MKTG Week 7: What is a Marketing Funnel?

Introduction: What is a Marketing Funnel? 

In the world of marketing, a marketing funnel is one of the basics you will likely hear about from the beginning. A marketing funnel, often displayed as an infographic, represents the stages of the typical optimal customer experience. The sections of a marketing funnel can become a little complex, depending on the model, but the most basic AIDA model includes the four stages of awareness, interest, desire, and action. 

Regardless of which model you choose, the funnel is important for marketing professionals as it helps them create effective goals within their marketing strategies, understand each customer group better, and better tailor their efforts towards each stage of the customer experience. Today, we'll cover the essential AIDA marketing funnel. As we go over each section of the funnel, we'll discuss what it means for the customer, and what it means for you as a marketing professional and your marketing plans. 

Sections of the Marketing Funnel

The most fundamental marketing funnel type is the basic AIDA model. The four sections, from the wide top of the funnel to the narrow bottom, represent the stages of an ideal customer experience that most brands aim for to lead to success. 

Attention: 

Whatever your business may be, customers don't start out as customers. At the beginning, every customer is a lead. A lead is a potential customer that has become aware that your brand exists. Whether it be your business's marketing efforts or a recommendation from a friend or family member, one more person now knows about you and what you offer. 

Interest: 

In this stage, the lead has shown interest in what your business has to offer, not by purchase but by intentionally getting to know more about you. Leads might read your business's blog, search your website, or even visit your physical store simply to see your products for themselves. In this stage, you have the lead's attraction, but not their investment, monetarily speaking or otherwise. 

Desire: 

For a person to actually purchase your product or use your services, there has to be more than interest involved, however. The lead must see value in the things you offer for themselves and their lives and want to purchase it. Marketing is all about people finding value in your products/ services by identifying where it can be of use to them or help solve a problem of theirs. If a lead has entered this phase, they are now in the desire stage and want, or desire, what you offer. 

Action: 

In the final stage, the lead becomes a customer. Driven by their desire for the product/ service and the value they see in it for themselves, the customer takes action and makes some type of investment in your business, whether a purchase, donation, or any other kind of transaction. 

The action stage of the funnel is a major goal for marketing professionals, not only because it means that customers are investing in the business. When a customer acts in regard to your business, you obtain an idea of what others think of you and what you offer. If a customer makes a purchase from you, this means that your business has won over the competitors the customer may have considered, and you have established some basic level of credibility or trust or better quality in their mind. Having a customer choose to take action with you is a positive hint to more growth in the future with other customers, especially if you are able to learn what you are doing right from this customer and their experience. 

Beyond AIDA

Some models of the marketing funnel include further sections below the action stage. These sections are not for every customer but are a crucial part of creating and maintaining a strong customer base that is vital for any successful business. If a customer does make it to these stages, it is a good sign for the business that demonstrates they are doing well and are genuinely appreciated by the customer. 

Loyalty: 

When a customer is loyal to your business, they have become a repeat customer who consistently chooses you over the competition and has good things to say about you to others. A loyal customer will often feel that your business is high quality or more credible and/or trustworthy than others. Their experiences with you are always positive and leave them feeling respected and appreciated. Essentially, loyalty is achieved by building a sort of stronger connection between customer and business. 

Advocacy: 

In this stage, the customer is more than loyal to your business, they are an active advocate for you, as they recommend you and your products/ services to others or share their good experiences with your business. This positive word of mouth is beneficial to the brand as it can potentially draw more leads, and hence, customers, to your business. Advocacy represents the highest level of satisfaction a customer can achieve with your business. 

The Funnel Shape 

Why is the model shaped as a funnel? It’s a way of reflecting the number of people in each group. The topmost sections collect the largest number of people. The closer you move to the bottom of the funnel, the smaller the number of people maintained gets. For example, plenty of people are aware of Walmart and the products it offers (attention stage), but not every person feels so strongly about the brand's products and their experiences with the brand that they recommend Walmart to family and friends (advocacy stage).

How Marketers Use the Marketing Funnel

The importance of the marketing funnel for marketing professionals is that it demonstrates to them how to communicate to their customers depending on which stage they fall into. Customers and leads at varying levels of the funnel will need varying resources and methods of communication from your business. The funnel helps marketing professionals better understand their target audience so they can better meet these needs.  

Attention: 

The main goal at this stage is for your business to have a strong outreach strategy that not only creates awareness of you and what you have to offer but does so in a way that properly conveys your messages and creates positive interest. 

Interest: 

The primary goal at this point is to create and maintain interest from the leads who are now aware of your business. By providing information for leads to learn more about you and providing positive experiences from other customers, businesses can generate interest. 

Desire: 

To create a desire in the customer for your products/ services, the marketing professionals must convey the value of what your business offers. What problem does the target audience have and how is your product/ service exactly what they need to fix it? What value will it bring to the customer's life?

Action: 

It's important for your business to establish a set of clear Calls to Action, something we discussed in a post from last week. CTAs are encouragement that clear up any confusion by helping the customer understand what exactly to do to invest in your business and obtain the products/ services they want. 

Loyalty: 

To keep customers as repeat customers loyal to your business, you need to ensure your customers feel appreciated. Excellent customer service and quality products/ services are of course a must, but added bonuses such as personalized offers, rewards programs or other benefits for the customer also spawn customer loyalty. 

Advocacy: 

With customers whose loyalty is strong enough they have become advocates for your business, your business should encourage their feedback, reviews, and engagement with your business via social media. It is also important for you to show your appreciation for your customers' advocacy. 

Conclusion 

Hopefully this discussion on the marketing funnel has taught you something you didn't know before. This model is a crucial part of a marketing professional's strategies in communicating with customers/ leads, and important to be aware of as we delve further into the field. It's an infographic you may see in further marketing courses!

Until next time!

Marielle