Digital marketing is becoming more challenging year after year, and having the best strategies in your arsenal can help you get ahead of the competition.

Email marketing is a solid channel to leverage if you want to build brand loyalty and customer engagement.

If you dive deeper into email marketing, most marketers will tell you to focus on two main objectives:

  • expand your subscriber base
  • turn readers into clients.


However, most advice emphasizes the importance of finding the winning products for your brand and building an email list rather than turning people into customers.

All these steps of your buyer's journey could not happen if you don't develop a strategic plan for using this channel to advance leads into your email marketing funnel.

In this article, we will find the exact steps you need to take to build an email marketing funnel that converts and creates paying customers for your business.

What is an email marketing funnel, and why do you need one?

An email funnel shows how subscribers progress through informative and promotional emails from a lead to a paying consumer.

Marketers must understand subscribers' needs and pain points to send an email that prompts action. 

As a general rule, email funnels consist of four stages:

  • Awareness
  • Consideration
  • Conversion
  • Loyalty

An email funnel may look different depending on your business and target market.

The ultimate objective is to keep your leads moving and converting through your funnel so that they can eventually turn into loyal customers.

Traditional marketing practices no longer work to entice subscribers, and overly promotional techniques distract them.

With email marketing, you can send customized emails, personalizing each reader's experience and increasing open rates by as much as 26%.

Having a well-structured email funnel can help you:

  • Identify where your lead is in the buyer's journey and engage with them more successfully. 
  • Constantly produce new leads while keeping up with your current email list.
  • Generate sales automatically using the right email marketing tactics 
  • Create a unique brand experience for your customers and turn them into super-fans who will promote your brand. 

The 4 steps of every email marketing funnel

There are several ways to guide your subscribers through an email marketing funnel, but to keep your leads engaged, you must start with these fundamental four phases.

Step 1: Awareness Phase

The email marketing funnel's first stage focuses on raising brand recognition.

Detailed, product-specific information will overload potential customers at the beginning of the email marketing funnel because they are still learning about your business.

You can use blog posts, link-building, social networking, or incentives to attract your audience's attention and increase your chances of connecting with a group of potential clients.

To provide value, position your business as a thought leader, and forge relationships with potential customers, your emails should have this degree of instructional material.

Opt-in forms and landing pages are the best tactics for gathering email addresses. Incorporated into your website or blogs, email opt-ins typically only require the user to provide their name and email address. 

On the other hand, landing pages use a lead magnet to incentivize users to take the next step in your marketing funnel.

Giving something of value for free is the best way to make users engage with your brand and potentially become loyal customers.

Step 2: Consideration – Engagement Phase

A successful email marketing campaign uses awareness to attract attention and consideration content to close the transaction.

Potential customers should be attracted enough to seek additional information after building an initial connection with awareness content.

If you demonstrate how it will benefit them, they will begin to comprehend how the product or service operates and assess whether it meets their specific wants.

Make use of genuine case studies or webinars to showcase your competitive advantage.

In this stage, a video could be more effective than other formats because it can give viewers a complete picture of your brand and nudge them toward your offer.

To help potential customers understand your brand, provide this information in your emails or include links to your website. 

For instance, Moosend highlights its Moosend Academy in the onboarding emails so that potential buyers can learn more before going the extra mile and invest in the brand.

Targeted, meaningful, and personalized communications that establish your company as a trustworthy brand are required in the lead nurturing emails.

Every email is an opportunity to develop a connection with the recipient and further customize your emails based on their behavior.

For this phase, some nurturing emails to consider are:

  • Personalized messages based on their preferences
  • Case studies, UGC content, and customers success stories
  • Free resources, such as blogs or webinars

Step 3: Conversion Phase

The most crucial stage of every email marketing funnel is the conversion stage.

If you've done your job correctly, the information in your email will encourage the customer to take that extra step and buy something.

The balance between convincing customers to purchase your products or services and creating a sense of urgency is delicate, making this step fragile. 

Many marketers offer a discount, free shipping, or another purchasing incentive to increase the likelihood that the sale will occur.

Making the purchasing procedure as simple as possible will likely increase conversions. 

You may also try some of the following tips:

  • Eliminate any extra steps or content that would prevent the user from making a purchase.
  • Add one solid call to action button to your email.
  • Ensure the email is consistent with your landing page's look and brand voice.

Step 4: Loyalty Phase

Your work isn't done even when a subscriber becomes a customer.

You must continue building relationships with customers by giving them relevant information or offers after they complete a purchase.

To create loyal customers, send follow-up emails with tutorials or advice on getting the most out of the product.

This email marketing funnel stage aims to validate the customer's decision to buy your products and possibly convince them to do so again.

Getting people to recommend a product is what makes an email marketing funnel successful.

Once you've persuaded a customer to make a purchase, the next stage is to make them spread the word about your company.

Customers satisfied with a product or company will submit positive reviews or promote it to their friends.

Although this strategy is the same as phase two, the language is slightly different because you can discuss your brand more openly.

  • Provide updates to stay at the top of your customers' minds.
  • Pair upsell and cross-sell products depending on your customer's past purchases.
  • Offer referral loyalty programs that motivate your consumers to spread the word about you.

The Takeaway

Email marketing offers a staggering degree of customization and personalization.

You can build an email marketing funnel that does practically anything if you have the time and some creativity.

While producing these emails might initially seem like a lot of work, think about how they could be automated repeatedly, allowing you to set your email marketing campaigns on autopilot while you concentrate on your business.

With the right tools and clean email lists, you can accelerate your growth and create an additional income stream for your business.

So why are you still waiting?

Start constructing your email marketing funnel today.

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