Business growth: With your marketing funnel
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Over 90% of web search volume is handled by Google. With that huge statistic in mind, there is an opportunity for growth, when it comes to marketing.
According to Jumpshot, a clickstream data provider that monitors more than ten million devices in the United States, Google is the top search engine provider, no contest. With that metric setting the stage, it is important to point out there are many significant parts to developing and maintaining a front-end digital marketing funnel for your business.
Each business is unique. What technique works for one, might not be effective for another. At the beginning of your analysis, take a good look at how you obtained your current database of customers. Find out if it was more of a relationship sale, a high number of referrals, or via advertising. Be intentional in identifying how (via what process) you secured most of them.
While there are many types of marketing funnels, two are more traditional in business. One is the four step model; awareness, interest, desire and action. The other five step approach focuses on awareness, consideration, conversion, loyalty and advocacy. The initial focus of both funnels is getting those potential customers aware of your company.
Digital marketing on the front end of your marketing strategy is usually approached more from the advertising perspective. Imagine the top of your funnel being the first stage and the bottom of the funnel being the final stage. Making someone aware of your business is the initial objective. Obviously, there is more potential business at the top of the funnel and your intent should be to eventually convert the awareness portion of the funnel to be a loyal customer who advocates for your business at the more narrow or final end of the funnel.
Let’s assume your potential customers or clients are looking for a particular product or service, but they are not sure who to contact. This day and age, they usually begin the process by searching the internet via Google, Microsoft Edge, or Safari. As mentioned earlier, over ninety percent of internet search traffic comes from Google. If you want customers/clients to find your business when they search for a product or service, you need a presence on the internet. In order to be effective in the search process, you will need to develop key search terms that will allow the search engine you have chosen to direct potential customers to your website. You will be paying for this service, but it will provide the means by which someone can get to your website and become aware of your company.
According to Statista, a database analysis and trending company, in addition to your search engine, consider using social media in your efforts. Facebook can be impactful for both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) clients. Linked In is good for B2B awareness and Instagram is best for B2C segments.
Interesting enough, according to Linked In, using videos is five times more engaging, versus still images which are two times as effective. Visual media is also better for Facebook and Instagram. Twitter reports their tweets with GIFs get fifty-five percent more attention. In other words, visual imagery is a definite winner when compared to the written word.
Digital marketing is more effective when lead generation is the primary focus. It is a relatively straight forward process in the overall marketing funnel. The primary objective being to obtain names, phone numbers, and e-mails of potential customers/clients. Typically, the best way to achieve that objective is to offer something in order to get something. Be it a prize, a book, a free consultation, a sample product, or some other resource.
Having the name, phone, and e-mail of someone is only the beginning of the relationship. Those three elements are like gold, if they are managed correctly. At this point in the process, that data is no more than a cold lead. The objective is to convert that lead into a customer for your busines in the long run. Obviously, upon gaining awareness and generating some interest in your business, that is where you begin to proceed through the remaining stages of the funnel. As you engage with the customer your short term objective should be to establish trust and credibility. With trust and credibility you will be able to engage the lead more and more until you are able to convert them to a customer.