Funnel Marketing Strategy: The Here On Up Guide To Catching The Rain

There’s no sense pouring water into a leaky bucket.

Getting your funnel marketing strategy firing is key to driving predictable, efficient and sustainable growth for your organisation. Creating a successful and scalable digital product built on funnel marketing principles is like building a system to collect rainwater at the side of a house. You start at the bottom and work your way up.

3 Steps to Catching the Rain

Since there is no sense pouring water into a leaky bucket the first step is to make sure that there are no holes in your water butt. After all there is nothing more demotivating that to put time and effort into building your system, only to find that when it starts to rain that most of the water you catch just seeps away.

And so it is with digital funnels. We need to spend time making sure that when we introduce new users to the platform that they are not going to leak out – after all we only get one chance to make a first impression. Taking time to create user centered products that are created with your target audience’s needs front and center will pay dividends.

This is be achieved through a process of user testing and measurement, evaluation and iteration, along with focusing on the key bottom of funnel metrics such as MRR, ABV or average churn.

Key activities:

• Personalization: Personalized communication is critical for building relationships with customers. Use data and insights gathered from your CRM system to segment your customers and deliver tailored messages and offers based on their preferences, behaviors, and past interactions. This can help create a sense of personal connection and loyalty.

• Email marketing automation: Use email marketing automation to nurture and engage with your customers at different stages of their customer journey. Set up automated email campaigns based on triggers such as purchase history, browsing behavior, or abandoned carts to deliver timely and relevant content that encourages repeat purchases and builds loyalty.

• Customer service and support: Providing excellent customer service and support is crucial for building lasting relationships. Respond promptly to customer inquiries, address any issues or complaints professionally and efficiently, and go the extra mile to exceed their expectations. Happy and satisfied customers are more likely to become loyal advocates for your brand.

• Loyalty programs: Implement a loyalty program to reward and incentivize repeat purchases. Offer exclusive discounts, promotions, or loyalty points to customers who continue to engage with your brand. This can encourage repeat purchases and foster customer loyalty.

• Social media engagement: Engage with your customers on social media by responding to their comments, messages, and reviews. Use social media as a platform to build relationships, share valuable content, and show appreciation for your customers. This can help humanize your brand and create a sense of community.

Key measures:

Customer Engagement:

• Customer Churn Rate: Churn rate represents the percentage of customers who stop doing business with your company over a specific period. Tracking churn rate helps identify potential issues and take proactive measures to retain customers.

• Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): CSAT measures the level of satisfaction customers have with your products or services. It is typically measured through surveys or feedback ratings and helps you gauge how well you're meeting customer expectations.

• Net Promoter Score (NPS): NPS measures the likelihood of customers recommending your business to others. It provides an indication of customer loyalty and satisfaction, as well as their willingness to advocate for your brand.

• Customer Engagement Metrics: These include metrics such as website visits, time spent on your website, email open and click-through rates, social media interactions, and customer support inquiries. These metrics help assess the level of customer engagement with your brand across various touchpoints.

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) and Revenue Generation:

• Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV): CLTV measures the total revenue generated by a customer throughout their entire relationship with your business. It provides insights into the long-term value of each customer and helps prioritize efforts to retain high-value customers.

• Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR): MRR represents the predictable and recurring revenue generated from subscription-based products or services. It provides a clear picture of your business's revenue stability and growth potential.

• Average Revenue per User (ARPU): ARPU calculates the average revenue generated by each customer or user. It helps identify high-value customers and can be used to segment and target specific customer groups for upselling or cross-selling opportunities.

• Upsell and Cross-sell Revenue: Tracking the revenue generated from upselling and cross-selling activities provides insights into the effectiveness of your strategies to increase customer spend. This metric demonstrates the success of your CRM efforts in driving additional revenue from existing customers.

Customer Retention and Loyalty:

• Customer Retention Rate (CRR): CRR measures the percentage of customers that continue doing business with your company over a specific period. A high customer retention rate indicates customer satisfaction and loyalty, as well as the effectiveness of your CRM initiatives.

• Repeat Purchase Rate (RPR): RPR measures the percentage of customers who make repeat purchases. It helps assess the success of your efforts in encouraging customer loyalty and fostering repeat business.

• Referral Rate: Referral rate measures the percentage of customers who refer your business to others. It highlights the level of customer satisfaction and the effectiveness of your CRM efforts in driving word-of-mouth marketing.

• Customer Feedback and Reviews: Monitor and analyze customer feedback, reviews, and ratings to gain insights into customer sentiment, satisfaction levels, and areas for improvement. Positive reviews and testimonials also serve as valuable social proof to attract new customers.

So, our bucket is watertight and we’re confident that most of the water that we capture in it isn’t going to just flow away. The next step is to build our down pipe and out gutter. As with the bucket, we need to make sure that there are no holes in it, and we also need to check for any blockages.

And so it is with digital funnels. We need to spend time making sure when we drive users into our system that there are no blockages stopping them from discovering how our product can positively impact their lives. Be it issues with UX/UI, messaging, tech stack.

Again, this is be achieved through a process of user testing and measurement, evaluation and iteration. Understanding where users are coming from, what the questions are that they arrive in your funnel with, and effectively signposting where they can quickly find help are key to mid-funnel CRO success!

Key activities:

• A/B testing: A/B testing involves creating multiple versions of a webpage or landing page and testing them with real users to determine which version performs better. By analyzing the data and making data-driven decisions, you can optimize your website for higher conversion rates.

• Clear call-to-action (CTA): A clear and compelling CTA is crucial for driving conversions. It should be prominently displayed on your website or landing page, and clearly communicate the desired action you want visitors to take. It should be easy to find, visually appealing, and aligned with your overall messaging.

• Simplified forms: Lengthy and complicated forms can deter potential customers from completing them. By simplifying your forms and reducing the number of fields, you can improve the user experience and increase the chances of visitors completing the form.

• Engaging content: High-quality and engaging content is essential for keeping visitors on your website and encouraging them to take action. It should be relevant, valuable, and easy to understand. Use compelling headlines, clear messaging, and visually appealing images or videos to capture visitors' attention and guide them towards the desired action.

• Mobile optimization: With the increasing use of mobile devices, it's crucial to ensure that your website or landing page is optimized for mobile users. Your website should load quickly on mobile devices, have a responsive design, and offer a seamless user experience across different screen sizes.

• Trust signals: Trust signals such as customer testimonials, reviews, trust badges, and security certifications can instill trust in your potential customers and increase their confidence in making a purchase or providing their information. Displaying these trust signals prominently on your website can boost your conversion rates.

Key measures:

1. Conversion Rate (CR): The conversion rate is the percentage of website visitors who complete a desired action. It is calculated by dividing the number of conversions by the total number of visitors and multiplying it by 100. A higher conversion rate indicates that your website or landing page is effectively persuading visitors to take action.

2. Bounce Rate: Bounce rate measures the percentage of visitors who leave your website after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate may indicate that visitors are not finding what they're looking for or encountering issues with the user experience. Analyzing bounce rate can help identify areas of improvement to engage visitors and encourage them to explore further.

3. Average Order Value (AOV): AOV represents the average amount of money spent by customers on each transaction. Increasing the AOV indicates that your CRO efforts are successfully encouraging customers to spend more. Strategies such as upselling, cross-selling, and offering product bundles can help boost the AOV.

4. Cart Abandonment Rate: Cart abandonment rate measures the percentage of users who add items to their cart but do not complete the purchase. A high cart abandonment rate indicates potential barriers or issues in the checkout process. Identifying and addressing these obstacles can help improve the conversion rate and reduce revenue loss.

5. Click-through Rate (CTR): CTR measures the percentage of visitors who click on a specific link or call-to-action (CTA). It is often used to evaluate the effectiveness of email campaigns, ads, and CTAs on your website. A higher CTR suggests that your messaging and visuals are compelling and enticing visitors to take action.

6. Exit Rate: Exit rate refers to the percentage of visitors who leave your website from a specific page. It helps identify which pages may have higher drop-off rates and require optimization. Analyzing exit rates can guide you in improving the user experience, content relevancy, and call-to-action placement on those pages.

7. Time on Page: Time on page measures the average duration visitors spend on a specific page. A longer time on page suggests that visitors are engaging with the content and finding value. Tracking time on page helps identify engaging content and areas where visitors may be spending excessive time, indicating potential issues or distractions.

8. Heatmaps and Scroll Maps: Heatmaps and scroll maps provide visual representations of user behavior on your website. Heatmaps show which areas of a page receive the most attention or engagement, while scroll maps display how far users scroll down a page. These visual insights help identify user patterns, optimize page layouts, and ensure that important elements are visible without excessive scrolling.

9. Multivariate Testing and A/B Testing Results: Testing different versions of a webpage or landing page through A/B testing or multivariate testing helps determine which variations perform better in terms of conversion rates. Analyzing test results allows you to implement the most effective design, layout, messaging, or CTA options to maximize conversions.

Ok, we’ve taken the time to build our beautiful system. We’ve tested it out with a few small rain showers, and we’re confident that it’s pretty well optimized, what next?! Well now we either wait for it to rain, pray for it to rain, or we try to make it rain.

Fortunately for us we have modern on and offline marketing methods that can help us to build up a steady deluge. The trick here is understanding what resource we have available, and knowing which channels it is that are going to be most effective at bring your target users into your system – after all there is no sense fishing for sharks in a bass pond.

This is be achieved through a process of digging channel trenches. As it is with an archeological dig, before you dig up the hole field you first dig small trenches to assess the likelihood of there being anything there to find. Placing small bets on what are perceived to be the most lucrative channels for your target demographic, and scaling from there is key to optimizing both resource and budget.

Key activities:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO involves optimizing your website's content and structure to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This can be achieved through keyword research, creating high-quality and relevant content, optimizing meta tags, and improving website speed and user experience.

• Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising: PPC advertising involves placing paid ads on search engines, social media platforms, or other websites. It allows you to target specific keywords or demographics, and you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. PPC can be an effective way to drive targeted traffic to your website and increase brand visibility.

• Events: Events such as trade shows, conferences, and workshops can be a powerful way to create awareness and engage with potential customers. By showcasing your product or service at industry events, you can generate leads and build relationships with your target audience.

• Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate marketing involves partnering with affiliates who promote your product or service on their websites or social media channels in exchange for a commission. This can be a cost-effective way to drive traffic and create awareness, as affiliates leverage their own audience to promote your brand.

• Email Marketing: Email marketing allows you to directly reach out to potential customers who have expressed interest in your product or service. By sending targeted and personalized emails, you can nurture leads, build relationships, and drive traffic to your website.

• Social Media: Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn can be powerful channels for creating awareness and driving traffic. By creating engaging content, interacting with your audience, and leveraging paid advertising, you can increase your brand visibility and drive traffic to your website.

Key measures:

1. Website Traffic: Website traffic refers to the number of visitors who land on your website. It is an essential metric to monitor as it indicates the overall reach and visibility of your brand. Analyze the total number of website visits, unique visitors, and pageviews to understand the volume and patterns of traffic coming to your site.

2. Organic Search Traffic: Organic search traffic represents the visitors who arrive at your website through search engine results without any paid advertising. Monitoring organic search traffic helps assess the effectiveness of your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts, including keyword targeting, content optimization, and website structure.

3. Paid Search Traffic: Paid search traffic refers to visitors who arrive at your website through paid search engine advertising campaigns, such as Google Ads or Bing Ads. Track metrics such as clicks, impressions, click-through rate (CTR), and cost per click (CPC) to evaluate the performance of your paid search campaigns.

4. Referral Traffic: Referral traffic comes from external websites that link to your website. It indicates the effectiveness of your partnerships, affiliate programs, content marketing, and online PR efforts. Analyze referral sources, referral paths, and conversion rates to identify top-performing referral channels.

5. Social Media Traffic: Social media traffic represents visitors who come to your website through social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or YouTube. Track metrics like clicks, shares, likes, and engagement to assess the impact of your social media marketing efforts and identify the most effective platforms for driving traffic.

6. Email Marketing Metrics: For traffic generated through email marketing campaigns, monitor metrics such as email open rates, click-through rates (CTRs), conversion rates, and bounce rates. These metrics provide insights into the effectiveness of your email campaigns in driving traffic and engagement.

7. Event Attendance and Registrations: If you utilize events as a traffic-driving strategy, track the number of attendees, registrations, and conversions resulting from your events. This includes both physical events and webinars/virtual events. Evaluating event-related metrics helps assess the success of your event marketing efforts.

8. Brand Mentions and Social Listening: Monitor brand mentions and online conversations related to your brand across various platforms, including social media, forums, and review sites. Tools for social listening can help you track sentiment, engagement, and brand visibility, providing insights into the effectiveness of your brand awareness campaigns.

9. Backlink Analysis: Analyze the quantity and quality of backlinks pointing to your website. Backlinks are links from external websites to your site and play a significant role in SEO and driving referral traffic. Assessing backlink metrics helps understand the impact of your content marketing, outreach, and PR efforts.

10. Reach and Impressions: For channels like social media and display advertising, track reach and impressions to measure the potential audience size exposed to your content or ads. This provides an indication of the visibility and awareness your brand is generating within your target market.

Get in touch if you'd like to discuss how Here On Up can help you build your conversion funnel.