A Beginner's Guide To Executing A Social Media Marketing Funnel

POST WRITTEN BY
Sam Founda

You’ve probably heard the term "marketing funnel" being thrown around (or perhaps this is your first time hearing it). Either way, you might not have any idea what it means. If you don’t know how it works, it’s possible that your business could be losing out on major revenue.

Before we jump into how to build a social media marketing funnel, let’s start with what a marketing funnel actually is and why it’s important to your business.

What is a marketing funnel? 

In simple words, a marketing funnel is a strategy which creates the necessary steps a customer goes through before getting them to that crucial conversion stage (aka doing what we want them to do). Here’s a basic example to explain what I mean by "steps":


• A customer sees a business (whether through advertising on socials, Google or through word of mouth) that may be selling something they're looking for.

• They browse through different pages on their website, maybe read the "About" section, skim through a few blog posts, or look through different products and/or services being offered.

• If they like what they see, they might find the "subscribe" section, add an item to their cart, or fill out the requested form.

• If everything goes to plan, cha-ching -- sale made!
​Now that we understand the purpose and process of a marketing funnel and what happens on the customer end, let’s delve into how to create a simple social media marketing funnel to get those conversions and drive those sales. I would recommend starting by creating a social media marketing funnel on one platform, measuring and monitoring its success, and then replicating this across other social platforms.

Step 1: Awareness 

This is where people who have never heard of your business, or maybe have but don’t know much about you, start to get to actually know you.

How do we start to create awareness? Great content! It’s important to take the time to think about the type of content you want to be pushing out. Producing good, valuable content is essential when first engaging potential new customers. You need powerful visuals but also powerful words. It should be fun, entertaining, thought-provoking or educational (or all of these). Mediocre just doesn’t cut it in the industry anymore.

Think about what the essence of your brand is and how best to get this message and feeling across to customers. I can’t stress the importance of providing value enough. You can’t expect someone to buy what you’re selling when you’ve given them nothing from the start. Think about what you can offer them for free, no strings attached. Some examples of this might include answering frequently asked questions related to your product/service, offering free tools, creating how-to videos, or providing links to informative blog posts. Think about a problem your potential customers might be having and how you might be able to solve that for them. Give away enough information but not too much so that it leaves them wanting more. This creates trust and starts to plant a seed to allow a relationship to blossom. 

If you’re not sure where to start, video is a great way to increase awareness. It’s more impactful than just words on a site because people can see you and more genuinely connect with you. You have to remember that social media is all about connection and relationships. Create a short, simple video about your business and what you can offer your clients. If you can solve a problem or make things in someone’s life a bit easier, mention that.

Step 2: Consideration

By this stage, the seed has (hopefully) started to sprout and the customer is considering your product/service. At this point, we need to start increasing our credibility and strengthening that trust. A great way to do this is through sharing testimonials and reviews and demonstrating the benefits of the product/service through video or photos.

Retarget your content to people who have shown some interest through the awareness stage. The customer might still be on the fence about whether they will or won’t take action. So, you can be a little more aggressive at this stage with showing off the benefits of what your product/service can do for the person and their life through more educational content. You can do this through video format, blog posts or by holding a free event. If you get stuck, put yourself in your customers' shoes: What would work for you? 

Step 3: Decision

The seed has almost fully blossomed and the customer has already taken some kind of action -- whether it’s clicking an ad, subscribing to emails, watching a webinar or attending a free seminar. You can assume there is genuine interest by this stage and people are willing to make the purchase, so going for the hard sell is okay. Retargeting is even more essential at this stage with content focused around a call to action to do whatever it is you want them to do. Present the customer with offers they cannot refuse -- for example, a time-sensitive offer to make a purchase. 

The Main Takeaway

The most important takeaway from all of this is that having at least one social media marketing funnel is a crucial tool to gain traction and new customers for your business. But it has to be good. Remember, if you give your customers enough value, you’re on the road to increased revenue and hitting those business goals.