The Marketing Funnel: Understanding the Path to Purchase

Did you know your customers go through a series of steps that lead them to purchase your product or service? The Marketing Funnel is a guide marketers use to represent the buyers’ path to purchase. It consists of the following segments: Awareness, Interest, Consideration, Action, and Loyalty. Learning about these steps can help you develop a successful marketing strategy and improve your ROI. Each step will vary depending on your business. It’s up to you to determine the best way to adapt it.

Awareness

Not only do consumers need to be aware your business exists, they also need to know what you offer. You can attract consumers through various advertising, such as pay-per-click ads, social media, or direct mail. Although there are many ways to drive awareness, you’ll want to focus on your target demographic and those who are more likely to convert. Awareness doesn’t directly lead to a conversion, so don’t think that as soon as you capture their attention, they’ll skip right through the funnel and make a purchase.

Interest

Once the consumer becomes interested, they’ll want to explore your products and learn more about what you have to offer. You’ll need to educate your potential customers with detailed information about what you’re offering, why it’s unique, and how it will benefit them. This can be done through tailored landing pages, newsletters, blogs, videos, and more. Keep the information is relevant and make sure it is easy to access. Remember, you don’t want to overwhelm consumers with too much information, just provide enough to guide them forward through the funnel.

Consideration

What can you do to set yourself apart from the competition? From reviews and testimonials to comparing prices and talking with peers, your potential customer is going to be researching your product or service. During this process, you’ll need to reinforce why the purchase will be worth it. Have information readily available to help them evaluate their decisions and be prepared to answer any objectives. Your potential customer is still likely to research beyond the information you provide, so make sure you have a presence on third-party review sites. You can also use remarketing strategies to bring their attention back to your business.

Action

Finally, the moment you’ve been waiting for! But hang on, you’re not there yet. Even when a consumer makes the decision to purchase, there’s still a chance they might not follow through. They may second-guess their decision during checkout or even get distracted by something as simple as a coupon code box, which causes them to leave your site on a quest for coupon codes. At the time of purchase, you’ll need to provide reassurance and make sure the process is as seamless as possible. Give them the incentive to act right then and there.

Loyalty

Your customer has completed their purchase. So that’s it, right? Nope! You’ll want them to come back for another purchase and even recommend their friends and family to your business. Loyalty can be one of the biggest assets for your return on investment. But how do you achieve this? You can use post-purchase messaging to reinforce the value of your brand, invest in influencers, and create shareable content. The more you continue to delight your advocates, the more they’ll continue to promote your brand.