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The Mod Digital Marketing Funnel: Explained

Pretend I'thousand your marketing director.

You've only asked me for my big idea to increase leads and sales, and this is my response:

"I think we should put our entire marketing budget into fax advertising."

Yous'd probably call up I'd lost my marbles, and I don't blame you. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, it was a common marketing strategy to send out mass advertisements via fax car, similar to today'southward mass-email marketing campaigns. They worked. They were a viable marketing strategy because everyone had a fax machine, and used it on a daily basis. Now? Millennials are stumped when information technology comes time to operate one and the majority of Gen-Z doesn't fifty-fifty know what a fax machine is.

Hither's the one thousand thousand-dollar question: If you wouldn't depend on an outdated marketing strategy to connect with consumers, why on earth would you trust an outdated marketing funnel to drive your marketing strategy?

Consumer behavior has changed, and past extension, then has the buyer'due south journey that consumers follow. It makes sense, then, to ditch the old marketing funnel in favor of something new, something that accurately represents the journey of today's digital buyer.

Below, I'll introduce y'all to the modern online marketing funnel model—the framework that should drive your entire digital marketing strategy. I've broken down each stage of the new buyer'southward journey and provided marketing strategies and tactics that work best at each phase. You'll likewise find real-world examples and expert advice on the "how" of making this work for your business. The goal is for you to walk abroad with a clear understanding of how the (modern) online buyer's journey works and how best to market place to your target audience at each stage.

Looking for info on the B2B marketing funnel? BREAKING NEWS: The B2B marketing funnel is almost identical to this one. Learn more in this web log on B2B marketing strategy »

The Modernistic Marketing Funnel: Explained

The Stages in the New Digital Marketing Funnel from Top to Bottom (Or More Accurately, from Start to Re-Start)

The digital marketing funnel definition is pretty loose—information technology's a framework to help define, sympathise, and follow the different stages buyers laissez passer through during the customer life cycle. Traditionally, it was a linear journey—buyers predictably passed through one phase at a time, like the template below:

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Simply the new marketing funnel isn't a funnel at all. It'due south a looping journey total of twists and turns:

The phases are like to the erstwhile framework, and piece of work like this:

Awareness
Consideration, along with the research and discovery loop
Purchase
Post-purchase experience and the loyalty loop

I'll pause downwards each stage with three real-world examples—one for need-based services, one for want-based services, and ane for e-commerce purchases. Let's pretend our consumer is Karen, a 35-year-old homeowner with two small children.

EXAMPLE ONE: Karen Needs a New Furnace

First, Karen realizes it'southward cold in her house. She checks the vents, and there's no estrus coming out. This is the second time information technology's happened this winter – Awareness
Then, Karen Googles "furnace keeps breaking" – Consideration
Karen reads a blog on an HVAC company's website about old furnaces and when to supervene upon them. Karen wonders how former her furnace is – Sensation
Karen Google'southward "how much is a furnace replacement" and reads a blog on a local HVAC company'southward website. She decides it's worth the splurge since her furnace is 15 years old – Consideration
Karen heads to Nextdoor to enquire her neighbors for recommendations for a furnace replacement visitor – Awareness
Karen takes her recommendations and Googles each visitor's reviews, services, and hours – Consideration
Karen narrows downwardly her choices and heads to Facebook to ask for recommendations and input from her friends who accept used those top companies – Consideration
Karen sees an ad at the top of Google for one of the companies her friends and neighbors recommended – Consideration
Karen clicks the ad and engages with a website chatbox. She books a consultation appointment in under a minute – Buy
Afterwards her new furnace is installed, Karen raveson social media about how polite, make clean, and respectful the installation techs were, and after she'southward prompted from an e-mail leaves a review on Google – Loyalty loop
Karen's family starts sneezing in the spring. Karen saw a blog on Facebook about how dirty ducts can cause sneezing. When she sees a discount from the visitor for air duct cleaning in an email newsletter she clicks on the special and follows a shortened loop to get her air ducts cleaned – Awareness, Consideration, P urchase, and Loyalty loop

Case Ii: Karen Wants a Kitchen Remodel

Karen has decided the pots have fallen on her head for the terminal fourth dimension – Awareness
Karen logs on to Pinterest and Instagram to go ideas for kitchen organization by searching for the tag "#organizedkitchendesign" – Awareness
Karen pins and saves all her favorite ideas on social media, and begins looking for a local remodeler on Google – Consideration
Karen gets tired of browsing online and goes back to Facebook to ask for kitchen designer recommendations – Sensation
Karen Googles the reviews and projects of the recommended kitchen designers and sees ane whose project she'due south already pinned on Pinterest – Consideration
Karen picks her favorite designer and contacts the company, asking for more information – Consideration
Later on meeting with the designers and discussing needs and wants, Karen signs on for a kitchen remodel – Purchase
Karen documents her experience on Instagram – Loyalty loop
Karen raves almost her new kitchen to friends on Facebook – Loyalty loop
Two years afterwards, Karen's principal bedroom is destroyed from a roof leak. Karen skips the awareness and consideration phases and calls the remodeler directly for a quote – Loyalty loop, Buy

EXAMPLE 3: Karen Buys Some Beauty Boxes

While browsing on Facebook, Karen sees an ad for a beauty subscription box. She stops, thinks virtually her own beauty habits, and keeps scrolling – Awareness
The next solar day Karen sees a similar ad on another social platform for the same subscription box, except this ad has client reviews. Karen thinks once again near her own dazzler regimen and clicks on the ad to meet what the hubbub is about – Consideration
Karen Googles other dazzler subscription boxes to meet if she can get a better deal on the aforementioned products and services – Awareness, Consideration
The next day, while Karen browses the web, she keeps seeing ads for a xxx-twenty-four hours trial for the subscription box – Consideration
Karen subscribes to the 30-mean solar day trial – Purchase
Karen keeps her subscription and follows the company on social media – Loyalty loop, Purchase
Karen sees ads from the same visitor nearly a new dazzler product – Awareness
Karen skips the consideration stage and purchases the new product based on her satisfaction with the previous one and her trust in the company – Loyalty loop, Purchase

The Absolute Best Digital Marketing Funnel Model and Framework

Agreement that when we say "digital marketing funnel" we're talking about the new looping buyer's journey, there'south ane specific framework that I admittedly swear past (and you should, too):

Avinash Kaushik's See-Think-Do-Care model.

I've written this model into many of my blogs considering it'due south so damn accurate.

The See-Recollect-Practice-Care model is based on consumer intent and divides each stage into audience clusters.

strategies for top of the funnel, middle of the funnel, and bottom of the funnel marketing

Image Source: www.Kaushik.net

See: Largest addressable qualified audience with no commercial intent
Call back: Largest addressable qualified audience with some commercial intent
Do: Largest addressable qualified audience with loads of commercial intent
Intendance: Current customers with two or more commercial transactions

We can easily build this framework into our model with the modernistic heir-apparent loops:

Inside this framework certain digital marketing platforms are better than others, depending on the intent:

conversion funnel example of strategies for digital marketing funnel

Image Source: www.Kaushik.net

Strategies for Top of the Funnel Digital Marketing: The "Come across" Audition

At the top of the funnel are people in the "come across" category—they're your largest qualified audience, and either don't need your product yet or don't know they need your production. The central to connecting with buyers at this stage of the funnel is unproblematic: Make them aware of your product and the benefits it offers.

Your ultimate goal with top of the funnel marketing is to encourage users down the funnel to the "recollect" stage, where the first signs of purchase intent surface. 2 main digital marketing strategies piece of work better than the others—social media and brandish ads.

Social media channels—specifically Facebook, Nextdoor, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube—are prime existent estate for your visitor to generate awareness considering that's where your audition goes to "see" and discover things. Accept a gander at these social media statistics:

88% of adults age 18 – 29 are on Facebook, alongside 84% of adults age 30 – 49
59% of adults age18 – 29 are on Instagram, alongside 33% of adults historic period 30 – 49
81% of millennials utilise YouTube, aslope 58% of Gen-10
Facebook accounts for i in every vi minutes spent online and one in every five minutes spent on mobile
On average, a typical YouTube session is 40 minutes

The best part is that marketing yourself on social media is inexpensive, and yous tin can accept a lot of fun with information technology. This is your chance to show off your brand, bear witness off your products and services, and develop a cohesive brand message.

I'd recommend you start past defining who your target audience is, so matching that with the right social media platform. That'due south incredibly important—choosing the wrong social media platform is the quickest way to become as irrelevant every bit final year's culture fads.

The other powerful acme of the funnel marketing strategy is display ads. According to Google, the display network reaches over 90% of global internet users expanding across 2 million sites. The power of display ads can exist summed up with the jail cell phone theory:

The prison cell phone theory comes from Duke University research on the homo attending bridge. Basically, we subliminally take in what's around us even when we're distracted with something else. Later, those subliminal surroundings appear to already be familiar. What this means is that people tin recollect your company simply by subliminally taking in the message from a display advert while they're doing something else.

The culmination of these efforts should upshot in brand recognition. While brand recognition and advertizing recall are easier to measure out with social media than PPC, you should notwithstanding run into interest growing past appointment with your ads and visits to your website.

Strategies for Centre of the Funnel Digital Marketing

In one case your target audience is enlightened of their needs and your company they movement into the "recollect" stage. This is where it gets catchy—the majority of consumer research happens in this stage, and the enquiry and discovery loop takes them back and forth through different mediums. During this stage, information technology'southward crucial to build your authority and go your target audience onto your website.

Consider these statistics:

71% of consumers begin their shopping research stage with a search engine
97% of consumers get online to observe and research local companies, products, and services
93% of all online experiences start with a search engine
92% of shoppers read online reviews before purchasing a product
4x times every bit many customers would rather watch a video well-nigh a product than read nigh it
On average, 41% of clicks go to the top 3 paid ads on the search results page

Today's online consumer is much better educated than the consumers of yesteryear. While they enjoy learning virtually new products and services from brands, they hate being sold to. They digital heir-apparent's journey has many different touchpoints, and different people follow different patterns. That's why you lot need to invest in more one centre of the funnel marketing strategy.

The best digital marketing strategies for center of the funnel consumers are:

SEO
Video marketing
Paid search ads
Email marketing

SEO for Centre of the Funnel Marketing

SEO (search engine optimization) is your number one source of organic spider web traffic and leads, and arguably serves near stages of the buyer'southward journey. Information technology's by using SEO that your website will bear witness up on page one of search results—and 93% of online experiences offset with a search engine.

Nobody goes to page two, or on page three. If your website isn't ranking on page 1, y'all may every bit well be obsolete. What I recommend to target this audience is that you answer absolutely every question a potential customer might inquire in the form of blogs, research papers, and features on your website. Make sure yous optimize each piece of content for mobile SEO.

Reviews are the second golden ticket for eye of the funnel digital marketing— 92% of online consumers read them, and 88% of them trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Hither's one likely explanation why: Consumers don't trust advertising and marketing anymore, if they always really did. Now, information technology's no longer shut-your-eyes-and-promise-for-a-good-refund-policy—people can finer shop based on others' experiences (which is one reason customer service is so important).

This ties into SEO considering y'all can marker up reviews on your website for search engines. The better—and more than—reviews y'all have, the more likely you are to rank higher. Elementary as that.

For neat guides on optimizing your website for SEO, check out these resources:

What to Expect When You're Expecting SEO Results
What Is SEO?
What Is Local SEO and Why Does Information technology Affair?
How to Get Your Business On the First Page of Google
How to Choose a Reliable SEO Visitor

Video Marketing for the Center of the Funnel Marketing

Why is video marketing practiced for middle of the funnel buyers? Because four times as many customers would rather scout a video about a production than read about it, and almost 50% of net users look for videos related to a product or service before visiting a store.

The success of video and the role information technology plays in middle of the funnel consumer inquiry depends entirely on three statistics:

The human being attention span is 8 seconds
Eight seconds of video is roughly equal to 30,000 words
U.S. adults now spend nearly six hours a day watching video

Seeing equally the boilerplate web log post hovers effectually i,000 words, that means one eight-second video is worth about thirty blog posts.Since people watch, on average, nearly six hours of video a day—you do the math.

If you ask me, that seems like a more than efficient, better utilize of your time. I recommend you create short (read: under 30 seconds) videos about your visitor, every bit well every bit how-tos and videos that answer consumer questions. Promote them on YouTube as well equally social media sites, and don't forget to put them on correlating landing pages and blogs on your site.

To learn more about video marketing, check out these resource:

The Ultimate Video Marketing Guide
Social Video: The Marketing Trend Worth Investing In
7 Types of Videos that Are Effective for Marketing
How Much Does It Cost to Advertise on YouTube?

PPC Ads and paid search ads for Heart of the Funnel Digital Marketing

What practise people practice when they want to know more about something?

They Google it.

Paid search ads are the ads that evidence upward at the top of the search results when someone Googles something (or searches in Bing or Yahoo, just let's exist existent, here).

And become this: On average, 41% of clicks go to the summit 3 paid ads on the search results folio. Another reason to use search ads for middle of the funnel marketing?

We know that the middle of the funnel is where the "think" phase happens, and that the research and discovery loop takes consumers back and along—meaning you have to invest in both brand awareness and consideration.

Guess what? PPC advert can increase brand sensation by fourscore%. Not just that, merely 75% of people who click on ads also say online search ads are helpful in finding what they need.

For more than info on PPC ads, cheque out these resources:

Everything You Need to Know well-nigh Google Local Services Ads
Exercise People Click on Paid Ads?
What Are PPC Ad Extensions?
PPC Statistics Y'all Should Know
How Paid Advertising Billing Works

Email Marketing Strategies for Middle of the Funnel Digital Marketing

Email marketing—specifically opt-in email marketing—is extremely effective at the middle/bottom of the funnel. Information technology'due south low-cost, also, with a 4400% ROI.

Three other statistics offer insight into why email marketing is and so good at tipping the thinkers into the doers:

57% of email subscribers spend ten-threescore minutes browsing marketing emails during the week
vii in x people say they made employ of a coupon or disbelieve from a marketing e-mail in the prior week
When it comes to purchases made every bit a upshot of receiving a marketing message, electronic mail has the highest conversion rate (66%), when compared to social, straight mail, and more

Electronic mail is the easiest way to wave at someone right there in their inbox. Considering they opted-in, they actually look to see valuable information from yous, so give the people what they want!

For more than info on electronic mail marketing, check out these resources:

The Best Email Marketing Strategy Guide for Any Business organization
How to Generate and Close Leads with Electronic mail Marketing
Increase Your Email Open Rate With the Correct Discipline Line
How to Nurture Client Relationships Through Email

Strategies for Bottom of the Funnel Digital Marketing

And now we become to the last stages of our conversion funnel, the "Do" stage—followed by the care stage, and its revenue-edifice loyalty loop. At the bottom of the funnel (or really, the middle), is where the buyer actually converts from a prospect into a customer. Your biggest hurdle will exist to produce content that triggers a user into action.

A few of the more successful "do," or lesser of the funnel marketing strategies, include:

Permit'south use the example of buying a car.

Pretend you've but spent the afternoon with 2 machine salesmen test-driving cars. For the by hour, you've been talking to the salesmen nearly the features of each machine y'all drove and now you're back in the dealership. You're ready to take the side by side step.

The first salesman says, "Let's talk about prices and meet what packages all-time arrange your family."

The second says, "Let me tell you lot nigh all the features in the cars you merely drove."

Which would y'all be most likely talk with at this stage in your buyer's journey?

Merely like car salespeople, you demand to be able to provide a potential client with the information they need most at that moment in their journeying. At this stage, you should be optimizing your content and PPC ads for the following search terms:

Purchase-related keywords, e.g., "buy," "RFP," "packages" or "quote"
Branded and competitor terms
Contact keywords like "contact," "call," or "asking"
Comparing, toll, and pricing terms like "how much," or "cost of"
Location-specific keyword modifiers like city, state, or zip code

Tactics to Tip a Consumer from the "Think" Phase to the "Practice" Stage

There are a few tactics that work extremely well within the 3 strategies above to convince prospects to pull the trigger and shell out the big bucks:

Install a website conversation service so customers tin instantly get their questions answered and volume appointments/purchase products
Create personalized content (78% of U.S. Cyberspace users said personally relevant content from brands increases their purchase intent)
Annunciate case studies
Advertise testimonials
Advertise free trials of your product or service
Advertise white papers or other marketing collateral that shows off the effectiveness (or awesomeness) of your product or service
Customize presentations based on the consumer
Advertise live demos and Q&Every bit

If y'all work these tactics into your email, PPC, and search strategies for lesser of the funnel marketing strategy, you'll see an increment in leads and sales.

The Final Phase in the Online Buyer's Journey: Intendance

Congratulations! Yous now accept a loyal customer!

How are you going to keep them?

That's the main question you want to inquire yourself in the final stage of the new digital marketing funnel—because there really isn't a "last" phase in the buyer'south journey. Whatever business owner knows that information technology's easier to keep an existing customer than information technology is to generate brand-new ones, so invest in keeping your electric current customers. Hopefully, after your new client made a purchase, they get-go their journey all once again with another one of your products. Or, fifty-fifty better, they become a brand advocate and outset selling your product or service for you lot in the grade of recommendations.

We saw above that reviews matter—a lot. So, how are you going to go this new customer to review you? Or share their story most you on social media? How are yous going to get them to recommend y'all to their friends?

You can do this all by caring. Reach out and ask for reviews. Engage with them on social media. Offer them an insider-only discount. Give them something for free on their birthday. Requite them advice for gratuitous. There are literally hundreds of customer retention tactics out at that place—observe the ones that best suit your products and business. 1 uncomplicated—and price-effective—way to care is with personalization.

Modern consumers LOVE personalization—63% of them at present await brands to utilise their purchase history to provide personalized experiences, and 79% of them say they are only likely to engage with an offering if it has been personalized to reflect previous interactions the consumer has had with the brand.

Tying It All Together: How to Start Planning Content for Your Digital Marketing Heir-apparent's Funnel

Permit's render to Karen's heir-apparent's journeying, simply this time, I'thou going to add in the digital marketing tactics that could exist used at each stage:

EXAMPLE I: Karen Needs Furnace Repairs

First, Karen realizes information technology's cold in her house. She checks the vents, and there's no estrus coming out. This is the 2nd fourth dimension it's happened this winter
Then, Karen Googles "furnace keeps breaking" – SEO, PPC, content marketing, video
Karen reads a blog on an HVAC visitor's website nigh old furnaces and when to supersede them. Karen wonders how old her furnace is – SEO, content marketing
Karen Google's "how much is a furnace replacement" and reads a blog on a local HVAC company'south website. She decides it's worth the splurge since her furnace is 15 years onetime – SEO, content marketing, PPC, video
Karen heads to Nextdoor to ask her neighbors for recommendations for a furnace replacement visitor – Nextdoor advertising
Karen takes her recommendations and Googles each company's reviews, services, and hours – Local SEO
Karen narrows down her choices and heads to Facebook to ask for recommendations and input from her friends who have used those top companies – Facebook advertising, remarketing
Karen sees an ad at the top of Google for 1 of the companies her friends and neighbors recommended – Google Local Services ads
Karen clicks the ad and lands on their website, where engages with a website chatbox. She books a consultation appointment in under a infinitesimal – Web blueprint, website chat services
After her new furnace is installed, Karen raveson social media about how polite, clean, and respectful the installation techs were, and after she's prompted from an email leaves a review on Google – Social media, email marketing
Karen'south family unit starts sneezing in the leap. Karen saw a blog on Facebook about how dirty ducts tin crusade sneezing. When she sees a disbelieve from the company for air duct cleaning in an email newsletter she clicks on the special and follows a shortened loop to get her air ducts cleaned – Facebook marketing, electronic mail marketing

Example 2: Karen Wants a Kitchen Remodel

Karen has finally had it with her kitchen and has decided the pots have fallen on her caput for the last time
Karen logs on to Pinterest and Instagram to get ideas for kitchen organization by searching for the tag "#organizedkitchendesign" – Pinterest and Instagram advertizement
Karen pins and saves all her favorite ideas on social media, and begins looking for a local remodeler on Google – SEO, Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook advertising
Karen gets tired of browsing online and goes to Nextdoor and Facebook to ask for kitchen designer recommendations – Nextdoor advertising, Facebook remarketing and advertising
Karen Googles the reviews and projects of the recommended kitchen designers and sees one whose projection she's already pinned on Pinterest – SEO, PPC remarketing
Karen makes a shortlist of designers and sets up an engagement with each – PPC, SEO
Karen picks her favorite designer and signs on for a kitchen remodel – E-mail
Karen documents her experience on Instagram – Instagram advertising
Karen raves almost her new kitchen to friends on Facebook – Facebook advertising
Two years later, Karen's master chamber is destroyed from a roof leak. Karen skips the awareness and consideration phases and calls the remodeler directly for a quote – Email marketing, PPC, social media marketing

EXAMPLE Iii: Karen Buys Some Beauty Boxes

While browsing on Facebook, Karen sees an advertizing for a beauty subscription box. She stops, thinks about her own dazzler habits, and keeps scrolling – Facebook advertising
The adjacent day, Karen sees a similar ad on another social platform for the same subscription box, except this advert has customer reviews. Karen thinks over again about her own dazzler regimen, and clicks on the advertisement to see what the hubbub is almost – PPC remarketing, Facebook remarketing
Karen Googles other beauty subscription boxes to see if she tin become a improve deal on the same products and services – SEO, PPC
The next twenty-four hours, while Karen browses the web, she keeps seeing ads for the subscription box. Karen asks for recommendations on Facebook to see if whatsoever friends have used the subscription service – PPC remarketing, Facebook ads
Karen subscribes to the 30-day trial – SEO, PPC, Electronic mail
Karen keeps her subscription and follows the company on social media – Email, Social media marketing
Karen sees video ads on YouTube from the same visitor nigh a new beauty product – PPC, YouTube ads, and Social media remarketing
Karen skips the consideration stage and purchases the new product based on her satisfaction with the previous one and her trust in the visitor – Email, Social media marketing, SEO

Final Step: Executing Your Digital Marketing Funnel Strategies

How to Create and Execute a Content Distribution Programme for Each Stage of Your Heir-apparent's Journey

Now that you lot know the stages and strategies for the new digital marketing funnel, information technology's fourth dimension to put it all into action with a content distribution program. To start, create an asset list in Microsoft Excel (I've included a downloadable template for you below). In your asset listing, you should include all of your online marketing avails, including your landing pages (an easy way to practise this is to run a crawl of your website with a tool like ScreamingFrog), ad creatives, blog posts, case studies, white papers—annihilation that'south come up out of your marketing department.

Put them in an excel sheet, and next to each nugget, put the stage in the buyer's journey each asset best targets. If it can serve more than one stage include both of them. This volition requite y'all a proficient overview of where you lack content and resources. Here's an instance of what our nugget listing looks like for our blogs:

Once you have each nugget labeled with a stage in the buyer's journey, get-go adding platforms and strategies for which that asset would be good a good fit. For example, blogs and infographics work neat on social media, while case studies should be left to email marketing and PPC ads. From in that location, you tin can create your actual content distribution calendar:

Click Here to Download Your Content Distribution Calendar Template

Later y'all've made your asset listing and distribution/editorial calendar yous should start planning your execution. Using the tactics and advice above, you can create a cohesive plan that hits all the crucial points of the buyer's journeying and guides a user through to the buy and loyalty stages.

I get that this is a lot to take in and a lot to wrap your caput effectually. Nonetheless, if you principal your conversion funnel, y'all'll eliminate strategies that didn't work and abound your lesser line. If you need some help with your detail funnel, contact us—nosotros live for this stuff.

About The Author: Blue Corona'due south Editorial Staff is determined to aid you increase your leads and sales, optimize your marketing costs, and differentiate your brand past passing on our tribal knowledge. The team vigilantly stays on top of the latest in digital marketing, bringing you the top insights with expert commentary. Want to see something on our blog you oasis't seen withal? Shoot united states an email and our marketing squad will get to work.
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