All MD’s know that an effective digital marketing funnel will generate more leads and more sales. Companies that invest in marketing funnels do better than those that don’t. If it was quick and easy to create, every company would have one. Why don’t they? Here’s 6 reasons why accomplishing something so simple is difficult in practice.
Skill shortages
Many businesses don’t have any marketing expertise in their team. Staying up to date with the latest marketing trends isn’t easy as the landscape is constantly changing. This means companies either have to hire new staff who have got the relevant expertise ( and, if the directors don’t understand these skills themselves, how do they know who is a good hire?) or get training for their existing team from a qualified, external expert.
Lack of clear strategy
Directors often confuse a sales funnel or process with a marketing funnel. A sales funnel starts when a salesperson first makes contact with a prospect, so by exchanging emails, talking on the phone or in person. It’s a process that has an identified point of contact with a prospect and works by developing mutual trust in an ever-closer relationship. The relationship usually has a series of easily identified milestones (KPI’s and stats) by which a sales director can monitor their team. A marketing funnel is softer, providing information to a prospect ‘doing their research’ and making a shortlist of suppliers with whom they will engage further. Marketers refer to ‘nurturing’ prospects through their online research as they move through a digital marketing funnel.
Poor or non-existent planning
In order to create an effective digital marketing funnel, you need first to understand marketing channels, content and customers. Channels are the places a prospect will look to find out information about your company, products or services, and they can include non-digital places as well as online resources. Typical digital channels include your website, social media activity, external industry websites, financial information and so on. The content a prospect will read or view will depend upon their own, personal preferences, so this may include recordings/podcasts and video as well as the more traditional website pages and blogs. Finally, you need an in depth understanding of why your good customers return to use your products and services, so that the messages they receive from the content will resonate with them. This will mean you can provide them with all the necessary information they seek to shortlist your company.
No process for creating quality content
Many businesses don’t have creative people in their teams, such as graphic designers, copywriters or website developers. If an eternal marketing agency is hired, there is often a poor brief given which means that the agency don’t produce the right content for your prospects to engage with. Quality content hasn’t only got to look pretty by being well branded, it has to engage your relevant audience.
Poor implementation & project management
Managing all those messages, channels and creating good content so that you have a coherent, consistent and continuous marketing presence is a skill in itself. If your team get overwhelmed by the many different tasks, often the wrong priorities are followed because people tend to stick to their skillsets and stay within their comfort zones It takes experience and skill to understand where limited resources should be deployed first to deliver the biggest bang for your buck.
Lack of measurement and data management
Just as a sales process will have key milestones that can be measured, so a good marketing funnel will have some points that can be monitored and measured. For digital marketing, Google Analytics is a good place to start. If you have a digital CRM with web tracking such as HubSpot you can access the data in your system as well. Monthly reporting of marketing KPI’s should be added to your management meeting agenda, just as you would monitor management accounts for financial data.
Buyers and customers are increasingly fickle and shopping around for the best price is often actively encouraged. Providing the right information through a good digital marketing funnel is increasingly important for the survival of a business. If you are finding any of the above challenges difficult, consider working with Aardvark Marketing. We can provide the expertise you need on an outsourced, affordable basis. Why not make a start by contacting us or call 01905 885 285 for a confidential discussion today?
