How to Create a Digital Marketing Funnel

Patti Mills

Patti Mills About The Author

February 6, 2020 at 8:15 AM

How to Create a Digital Marketing Funnel

In today's digital world, 87 percent of consumers search for products online before they buy, according to Retail Dive. A consumer thinking about purchasing a new car might start with a Google search for "things to consider when buying a new car." They find an online guide from a local dealership that contains advice. They provide their name and contact information in exchange for the guide.

After reading the guide, they go back to the dealer's website for more information and looks at the dealer's inventory and customer testimonials. They receive an email later in the week from the dealership for an upcoming webinar. The consumer attends the webinar, then schedules an in-person consultation, and ends up purchasing one of the new vehicles they saw online. The process this consumer went through utilizes a digital marketing funnel.

What is a Digital Marketing Funnel?

A digital marketing funnel is a combination of digital marketing tactics that gain and nurture leads throughout the buyer's journey. Companies use different tactics to target those leads during various phases of the buyer's journey. Those phases include awareness, interest, desire, action, and advocacy.

Awareness Phase: Companies educate potential leads on what products and services are available. In most cases, the leads do not have previous knowledge of the companies.

Interest Phase: Consumers have gained awareness about the company, as well as its products and services. They are not ready to buy, but are interested in resolving their problems. 

Desire Phase: Consumer has narrowed down their list of potential companies to purchase from. 

Action Phase: Occurs when a lead becomes a buyer. 

Advocacy Phase: When buyer becomes a loyal customer and tells others about the company's brand.

Ways in Which You Can Create a More Successful Digital Marketing Funnel

Learning how to create a digital marketing funnel can entail working with a media company or implementing successful digital marketing practices. Here are some examples of those practices needed to create a successful funnel.

  • Create an intriguing and engaging website. 
  • Get to know your target audience and their pain points. 
  • Create premium content aimed at leads in the awareness and interest phases.
  •  Identify weak points in your funnel.

According to Sweor, 57 percent of consumers will not recommend a business with a website that is not compatible with mobile devices. Designing an engaging and functioning online presence is the first and often most critical step in gaining leads. You want potential buyers to find your website, be able to engage with it, and provide you with their contact information. An effective way to capture this is through pop-ups that offer a discount, reward, or freebie in exchange for email addresses. Your landing pages also need to match the types of actions you want your potential buyers to take. While designing a stunning and effective website can be tough without technical and artistic direction, a media company can ensure your website flows well.

Having a great website is important, but you also need to identify who your potential customers are. You'll want to define your target buyer. More importantly, you'll need to identify what problems they're trying to solve. These problems are your potential buyers' pain points. Media companies can conduct thorough market research to help you identify target personas and their respective pain points.

Once you've identified your target personas and their problems, you can create premium content aimed at their needs. Look to see what types of content your competition isn't offering to define where there are opportunities in the market for your business. Working with a media company can significantly help with this process as they can help with tips on how to create engaging copy and content pieces that will appeal to your potential buyers. You'll also want to update your blog regularly to draw in new leads and nurture your existing ones.

As you create content, look to see where it may be falling short. What pieces aren't producing the results you want? Are you losing leads along the way? What pieces can be strengthened or augmented with information that better fits your target audiences pain points? 

A strong digital marketing funnel can help your company achieve solid brand awareness, foster great customer relationships, and even bring back former customers. Being able to attract and nurture leads is the cornerstone of future sales. The process may seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Working with a media company can help you develop a strong digital marketing strategy and funnel.

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