([\Awareness to Conversion: The Marketing Funnel])

When organizations invest funds in digital marketing, they are, for the most part, looking for a singular thing: something they can measure. That is, quite simply put, performance marketing! Performance marketing, guided by a performance marketing funnel is a different kind of marketing than what a traditional marketing approach would be in that it is looking to drive actions that can be tracked (clicks, leads, conversions, etc.) versus trying to get people to see and engage with an often ambiguous campaign. In order to obtain results through a performance marketing approach, you need to have a road map or funnel to follow. The funnel can be used in performance marketing to provide a structure in order to structure your performance marketing.

In this blog we will work through the funnel step by step from awareness to retain and convert those up-funnel prospects into loyal customers.

Think of the performance marketing funnel as the path a customer travels from the first time they become aware of your brand, to the eventual purchase. Each stage requires a specific treatment from when the customer is in the awareness stage, to considering your brand, and finally converting them into a customer. Organizing and designing the campaign based on the funnel gives a structured approach to minimize wasted media budget, improve ROI metrics, and allow for a repeatable growth model.

At Nucleus Media, the funnel is not just a framework, it is core to successful performance campaigns. When executed properly, it makes sure that marketing dollars are well spent.

The top of the funnel is all about visibility. At this stage, your audience may not know your brand exists, so the goal is simple: get noticed.
Performance marketing tactics at this level focus on:

• Display ads to increase visibility across platforms.
• Social media campaigns to introduce your brand story.
• Search ads targeting broad industry terms.
• Video content that builds emotional connection.

Since the focus here is impressions and reach, KPIs usually include cost per mille (CPM) and click-through rates. The aim is to attract as many qualified eyes as possible while staying cost-efficient.

After you capture attention, the next phase is stimulating curiosity. The audience during this phase is weighing alternatives, browsing options, and evaluating ways to solve their issue. Your job is to be top of mind, while gaining their trust.

Here are some performance marketing strategies you could use:

• Retargeting ads to bring back those who’ve already interacted with your campaign.
• Content marketing such as blogging, guides, or case studies to display your authority.
• Email campaigns, segmented to persona or audience segment.
• Social proof (i.e. reviews, case studies and the like) to create and copy within those ad placements.

For these strategies, the measures of success move from impressions, to engagement and leads. This could be cost per lead (CPL), time on page or downloads/views from gated content.

The goal at the bottom of the funnel is simple: turn prospects into paying customers. At this stage, users are primed to take action but may just need encouragement.

Conversion phase tactics to use could include the following:

• Highly targeted search ads that tie into transactional keywords.
• Personalized price incentives that involve sales, for a limited time.
• Optimized landing pages that remove friction to taking action.
• Clear CTAs that alleviate friction in the purchase cycle.

Performance-based marketers will track cost per acquisition (CPA), return on ad spend (ROAS) and conversion rates to assess success. Everything from ad copywriting to landing page designs are modified to eliminate barriers and improve efficiency.

While many funnels cease at conversion, a comprehensive performance marketing strategy goes beyond. Engaging customers after the sale is important to increasing lifetime value (LTV) and lowering total acquisition costs. Post-conversion tactics will include:

• Email nurturing that provides personalized recommendations.
• Upsell and cross-sell campaigns.
• Remarketing ads to entice previous buyers back.
• Loyalty and rewards programs to incentivize repeat purchases.

Retention typically has the highest ROI for your marketing efforts because you’re marketing to individuals who already trust your brand.

One of the primary benefits of the performance marketing funnel is its ability to be measured. Rather than operating in a guesswork environment, you are able to analyze each step:

• How much it costs to reach 1000 people.
• How well you turn traffic to leads.
• How much revenue is produced by each conversion.

This level of transparency means the business can continuously refine its strategies, and importantly, it means that ad spend is always tied to a measurement of performance beyond just exposure.

At Nucleus Media, we are designing performance funnels that do not just pull leads in, but guide leads through an optimal journey of conversion and loyalty.

Creating a funnel is not a once and done. It requires testing, tweaking, and ongoing optimization. Some best practices include:

• A/B testing ad creatives, landing pages, and CTAs.
• Segmentation of audiences to run personalized campaigns.
• Making decisions based on data instead of assumption.
• Integration across channels so your funnel seems unified in every place.

The businesses that get the best results are the businesses that always consider their funnel a living system and not just a static structure.

The performance marketing funnel might seem like an old idea, but it’s a legitimate, results-driven, and practical process to assist brands in transferring customers through the funnel from awareness to conversion (and beyond). Working through systemically mapping campaigns to all levels of the funnel, measuring performance and optimizing in-flight allows businesses to ensure each marketing initiative will help deliver ROI.

At Nucleus Media, we help brands create funnels that do not only generate clicks, but develop sites for meaningful connections and sustainable growth. If you’re ready to optimize your performance marketing and maximize conversions, our team will be here for you every step of the way.