The Digital Marketing Funnel
The Digital in Marketing
Digital marketing is still marketing and it's usual objective to drive sales and customers. Whether they are digital sales or digitally motivated customers they are still sales and customers. Certainly in the context of marketing, in 2016, there is little need for us to draw a heavy distinction between the digital and physical worlds. So how can we make the quickest and easiest improvements?
First let's review how it works; the 'funnel' is the most common way of to talk about marketing strategy.
Marketing Funnel
Acquisition Marketing
At the top we have suspects. These are viable, potential real customers of your product or service, however, they do not know of your business and you do not know who they are. To reach suspects we need to run awareness campaigns to acquire them as a 'prospect' customer.
Conversion Marketing
Next down we have leads and prospects, these are viable, potential real customers who we have become aware of and who are somewhat aware of us. We need to run engagement campaigns to convert them into a 'lead'.
Marketing to our leads and prospects is about converting the lead through your sales cycle this could include becoming a qualified lead, prospect or sales opportunity but in all cases we hope to turn our potential customer into a real one!
The Opportunity
Interestingly the conversion marketing component is often the part of the funnel that can be most improved, most quickly and easily.
A small improvement in 'conversion rate' can have a far greater positive impact on profit, than a more sizeable improvement in new prospects.
Why?
This is because a typical website would convert a tiny percentage of prospects into leads, about 5%. Increasing a conversion rate to 10% would double sales/leads from the website. To get an equivalent return from working on prospects (qualified website visitors), one would need to raise the number by 100%.
Quick Tip for Quickly and Easily Improving Conversion Rate
The conversion marketing tool, that MintTwist recommend for clients is traffic truffle. This is a low cost plug-in for your website that will intelligently identify and motivate prospects to 'get in touch' by providing timely, relevant and useful messaging when they are ready and on your website.
Retention Marketing
What about lapsed leads?
Even if our prospects or leads drop out of the sales process, we would likely still be valuable as today's lost prospects or leads could be tomorrow's new opportunity. Additionally, your audience is always a source of new referrals, particularly if your re-engagement campaigns are relevant, helpful and interesting (as the majority of your marketing communications should be).
Do we market to existing customers?
Yes! Recognise, value and reward your best customers to win more loyalty, a more profitable relationship, more new business and more referrals. This is often referred to as Retention Marketing.
I am the proud CEO of https://www.traffictruffle.com/, the ultimate, quick and easy #SalesAutomation tool that works for your organisation 24/7.
A #FreeForever version can be accessed for a limited time only => https://www.traffictruffle.com/signup