Marketing Funnel — or How to Optimise Content to Attract and Retain

Looking up information has become a simple and quick action that’s available for everyone. The average user can check, from the chosen device, the best route to get somewhere or compare a wide range of prices in different stores. All of this has been thanks to the advent of the smartphone, which has not only caused the sudden obsolescence of traditional means of communication, but also an exponential development of the world of social media and tech apps. This has resulted in a much more demanding consumer when it comes to quality.

The creation of relevant quality content at all times will be the key that will make users choose us in the digital environment. There are tools for organising the content in the best possible way, clear and segmented. The technique uses the funnel concept as an analogy for the attraction of clients and the experience they will have from there on with our brand. The funnel and its different stages help us define the type of content we should offer according to the state of the business-consumer relationship. This applicable technique is known as marketing funnel.

What is the Marketing Funnel?

The concept of funnel is applied in marketing in such a way that, at the widest part, we’ll find a large number of users in the awareness stage. Our goal will be to catch their attention and spark their interest in order for them to continue their journey, activating the stages of consideration and consumption of our product and, ultimately, becoming clients.

The term funnel is a marketing concept created by Elias St. Elmo Lewis in 1898 in order to explain how anyone can be educated through advertising. It’s the journey that users experience from the moment in which they have their first approach to the brand until they acquire or consume the product. 

The funnel is present in every marketing action — it’s the basic structure upon which they are created. In content creation, funnel allows us to adapt in order to provide better solutions to the needs and concerns of users according to the stage they are in. Thanks to digital channels, there’s now more contact opportunities with the clients and, at the same time, it allows us to get detailed information on their behaviour (web interactions, time spent, etc.) With all the information and analyses, content is organised and optimised in order to retain and convert the potential client.

The Consumer Buying Process of the 21st Century 

Having data on their journey through our web, whether they interact with the get in touch section, if they are subscribed to the newsletter or if they receive special offers on their email — these are all actions that will help us establish a much more context fitting strategy and to segment according to the type of client we may be dealing with. There are five stages that help us explain the way users see our company:

• Awareness. That moment in which they discover the brand while looking to satisfy a need. A claim, an ad on the internet or a Google search will make our business relevant in their mind.

• Consideration. There’s interest, but it’s not yet time to buy. Here is where the consumer will assess the competition or other offers.

• Conversion. Time to buy. If our whole strategy is laid out correctly, our product will be consumed thanks to characteristics such as: best price, other client’s opinions added value (a gift or discount).

• Loyalty. The first purchase has established the bond. Users will come back regularly if they are satisfied.

Advocacy. The most important element on this list: If all expectations have been met, users will talk about our business. A good strategy is to invite them to share their experience on social networks. Also, users recommending you to others will be a very organic way to become known.

Three Key Stages in Funnel Marketing 

Now that we’ve arrived at this point and that we understand the stages that a client goes through, we must point out that the funnel should be understood as a tool that describes the steps to be taken as a company in order to get consumers to notice us. Ultimately: attraction. There are three key moments in the journey across the funnel in which it is fundamental to offer more than a simple product in order to convince.

• Top of the Funnel (TOFU) – Content is created with only one goal: to attract the greatest number of potential clients. Users are in a stage of search and observation. Here, St. Elmo Lewis’ concept of education comes into play: we must teach them something they don’t know yet or solve a concern or need in the most attractive way possible. We’re not looking to make a sale at this point, but rather to offer credibility on our brand and to start generating interest.
  • A client may land in our business by mere chance, so we must offer value in order to generate trust. Some exercises that will help us differentiate are, for example, the creation of a neat and updated blog. An example: let’s suppose you’re a person that likes cooking and you’re searching for a chocolate pie recipe. After asking Google, you end up reading the recipe in a well optimised and positioned blog that belongs to a kitchen utensils brand that you didn’t know up to that moment. The brand has used relevant content to make itself known and, not only has it solved your query, but also sparked interest in you for a brand that, up to that moment, you had no idea existed.

• Middle of the Funnel (MOFU) – Once we’ve managed to catch their attention, users will feel attracted by what they’ve seen in our product. At this point, they go from possible to probable. We’re now dealing with a potential client to whom we must offer more personalised content. A previous study on their consumption habits will help us adapt our content to more concrete needs — i.e. segmenting our product in order to present it to our audience according to their characteristics, the relationship they have with our company, etc. Now it’s when a clear and attractive call to action will make a great difference.
  • We must use more personalised methods. Email marketing will help us put forward, for example, exclusive offers for first-time buyers. Also previous consumers’ reviews will give you more credibility. There’s an increasing number of companies that are using personalised web reputation services. A pop-up that offers a subscription in exchange for personalised content —a  newsletter, for example— is also a very good option.

• Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) – It all went as expected and, now, all that’s left to do is to secure the transaction in order for them to consume and, in the future, keep on coming back to our company. They know us, they like what we offer and they trust us. 
  • During this stage, we must focus our efforts in offering post-sale added value, for example, through offers, discounts or exclusive content. Also free trials or personalised sessions are valued positively, since you’re offering unique and dedicated content to your clients, making them feel important.

How to Apply the Marketing Funnel in a Business

Strategic planning must be our starting point, since it will present us with the possibility to come up with a business opportunity. Among the factors we must take into account when applying it, the following stand out:

1. Know Your Ideal Client. Segmentation, drawing a diagram with their main characteristics and a tidy database will be fundamental.
2. Study the Keywords. Keywords are also essential, since they will allow you to have a global vision of the most searched for terms in relation to your business.
3. Prepare Content for CTA. The call to action must be well executed and studied. All the elements that invite interaction will help achieve this point. Work starts at the first claim and ends with a transaction.
4. Measure and Monitor Consumer Behaviour on Your Website. Thanks to programmes that let us visualise the journey a client takes in your website, you will be able to make valuable conclusions such as the visited pages, the average time spent on your website or other elements with which they interact.

If we secure all these steps, we’ll get a very interesting lead with a high percentage of successful transaction completion. Firstly, because you’ve acquired a filter through which you will be able to organise the rest of your marketing actions and, secondly, because the cost of finding new clients with every new campaign reduces because your strategy already has an ideal client model and a blueprint to follow.