THE COMPLETE GUIDE

TO

FULL FUNNEL
DIGITAL MARKETING

Everything You Need To Know To

Attract, Engage and Convert Customers
Marketing hasn’t changed
in over a century.
The marketing funnel was created in the late 1800s and it’s served as
the basis for campaign strategies ever since.

But the creation of the Internet and explosion of digital channels

has completely changed the way people communicate. Compelling
consumers to stay engaged from their first interaction with you to the
last is an art form—if you don’t master it, you’re losing customers.

So do you need to change the way you communicate with your

customers as well?

In this eBook we look at how the wealth of digital channels, real-time

data and automated technologies can be applied to the marketing
funnel and whether it’s still the most effective way to attract, engage
and convert customers.

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CONTENTS

PART 1: IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

What is full funnel marketing?
What are the common mistakes to avoid?

PART 2: DEVELOPING A FULL FUNNEL STRATEGY . . . . . . . . . . 11

What’s the solution?
How should it work at each stage?
Awareness
Interest
Consideration
Conversion

PART 3: TIPS AND TEMPLATES .................................. 21

Templates for creating full funnel marketing campaigns

PART 4: INTELLIGENT FULL FUNNEL MARKETING . . . . . . . . . . 26

Automating full funnel marketing

PART 5: CONCLUSION ............................................ 31

Why the marketing funnel matters to you

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PART 1

IDENTIFYING
THE PROBLEM
WHAT IS FULL FUNNEL MARKETING?
The marketing funnel is an acquisition model used by marketers.
It illustrates the steps that occur when a consumer first becomes
aware of your product or brand, through to when they make a
purchase decision.

Consumers first become Aware of your brand at the top of the funnel.
The number of consumers who progress through each stage from
Interest to Consideration to Conversion decreases, leaving you with
higher value prospects further down the funnel.

AWARENES S
Top of F unnel

INTEREST
Upper Middle of Funnel

CONSIDERA TION
Lower Middle of Funnel

$ CONVERSIO N
Bottom of Funnel

Your job as a marketer is to ensure people make it from the top of the
funnel to the bottom—guiding potential customers from their first
touchpoint with your brand all the way to a conversion.

The different stages illustrate the consumer’s relationship with your

brand or product at that point in the purchase lifecycle and can help
guide your marketing strategy at that stage.

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The idea of full funnel marketing is that marketers take responsibility
for all stages of the funnel, instead of just concentrating on one or two.

While the tactics and messaging needed at each stage differ, they form
part of a cohesive strategy that—when thought of together—will result
in more conversions at a lower cost.

Digital offers a plethora of channels for marketers to use. The key is

to understand how to use separate channels at each funnel stage, the
importance these play in the customer journey and how to make the
most of them.

DOES FULL FUNNEL MARKETING WORK?

In short, yes. Is it perfect? No.

The reality is consumers will enter and exit your funnel at different
stages. Some will go backwards, some will stop and never progress,
others will simply disappear. But it’s still an indispensable tool to help
marketers understand each stage of the consumer’s decision-making
process and develop relevant marketing campaigns.

Studies have shown companies that use this approach see real benefits.

Prospecting combined Companies that 76% of buyers prefer

with retargeting can nurture leads make different content at
lead to 147% higher 50% more sales at a each stage of their
conversion rates cost 33% less than research.
within some industries. non-nurtured leads.
STATE OF DEMAND
DATAXU STUDY FORRESTER RESEARCH GENERATION 2013

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WHAT ARE THE COMMON
MISTAKES TO AVOID?
As we’ve already discovered, the marketing funnel has been around
for well over a century. But this doesn’t mean that its successful
implementation is a foregone conclusion. Far from it.

Implementing a marketing funnel correctly takes understanding,

planning and a bit of time. Something many businesses have little
appetite for in a world driven by a need for quick wins. As a result,
many commit common mistakes that cost money.

Avoid these mistakes when implementing your own full funnel digital
marketing strategy.

1. STARTING AT THE LOWER FUNNEL

The lower funnel stages are where most customers convert. Therefore
they appear to be the best performing in terms of driving conversions.
It’s understandable that many marketers will focus spend here as it
appears most lucrative.

If you ignore the top of the funnel however, the number of potential
customers that make it to the lower funnel stages quickly dries up
and costs will rise. Why? Because you’re not filling your funnel with
new prospects who are nearing the purchase stage. Instead, you’re
pushing a product to people who aren’t ready to buy yet and may not
even know your brand.

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2. USING THE WRONG METRICS

Different metrics tell different stories. Using conversion-based metrics

to measure top of the funnel campaigns will not tell you the whole tale.

Comparing a top of the funnel brand awareness campaign to a bottom

of the funnel conversion campaign—and measuring the success of both
by the same conversion metrics—will reflect poorly on the awareness
campaign.

Yet, it likely played a very important role in the full funnel process
and building your brand awareness. How can you find this out? Use
a metric like brand lift. This will tell you how many people viewed
your advert and the impact it had on their recognition of your brand.
Essentially, did exposure to your advert make it more likely they
remembered you at a later date? We won’t go into the details of brand
lift in this eBook, but you can find out more about it here.

3. NOT USING ATTRIBUTION MODELS

Go beyond last-click attribution modelling. Use a variety of attribution

models to measure your campaign performance.

Using the tired last-click attribution model (the default model on

Google Analytics and many other analytics platforms) will favour
marketing channels that deliver lower funnel traffic. Once more
ignoring the top of the funnel. This will, again, give the impression the
top of the funnel isn’t pulling its weight.

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No single attribution model is correct. So, become familiar with a
variety of models and understand which ones to use to gather different
insights. Read a detailed blog on attribution modelling and why it’s so
important here.

KEY ATTRIBUTION MODELS

The Last-Click Attribution Model gives all of the credit for a conversion
to the last source that a person touched before they converted. It’s
useful to determine which of your marketing channels are the “closers”
and give people the final push they need to convert.

The First-Click Attribution Model gives all of the credit for a conversion
to the first source that a person touched in their journey to a conversion.
It’s useful for understanding which of your prospecting channels are the
most effective at finding people that will eventually convert.

The Linear Attribution Model gives equal credit to every marketing

channel that a person touched on their way to conversion. It’s useful
for getting a full picture of how all your marketing channels contribute
towards a conversion. If you’re thinking of removing a channel from your
marketing mix, a linear model is helpful for understanding whether it has
influence at any point in your customer lifecycle.

The Time-Decay Attribution Model gives credit to every marketing

channel that a person touched on their way to conversion, but places
more value on those channels that played a role closer to the conversion.
It’s useful if you want to place more emphasis on those channels that
gradually push customers through the lifecycle to conversion. This is
helpful if you have a particularly long sales process.

The Position-Based Attribution Model gives more credit to the first

and last interaction and spreads the remaining credit among the other
marketing channels. It’s useful if you want to understand which of your
prospecting and conversion campaigns are working most effectively, but
don’t want to completely ignore the middle of your funnel.

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4. COPYING STRATEGIES FROM ONE CHANNEL TO ANOTHER

Within your multi-channel marketing strategy, each channel needs to

complement one another to provide a cohesive customer experience
that will deliver results. Consumers use different channels, well,
differently. Copying your strategy across multiple channels won’t work.

For example, replicating the principles of an AdWords campaign to

Facebook is unlikely to yield the same results. AdWords is a platform
where consumers are actively searching for a product or solution.
They’re often already at the middle or bottom of the funnel. Facebook
is different. Users aren’t actively searching for your product. You’re
trying to grab their attention away from friends, family and news
content. Running a product advertisement in the same way you do to
someone searching AdWords won’t work. You’ll need to cultivate a
relationship with them first.

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PART 2

DEVELOPING
A FULL FUNNEL
STRATEGY

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WHAT’S THE SOLUTION?
To execute an effective full funnel marketing program, you must use a
strategy that impacts the entire funnel. From top to bottom.

Start your digital campaigns at the top of the funnel to build awareness
of your brand or product. Retarget these audiences further down the
funnel to foster engagement with people already aware of your brand.
Finally, retarget these engaged audiences again with sales based
campaigns to drive conversions. This full funnel approach will deliver
cheaper customer acquisition in the long-term.

In addition, recognize each stage in the funnel for what it is—a separate
step in the customer’s journey to conversion—and treat is as such.
When your team is running a campaign, ensure you understand what
role it plays in the customer journey, where it fits in the funnel and
what goal you are trying to achieve. Ensure the most appropriate
metrics are being used to analyze success and proper consideration
of attribution modelling—and how it affects conversion reporting by
channel—is taken into account.

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HOW SHOULD IT WORK AT EACH
STAGE?

AWARENESS
Top of Funnel

INTEREST
Upper Middle of Funnel

CONSIDERATION
Lower Middle of Funnel

$ CONVERSION
Bottom of Funnel

At the top of the funnel your aim should be to reach as much of your
target audience as possible. You should focus on building positive
awareness of your brand, product or service. This will increase recall
among those prospects that are unfamiliar with you.

These prospects may not currently be in the market for your product
or service. So the goal is not to directly sell to them, but to convey why
they should care about your company and educate them about your
industry in general.

This is where you get to build an initial emotional connection with

your prospect. Making a good impression at this stage is what will
trigger your prospects to keep returning and, as a result, allow you to
continue your communication with them further down the funnel.

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MEASUREMENT

Use a first-click attribution model to understand which of your

prospecting marketing channels are the best at capturing people who
eventually convert.

QUESTIONS TO ASK

Are you expanding your audience by

reaching new prospects?

Are you correctly analyzing data to

see whether your new prospects are
engaging and eventually converting?

Are you considering how to

communicate with these prospects as
they progress to the next stage of the
funnel?

FACEBOOK TIP
Target a wide potential audience using Keyword Interests
and Lookalike audiences. If these are a little too broad,
narrow your targeting by combining with Demographic and
Behavioral Data.

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 AWARENESS
Top of Funnel

INTEREST
Upper Middle of Funnel

CONSIDERATION
Lower Middle of Funnel

$ CONVERSION
Bottom of Funnel

At the middle of the funnel your aim is to nurture prospects until

they are ready to convert. At the beginning of this process you
want to continue building your prospect’s interest in your industry
through non-promotional education.

These prospects have shown an interest in your industry, likely

by engaging with your awareness campaigns. But they’re not yet
ready to convert.

Therefore this is where you continue to educate your prospect

about the industry in which you operate. Become your prospect’s
go-to-source of information at this stage to position your company
as an industry authority. This will give you an edge over your
competitors when your prospect is ready to convert.

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MEASUREMENT

Use a linear attribution model to understand whether your marketing

channels at this stage have any impact in driving a conversion and, if so,
how much weight they have in comparison to other stages.

QUESTIONS TO ASK

Are you targeting people who already

know your brand?

Are you targeting these prospects with

new and engaging content?

FACEBOOK TIP
Target audiences that have already engaged with your brand
in some way such as Page Fans, Video Viewers, Content
Engagers and Website Visitors. You can do this using a variety
of Custom Audiences to retarget users.

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 AWARENESS
Top of Funnel

INTEREST
Upper Middle of Funnel

CONSIDERATION
Lower Middle of Funnel

$ CONVERSION
Bottom of Funnel

The lower part of the middle of the funnel is where you get to start
talking about your product. At this stage you want to begin convincing
your prospect that your product or solution is what they are looking for.

Your prospect has stuck around and shown interest in your industry by
engaging with your content. So it’s likely they’re approaching the stage
where they will convert.

Convince your prospect that you have the best product or solution on
the market. That they’d be crazy to consider one of your competitors.
They’ll likely need a bit of nudging before they take action.

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MEASUREMENT

Use a time-decay attribution model to understand which of your

marketing channels at this stage are most effective at pushing your
prospect towards a conversion.

QUESTIONS TO ASK

Are you targeting people who’ve

performed specific actions that show
an interest in your industry?

Are you presenting the best case for

why your product or service is better
than the competition?

FACEBOOK TIP
Target audiences that have engaged with specific content from
the interest stage of your funnel. Use Custom Audiences to
target prospects that have given their email, visited specific
pages on your website, or taken specific actions on your
Facebook page.

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 AWARENESS
Top of Funnel

INTEREST
Upper Middle of Funnel

CONSIDERATION
Lower Middle of Funnel

$ CONVERSION
Bottom of Funnel

The bottom of the funnel is where you get to sell, sell, sell! At this point
you want to push hard. Ensure you don’t let those people who engaged
with your content at the consideration stage of the funnel slip away.

Your prospect is ready to convert. This is your chance to turn them

into a customer.

Thus, you no longer need to be coy—go in for the hard sell. They’ve
abandoned cart on your ecommerce site, requested a demo of your
software solution, or submitted a contact form on your website.
Whatever action they’ve taken, they’re close to converting and just
need a final nudge. Don’t lose them.

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MEASUREMENT

Use a last-click attribution model to understand which of your

marketing channels give the final push that convinces your prospect to
convert and become a customer.

QUESTIONS TO ASK

Are you targeting people that are ready

to convert?

Are you sending these prospects to

optimized landing pages?

Are you being aggressive enough with

your frequency?

FACEBOOK TIP
Target audiences that have engaged with specific content
from the consideration stage of your funnel or taken specific
actions on your website. Use Custom Audiences to target
prospects that have submitted contact forms on your website,
initiated but abandoned checkout, or looked at combinations
of website pages such as pricing and solutions.

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PART 3

TIPS & TEMPLATES

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 On the following pages we’ve created a few templates to help
you visualize your full funnel digital marketing strategy. Print
them out and fill them in to get started with your strategy!

AD SET TARGETING

Who do you want to target at

each stage?

AWARENESS

INTEREST

CONSIDER ATION

CONVERSION

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

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AD CONTENT & OFFER
What message do you want to
promote and what action do you
want your audience to take?

AWARENESS

INTEREST

CONSIDER ATION

CONVERSION

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

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DEFINE YOUR FREQUENCY
How often do you want to connect
with your audience, and how long
after inaction should they move
back to the top of your funnel?

AWARENESS

INTEREST

CONSIDER ATION

CONVERSION

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

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MEASURING SUCCESS

What metrics will you use to

measure the success of your
campaign at each stage?

AWARENESS

INTEREST

CONSIDER ATION

CONVERSION

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

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PART 4

INTELLIGENT
FULL FUNNEL
MARKETING

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO FULL FUNNEL DIGITAL MARKETING 26

HOW ADGO OPTIMIZES FULL
FUNNEL MARKETING
We built Adgo to help brands and agencies better manage and
optimize their social marketing campaigns. With this in mind, we didn’t
just build Adgo to optimize standalone branding and performance
campaigns. We built the algorithms to optimize campaigns across
the entire marketing funnel and the system to allow you to connect
multiple campaigns into your own custom funnels. This is how it works.

1. You build your campaign(s) on Adgo utilizing workflow automation

to create hundreds of ad combinations and audience segments in
minutes. If you’re building multiple campaigns you drop them into
their place in your funnel and simply click to connect your customer
journey from one campaign to another. When you’re done, launch
your campaign and Adgo will create your campaigns on your chosen
platforms.

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2. Adgo’s Creative Sequencer finds the best creatives for each of
your audience segments at every stage of the funnel. It ensures your
top performing messages are being shown to each audience. You can
even add in multiple messaging sequences at each stage. This recycles
audiences through multiple messages if they fail to progress and
ensures maximum numbers progress through your funnel.

3. Adgo’s Bid Optimizer updates the bids for each audience segment at
every stage of the funnel. This ensures you’re spending money on the
best performing journeys for each segment. You get to determine your
audience segments at each stage, how you want them to be split and
what your optimization goals are.

oCPM

CONVENTIONAL ADS ADGO ADS

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4. Adgo’s Funnel Optimizer adjusts your budget across multiple funnel
stages and channels. This ensures spend is optimally balanced across
the top, middle and bottom of your funnel. Your funnel never dries up
by over spending on the bottom of the funnel and you keep driving
through high value prospects.

FLEXIBILITY AND CONTROL

You decide how many stages your funnel has, how many audience
segments there are and what actions you want to optimize for at
each stage. It’s completely flexible and up to you. This can be set up
within a single ad campaign or across multiple campaigns and multiple
channels using Adgo’s Project Builder.

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THE RESULT

Adgo will find and optimize the best customer journey amongst
millions of possibilities. From top to bottom of the funnel. For all
your audience segments. Across multiple social media channels.
This will enable you to build awareness, foster engagement and
drive conversions based on in-depth analysis that no person—
however expert—could do manually.

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PART 5

CONCLUSION

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WHY IT MATTERS TO YOUR
COMPANY
Generating revenue is the end goal for any company. The journey to
driving revenue starts with the very first interaction you have with
a potential customer. Every interaction thereafter is vital. This is
why understanding and crafting campaigns that address the whole
customer journey—from the top of the funnel to the bottom—is
necessary.

The great thing about using the marketing funnel model is that it’s
flexible. You can tailor it to the needs of any company or customer
journey. Your funnel doesn’t necessarily need four steps, it could be
three—Awareness, Engagement and Conversion—or it could be more
than four. It’s up to you.

The likelihood is that you’re doing a great job at one or two stages
of the funnel already but perhaps neglecting others. Make sure you
don’t focus all your resources on these stages. Spread your budget
throughout the funnel and align your strategy across all marketing
channels and funnel stages. This will create a coherent story that
delivers customers ready to convert when they reach the bottom of
your funnel.

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ABOUT ADGO

Adgo’s intelligent marketing platform helps marketers and advertisers

deliver the right message, to the right person, at the right time.
Throughout the entire customer journey.

We wrote this eBook on full funnel digital marketing because we

know how difficult it is to plan, build and execute a cohesive full funnel
marketing strategy. Why? Because we built Adgo specifically to help
you solve this problem and we’ve helped hundreds of clients solve it
too. If you follow the tips provided in this eBook, we’re pretty sure
you’ll nail it.

Adgo is here to help you attract, engage and convert through online
advertising campaigns.

All from one simple platform.

CONTACT US TODAY

www.adgo.io
03-5931-2647

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