Introduction

A marketing funnel is a process of events designed to gently nurture potential customers to ultimately get them to take a certain action, to either submit their email address, sign up for a membership program, or process a sale.

It can also be described that the successful marketing strategy is designed to attract potential customers, generate leads, and turn those leads into loyal customers who then stand up and become brand ambassadors for your business. Then we talk about how to build a powerful marketing funnel that will address and hold your customers for the long term.

History

The basics of the marketing funnel have stayed the same since the early 1900’s. However, companies used different versions and variations of it. Some prefer to keep their model simple, but was mostly based around the “TOFU-MOFU-BOFU” strategy which refers to

TOFU: Top of Funnel,
MOFU: Middle of Funnel,
BOFU: and Bottom of Funnel as distinct elements.

Stage of the Marketing Funnel

To be successful, a marketing funnel works as a whole. This means that every section needs to work perfectly for the journey to be successful.

The 5 important and recognised parts of the funnel that have to work seamlessly for the Funnel to be successful are.

Awareness: Branded content strategies appeal to audiences and make them receptive to future interactions.
Consideration: Brand advocates and social proof assist customers when they’re comparing you against competitors.
Conversion: A simple purchasing process reduces the risk of buying.
Loyalty: A loyalty program with regular discounts, email interactions and social media maintains customers.
Advocacy: Receptive individuals in your loyalty program support your future marketing funnels.

A marketing funnel applies to almost any customer interaction. Whether you’re looking for online sales, generating traffic for your brick and mortar store or collecting clicks as an affiliate, you need a marketing funnel.

Modern Funnels

Now, consumer behavior has changed, so has the buyer’s journey that consumers follow. The traditional Marketing Funnel became outdated and clumsy. It was replaced with something more nimble and flexible, something that represents the journey of today’s digital buyer, and herein lies the challenge, the customers are different and varied, that prefers different approaches and systems, and can enters your funnel at any stage. The customer no longers enters the funnel at the Top (TOFU), but can enter the cycle at any point, and the Funnel has to accommodate for that.

As a business owner it is very important to realise that the Modern Marketing funnel does not have a bottom end. It is critical to keep the newly converted customer in the Funnel Cycle. We all know that it’s easier to keep an existing customer than it is to generate brand-new ones, so invest in keeping your current customers.

Ways of entertaining existing customers.

Make them part of your Brand Family, in turn they will become “Brand Ambassodors” for your brand and/or product.
Get them to purchase again by offering related products.
Get them to write reviews and share on “Social Media”.
Gently “Nudge” existing customers to share their product and experience on their Social Media Platforms.

What is a Marketing Funnel

A marketing funnel is the process a customer goes through from start to finish – from the first time they hear about your product to the moment they actually pull the trigger and make a purchase.

The marketing funnel consists of 6 primary parts, which we will discuss and explain in detail below. Each part plays a critical roll in the funnel process, and should be appropiately designed, and styled, to complete it’s part in the funnel process with precision.

Lead Generation Funnel.
Nuturing or content sharing funnel – This is where you explain and inform the interested lead about your product or service. This is a very very important part of the marketing plan.
The interested lead (Potential Customer) has completed and understood part 2 of the funnel and has decided to move further in the funnel process.
The Lead takes action and click the “Signup” or “Purchase Now” button to become a member.
The purchase process is also part of the successful funnel, as this process is critical and has to be clean, clear and smooth.
Closing the sale is the final step in the process and welcomes the newly aquired custemer to the company, or product.

Each event in the process will get analized, evaluated and tested for it’s success rate.

Acronyms generally associated with Funnels.

TOFU, MOFU, BOFU & AIDA: Nope, we’re not talking about soy products or operas. Since we all love an easy to remember acronym, these 4 are particularly helpful when drafting out your customer stages and remembering how the marketing funnel works.

TOFU, MOFU AND BOFU.

TOFU: Top of the funnel. The tactics you use to generate awareness.
MOFU: Middle of the funnel. The tactics you use to generate leads.
BOFU: Bottom of the funnel. The tactics you use to generate customers and keep them satisfied.

AIDA

Awareness: Attract your ideal audience. For example, we invest heavily in Inbound Marketing through blog articles around marketing topics that help our target audience.
Interest: Generate new leads. For example, we create how-to guides and make live chat available so it’s easy for prospects to get answers right away.
Desire: Show people why they need you. For example, we provide free trials and demos to let people test out and see how we solve their attribution pain points.
Action: Get people to become customers. For example, we have an email onboarding series that walks people through our Customer Attribution features and how to get setup.