Stages of the email marketing funnel
A solid email marketing plan includes content for the different phases of the email marketing funnel. If you tailor your email content to each stage in the funnel, you can improve the user experience and provide your audience with targeted, relevant content as they complete the buyer journey. .
1. Awareness
The first stage in the email marketing funnel is designed to cultivate awareness of your brand. Unless your company has the benefit of major name recognition, potential customers at the top of the email marketing funnel are just learning about your company, and therefore, detailed, product-specific content will just overwhelm the reader.
In this stage, your emails should provide educational content to demonstrate the value , establish your company as a thought leader, and establish a relationship with potential customers.
After youâve made them aware, give customers a reason to care. Your emails will lead them to the consideration step of the funnel.
2. Consideration
A successful email campaign grabs attention with awareness and seals the deal with consideration material.
After engaging with your awareness content, the potential customer should be intrigued enough to seek additional information. Give the people what they want! Leverage blog posts, webinars, or case studies help customers understand how the product works and why they need it. Include this supportive material in the emails, or provide links to your website for potential customers to explore.
As you offer additional resources for consideration, make sure to:
- Lay out tangible benefits of your product or serviceâmake them feel like they canât go on without it.
- Target specific groups of customers and focus on the pain points your product solves.
- Create a need for your product or service.
Put yourself in the shoes of the potential consumer and focus on what you would want to hear.
3. Conversion
This step is the crux of the email marketing funnel, and if youâve done your job correctly, the content of your email will persuade the customer to make a purchase. This stage is all about striking a balance between convincing the customer to invest in your product and creating a sense of urgency. Sweeten the deal with a discount, free shipping, or another buying incentive.
Increase conversion by making the purchasing path easy. You can:
- Remove any barriers to purchasing.
- Consider including âBuy Nowâ buttons in the email.
- Make sure the website experience matches the email content.
And know when to call it a day. Donât spam a new customerâs inbox with emails. A simple âThank you for your purchaseâ and order update email are sufficient for this step in the email marketing funnel.
4. Loyalty
It might seem like the hard part is over, but that doesnât mean your job is done. Continue to nurture the relationship youâve established with your new customer, and keep them engaged with supportive content.For example, if you just sold the customer a trip to Hawaii, you could send them a packing list or a list of popular attractions in the area.
To remain engaged with your customers, send follow-up emails with workshops or tips and tricks on getting the most value from the product. The point of this step in the email marketing funnel is to reinforce the customerâs decision to buy your product and hopefully convince them to buy again. No one enjoys buyerâs remorse.
5. Advocacy
Getting the customer to promote a product is the mark of a successful email campaign. If youâve managed to inspire your customer to make a purchase, the next step is to turn them into a brand advocate.
Social clout holds a lot of weight these days, and satisfied customers leave glowing reviews or share their recommendations with friends when they feel strongly about a product or brand.
To promote advocacy from your customers, you can:
- Keep track of customers who engage in repeat purchases.
- Send out-of-the-blue messages or perks.
- Offer additional purchasing incentives.
- Reward customer reviews.
- Publish a free newsletter.
Give your new and existing customers reasons to keep believing in your product. Use our free Lucidchart templates to organize your content for each step in the email marketing funnel.
