5 Stages of Digital Marketing: A Comprehensive Guide

Digital marketing is a continuous process of growth that requires effort and dedication to reach success. At the top of the funnel, there are a lot of potential leads, but as customers become more aware of a brand to decide on their purchase, the number of potential customers decreases. The likelihood that these potential customers will move to the checkout is greater, as they have already committed to the initial stages of their decision. Awareness is the first stage of the marketing funnel.

This is your chance to start building a trusting relationship with your potential customers by providing them with informational content that demonstrates authority in the industry. The next step is to inspire and encourage them to learn more about your business by providing them with solutions to their problems. It's estimated that customers are 75 percent of the way to make the decision to buy from your company before they start paying. Therefore, it's critical to address all the issues on your website to make it easier for customers to move from consideration to decision.

Product guides, presentations, and solutions to common “problems” are some of the tactics you can use to provide potential customers with the information they need to make a buying decision. Whether your industry is competitive or not, there is always the option to buy from another person. Start talking about why your product is better than what your competitors offer. Focus on the benefits of your product or service rather than explaining the features. Do you offer free delivery where your competitors don't? Is your purchase price lower than your competitors? What after-sales support do you offer your customers? All of these issues could influence your customer's decision to stay with you or buy a similar product from a competing brand. Use loyalty programs to retain hard-earned customers and enjoy the benefits of repeat business.

Offer them special offers and discounts to reward them for being a long-term fan of your brand. Work with a growth marketing agency to design appropriate customer retention strategies to make clients feel part of your inner circle. In short, there is a methodical way to build a marketing hierarchy for a company in a way that doesn't ruin the budget. These are the 5 stages of marketing: Branding, Advertising, Target Market, Traffic Conversion, and Customer Retention.

Branding

Branding isn't just a logo design for your company. It's the shutzpah, from the logo design to the slogan.

In some cases, it will define who you do business with.

Advertising

The advertising stage is all about getting leads for your business. A strong brand identity will choose those who feel your business (in a wonderful way). For a local restaurant, conventional DIY advertising would be clipper ads and direct mail inserts. But that's not the only way.

Examples of unconventional advertising would be like joining a church and offering a free snack in exchange for a church bulletin or stores near movie theaters offering something free in exchange for a ticket receipt for the cinema.

Target Market

One of the most misunderstood concepts is the idea of advertising in a target market. Usually, when talking to companies that deal with the general public, their answer to the question, who is their target market, is all. But overall, you can take much more advantage of defining your market and advertising a specialty, even if the market seems general.

Traffic Conversion

And this may be the case.

But the problem isn't traffic, but what you do with that traffic as you receive it. A company that is only looking for sales spreadsheets rather than focusing on building a customer base is doomed to fail. Option? Mailing list signups for future internal marketing.

Customer Retention

Customer retention isn't just about providing customer loyalty cards.

That worked in the days before everyone and their brother didn't use them. In today's world, everyone has a loyalty card, so there's less incentive to buy from you again when they just miss a swipe on their card. Customer Satisfaction is the Key to Retention.