SEO Glossary: Funnel

What are the differences between Marketing Funnel, Sales Funnel and the other types?

There are different terms used for funnels. "Marketing Funnel" is a general generic term, as is "Funnel": each Funnel serves marketing purposes; thus, "Funnel" and "Marketing Funnel" are synonymous terms.

 

In addition, there is the "conversion funnel". This is a special funnel subtype that pursues the goal of a conversion. The conversion is an action that the customer is supposed to perform. Either the customer should sign up for a subscription, download a software, make a purchase or do something else - whatever it is: the conversion stands for the action that is the goal of the advertising.

 

Another type of funnel is the "sales funnel". This is a subtype of the conversion funnel, because the name of the type indicates what the goal of the sales funnel is: sale. In addition to the sales funnel, there are other conversion funnels, including the subscription funnel and the download funnel. However, these terms are less frequently used because the goal of most advertisements is to sell a product. Consequently, the sales funnel is the best known type of funnel. In German, it is called a "sales funnel".

 

 

• What is meant by top, middle and bottom of the funnel?

  This refers to a strategy that is to be used to generate customers. This strategy determines the stage in the process at which prospects receive certain offers so that they ultimately become paying customers. The individual stations Top, Middle and Bottom of the Funnel are explained as follows.

• • Tofu (Top of the Funnel): The first step is to arouse the interest of potential customers - i.e., your own target group. This is how potential customers become interested parties. Possible measures to arouse interest include advertising measures and good content(content marketing) on the company's own website.
  • Mofu (Middle of the Funnel): The next step in the purchasing process is to achieve a micro-conversion. To this end, prospective customers are offered additional added value in the form of a free e-book, a promotional gift or an informative newsletter. For discerning customers (e.g. academics; B2B marketing; IT customers), a white paper with high-quality content is usually the best way to achieve mini-conversions.
  • Bofu (Bottom of the Funnel): The bottom of the funnel is the narrowest, because not all prospects decide to buy or convert in any other way. The part of the prospects who are convinced by the offer and become customers has passed through the funnel. The micro conversions (see: Mofu) and any special promotions, such as discounts, should encourage the prospects to make the conversion.

  The better the strategy is implemented, the higher the conversion rate. The various tools in online marketing make it possible to check the conversion rate and other statistics of marketing activities. When working with an expert, deficits can be quickly identified and the right measures for conversion rate optimization can be taken. In the course of optimization, changes are made at individual points in the funnel to better influence and convince users in their customer journey.

  AIDA model: Popular strategy for funnels

  Another strategy besides the tofu-mofu-bofu strategy is the AIDA model. This consists of four phases that describe the transformation a person goes through from prospect to paying customer.

  • Awareness phase: A person comes across a company's offer. They become aware of the company.
  • Interest phase: The person develops an interest in the company or its product, service, or other offer. To support this phase, lead magnets such as ebooks and whitepapers can be used in the AIDA model as well as in the Tofu-Mofu-Bofu strategy.
  • Desire phase: The person is no longer merely interested, but develops a desire for what the company has to offer. This happens when the person takes a closer look at the company and what it has to offer. The desire is promoted by the company providing high-quality content on the website. Possibly a newsletter is sent, in which the prospective customer is regularly informed about the latest discounts and promotions.
  • Action phase: Here the prospect becomes a buyer, subscriber, or performs some other type of conversion, which is the goal of the model and the funnel. This completes the process from the awareness phase to the purchase from the company.

   

 

By now, professional companies know that the majority of sales usually come from existing customers. It is therefore important to develop the customer journey and funnel beyond the process from awareness to purchase. Numerous strategies have been created for this purpose, in which the aim is to bind the customer even more strongly to the company after the purchase and to encourage repeat purchases. Examples of strategies for retaining one-time as well as repeat customers are the "marketing hourglass" and the "flywheel".

 

 

Customer Journey vs. Marketing Funnel: The customer's perspective is decisive

Sometimes the marketing funnel is equated with the customer journey. The customer journey also serves to visualize the process that people go through from the initial contact with the company or product to the purchase. In contrast to a funnel, however, the phases of the customer journey are not listed from the perspective of the company, but from the perspective of the customer. Since it is crucial for companies to know the initial situation, emotions and needs of customers, the analysis of the customer journey forms the basis for the creation of a good funnel.

 

To clarify the difference between the Customer Journey and the Marketing Funnel:

 

• In a customer journey, the target group is first defined, as in the funnel. Now we consider how we can most convincingly communicate to the target group, on an emotional, logical, and other basis, why our own offer is the best. Based on this, content is created that is played out in the funnel. The channels through which the content is played out are weighed up on the basis of the customer journey. The focus is on creating cross-media and consistent online marketing.
• The marketing funnel is based on the analyses of the customer journey. In coordination with the emotional states of the interested parties and the possible touchpoints (e.g. website; social media; banner advertising), it is determined which content is placed in which phase of the funnel.