We all go through different processes when it comes to making a choice. Whether it’s deciding on one coffee shop over another or between cell phone companies, there are specific factors that come into play. Which café has better coffee and does one cell phone company offer the product you like? Better yet, what is the reputation of your choice?
Regardless of the product, we go through what marketers call a brand funnel. As the company vying the customer to pick your brand, understanding what a brand funnel is and how to use one is clutch. But before diving into brand funnels, you can’t fully create a brand funnel without reliable data. That’s where brand tracking comes into play. Brand tracking software can help you build a brand funnel that will be extremely beneficial and reliable when building marketing campaigns that will convert.
Using a Brand Funnel
So, what is a brand funnel? A brand funnel is a conceptual model that represents a consumer-centric framework for the theoretical journey customers take towards brand loyalty. It looks something like this.
Just like any other relationship, there are different stages of a customer’s relationship with a brand. First, understanding how customers channel through a brand funnel is crucial for the success of your brand.
So, why is a brand funnel so important? Well, brand funnels evolved from an act of sales to a strategic tool which provides insightful information about your audience. Using brand funnels can help you asses your brand’s health. See where you’re losing your audience and determine what changes you can make to patch those holes. Optimize your marketing with a brand funnel by devising a marketing strategy that addresses key steps within brand funnels. You’ll be able to generate more sales, edge over competitors, and improve on how to market towards your target audience.
And where does brand tracking come into play when building a brand funnel? Brand tracking maximizes the potential for establishing a strong brand. With a tool like Latana, brands are able to get precise data and have access to 1000s of audiences, and easy-to-see insights all on an intuitive dashboard.
Stages of a Brand Funnel: From Awareness to Preference
The structure of a brand funnel is pretty self-explanatory in that it’s a funnel. Wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, with an ultimate goal is to get a substance through a small hole. In the case of branding, that small hole is customer loyalty.
Brand Awareness
The top of a brand funnel starts with brand awareness. Being the very first stage it’s important to have accurate and reliable data to actually determine brand awareness. If people aren’t aware of your brand, you won’t be able to get them any further down the funnel. Find out what percentage of your target audience is actually aware of your brand. See the statistics in aided brand awareness where your audience indicates awareness of your brand from a list of other brands or if your brand is at the top of your audience’s mind in unaided brand awareness.
Brand Associations
If your brand has met the first stage of awareness, funnel to the next stage of brand associations. Of the people who are aware of your brand and which have positive associations of you, look at how many think your brand is trustworthy, high quality, and reliable. It’s likely that people who don’t have a positive association of your brand won’t move further down the funnel. You’ll obviously want to treat those with positive associations and those without not so positive associations differently and use accurate data to move forward with each section of the audience.
Brand Consideration
From brand associations come brand consideration. It’s good news if your audiences think positively about your brand. That means they would consider purchasing your product, which is a pivotal part of the funnel. This is where you really want to think about how your marketing strategy will take a chunk of your audience from those that are just considering becoming buyers. It can’t be emphasized enough how important it is to know and understand your audience. In the end, it’s this point of transaction that leads to the ultimate goal of brand loyalty or preference.
Brand Preference
Once you’ve gained the trust and loyalty of a customer, you’ll still need to maintain brand preference. Stay the preferred brand by checking out your competitors and compare your results to theirs with reliable and accurate data. This is especially important when it comes to brand consideration. See how many more people would consider your brand over your competitors or how many people have chosen your competitors over the years. This is particularly useful information for targeting audiences and setting future goals.
Use a Brand Funnel and Brand Tracking Software for Results
Understanding the journey a customer goes through in order to pick your brand over another is a complex process, but made simple when framed as a funnel. Using a brand funnel helps you manage and utilize information in a way that’s clear on where and how you can use it. That said, having the funnel framework is only useful with the right data.
In order to truly take advantage of a brand funnel, you need reliable information and data. Even better if this data is accessible in an easy to understand way. Use brand tracking software like Latana to know who your audience is and could be, what your audience thinks of you, what your competition is doing, and more.
Originally published at https://www.latana.com.
