All the businesses need to boost up in 2020, once the lockdown gets over, after the COVID-19 effect. The marketing funnel describes the key stages a customer needs to go through before buying something. People don’t just wake up and decide to buy a new car for no reason. Likewise, people don’t always wait until they truly need something before buying it. And one of the key causes people to buy things they don’t need is because top brands know the consumer journey. Not only that, but they know how to induce this journey and guide customers through it.

AIDA– Digital Marketing Funnel Formula

This is how the AIDA funnel works.

Awareness

People can’t buy something they don’t even know exists.

Interest

Once people know about your offer, you need to turn this awareness into interest.

Desire

With consumer interest, the next stage is establishing an emotional connection that inspires a desire to make the purchase.

Action

Finally, you show consumers how to turn that desire into reality (sign here, click this, sign up, etc.).

In 2020, there are more variations of the marketing funnel than ever.

Unlike the AIDA funnel, the 2020 marketing approach considers consumers after the initial purchase. This is really important because you want your existing customers to keep buying from you, and you also want them to help you attract new customers.

The new customer life cycle in 2020 is

Awareness

The moment a user first discovers your brand, product, offer, etc.

Consideration

They’re interested but not ready to buy now – perhaps comparing you against the competition or waiting for an exclusive offer.

Conversion

When a user finally makes a choice to buy (hopefully with you).

Loyalty

Users who regularly buy from you and find it difficult to go elsewhere.

Advocacy

Users who actively recommend you to potential buyers.

The key thing here is that the marketing funnel doesn’t end with the purchase. There is plenty more work to be done at post-sales too.

Capturing leads at every stage of the modern marketing funnel is the new funnel in 2020. It’s not a linear process any further in 2020. There can be thousands or even millions of people out there already who may know your brand but simply aren’t interested in it yet.

There are even more people out there who are interested in what you’re selling but don’t know your brand exists yet. Each stage of the new marketing funnel represents a state of mind. Every brand wants to capture leads at every stage of the sales funnel and target potential audiences with messages that reflect their state of mind. Right user actions are needed at each step of the marketing funnel.

By mapping out the interactions on every stage of the modern marketing funnel and assigning them to a call to action, you can then target each user – based on their previous efforts on your digital assets – with marketing messages designed to move them closer to the purchase.

An overview of how every stage of the modern marketing funnel works

Awareness

Get your message in front of the right eyes.

Marketing goals

Build awareness, target relevant audiences.

Build awareness with SEO.

Build awareness with paid advertising.

Build awareness with social media.

Consideration

Make yourself the most compelling option for your potential buyers.

Marketing goals

Target higher-intent audiences, turn awareness into purchase intent.

Target buying intent keywords.

Capture email leads for lead nurturing.

Conversion

Turn leads into profitable actions.

Marketing goals

Convert leads, minimize conversion barriers, turn consideration into action.

Create search campaigns for people ready to buy now.

Optimize your forms to maximize conversion rates.

Do Conversion rate optimization (CRO) the smart way.

Reduce loading times.

Switch to single-column layouts.

Use the ‘inverted pyramid’ for CTAs.

Switch to multi-step forms.

Remove navigation from landing pages.

Test CTA placement.

Test secondary CTAs further down the page.

Try exit-intent popups.

Loyalty

Turn customers into repeat buyers.

Marketing goals

Get customers to buy again, reduce churn rates, build loyalty

Make customer service a priority.

“No matter how good your products/services are, customers are going to experience problems from time to time, and how you deal with these is going to be a major factor in your retention rates.”

Reward your customers.

Run upselling/cross-selling campaigns.

Advocacy

Get new leads from your existing customers.

Marketing goals

Turn happy customers into a lead generation strategy.

Build a profile of positive reviews.

Get success stories from your customers.

Create referral campaigns to turn customers into new leads.

Maximizing leads & conversions at every stage of the modern marketing funnel.

The consumer journey doesn’t end with the first purchase; this is where the customer journey begins, and your efforts move to maximize further purchases and customer value.

Read more: Blogger Outreach: drive Traffic and Conversion