You've crafted multiple campaigns that are targeted are people in various parts of the buyer's journey (awareness, consideration, and decision) in order to move them further through the sales funnel. Now is the time to sit back at watch the conversions roll in, right? WRONG.
It's important to follow each campaign's metrics throughout the sales funnel and note where adjustments are needed. In order to gauge the effectiveness of these campaigns, marketers should focus on different metrics in each piece of the sales funnel. Different metrics are important at different parts of the funnel.
Too many marketers make the mistake of placing too much emphasis on TOFU (top of the funnel) metrics, and that's understandable. They're easier to measure and can make your campaign look more successful than it actually is. Awareness is great, but it isn't what drives conversions or gets your campaign to its ultimate goal.
Awareness/TOFU
Well-planned content will increase traffic and attract top-of-funnel leads. Marketing automation can utilize the information gathered in this part of the funnel to nurture leads to the middle of the funnel. Since any leads collected will be high in the funnel, don't ask for more than a name and email address.
These metrics are high-level, and provide a quick and easy snapshot of how your digital efforts are performing.
- Clicks
- Reach
- Impressions
- Social likes or follows
- Overall page views
- Demographics
- Leads generated
Consideration/MOFU
The middle of the funnel is the middle child of the funnel- it doesn't get the attention it deserves! Now is when your smarketing team should get involved. They should not only look at the metrics listed below, they should consider the quality of each lead.
Use personalized lead nurturing techniques to keep leads you have qualified engaged and eventually shift into the decision phase at the bottom of the funnel. Your leads should be more engaged at this phase in the process so it's ok to require additional information in exchange for offers. Use tools like Hubspot to compile as much information about specific interests.
- Interactions
- Lead scores
- Downloads of consideration phase content
- Additional lead information gathered
- Individual page views
- Email opens and clicks
Decision/BOFU
Bottom-of-the-funnel content gives your highly-qualified lead any information that address any lingering “is this the right product/service for my business's needs and goals?”. Any lead nurturing should be extremely specific and should drive the lead toward action.
There are a handful of metrics you should review whether the lead becomes a customer or not. Doing so will gauge the effectiveness of BOFU efforts as well as the overall success of the campaign. Be sure to compare to the overall SMART goals set for business.
Conclusion
Metrics are important. They prove the effectiveness and the efficiency or your marketing efforts. While all metrics are important, some should be emphsized at different points in the funnel. Doing so will guide you in adjusting your campaigns in specific places to improve the campaigns overall performance. In the end, your inbound campaigns.
