You might not call it by name, but chances are your company employs some type of marketing funnel in hopes of turning prospects into customers. This funnel starts with a consumer knowing very little or nothing about your brand. It then strategically takes them through the process of getting to know your company, its services and/or products, and why your service/product might solve all of your potential client’s problems.
Oftentimes, a marketing funnel will consist of general awareness efforts like social media accounts and websites, more detailed information for those most interested in the form of an email series or webinar, and value-adds of some kind, whether it be a newsletter, free download, or video series, to name a few. The whole goal of this funnel is to create new customers and nurture existing clients. To ensure you reach this level of success, you’ll want to make sure that your marketing funnel isn’t broken.
Here are a few ways to tell if your marketing funnel is working:
1. Your analytics prove it.
If you haven’t already installed Google Analytics on your website, now is the time to. Without data, you will not be able to adequately account for your website traffic and where it is coming from, in addition to details on your visitors’ behavior.
One of my favorite Google Analytics features is the Traffic Acquisition report, which allows you to track your website traffic sources and will display whether visitors are coming from your social media pages, an organic search, a direct link, or paid advertising. This data can provide insights on where to invest your resources further and will let you know if there’s a source that isn’t pulling traffic.
Another snippet that I love to check is New vs. Established Users. (Learn how to pull this report in Google Analytics here.) If your marketing efforts are working, many of these visitors will be new users, meaning it’s their first time visiting the site, and they’re ready to enter your funnel.
In addition to your website analytics, you should make sure to at least peek at your social media analytics more than a couple of times each month to see what content is truly resonating with your audience. You’ll know if it’s resonating if you see engagement like shares, likes, and comments.
2. It’s converting.
If you are getting visitors to your website and social media channels, the hope is that this traffic will result in new leads. However, your new visitors won’t convert into leads if your website content isn’t both valuable and user-friendly. If your marketing funnel is working, you’ll see new emails, phone calls, calendar bookings, form submissions, and more. AKA conversions. These are your gold nuggets.
If your funnel is failing here, it might be because you don’t have compelling calls to action. One of the best ways to generate leads is to provide free value, whether that be through a downloadable template, free registration to a webinar, an industry-specific white paper, or other assets. Once you’ve proven valuable to a consumer, they’re more likely to stay in your marketing funnel and not just drop off the face of the Earth.
Furthermore, your CTAs should be front and center on appropriate pages, ensuring your users can easily learn more about your company and connect on a deeper level.
3. You’re Meeting Sales Goals
Finally, if your marketing funnel is working, you should see increased sales volume. The leads you’ve seen above have been nurtured into warm leads, and many have turned into first-time buyers.
It might be time to review your customer’s journey if you’re not seeing sales numbers that resonate with your marketing efforts. Are you providing an exceptional experience for your prospects? If not, it’s time to make adjustments and recheck the results. In case you haven’t heard, marketing is about 50% strategizing and producing content and 50% testing and recreating that same content, but this time with more knowledge about your consumers’ preferences.
Need an extra hand to ensure your marketing efforts convert? Head over to our Marketing Strategy Quiz, where you’ll get a customized plan of action designed to improve your marketing strategy and grow your business.
