A solely lower-funnel marketing strategy made more sense in a world where consumers pursued a simple, linear path to purchase. But, Amazon Ads Director of Product Marketing Michelle Winters writes in Adweek, that’s a concept that advancements in technology, competition, and demand have made obsolete.
Winters says that’s one reason a full-funnel approach can propel a brand’s sales while simultaneously constructing a sustainable brand strategy.
“If marketers know that making a purchase is less ‘following a straight line,’ and more ‘traveling a winding road,’ why invest in only half the journey? It’s much more effective to meet your audiences where they are at every stage, from awareness to consideration, to purchase.”
Contemporary shoppers, Winters says, interact with brands across more than 20 touchpoints (social, streaming, in-store interactions, etc.) More than nine in ten see at least one irrelevant ad per day, and that leaves more than three in five marketers in the dark about the impact across channels and devices.
“Brands that navigate this successfully leverage unique and expansive audience signals to build consistent and compelling messaging to meet advertising objectives throughout the funnel,” Winters writes. “These brands see how the funnel stages of awareness, consideration, and purchase work together to create a holistic, compelling, and engaging consumer experience. They know that making the necessary upper-funnel investments drives lower-funnel achievements and builds consumer loyalty over time, which is the key to sustainable growth.
“As consumers embrace a mix of digital media, there’s an art and a science to creating seamless shopping experiences across multiple channels,” she continues. “Getting it right at all levels of the funnel means shoppers can get the information they need at the right time and in the right place, to influence their purchase decision.”
Contemporary shoppers, driven by tech, trend toward certain pre-purchase behaviors: searching online for a product or service; comparing prices; considering retailers; and reading reviews. Full-funnel campaigns, Winters says, engage all those pre-purchase behaviors.
“Brands that adopt a more holistic, full-funnel approach will achieve their advertising objectives in the year ahead while remaining resilient as the advertising landscape continues to evolve,” Winters writes in conclusion. “For marketers, the question isn’t whether to invest in the full funnel — it’s how soon you can get started.”