Understanding the 4 Major Phases of Funnel Marketing

Marketing funnels are an essential tool for businesses to understand their customers and increase conversions. Learn about each stage of content marketing funnels & how to optimize them for increased conversions.

Understanding the 4 Major Phases of Funnel Marketing

Marketing funnels are an essential tool for businesses to understand their customers and increase conversions. The four stages of the content marketing funnel are knowledge, evaluation, purchase and enjoyment. Each stage has a specific purpose in the customer journey, as does the content presented to them at those stages. The second phase of a marketing funnel is the consideration phase.

At this stage, potential customers are familiar with the brand and must be encouraged to consider it above the competition. Content generation and meaningful and engaging touchpoints are critical for this process. It is important to clearly identify points of differentiation and be identifiable. The traditional funnel model is linear, starting at the top of the funnel and ending at the bottom, where potential customers convert.

However, people's buying behavior in real life is not linear, so it's important to understand the customer journey from the moment of awareness to the moment of conversion. This includes understanding how each stage works in the traditional marketing funnel model. The top of the funnel (TOFU) is where potential customers first interact with a brand. They may not yet know much about the product or service, so this stage focuses on content and marketing material that promote brand awareness. The bottom of the funnel (BOFU) is the last place potential customers go before making a conversion.

At this point, trust has been built and a relationship has been fostered. Measuring the target conversion rate allows teams to make more informed decisions about each phase of the funnel, rather than just about the final outcome. Hotjar heat maps, recordings and surveys can be used to optimize channels for the customer journey and increase conversions. Surveys give you the opportunity to interact with real visitors at every step of the funnel, so you can learn how to improve customer experience and increase conversions. Combining quantitative and qualitative information with tools and tips will help create a better funnel that meets customers' unique needs and increases conversions. Once you've optimized a page, take a look at heat maps again to see if changes have affected conversions. The information obtained from recordings helps identify obstacles or problem points experienced by users during their visit to your website, such as broken elements, errors in the website or a confusing design that could reveal why users leave at a certain stage of the funnel. Analyzing website heat maps can also identify elements on pages that work (or don't) to get people through your funnel.

Combining quantitative and qualitative data will help understand how real customers buy and behave on your site, so you can optimize your marketing channel for the customer journey and increase conversions. The steering wheel combines “conversion” and “closing” stages into a single “coupling” stage. Once potential customers are ready to make a purchasing decision they enter what is known as the conversion phase. Content has been shown to be a valuable asset in boosting customer retention and guiding consumers through the marketing funnel. That said, there are still some key quantitative metrics you should consider when measuring success and effectiveness of your marketing funnel. The way people experience your marketing funnel (and how they think or feel throughout their customer journey), you're missing an important part of the picture. It is a strategy planned by a salesperson (a marketing funnel) and you were in the initial phase (knowledge), while the person who recommended was in the last phase (brand promotion).

They implement strategically designed programs to channel specific potential customers into conversions (sales) and ongoing sales for brands. The problem with funnels is that they keep sales, marketing and service independent of each other. A successful marketing funnel requires understanding your customers and creating content that guides them through each stage of their journey.

Cassandra Paule
Cassandra Paule

Certified social media guru. Hardcore food scholar. Freelance baconaholic. Infuriatingly humble bacon specialist. Subtly charming web aficionado. Certified twitteraholic.

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