Ever feel like you’ve put everything you’ve got into the perfect ad, but customers still aren’t calling (or clicking?)
You spent hours nailing down the tone, the copy, and pairing it with a creative you think is sure to grab eyes. You publish the ad and wait anxiously for the clicks to come…and get crickets instead.
The problem? You may have been creating the perfect ad for your customer, but you weren’t paying attention to where that customer was in the advertising funnel.
Each ad you create serves a very specific purpose in the buyer’s cycle, and if you set up your ads in the wrong sequence, it’ll end up costing you a pretty penny.
Today, I’m going to show you how to build the perfect four-step advertising funnel so you can capture prospects and seamlessly move them through the sales funnel—without breaking your budget.
Ready to score higher conversions?
Let’s dive right in.
Why You Need an Online Advertising Funnel
The world wide web has changed over the years and by extension, so has consumer behavior.
There was a time where you could publish a Facebook ad accompanied by the phrase “Buy Now” and call it a day. Believe it or not—this was once a viable marketing strategy.
Today, that method no longer works.
According to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.”
The modern digital buyer isn’t interested in being bombarded with impersonal ads. In fact, roughly 70% of consumers are frustrated by the lack of personalization during their shopping experiences.
Instead, they want to trust who they’re doing business with. And as a business owner, it’s your job to earn their trust.
That’s where a practical advertising funnel design comes in.
4 Stages for Upper Funnel to Lower Funnel Storytelling that Converts
In order for your business sales process to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible, you need to have the right advertising funnel.
From the “awareness” stage to the “purchase” stage, the customer journey needs to be easy to navigate and organized well so consumers can intuitively find everything they’re looking for.
Below, I’ve provided a comprehensive breakdown of what each phase includes and why those elements are important.
Four Stages of a Proper Funnel
Phase 1: Nice to Meet You
When you’re meeting somebody for the first time, what perception do you want them to have of you? What’s the best impression that you could make on them? Likely one that’s positive and long-lasting.
You need to apply that same logic when building out your advertising storyboard.
Remember—this phase is all about awareness. Assume that potential leads don’t know anything about you. The goal here is to attract those who are unfamiliar with your brand and advertise to people who may be interested in buying your product or service.
What’s their main source frustration? What kind of solution do you offer to address those pain points?
A great way to pique their interest during this stage of the online advertising funnel is through humor.
Again—pretend you’re out meeting someone in the real world. When in doubt, make them laugh. Laughter is a vital part of human psychology, and can leave a lasting impression on consumer awareness when used in advertising.
Not to mention, humor can also help connect customers to a product that may otherwise seem uninteresting or niche.
At the same time, it’s a good idea to tread lightly with certain types of humor as some industries are more serious in nature than others. In this case, the concepts of “good first impression” and “no hard sell” still apply.
Once they’ve seen that initial ad for the first time, regardless of which platform you’re on, you’ll then serve them another ad with a slightly different feel for phase two.
Phase 2: Establish Trust
The middle of the funnel is where consumers are trying to decide whether or not they need your product or service.
You’re also attempting to build trust with your customers here. After all, if they don’t trust you, they won’t give you their business.
In order to position your brand as reliable and consistent, consider including content like case studies, white papers, and email campaigns in your advertising funnel.
Consumers are looking for content that demonstrates your expertise and showcases what sets you apart from your competitors. These resources need to be tailored to their specific interests.
In this phase in particular, relevance is crucial. Be sure to create several custom audiences and build campaigns around those specific audiences, whether they’re loyal clients, recent buyers, or users who don’t interact with you as much.
Brands Building Trust with Customers
Phase 3: Yes or No
Now, your customers have gone from knowing you and liking you to trying to decide if they would ever actually buy from you.
When it comes to your advertising funnel, marketing plays a key role. With that being said, ask yourself—is my marketing content fulfilling its purpose? Are people converting? Am I generating any new leads from this content?
Keep in mind—the best content helps incrementally move prospects toward making a purchase. One piece can’t be expected to do all the heavy lifting.
That’s why you need to answer questions, set proper expectations, show social proof, and discuss the specifics of the product or service that you’re offering. Show examples using case studies, product demos, webinars, and other useful resources.
In phase three, you need to address all of your consumers’ major concerns and your ads should touch on each of those items.
At this point, they want to get all the information that they need from your advertising and your landing page, so that you can move them into the final phase.
Phase 4: Conversion
Conversion is the last phase of any successful advertising funnel campaign.
Up until this point, the customer journey has been centered around getting your customers interested in your brand. Now that you’ve made it to the bottom of the funnel, you need to provide them with a reason to buy.
Since everyone wants to feel confident in their purchase, you want to reassure your customers that investing in your product or service is the right decision.
To achieve this, urgency needs to be top of mind. How can you get them to convert quicker?
Look at your pricing. Is there an opportunity for a discount? Will this discount last for a limited time only? Is there a holiday sale coming up?
Then, identify what exactly it is that you’re offering. If they buy from you, will they get something in addition to the main product? Maybe two additional items? Or a bundle?
Once you knock these out, make sure your content has a clear, compelling call to action, as well as effective eye-catching visuals.
In this phase in the advertising funnel, marketing and messaging will be more like “convert now” as opposed to a funnier headline or the introductory information in the “Nice to Meet You” phase.
Mapping the Customer Journey
While this is technically the last stop in the funnel, the customer journey doesn’t really end at conversion.
Once a conversion has been made, think about what the next step is for the individual who converted. After sending them emails and/or push notifications, save their data for future use.
Think about what’s the next great offer that this person would like to receive. Even if they aren’t a repeat buyer, rewarding your consumers with special promotions or early previews of products can encourage them to do business with you again.
And don’t forget to regularly check in on and update any existing pieces of content on your website. There’s always a new way you can improve and repurpose what you already have.
Wrapping Up
There you have it—four different ways you can create your advertising funnel storyboards.
By following this four-step system, your customers will have a much better advertising experience.
Happy creating!
