Digital Marketing Funnel Stages Explained
The digital marketing funnel consists of four key stages, each guiding users through the customer journey.
This article explains the value of each stage and how to implement them effectively.
Digital Marketing Funnel Stages
A digital marketing funnel is made up of four key stages:
Awareness/Attention
Interest
Desire/Decision
Action
Each stage of the funnel is responsible for bringing the customer one step closer to making a purchase.
Understanding and optimizing each stage enables marketers to develop a successful strategy for guiding users through the funnel and converting more leads into customers.
Exploring the Digital Marketing Funnel Stage by Stage
The digital marketing funnel is a series of stages that help organize and optimize the customer journey from awareness all the way down to the conversion action purchase.
The purpose of these stages is to identify, engage, and nurture leads through each stage with relevant content and messaging in order to increase the likelihood of conversion.
Here is an overview of the four key stages:
1. Awareness/Attention
The awareness stage is when a potential customer first becomes aware of your brand, products, or services.
To reach this stage, it's important to establish an effective digital presence through SEO and social media marketing.
This will be the first impression for a potential customer, so it's important to make sure that you're providing helpful content and engaging with your audience in order to capture their attention.
One famous example of the effectiveness of Awareness is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in 2014, which raised $220 million worldwide for the ALS Foundation.
Bringing attention to your brand can do wonders for your business's reach.
2. Interest
Once you have captured the attention of your potential customer, the next stage is to create interest and compel them to learn more about your brand.
This can be done through content marketing strategies such as blogging, email marketing, and video content.
The strategies used in this stage serve to educate the user about the brand and the potential benefits that its products and services can provide to solve a specific problem.
This stage is all about providing helpful information that resonates with the user's needs and interests.
One good example of how brands develop an interest in their products is HubSpot, which develops tools for customers to help manage their customers and marketing.
They offer a wide selection of educational tools, like blogs and webinars, that show users how HobSpot’s tools can be integrated into their existing marketing and sales processes.
All of this information increases customer interest in their products and demonstrates the value of using HubSpot for their business process needs.
3. Desire/Decision
In this stage, you must create a sense of desire in order to further engage with potential customers and get them closer to making a purchase decision.
You can do this through targeted ads, discounts, and offers that show the user a clear path to making a purchase decision.
The goal of this stage is to create an irresistible offer that will move the user closer to taking action.
Amazon Prime helps users make the decision to subscribe to their Prime service with a 30-day free trial.
The subscription offers benefits like overnight delivery, access to their streaming service, and other exclusive deals.
When users trial the service for 30 days and find a lot of value in its benefits, they are more likely to continue their subscription to a paid one.
4. Action
Finally, the action stage is when potential customers take the final step in their customer journey and make a purchase.
This is the stage where all of your efforts and the conversion action come to light.
CTAs are also very important in this stage, as they provide your customers with a direct path to take action and make a purchase.
Once the action stage is completed, it is now the responsibility of the brand to deliver on their promise and provide the customer with a positive experience.
Examples of the Action stage include sales, email newsletter signups, member subscriptions, and more.
In newer models of the sales funnel process, marketers have added the "Advocacy" stage as a way to narrow down the process even further.
The advocacy stage is all about capitalizing on the positive experience of the customer and converting them into brand advocates who can help drive additional leads.
What is a Digital Marketing Funnel and Its Stages?
The digital marketing funnel is made up of four key stages, each serving a purpose in guiding the user through the conversion process.
The four important stages of an effective digital marketing funnel are as follows:
Awareness/Attention
Interest
Desire/Decision
Action
Using the four key stages of the digital marketing funnel, brands can create a strategy that guides potential customers through the journey and converts more leads into paying customers.
