If you have been passionate about marketing for a short time, it is possible that you have already come across the word funnel with a particular frequency, and that you have found this word associated with a lot of terms, such as purchase funnel, sales funnel, and conversion funnel. just to name the best known.
Purchase translation: definition of the sales funnel
But what does all this mean? In other words, we are talking about a funnel in which, from the top, user visits arrive, and from below – or at least they should come out – sales and conversions.
In theory, the Digital Marketing funnel model is applicable to almost all websites, but it is above all valid for eCommerce, landing pages, squeeze pages, or in any case, the sites and pages that try to transform a simple visitor into a customer. Or, to use an even more “technical” term, which you have probably already found in your first insights on the subject, “convert”.
Specifically, when we talk about funnels applied to Inbound Marketing or Content Marketing, these 3 terms are usually mentioned:
- TOFU (Top of the Funnel)
- MOFU (Middle of the Funnel)
- BOFU (Bottom of the Funnel)
In practice, at the top of the funnel, there are the contents that bring traffic to the website (articles, posts, press releases), without any barrier to entry. Once the traffic is obtained, this is channeled towards TOFU content, useful for generating leads (such as whitepapers, guides, short videos). The MOFUs follow that is the contents useful for transforming leads into prospects (such as ebooks, case studies, slightly longer videos). And finally, at the bottom of the funnel, the BOFU contents arrive, i.e. those that generate the much sought-after sales (such as free tests, demos, coupons).
As you will have understood from this long introduction, transforming a simple visitor into a customer is not lightning-fast, but a stage race, a path that crosses various layers before reaching the final goal.
And yet, unfortunately, not all professionals in the sector are aware that the road to conversion is a long and tortuous one. Let’s try to correct the shot and understand how to positively position yourself in front of the funnel and how you can get the best out of this path!
The “wrong” approach to the Digital marketing funnel
When I happen to talk to some SEOs or some Pay-Per-Click campaign experts about these things, I notice that they often focus solely on the mouth of the funnel.
The “casual” marketing enthusiast places himself in this way towards the funnel that you see portrayed at the head of this post: “Does the KissAnime site make 10,000 visits per month and 54 conversions? If I double the visits, I also double the conversions! “
And so the SEO work focuses on improving the ranking of certain keywords, that of the PPC expert in optimizing the ads. Both with the sole purpose of throwing more access to the site in question. In short, we concentrate only on the top of the funnel, ignoring everything else. But how can this approach be reversed in a more positive sense?
The “right” approach to the Digital marketing funnel
In fact, it is not that the above approach is absolutely wrong.
In the end, it is a bit like that of someone who throws twice as much wood into an open fireplace to warm up a little more: he gets the desired result, it is true, but he would probably get an identical one, or even better, by arranging the fixtures in the house, double glazing, installing a stove with a higher calorific value, and so on. At that point, he could put in the same amount of wood, if not less, and get more heat than before.
What do I mean? Simply that you can also work a little lower in the funnel!
Very often you can increase – and by a lot – conversions by acting directly on the page, without touching the incoming traffic in any way.
For example, you can change your landing page in layout, colors, element arrangement. You can do this by lengthening or shortening the text, changing some words or some calls to action, inserting an image or a video: if you want some ideas on which elements to touch to increase conversions: if you want to know more, here are 30 good ideas!
Are you saying that this is not an SEO job? Or by someone who deals with advertising campaigns? It’s true. But if I were you, if I were a consultant working in these sectors, I would still begin to study at least the basic concepts of copywriting and persuasive marketing, or user experience design.
I’d take a look at services like Crazy Egg or Clicktale, which generate heatmaps and log visitor behavior on site pages.
I would do some A / B testing, maybe using Optimizely, Unbounce, or Instapage.
In short, I would try to add to my qualification that of ” conversion “, as I already preached more than 3 years ago!
The phases of a Digital Marketing funnel
So far we have talked about entrances and exits from a funnel. But how is a funnel composed and what happens in a “funnel”, speaking in terms of marketing?
In reality, there is no predefined and predetermined path that can be homogeneous for all projects. However, it is still possible to try to inspire some consequential steps, with which one can also relate in more general terms:
- Brand awareness is the ability to focus on a problem and, above all, to show the user that there is a solution for his particular need that, obviously, your brand can guarantee. The goal must be to increase the strength of your brand, in such a way that in the minds of its users (consumers) it is clear that that brand can really satisfy their needs;
- Information: the second phase, after the user has discovered that there is a brand (ours!) that can respond to their needs, is to provide quality information on the product or service, informing them of the advantages, price, and other relevant data;
- Competition: once the user has discovered that there is a solution to his problem, he could move on to the next step, which is to inquire about possible suppliers who could provide the product or service he needs. Right now we need to stand out from our competitors and… this is probably the hardest phase of the funnel.
If the path has been conducted correctly, the user should be accompanied towards our goal: the purchase!
