Marketing Funnels: How to Nurture Leads to Grow Your Small Business
Have you created a marketing funnel for your small business? While most small business owners are familiar with marketing and sales funnels, they frequently pass on using them. This is understandable since small business owners are pressed for time, and setting up a marketing funnel takes some time. However, without a marketing funnel, they may be missing out on an opportunity to close more sales and increase profits.
Marketing funnels are a worthwhile investment of your time. Implementing a funnel for your business generates increased trust, higher conversion rates, and greater customer satisfaction. If you find that a lot of your leads don’t convert into sales, it’s time to consider creating a funnel to nurture and develop those leads into loyal, repeat customers.
What is a marketing funnel?
At its core, a marketing funnel is lead nurturing. It’s the strategic development and placement of content that will build trust with prospects and guide them toward making a purchase.
Marketing funnels are not a new concept. They’ve been around since 1898 when Elias St. Elmo Lewis introduced the AIDA model for marketing. AIDA, which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action, was used to describe the various stages a customer goes through when making a purchase.
The marketing funnel is based on the AIDA model and is used to describe the customer journey. The main difference is in the terminology and accompanying visuals typically used to describe and depict each phase of the funnel.
Attention, referred to as the Top of the Funnel (TOFU), is the widest band in the funnel. In this stage, consumers are just discovering your brand.
Interest is considered the Middle of the Funnel (MOFU). At this stage, consumers are already familiar with your brand and are considering various organizations to purchase from.
Desire is referred to as the Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) and is the smallest portion of the funnel. In this stage, consumers are getting ready to make a purchase.
Action is the actual purchase of the product or service. Many marketing funnel diagrams will show the point of sale as the end of the funnel; however, that isn’t entirely accurate.
The funnel ends with loyalty, advocacy, and retention. After all, what good is the marketing funnel if our customers only purchase from us once? We want happy customers who will refer their friends and return to us for future purchases. This is why post-purchase customer support is essential.
How a B2B marketing funnel differs from a B2C funnel
Although the basic structure and purpose of the marketing funnel are similar for B2B and B2C businesses, there are significant differences in how the strategies for each stage are implemented.
Audience
In B2B marketing, your audience consists of businesses, organizations, and professionals. The decision-making process frequently involves multiple people and layers within the organization, making the process longer and more complicated. Appealing to these stakeholders requires a more rational approach.
In B2C marketing, individual consumers are the decision-makers. They will base their purchase decision primarily on their needs, emotions, and personal preferences. With individuals, companies should take an approach that appeals to emotions and creates a sense of urgency.
Messaging
Content created for a business audience should be educational and address specific pain points that the business may be experiencing. Marketing assets such as white papers and case studies appeal to business decision-makers.
Content for a consumer market should appeal to people’s emotions, specific lifestyles, and aspirations. To evoke emotions, businesses can create video tutorials or use imagery relevant to various B2C lifestyles.
Lead Generation
Generating leads for a B2B organization requires extensive content marketing and thought leadership. Since a prospective business may spend a significant amount of time and energy researching a product before purchasing, it makes sense to provide a lot of educational content in various formats (videos, reports, product comparisons, etc.). In addition, gated content requiring user information to access it, allows an organization to more effectively nurture that lead through targeted email campaigns.
B2C lead generation relies more heavily on social media and influencers to generate interest. In addition, knowing how your customers search for your products and optimizing your content to match is also essential.
Sales Cycle
B2B marketing requires many more touchpoints to work toward a purchase. Businesses conduct thorough research to ensure their purchase will work best for their situation. With potentially multiple stakeholders involved, it is a time-consuming process requiring a slow building of trust. In B2B marketing, you truly are nurturing your leads.
In B2C marketing, the cycle is much shorter. The purchase decision is usually more spontaneous and satisfies an immediate desire. B2C marketers tend to focus on creating a sense of urgency with promotions and providing a flawless checkout experience.
Conversion
When it’s time to purchase, B2B marketers focus on removing any final obstacles. They may offer an in-person product demonstration or free trial to clear any final hurdles.
B2C conversions focus on creating a sense of urgency with limited-time offers and discounts. If the prospect accepts the discount, then they've arrived at the last step: checkout. It’s critical to ensure that the checkout process is easy and without hitches. According to Croplink.com, the average cart abandonment rate is 69.99% Figuring out why carts are abandoned and following up on abandoned carts is another essential part of the B2C conversion process.
Why B2B small business owners need to master marketing funnels
Many people feel that marketing funnels are tools best utilized by corporations with abundant staff and resources to devote to them. However, small businesses are missing out on an opportunity to use a tool that can help them make better marketing decisions that address the various touchpoints in the customer’s journey. The more familiar a company is with its client’s decision-making process, the easier it is for them to know exactly what type of content is needed for each stage of the journey.
Aligning your resources with your marketing goals
Nobody wants to waste valuable time and money creating content that isn’t helping to nurture your leads toward an eventual purchase. Marketing funnels help to ensure that you have content created for every stage of the consumer’s journey.
If, for example, you’re looking to build more brand awareness, you should focus your resources on top-of-funnel content (blog posts, social media content, etc.). If, on the other hand, you have plenty of brand awareness, but are having trouble driving conversions, then you should invest more effort in creating content for the bottom of your marketing funnel (testimonials, free trials, product comparisons, etc.).
Find problem area
Your marketing funnel will help you pinpoint where you are losing customers. Do your customers abandon their carts? That’s a bottom-of-funnel issue, and you’ll want to find out what is causing people to bail out of a purchase. If instead, you find that your bounce rate is increasing, that would indicate a top-of-funnel issue. Your blog posts may not be resonating with your readers. It may be time to do more research to find content ideas that will interest your ideal audience.
Learn about consumer behavior
Creating a marketing funnel for your small business forces you to think through how your clients interact with your brand in each of the different phases of the funnel. With this knowledge, you can fine-tune your marketing efforts to address your client’s needs throughout the various stages of the marketing funnel, increasing the likelihood that your client will eventually purchase your product.
Improve your client’s overall experience
With a deep understanding of how your customers interact with your brand, you can anticipate and address problems that may arise. This not only creates a smooth experience for your clients but also enhances customer loyalty and encourages repeat business.
A well-structured marketing funnel helps build trust with customers by delivering the right message at the right time. For clients, the result will be a seamless experience. But remember, the sale doesn’t end with the purchase. Put some attention to post-purchase support to encourage repeat business and referrals.
Content for each stage of the marketing funnel
Now that you are familiar with the benefits of using a marketing funnel for your business, it’s time to dive into the specifics of what type of content is appropriate for each stage of the funnel.
Top of the Funnel (TOFU)
The goal of top-of-the-funnel content is to build brand awareness. People in this stage of their journey aren’t familiar with your brand yet. Your goal is to try to get their attention.
The top of the funnel is the largest category, so you are trying to gain the attention of a broad segment of people. The best way to achieve this is to create content in different formats that informs, engages, and addresses the pain points of your target audience. Blog posts, social media content (e.g., sharing tips), industry reports, informative videos, and infographics are examples of content that can be used in the top of the funnel.
Search engine optimization should also be included in your top-of-funnel tasks. Research keyword phrases that your audience uses to find brands like yours and incorporate those phrases into your website content. In addition, make sure to optimize your on-page elements, such as the page titles, alt-text, headlines, and meta descriptions.
Also, consider creating gated content, such as white papers, e-books, and templates, so you will have the information you need to start nurturing leads by following up with a drip email campaign. This step begins the process of moving leads from the top of the funnel to the middle of the funnel.
Middle of the Funnel (MOFU)
When a consumer arrives at the middle of the funnel, they already know about your brand and are now exploring their options. This is your opportunity to nurture your leads and guide them closer to making a purchase.
In this stage, create content that goes more in-depth and addresses the prospective customer’s specific pain points. Case studies, webinars, in-depth guides, and targeted email marketing campaigns are all appropriate content for this stage of the funnel.
When using email marketing campaigns, your audience should be segmented according to their needs. This ensures that the emails and resources they receive from you directly addresses those specific needs.
“Personalized email campaigns improve open rates by 29% and increase click-through rates by 41%.”
Finally, consumers often appreciate comparison guides at this stage in the journey. A comparison guide will help your leads evaluate their options and narrow down the list of businesses to select from.
Hopefully, by this point, your business is on your prospect’s shortlist.
Bottom of the funnel (BOFU)
This is the final—and smallest—section of the marketing funnel. If prospective clients have arrived at this stage of the buyer’s journey, they are ready to decide. At this stage, you want to clear away any remaining obstacles to give them the confidence they need to purchase from your company.
Social proof, such as testimonials and reviews, helps to highlight the positive experiences others have had with your brand. Most people feel more comfortable ordering a product after they’ve heard how others liked the product, if it was what they expected, and whether there was post-purchase support for the product. Reading reviews from your customers may give your prospective clients that final boost of confidence to make the purchase.
Free trials, product demos, and money-back guarantees are all ways to help mitigate risk for consumers and make them more comfortable with their purchase decisions.
In addition, personalized emails with a limited-time offer can help address prospects’ final concerns and encourage those who are still on the fence to make the purchase.
“90% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase, influencing their movement through the funnel.”
Post-Purchase Support
The marketing funnel appears to end at the bottom of the funnel, but that would neglect a critical final step in the buyer’s journey: loyalty and advocacy. This is your opportunity to turn your new clients into loyal fans of your brand.
Loyalty programs (rewards programs) are one way to encourage repeat purchases from your business. In addition, newsletters and follow-up emails that provide product tips and helpful resources can help to keep your business on their minds.
Taking care of your clients after the purchase sends a message that they are supported and valued—and, as Maya Angelou once said, “people will always remember how you made them feel.” By paying attention to this final step, you’ll end up with raving fans who will recommend your brand to their friends.
How AI is affecting the marketing funnel
AI-driven searches do affect the traditional marketing funnel (primarily the top of the funnel). If you think about how people conduct searches in AI, you’ll quickly understand why.
Typically, site visitors start with very specific questions or requests. For example, I recently planned a short trip to visit Buttermilk Falls in Ithaca. I knew we would have a little extra time, so I asked AI to plan an itinerary for a short trip to Ithaca with an emphasis on hiking and outdoor activities. It gave me a specific itinerary from morning until evening with a few suggestions for places to eat as well. Since I have dietary restrictions, I asked it to modify the itinerary to include restaurants that included options based on my specific restrictions.
The specificity of my questions and AI’s responses bypassed most top-of-funnel content created by any of the sites or businesses on the itinerary. Instead, I started my process in the middle of the funnel and continued my search with more in-depth research ranging from the difficulty level of the hikes to restaurant reviews and menu options.
So, how can small business owners ensure they get found in AI searches? There are three key areas for businesses to consider:
Structured data: This includes the layout and mechanics of your content. AI prefers to pull from orderly, clear, quality content. Have a clear hierarchy for your posts by assigning headlines with appropriate settings (H1, H2, H3, etc., in order of importance). Including bullet points and lists also helps to provide clear information for AI.
Conversational queries: Think about how people ask questions in AI and create content that directly addresses those questions. Think specificity. For example, “What materials do I need to build a chicken coop in a small yard for under $500?”
Intent-based content: People have different reasons for conducting a product search, and businesses need to be familiar with these various reasons. For example, some individuals may be searching for information on a product or service (e.g., what are garlic scapes?), while someone else may be looking to make a purchase (e.g., where can I buy garlic scapes near me?). Create content that addresses the varying needs of your audience.
The future of the marketing funnel
It’s become increasingly clear to marketers that the buyer’s journey is not a simple linear process where a person enters the top of the funnel and smoothly proceeds through to the bottom of the funnel. Buyers may enter the funnel at any stage, possibly even bouncing back and forth between stages. Does that mean that the funnel is obsolete?
While the funnel has changed, the core concept of the funnel is still relevant. The central idea of a marketing funnel is that you need to have content available at every stage of the buyer’s journey to try to engage with prospects and, ultimately, move them along toward a purchase. If you have a good understanding of how your clients find you, why they need your product, and what they expect from you, then you have the roadmap to creating content that will connect with them. As a small business owner, you’ll save time, energy, and money by creating relevant content that will generate more income and sales for your business.
Need help getting started with a marketing funnel? Contact me for a free 15-minute consultation on how to create an effective marketing funnel for your small business.