The purchase funnel, or purchasing funnel, is a consumer-focused marketing model that illustrates the theoretical customer journey toward the purchase of a good or service.
This staged process is summarized below:
The purchase funnel is also often referred to as the "customer funnel", "marketing funnel", [1] "sales funnel", or "conversion funnel". The association of the funnel model with the AIDA concept was first proposed in Bond Salesmanship by William W. Townsend in 1924. [2]
This early model has been modified by marketing consultants and academics to cater to the modern customer and is now referred to in marketing as the "purchase funnel" or "buying funnel". Many different business-to-consumer purchase models exist in marketing today, but it is generally accepted that the modern business-to-business purchase funnel has more stages, considers repurchase intent, and takes into account new technologies and changes in consumer purchase behavior. [3] [4] As a model, the buying funnel has been validated in a variety of domains, including searching, [5] keyword advertising, [6] and lead generation, [7] but also modified to include previously unconsidered steps and metrics such as outbound sales and internet impressions.
The purchase funnel concept is used in marketing to guide promotional campaigns targeting different stages of the customer journey and as a basis for customer relationship management (CRM) programs and lead management campaigns.
Similar to a purchase funnel, "conversion funnel" is a technical term used in e-commerce operations to describe the track a consumer takes through an Internet advertising or search system, navigating an e-commerce website and finally converting to a sale.
The main elements of an online purchase/sales funnel are:
The modern conversion funnel can have many entrance points, meaning people can enter at any stage of their life-cycle, they can leave and enter again. This is why an effective online marketing strategy requires an omnichannel approach that combines various traffic sources, campaigns and re-engagement paths, and makes them work as one to finalize the purchase and even lead to loyal customers or brand advocates.
Within the broader context of the purchase funnel, the marketing funnel serves as a foundational framework. It systematically depicts the customer journey from initial awareness of a brand or product to the final purchase. It is used by businesses to understand consumer behavior and adapt marketing strategies at each stage of the customer's decision-making process. By segmenting the customer journey into distinct phases (often categorized as awareness, consideration, and conversion), businesses can implement targeted tactics to guide potential customers through the funnel and increase the efficiency of their marketing efforts. [8]
The origins of funnel marketing can be traced back to the late 19th century with the development of the AIDA model (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action) by Elias St. Elmo Lewis. [9] This model provided a foundational framework for understanding how consumers progress through various stages before making a purchase. Over time, the model evolved to include additional stages and emphasize long-term customer relationships. [10] The integration of digital technologies further transformed the funnel by incorporating online channels and enabling data-driven optimization. Notable contributors to this evolution include E.K. Strong, who explored the psychology of selling, and William H. Townsend, who integrated the AIDA model with the funnel concept in 1924. [11]
Typically, marketing funnel strategies include the following five macro-stages: [12]
Businesses may adapt their funnel strategies to suit specific markets and customer bases, ensuring each phase addresses the needs and behaviors of potential customers.
Marketing funnel encompasses several strategic approaches designed to engage customers at different stages of the buying and fidelization process. Each subset within the marketing funnel has specific objectives and targets particular interactions with customers, from initial contact to post-purchase follow-up. Common full funnel marketing subsets include:
These funnel types are part of a marketing strategy, each tailored to facilitate different goals throughout the customer lifecycle. While terms like "full funnel marketing," "sales funnel," and "purchase funnel" are sometimes used interchangeably, they each serve distinct purposes within a broader marketing framework.
Full funnel marketing can be demonstrated through various real-world applications by companies aiming to guide customers.
Content streaming services provide a clear example of this marketing strategy. These companies typically use platforms that are easy to navigate and feature regularly updated content to attract initial user interest, often through free trial offers. Once users are engaged, the services encourage exploration of various subscription models and collect contact information for ongoing marketing efforts, with the goal of converting free trials into paid subscriptions. [14]
Another sector that employs full funnel marketing is marketing and sales software. Companies in this industry often offer resources such as e-books, webinars, and templates to obtain contact details from potential leads. These materials are designed to educate potential customers, thereby nurturing leads and establishing the company as a credible authority in its field. This approach aims to increase the likelihood of converting leads into paying customers. [15]
In the non-digital realm, athletic apparel companies utilize full funnel marketing by launching comprehensive marketing campaigns that might include television commercials, social media, and event sponsorships. These campaigns typically use engaging slogans and collaborations with well-known athletes and influencers to inspire potential customers. The narrative often focuses on personal achievement and overcoming challenges, which aligns with the promotion of the products as essential tools for personal fitness goals. To drive purchases, these companies might introduce limited-edition products or exclusive collaborations, aiming to move customers through the marketing funnel from awareness to action. [16]
The marketing funnel model has faced increasing criticism for its traditional approach. The criticism to the model's relevance in the digital age, where consumer behavior has evolved significantly. The rise of digital and social media platforms has altered how consumers interact with brands, often entering the purchasing process at various stages and sometimes moving non-linearly or even reversing their engagement paths. Furthermore, the traditional funnel model has been criticized for its limited focus on post-sale customer experience, which can hinder the development of brand loyalty and advocacy. [17]
In response to these criticisms, several alternative models have been proposed to better align with contemporary consumer behavior:
The marketing funnel is expected to evolve with advancements in technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, which are poised to enhance the personalization and efficiency of marketing strategies. [20] Additionally, the rise of voice technology indicates a shift towards more voice-activated web searches, which could influence the dynamics of content marketing and storytelling towards greater authenticity and personalization. [21]
Market penetration refers to the successful selling of a good or service in a specific market. It involves using tactics that increase the growth of an existing product in an existing market. It is measured by the amount of sales volume of an existing good or service compared to the total target market for that product or service. Market penetration is the key for a business growth strategy stemming from the Ansoff Matrix (Richardson, M., & Evans, C.. H. Igor Ansoff first devised and published the Ansoff Matrix in the Harvard Business Review in 1957, within an article titled "Strategies for Diversification". The grid/matrix is utilized across businesses to help evaluate and determine the next stages the company must take in order to grow and the risks associated with the chosen strategy. With numerous options available, this matrix helps narrow down the best fit for an organization.
Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organisations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services. Consumer behaviour consists of how the consumer's emotions, attitudes, and preferences affect buying behaviour. Consumer behaviour emerged in the 1940–1950s as a distinct sub-discipline of marketing, but has become an interdisciplinary social science that blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology, anthropology, ethnography, ethnology, marketing, and economics.
Marketing communications refers to the use of different marketing channels and tools in combination. Marketing communication channels focus on how businesses communicate a message to its desired market, or the market in general. It is also in charge of the internal communications of the organization. Marketing communication tools include advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, sponsorship, communication, public relations, social media, customer journey and promotion.
Advertising management is how a company carefully plans and controls its advertising to reach its ideal customers and convince them to buy.
An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and concepts into one large media base. Advertising campaigns utilize diverse media channels over a particular time frame and target identified audiences.
In marketing, lead generation is the process of creating consumer interest or inquiry into the products or services of a business. A lead is the contact information and, in some cases, demographic information of a customer who is interested in a specific product or service.
The target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message catered specifically to the previously intended audience. In marketing and advertising, the target audience is a particular group of consumer within the predetermined target market, identified as the targets or recipients for a particular advertisement or message.
Lead management is a set of methodologies, systems, and practices designed to generate new potential business clientele, generally operated through a variety of marketing campaigns or programs. Lead management facilitates a business's connection between its outgoing consumer advertising and the responses to that advertising. These processes are designed for business-to-business and direct-to-consumer strategies. Lead management is in many cases a precursor to sales management, customer relationship management and customer experience management. This critical connectivity facilitates business profitability through the acquisition of new customers, selling to existing customers, and creating a market brand. This process has also accurately been referred to as customer acquisition management.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to marketing:
A touchpoint can be defined as any way consumers can interact with a business organization, whether person-to-person, through a website, an app or any form of communication. When consumers connect with these touchpoints they can consider their perceptions of the business and form an opinion.
Customer engagement is an interaction between an external consumer/customer and an organization through various online or offline channels. According to Hollebeek, Srivastava and Chen S-D logic-Definition of customer engagement is "a customer’s motivationally driven, volitional investment of operant resources, and operand resources into brand interactions," which applies to online and offline engagement.
Brand awareness is the extent to which customers are able to recall or recognize a brand under different conditions. Brand awareness is one of two dimensions from brand knowledge, an associative network memory model. It is a key consideration in consumer behavior, advertising management, and brand management. The consumer's ability to recognize or recall a brand is central to purchasing decision-making because purchasing cannot proceed unless a consumer is first aware of a product category and a brand within that category. Awareness does not necessarily mean that the consumer must be able to recall a specific brand name, but they must be able to recall enough distinguishing features for purchasing to proceed. Creating brand awareness is the main step in advertising a new product or bringing back the older brand in light.
Content marketing is a form of marketing focused on creating, publishing, and distributing content for a targeted audience online. It is often used by businesses in order to achieve the following goals: attract attention and generate leads, expand their customer base, generate or increase online sales, increase brand awareness or credibility, and engage an online community of users. Content marketing attracts new customers by creating and sharing valuable free content as well as by helping companies create sustainable brand loyalty, providing valuable information to consumers, and creating a willingness to purchase products from the company in the future.
A go-to-market strategy, or GTM strategy, is the plan of an organization, utilizing their outside resources, to deliver their unique value proposition to customers ("go-to-market") and to achieve a competitive advantage. The goal is to enhance the overall customer experience by not only offering a superior product and/or more competitive pricing, but also creating a clear framework and plan to penetrate a defined market and/or target audience.
Customer experience, sometimes abbreviated to CX, is the totality of cognitive, affective, sensory, and behavioral customer responses during all stages of the consumption process including pre-purchase, consumption, and post-purchase stages.
Demand generation is the focus of targeted marketing programs to drive awareness and interest in a company's products and/or services. Commonly used in business-to-business, business-to-government, or longer business-to-consumer sales cycles, demand generation involves multiple areas of marketing and is really the marriage of marketing programs coupled with a structured sales process.
The AIDA marketing model is a model within the class known as hierarchy of effects models or hierarchical models, all of which imply that consumers move through a series of steps or stages when they make purchase decisions. These models are linear, sequential models built on an assumption that consumers move through a series of cognitive (thinking) and affective (feeling) stages culminating in a behavioural stage.
A user journey is the experiences a person has when interacting with something, typically software. This idea is generally used by those involved with user experience design, web design, user-centered design, or anyone else focusing on how users interact with software experiences. It is often used as a shorthand for the overall user experience and set of actions that one can take in software or other virtual experiences.
Call to action (CTA) is a marketing term for any text designed to prompt an immediate response or encourage an immediate sale. A CTA most often refers to the use of words or phrases that can be incorporated into sales scripts, advertising messages, or web pages, which compel an audience to act in a specific way.
Marketing automation refers to software platforms and technologies designed for marketing departments and organizations automate repetitive tasks and consolidate multi-channel interactions, tracking and web analytics, lead scoring, campaign management and reporting into one system. It often integrates with customer relationship management (CRM) and customer data platform (CDP) software.