Conversion tracking by marketing funnel stages
For each business, company, or organization, there may be different goals: some will want sales and leads, some will want an image campaign to increase exposure, and so on. Because each of the relevant target audience is in a different marketing funnel – the marketing process must be adapted to all possible situations derived from the funnel.
For example, it is impossible to expect a visitor who enters your site for the first time to make a conversion. Measured data proves that over 90% of visitors to a property for the first time, leave it without any conversion. The more we will be able to spread our marketing in more relevant sources to the target audience, the more likely it is that it will be exposed to us again and again, until it makes the decision to make a conversion at our property.
The marketing funnel defines different situations in which the target audience is located, from a completely random person to becoming a customer. According to these steps, we can define the marketing messages and relevant content, and at the same time create the relevant conversion tracking. Here are some examples:
Stage 1 – Awareness
The awareness stage (Attention) can be short or long, depending on how long it took the user to be exposed to us. In general, it is a relatively short stage, as it does not require much to expose ourselves to the relevant target audience. This could be a Google text ad in response to a specific search, a sponsored post on Facebook on a topic relevant to the target audience, and so on.
At this stage, we do not yet drive sales in an aggressive way, but we use softer formulations that rely on information. The initial exposure is done through paid ads of all kinds, articles on the website or in content recommendation services such as Taboola, Outbrain, or Google Discovery, videos, and so on.
The conversions relevant to the awareness stage can be in the style of “Learn more” or “Watch the video.” Conversions of this type are also called Micro Conversions, as they are designed to start a process of initial acquaintance. If the user responds and enters our property, we can “paint” it for further action.
The interest stage (Interest) is usually the longest stage in any marketing funnel; weeks and even months. For example, think about someone planning a vacation abroad – how long will it take them to compare between sites, get quotes, and finally choose a provider that met their needs for a trip that will take place in 3 months.
This is usually a stage of nurturing users who made a Micro-Conversion in the previous stage and “cooking” them until they are ready to perform the conversion. The more the user has been exposed to our message or brand in the past, the shorter this stage will be – and vice versa. This is the stage where we invest in content to create a relationship with the user, alongside a combination of soft marketing messages that persuade in a gentle way.
The target audience is mainly composed of visitors to the website or physical business, followers on social media, newsletter subscribers, and so on. If the user is looking for a solution to a problem, we must present to them the product or service as the best solution. We need to understand the pain points and pleasures of the target audience at this stage in order to make the random user ripen to conversion.
The conversions relevant to this stage will be in the format of “Sign up” or any other action that will allow us to collect more information. We can also create segmentation based on the fact that the user visited the product page, a fact that indicates a certain willingness to purchase.
The last stage in the marketing funnel is the action (Action) that the user takes, after ripening from a random surfer to a high-probability potential customer. At this stage, we will offer him comprehensive information about the product or service in which he has already expressed interest; case studies and successes we have had around the product or service (for example: over 80% weight loss in our method within 60 days); recommendations and testimonials from satisfied customers, and more.
The conversions relevant to the action stage will be lead generation (lead) or purchase on the website. Here we are no longer talking about Micro Conversions, but about the main conversions on which we will want to focus: leads and online sales.
Implementing Conversion Tracking in Practice
Before we get started, a general note: marketing funnels come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and sometimes with more stages than the three basic ones mentioned here. For example, the funnel known as AIDA includes four rather than three stages – Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. Alternatively, there are also funnels with five or more stages.
After we have determined what the website and campaign goals are, we will define the relevant conversions for tracking accordingly. For example, not every business wants or can invest in a newsletter, so of course that Micro Conversion is not relevant. In general, it can be said that most businesses and companies will want to track the two most important and important conversions – leads and online sales (depending on the asset at their disposal).
All that remains is to implement conversion tracking in a technical way, such as: Google Ads tracking codes, Facebook Ads, conversions in Google Analytics, and so on. The required codes must be embedded in the relevant assets and a functionality check must be performed. With regard to measuring online purchases, it is important to ensure on a continuous basis that the data displayed in the analytics tool is consistent with the existing version of reality in the business.
Before we finish
It should be remembered that a long-term marketing funnel does not always exist. Sometimes there are situations in which the funnel is significantly shortened, such as impulsive purchases, word-of-mouth recommendations, significantly lower prices, etc. Also, it should be remembered that the conversions attributed to the standard marketing funnel are almost always true for new customers.
What happens with customers who have already purchased from us? Existing customers are in a different type of marketing funnel, and it is easier to get them to purchase than to acquire new customers. It is also worth remembering their existence, and not to focus solely on acquiring existing customers only.
Conclusion
Conversion tracking is an important tool that can help you improve the effectiveness of your digital campaigns.
By following the steps outlined above, you can implement conversion tracking in your assets and analyze the data in an effective way.
