The marketing funnel is an important concept in marketing: it enables you to visualize your customers’ journeys through the purchasing process, while helping you use your resources effectively in your marketing strategy. As prospects move through each stage, your pool of prospects gets smaller and smaller. Understanding how the funnel works can help you create campaigns that target and reach the right prospects throughout their purchasing journey.
There are typically six stages in the marketing funnel.
Stage 1: Awareness
At the top of the funnel is the awareness stage. This will be your “wide-casting net,” so to speak. The goal at this stage is simply to create awareness about your community through marketing campaigns, word-of-mouth, or other forms of exposure. This stage also serves as an opportunity to build brand recognition and trust among your prospects.
Example: ABC Company is considering adding a new location in a different city. They see a testimonial from another company on social media about that company’s experience relocating to your community.
Stage 2: Interest
The most meaningful leads from the awareness stage will begin to show interest in your community and will begin to engage with your brand. Communicating the essence of your community through your Economic Development branding is important for prospects in this stage. They might visit your EDO’s website, watch videos, or read blog posts about your community, and you want them to come away from that knowing who you are.
Example: ABC Company decides to visit your EDO website to see if your community might be a good fit for their needs.
Stage 3: Consideration
At this stage, your prospects are now considered “qualified leads” by having been made aware of your community and showing interest in you. They will be considering your community as a real possibility for their business. This is a great time to provide information about space availability, properties for sale, and workforce, as well as valuable content, such as videos, photos, and blog posts about your community's amenities. Providing clear and accurate information to your prospects will help them make an informed decision about moving to your community.
Example: Seeing that your community might be a good culture fit for them, ABC Company is now looking at spaces where they could relocate to in your area and determining if your infrastructure can meet their needs.
Stage 4: Intent
This is the stage when your prospects are ready to make a purchase decision. They might ask serious questions about moving to your community, including the financial incentives that you offer, zoning information about properties they are looking at, or how to register their business with local and state governments. You can make a strong case to these prospects through the lens of the questions they’re asking. For example, how simple or streamlined is the process for them to register their business, and can you assist them in the registration process? If it’s easy and you can help, now’s the time to let them know!
Example: ABC Company is curious and interested in you. Now, they’re asking your EDO team in-depth questions about your incentives packages and taxation.
Stage 5: Evaluation
Your prospect is now making a final decision about your community at this stage. Pay special attention to this prospect and nurture this purchase decision. Provide clear answers to the prospect about how your community solves their pain-points and meets their specific needs.
Example: ABC Company likes your community and is happy with the incentives you offer, but they are still unsure about workforce availability in your area. ABC Company mention this to your EDO team during a meeting, and you follow up, providing information about qualified workers in your community and the surrounding area. With this information, your EDO team shows ABC Company how your workforce can support its business.
Stage 6: Purchase
Congratulations! Your prospect has decided to establish themselves in or move to your community! After they have made it through the purchase process, you should continue to nurture this relationship to ensure success for both the business and your community. Follow up with business owners and offer support, if needed. Providing a support system to the new businesses in your community will help other prospects in Stages 1 through 5 feel confident in your ability to provide what they need.
Example: ABC Company has purchased the property they will be using for their business. They are ready to remodel the space but hit a snag with their building permits. Your EDO acts as a liaison between ABC Company and local government to expedite the building permit process. Afterward , ABC Company’s CEO praises your EDO team for helping them with the building permits on social media, and several new prospects for your EDO enter the marketing funnel.
Conclusion
Utilizing the marketing funnel can directly lower your cost per acquisition, and it can help you find the weak points in your marketing strategy. Continue to review your strategy and how it works within the funnel. Are prospects consistently reaching the consideration stage and failing to move forward? You may need to adjust your strategy to encourage them to move to the next stage.
EDSuite has the expertise to help you develop and adjust your marketing strategy as needed. To learn more about how to create a marketing strategy, check out our blog: Creating an Effective Marketing Strategy for Your Economic Development Organization.