What is Social Media Funnel Marketing?

Introduction: What is Marketing Funnel?

A marketing funnel is a strategy that outlines a prospect's journey from brand awareness to purchase decisions and all the way to post-buy. This model gives marketers an in-depth understanding of consumer behaviour, and that knowledge helps them decide how to close sales and develop connections with customers. The funnel can assist you in organising your customer's journey across many channels so you can address any issues that result in the transaction failing.

You may decide when and where to connect with your clients to foster continuing engagement by using a well-designed funnel. Optimize your marketing initiatives and create a unique strategy for each funnel level.

Evolution of the Marketing Funnel

A marketing funnel is an effective tool that companies may use to organise and concentrate their marketing efforts. Businesses need to maximise their efforts at every stage of a marketing funnel to achieve desired results.

The Main Four stages make up a basic and generic marketing funnel -

• Awareness

• Consideration

• Conversion

• Loyalty

Over time, marketing funnels have been altered to suit advancements in industry, technology, and even consumer behaviour.

The goal of using any funnel is to obtain the ToFU, MoFU, and BoFU results that are most preferable. ToFu is Top of the Funnel, MoFu is Middle of the Funnel and BoFu is Bottom of the Funnel.

It's likely that sales funnels were the first types of funnels. A straightforward sales funnel comprises four stages: awareness, interest, decision, and action.

The following outputs for a sales funnel might be desired

• Awareness (ToFU) − Your company, its goods, or services are generally known to the customer.

• Interest (MoFU) − When a customer searches, compares prices or considers their options, your company, product, or service is one of the top results.

• Decision (MoFU) Your brand, item, or service is preferred by the customer above those of your rival.

• Action (BoFU) − Your brand, good, or service is bought by the customer.

Most likely, sales funnels served as the foundation for combined marketing and sales funnels.

Ideally, a combined sales and marketing funnel would produce the following results

• Awareness (ToFU) − Your company, its goods, or services are generally known to the customer.

• Interest (MoFU) − When a customer searches, compares prices or considers their options, your company, product, or service is one of the top results.

• Desire (MoFU) − Your brand, product, or service has an incentive for the customer to buy it.

• Action (BoFU) − The buyer makes their first purchase of your company's name, good, or service.

• Conversion (BoFU) − The customer establishes a relationship through making repeated purchases.

Social Media Marketing Funnel

More specialised funnels were created as business and technology advanced, such as the funnel created specifically for social media marketing. These steps can be found in a social media marketing funnel to convert a brand-aware customer into an advocate

• Awareness − Find new consumers for your company, your goods, or your services.

• Consideration − To give potential buyers a favourable image of your company, product, or service, and stand out from your rivals.

• Action − Encourage potential customers to act and buy.

• Engagement − After a customer makes a purchase, maintain their interest to keep your company, brand, product, or service in the public eye.

• Advocacy − Establish trust with clients to earn their referrals of your company, brand, product, or service.

Strategies for Each Stage of the Marketing Funnel

1. Awareness

Marketing goals: Build awareness, target relevant audiences

• Building awareness with SEO

• Building awareness with paid advertising

• Building awareness with social media.

2. Consideration

Marketing goals: Target higher-intent audiences, turn awareness into purchase intent

• Target higher-intent keywords

• Capture email leads for lead nurturing.

3. Conversion

Marketing goals: Convert leads, minimise conversion barriers, turn consideration into action

• Create search campaigns for people ready to buy now

• Do CRO the smart way.

4. Loyalty

Marketing goals: Get customers to buy again, reduce churn rates, build loyalty.

• Make customer service a priority

• Reward your customers

• Run upselling/cross-selling campaigns.

5. Advocacy

Marketing goals: Turn happy customers into a lead generation strategy

• Build a profile of positive reviews

• Get success stories from your customers

• Create referral campaigns to turn customers into new leads.

Benefits of Marketing Funnels

Understanding The Buyer’s Journey

You may fine-tune your marketing strategy and increase sales by using a structured marketing plan and metrics analysis that is in line with the various stages of the funnel. The buyer's journey is simpler to comprehend and follow when using marketing funnels.

Companies who use these strategies not only have a chance to become leaders in their field but also have a chance to improve consumer satisfaction levels. By establishing the pipeline, it provides the sales representatives with a common set of instructions to follow.

You may identify the reason why potential consumers leave the funnel by following them to the stage they left. Businesses that use conversational marketing strategies to enhance the online purchasing process will establish themselves as industry leaders. Everything should be connected as an experience, from the awareness stage at the top of the customer journey's funnel all the way down to the stage of brand loyalty.

Tracking More Than Sales

If a prospect has never heard of you, they are less likely to respond favourably to cold calls or sales emails, which might hurt your reputation and your prospects of closing the transaction later. You can discover what the customers' true wants are by interacting with them.

The steps of a funnel make it easier to comprehend the factors that influence your potential customers' decision to study and buy. By distributing product information and pitching the features and benefits, marketing is used to acclimate and nurture new prospects.

You may use marketing funnels to apply to any action you deem a conversion because they can be applied to decision-making processes that customers make. Calls, social media activity, and email subscriptions all fall under this category. The sales team can intervene to support what the marketing team has said and complete the deal after the lead is fully informed and prepared to make a decision.

Optimizing your marketing strategy

• The buying process, rather than the actual product or service, frequently leaves a lasting impression. Gaining insights into the behaviour of customers as they progress through the marketing funnel.

• It becomes increasingly important to make your marketing funnel adaptable as you learn more about your target audience, their behaviour, and intentions, and as your company expands and diversifies.

• An excellent website offers information that prompts the user to act right away. You gain a greater insight into your consumers, their motivations for doing business with you, the elements that increase conversion rates, and the elements that can increase client retention.

Conclusion

Consumer behaviour can be managed via strategic marketing funnels in both a broad and specific meaning. This makes it possible to present content to your audience at the appropriate time. You may give specialised content that is specific to where customers are in the funnel by describing their journey, which will keep leads going on to the following step.

In addition to being able to make a sale and attract valuable consumers, carefully organising your marketing strategy in accordance with the buyer's journey stages will also enable you to make the customer happy, which will result in word-of-mouth advertising on their behalf. The traditional marketing funnel can be approached in a variety of ways, but understanding your customers is the key to an efficient funnel.