The Marketing Funnel & Funnel-based Marketing
The marketing, brand, product, and purchase/sales funnel are all very closely related and in many ways, they are just different parts of the same function. The 'Marketing Funnel' would be the correct term for this all-encompassing view. While they are often considered separate entities, I feel this overcomplicates what should be a relatively simple concept.
The Brand Funnel
The brand funnel serves to introduce consumers to the brand and attract the right kind of consumers to the product and subsequent purchase funnels.
It is positioned at the top of the marketing funnel, with the primary goal of generating awareness of the brand itself rather than solely the products it sells. It is worth highlighting that much of this is done indirectly. In practice, the best approach is to feature the brand's values and personality while demonstrating strong visual branding throughout.
An example of this executed well would be when Tiffany & Co. produces an ad that focuses on their blue boxes. Messaging such as "The perfect gift comes in a little blue box". This singular phrase perfectly encapsulates the value proposition of the brand and ties it into its visual identity. The brand funnel ultimately serves to drop consumers into a product funnel.
The Product Funnel
The product funnels make up the largest and most significant part of the overall marketing funnel. One brand funnel can feed multiple product funnels, as a distinct funnel would likely exist for each category of product a brand sells - or even individual products in some cases.
Within each product funnel, there should be a top, middle, and bottom. This should guide a customer through the awareness, consideration, and purchase of a product. The bottom of this funnel is often considered separately, as one product funnel can have several purchase funnels.
Product Top-of-funnel
The top of a product funnel should tell a story where the product is featured but is not the main character of the story. Crucially, it should not be trying to generate sales directly, only creating a sense of intrigue in the product. While ads do exist that represent multiple parts of the funnel, I feel it is much more effective to keep these things separate. The best way to view the concept of 'top-of-funnel' advertising is like a first date. They may have seen your brand before (in the brand funnel), but realistically this is going to be someone's first real interaction with the brand, much like a first date is the first real interaction between two people. What this means is, that now isn't the time to be pushy (not that there's ever a right time for this) or start sharing some weird stuff. You're not selling anything, you're just talking to your audience and testing the waters with them. In an ideal scenario, the top of the product funnel should represent 60% to 70% of the overall budget for the product funnel, this way you're spreading your net as wide as possible. Content at this stage could include:
"Why we made this" content
Influencer content
More cinematic content
Product Middle-of-funnel
To follow on from my previous analogy about dating, the middle of the product funnel can subsequently be considered the second or third date. This stage is where you inform a consumer about why they should buy the product from you - especially if it is a generic product or one with high competition. This is the "getting to know you" phase. Detailed reviews, UGC, and engaging blog content make for good options at this stage. These provide value to the customer, which is important at this level. Some content ideas for this stage:
Behind the scenes / how it is made
Relevant how-to guides
UGC
Reviews
Essentially, anything that can help dispel any concerns a potential customer might have. Ideally, this should make up 10% to 20% of the product funnel budget.
Purchase Funnel (Product Bottom-of-funnel)
The purchase funnel or conversion funnel is the grand finale. For the consumers that have made it down this far in the marketing funnel, now is the time to get the conversion across the finish line. The best way to do that is with an offer of some sort. Content at this stage could include:
Specific product videos with special discounts
FOMO based discounts
Discount codes
Free shipping
Ideally, this would represent 10% of the overall product funnel budget, as if the earlier parts of the funnel are effective, consumers shouldn't need much more convincing to convert.
Where Funnel-based Marketing Doesn't Work
Funnel-based marketing is a concept that is reliant on a few core prerequisites, without them, it won't matter how amazing your content and funnels are. These are having a good product and having good business morals. If your product is poor quality and/or not good value for money, or you don't respect your customers and their hard-earned money, no amount of marketing will fix that.
An Example of How I Would Implement a Complete Marketing Funnel
There are many ways to approach funnel-based marketing, but none of them are either right or wrong. As with a lot of marketing, it's not always black and white, but many shades of grey based on anecdotal experience. That being said, this is how I'd do it.
Brand Funnel
High production value, well-branded content. Doesn't need to achieve anything more than getting the brand name out in the world. It should be fun to digest. At this level, ads should not at all feel like ads. Super wide targeting, such as high-level geographic targeting.
Product Funnel (Top)
Not exclusive to people who have viewed the level above. Very similar to the brand funnel content, only now the product can be introduced as a side character.
Product Funnel (Middle)
Exclusive to people who have viewed the previous level. Content at this level should be informative and provide value to potential customers. Primarily serving to dispel concerns anyone might have about shopping with you.
Purchase Funnel
Exclusive to people who have viewed the previous level. This could be several funnels to serve the same middle funnel above. Each ad should focus on a different USP of the brand or the product, such as price, performance, customer service, offers, etc.
