Marketing Funnel 101: Learn the Benefits and Three Stages

In the audio advertising space, the term "marketing funnel" is tossed around like confetti at a parade. But what does it actually mean? And, more importantly, how can understanding it help you crush your campaign goals?

Think of the marketing funnel as your customer's journey from "Who is this brand?" to "Sign me up, I’m in!" It's a framework that maps out how listeners move from first discovering your brand to becoming loyal customers and brand advocates. 

Whether you're creating streaming audio campaigns or diving into the podcast advertising space, knowing how the marketing funnel works can help you meet your audience at every stage of their journey.

Let's break it down.

What Is the Marketing Funnel?

The marketing funnel is a model that illustrates the theoretical customer journey towards purchasing a product or service. This framework visualizes how potential customers move through the stages of awareness, consideration, and decision-making before taking a desired action.

The funnel structure reflects the natural progression consumers follow when discovering new brands. At the top, a large number of people become aware of your product or service. As they move through the funnel, fewer consumers may continue to the next stage, but those who do represent increasingly qualified prospects. The funnel is typically divided into three main sections:

• Top of funnel (TOFU): This is the awareness stage, where potential customers are just getting to know you

• Middle of funnel (MOFU): In the consideration stage, consumers are considering whether your product or service is right for them and making comparisons with competitors

• Bottom of funnel (BOFU): During the conversion stage, consumers are ready to take action, whether that's making a purchase, signing up for a free trial, or reaching out for more info

Each stage of the funnel requires a different approach. Luckily, audio advertising offers unique ways to connect with listeners at every step.

What Are the Benefits of the Marketing Funnel?

Mapping out your strategy based on the marketing funnel offers tangible benefits that can sharpen your campaigns and improve your return on investment.

A Clear Customer Journey

The funnel gives you a roadmap. It helps you visualize where your audience is and what they need at each stage. At the upper funnel, they might be just hearing about a brand or product. In the middle funnel, they're starting to research options. By the lower funnel, they're ready to buy. 

Knowing which funnel stage your consumers are in  allows you to set clear goals for each campaign and align messaging. Do you want to build brand awareness? Are you aiming to drive immediate sales? Or are you looking for full-funnel results? The funnel helps you decide, and this clarity makes it easier to set goals, allocate budgets, and measure success.

Better Personalization

Not all ads should sound the same, from campaign to campaign or brand to brand—and the marketing funnel is a reminder of that. At the top of the funnel, you might use attention-grabbing storytelling to introduce your brand. In the middle, you might highlight your product benefits to differentiate your brand from its competitors. At the bottom, you might emphasize a strong CTA to seal the deal. By tailoring your messaging to each stage, you'll connect with listeners more authentically and effectively.

Enhanced Measurement and Scalability

One of the biggest advantages of a marketing funnel is the ability to track your performance at each stage. You can measure how many people move from awareness to consideration and from consideration to conversion using metrics like impressions, clicks, leads, sign-ups, and more. 

This data is invaluable for identifying bottlenecks and opportunities for future campaign improvement. For instance, you might be winning customers at the top of the funnel but losing them before they can reach the bottom. If these are your results, it’s clear that your brand awareness campaign is performing well but your lower-funnel campaign could use some optimizing. As you refine your strategy and see what works, you can scale your tactics to reach a larger audience and drive even better results.

What Are the Three Stages of the Marketing Funnel?

Now that you know why the marketing funnel matters, let's dig into each stage. 

Top of Funnel: Building Awareness

The top of the funnel is all about the introduction. Your primary goal here is to capture attention. You want people to know who you are and what you stand for. Success at this stage means your brand becomes a familiar name, creating a foundation for future favorability.

At this stage, you want to build:

• Brand awareness: Promoting your brand and getting your products on  consumers’ radar 

• Brand recall: Making sure customers remember your brand when thinking about your product category or industry

• Brand familiarity: Creating a sense of recognition of your brand 

• Brand favorability: Generating positive feelings towards your brand

The measurement tools to use at the upper funnel:

• Brand lift studies: Measure the impact of your advertising on consumer perception and how much your campaign has increased brand awareness, ad recall, and brand consideration 

• Creative testing: Use A/B testing to test different versions of your ad creative to see which one resonates the most with your target audience

Middle of Funnel: Driving Consideration

Once potential customers are aware of your brand, they move into the middle of the funnel. Here, your focus shifts to building interest and encouraging consideration. You need to give them reasons to choose you over the competition by highlighting your unique value proposition. This is where you nurture the relationship and move them from passive awareness to active interest.

The key metrics for the middle funnel:

• Brand interest: Are consumers actively seeking more information about you and learning what sets you apart?

The measurement tools to use at the middle funnel:

• Location analytics: Track whether the exposure to an ad campaign drove consumers to a physical location, like a retail store, boosting foot traffic 

• Attribution study: Understand which touchpoints in your campaign are most effective at driving desired outcomes, like website visits or app downloads

Bottom of Funnel: Inspiring Conversion

The bottom of the funnel is where the action happens—interested consumers turn into paying customers. Your messaging here should be direct and action-oriented. Consider adopting clear CTAs and including limited-time offers and exclusive deals at this stage. Audio ads can be especially effective at driving urgency with the right tone and pacing. 

The key metrics for the lower funnel:

• Intent to seek more info: Are customers visiting your website or looking for more details?

• Purchase intent: How likely are they to convert in the near future?

• Product sales: Did they hit “purchase” or “add to cart”?

The measurement tools to use at the lower funnel:

• Sales lift: Analyze whether your campaign led to an actual increase in sales, directly tying your advertising efforts to revenue

Driving Full-Funnel Impact with Podcast Advertising

Now that you understand the marketing funnel, let's see it in action. A premium liquor advertiser partnered with the fan-favorite podcast It's Me Tinx to drive full-funnel lifts in awareness, consideration, and purchase intent among listeners aged 25-44. The campaign featured host-read ads and a bonus episode, immersing the liquor brand in culturally relevant conversations.

Take a look at the results.

Top of funnel: 

• 61% unaided recall, exceeding the Signal Hill benchmark by +11 pts

• +39 pts lift in unaided awareness

Middle of funnel:

• +26 pts lift in the brand-specific attribute about being "clean/natural”

• +2 pts lift in consideration

Bottom of funnel:

• +4 pts lift in purchase intent

Thanks to the campaign, more than 2x as many exposed listeners named the advertiser when asked about brands in the category. And due to the authentic connection between Tinx and her audience, brand favorability soared.

Let's Make Some Noise Together

Understanding the marketing funnel is the first step towards building more effective audio advertising campaigns. The next step is choosing the right partner to help you reach your audience at every stage (the arrow points toward us). 

Whether you’re prioritizing the lower funnel or looking to implement full-funnel campaigns, we offer a complete suite of ad effectiveness and measurement solutions—and access to the largest addressable audience in audio.

Ready to create campaigns that deliver results from top to bottom? Let’s talk.

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