The stages of the digital marketing funnel and why it is important for your business

A digital marketing funnel is a model describing a customer’s journey with a brand. The buying journey refers to the multiple stages that the customer goes through, from when they initially discover the brand to when they make the final purchase. 

Stages of the digital marketing funnel

These are the stages of a typical digital marketing funnel: awareness, interest, consideration, intent, evaluation, and purchase.

We have explained these stages and the role of the digital marketing funnel by taking the example of an educational company trying to sell its services to its customers.

The funnels are divided into three parts, i.e. the top of the funnel stages, the middle of the funnel stages, and the bottom of the funnel stage.

Top of the funnel (TOFU) stages

                                   

The top of the funnel stages, also known as the lead generation stages, include awareness, interest, and consideration.

• Awareness

In the awareness stage, the focus is on making customers aware of a brand/a specific product/service. This is the first step towards the lead generation process and to spread awareness amongst the consumers. The product/service being offered can solve a specific problem that the customer is experiencing. Hence, the communication is around the issue being resolved by the product or service.

Example of marketing action at this stage: In the case of an education company, the business can launch specific advertisements spreading awareness about their product solving a student’s specific problem.

• Interest

The interest stage of the digital marketing funnel focuses on enabling the brand’s target audience to learn more about the company and its product/service offerings to build interest regarding the product among consumers. At this stage, the company can provide its audience with useful information that can help the prospects know more and develop interest to make better purchase decisions.

 

Example of marketing action at this stage: An education company can use techniques like sending newsletters, email marketing, etc., to update its leads about new courses that it is offering, the benefits of enrolling in courses, etc.

• Consideration

During the consideration stage, a potential customer is aware of the company’s product/service offerings but is still evaluating the offering in comparison to others in the market. 

Example of marketing action at this stage: An education company can offer prospective customers a free trial of its courses/directly interact with leads through a free call to discuss its course offerings to convince them.

Middle of the Funnel (MOFU) Stages

The middle of the funnel stages include the intent and the evaluation stages.

During these stages, the marketer nurtures the lead by making the target audience feel that the decision to purchase a product/service is the right decision and why prospects should buy the product/service over competitors’ offerings.

• Intent

During the intent stage, prospects show that they are interested in the company’s products/services. During this stage, marketers can use strategies like remarketing through advertisements, product demos, etc.  

Example of marketing action at this stage: An education company can show retargeting advertisements to leads who have taken a specific action, like visiting the company’s website.

• Evaluation

In the evaluation stage, buyers are making the final decision regarding whether they wish to purchase a brand’s products/services. In this stage, the business’s sales team may be needed to convince the buyer to make the purchase. 

Example of marketing action at this stage: In the evaluation stage, a sales representative may contact a potential customer, resolve their queries, and encourage the qualified leads to make the final purchase decision.

Bottom of the Funnel Stage (BOFU)

The bottom of the funnel stage refers to the purchase or Sales stage.

• Purchase Stage

During the purchase stage, the prospect makes the decision to buy the product/service, and then, the prospect converts into a customer.

Example of marketing action at this stage: When a customer purchases the educational courses offered by the education company, the purchase stage in the digital marketing funnel is complete.

Importance of a digital marketing funnel

Here are the reasons why it is important to create a digital marketing funnel:

• Provides customers with an enhanced sales experience

In today’s time, the hard and direct approach to sales is not the best method to convert a prospect to a client. Value-based selling is the technique being adopted these days, where marketers need to communicate how this product or service adds value to the consumer and hence enhancing their sales experience.

• Ensures efficient lead generation processes

Changing the lead generation strategy according to the prospect’s stage in the digital marketing funnel helps engage their interest, address their doubts, and increase the chances of converting a prospect into a customer. Hence the role of a digital marketing funnel is to make the lead generation process simple yet more efficient.

Conclusion

We hope you now know more about the role of a digital marketing funnel while interacting with your customers. Let’s Build Brands is a digital marketing agency in Delhi offering multiple digital marketing services like content writing, search engine optimization, graphic design, holistic marketing planning, etc. To know more about us, you can click on our services page.