Knowing your marketing funnels inside and out are the essentials to maximizing your leads. In order to know how your marketing funnels are functioning and then amplify their conversion potential, you’ll need to conduct regular marketing funnel analysis.
If you’re not accustomed to what this means and what it should entail, read on to gain a solid foundation of the importance of a marketing funnel analysis and its importance.
What is a marketing funnel?
In its simplest definition, a marketing funnel is the overall path your customer takes through the buying process. You can have variations of funnels; but, at its core, funnels are a course they take to get to a goal, product or service. Funnels should have a well-defined path.
Often times, people think of funnels solely as the lead capture portion (e.g., a sign-up form, subscription form, etc.). However, you should consider your marketing funnels on a more all-encompassing level. Consumers aren’t going to get to your lead capture forms without being properly guided from your home page. They aren’t going to get to your home page without proper traffic leading to it. When taking your marketing funnels into account, make sure you consider the whole path from entry to close.
How do I go about a marketing funnel analysis?
A marketing funnel analysis will help you identify what is and isn’t working with your marketing and sales processes. When initiating a routine analysis of your own, follow these steps:
1.Identify which (if not all) sections of the funnel to analyze.
Depending on staffing and effort, you may want to tackle one part of your funnel per your analysis sessions. If you have the manpower, taking on the overhaul of analyzing all your marketing funnels will give you the most insight at once. Determining which section of the funnel to look at should also consider the intricacy of your funnel: Is it the overall path from site visit to conversion or are you looking at a particular campaign path?
2. Map your funnel out.
Create a visual representation of how your marketing funnel flows once you’ve determined which entry points you’re analyzing. Whether it be written out, mapped on a whiteboard or plotted with data visualization software on your computer, you’re going to need to see entries and exits to be able to pinpoint parts of your funnel that either don’t make sense or need attention.
3. Distinguish which metrics need attention.
Filter the way you look at these metrics through the experience of the end user. As you go through each portion of your funnel(s), anything that isn’t working should jump out at you. Take a close look at the actual numbers and see what trends are happening. By looking at these, you should be able to determine if that phase of the funnel is causing a significant drop off, telling you it is time to take action.
4. Create your curative action plan.
After going through your funnel(s), you may have come across something that looked off, a prompt that wasn’t as clear as you wanted, a link that went somewhere it shouldn’t have or copy that probably isn’t too compelling. Take note of all these things you come across and turn them into action plans. Who needs to be made aware? Who needs to be involved in the solve? Ensure you immediately set to rectify these items as the longer they stay that way, the less you will convert.
5. Establish your routine.
This should not be a “one and done” task. Links break, designs age and copy can become irrelevant. At the least, this should be done on a semiannual basis. If possible, consider doing a marketing funnel analysis on a quarterly basis – especially if you have a more complex site with several pages.
Why is a marketing funnel analysis important?
A marketing funnel analysis gives you insight into critical marketing KPIs, such as conversion rates and drop-off rates. You’ll find it difficult to know (or even defend) the ROI your efforts bring to the table if you’re not consistently analyzing and improving it.
Marketing funnel analysis is one of the best methods that your team can execute to know your efforts aren’t going to waste. Measuring your funnels and their effectiveness allows you to identify the user experience and updates you may need to make. Inspect what you expect to maximize your reach and potential.
Your marketing funnels analysis is one of the most important things that can help you defend your marketing efforts and their ROI. Give your work a leg to stand and make sure you’re performing these routing marketing funnel analyses to see the most out of your marketing.
Do you need a tool to visualize your marketing data to help you with your marketing funnel analysis? Talk to one of our team members to see how a solution from Aceyus could benefit you.
