successfully converted prospects to customers, you should know to work on keeping them forever. A customer is happy to connect with a brand of business that is loyal and provides customer-centered services. So loyalty towards the customer should be there to retain them.
Final Verdict
A marketing funnel is about catching the attention of the prospect by providing them with information about the brand that makes it unique. To convert leads into sales, you must adopt strategies to provide highly informative and engaging content using tools such as Google ads, FB ads, YouTube ads, videos, blogs, and more.