In this guide, we take a look at what is a marketing funnel, why the top of the funnel matters, how our clients should run their top funnels, and the downsides of not executing a well-done top funnel.

What is a marketing funnel?  

A marketing funnel is a model of the customer journey. It represents the buying stages customers go through after they become aware of a business, brand, product, or service. By carefully analyzing the marketing funnel, businesses can have a better understanding of what they should do to influence potential consumers at certain stages. This means they can potentially drive more loyalty, greater sales, and stronger brand awareness.  

While there are many marketing funnel models, it can generally be simplified into three stages:  

• Top of the funnel: People become aware of the problem that a business can solve. For instance, someone decides to read a blog post on social media marketing.
• Middle of the funnel: Prospects want a solution and are considering their options. Following the above example, this is when they are interested in working with a social media marketing agency, so they begin to compare different options.
• Bottom of the funnel: Prospects are deciding on a solution and may potentially convert to paying customers. With the above example, prospects are now deciding what social media marketing agency they want to work with and whether they should sign on. 

What is a top funnel?  

In marketing, a top funnel represents the initial stage of a customer’s journey. This means it is the first touchpoint with potential customers and is the upper part of the sales funnel. The main goals of a business’s top funnel should be:  

• Brand and product awareness: Introduce a brand and products to the target audience.
• Communicate brand values: Convince potential customers about a brand’s values.
• Market visibility: Increase a brand’s presence and awareness in the market.

While the top funnel does not usually see as many conversions or a high return on ad spend (ROAS) compared to the lower parts of the funnel, it is still important to recognize that the effectiveness of the top funnel has a direct impact on the ROAS a business can achieve.  

The top funnel should focus on increasing awareness among the right audience, in addition to sharing knowledge about a business’s brand and its values. This helps potential customers understand their brand’s vision better.  

Some KPIs to keep in mind include:  

• Clicks: The number of times a user clicks on your ad.
• Click-through rate (CTR): A measure of ad effectiveness – calculated as clicks divided by impressions.
• Impressions: The number of times an ad is displayed.
• Cost per Click (CPC): The average cost for each click on an ad.
• Cost per Mile (CPM):  The cost of one thousand ad impressions.

By monitoring these KPIs, businesses and marketers will be able to lay a foundation for better results when retargeting customers in their bottom funnel later.  

Why does the top of the funnel matter?

The top funnel matters as focusing on understanding your target audience and reaching as many potential customers as possible enhances brand awareness and significantly increases the chance of achieving better results in the lower funnel stages of a paid campaign.  

To effectively connect with one’s target audience, a business must conduct good, comprehensive research that will help them gain insights into their behaviours, preferences, and demographics. This way, a business may uncover some unexpected channels that highly resonate with their audience. Continuing to adapt and finetune strategies through research and experimentation can help optimize a business’s top funnel, as well as set the stage for more successful results in the middle and bottom funnel.  

To illustrate this approach, MediaGroup had a client in the beauty industry seeking to drive B2C traffic to their website. Traditionally, Meta would be one of the first platforms businesses would consider when thinking about doing B2C campaigns. However, instead of only using Meta, we put two platforms – Meta and Pinterest, to the test, with the aim of spreading traffic and awareness to the top funnel. Our results showed that Pinterest outperformed Meta in several KPIs, as the target group was more inclined to click on ads from Pinterest instead.

More specifically, the test was done over two months, with the Pinterest campaign achieving a CPC of 0.82 DKK and a CPM of 8.09 DKK. These metrics were significantly more cost-effective when compared to the Meta campaign, which had a CPC of 1.15 DKK and a CPM of 65.31 DKK. On the whole, this meant we achieved more impressions and clicks at a lower cost on Pinterest – with the CPC and CPM being 29% and 88% cheaper, respectively.

This allowed for the reallocation of a portion of the budget to Pinterest, meaning we not only reached the KPI we agreed to deliver but also exceeded the expected KPI as well. The campaign ended up being a huge success, delivering 318,584 impressions, 15,723 clicks, and a CTR of 4.93%. 

How should you run your top funnel?

Businesses should spend time on split-testing or A/B testing to find the best platform and channel that can reach audience members. While a larger audience does not guarantee every member will make a purchase, it does provide more data to let businesses refine their targeting, which can prove valuable when transitioning to the middle funnel later.  

Using Lookalike target groups can be a powerful tool, particularly if a business has specific customer data at its disposal. This lets them identify potential customers who also closely resemble their existing customer base.  

On the whole, the top funnel involves crafting compelling content that resonates with audiences. Businesses should take the time to consider the values they wish to communicate, especially to people who may not be familiar with their brand. This should primarily consist of softer, non-sales messaging, such as videos of people using a product, a behind-the-scenes of how the business is run, or valuable customer testimonials. Influencers are also included, as they tend to have a higher exposure rate. 

What happens if you don’t run a good top funnel?

As mentioned, a well-executed top funnel strategy is essential to raising brand awareness and ensuring a better conversion rate in lower funnels. Without doing top funnel campaigns, brands may miss out on opportunities to expand their awareness on certain platforms like social media, which have become one of the most effective channels for reaching and engaging with audiences today.  

Failure to invest in the top funnel will also result in competitors gaining a more competitive edge in the market. This will then weaken one’s market position and dilute one’s brand identity.  

The bottom line

Overall, your top funnel in social media advertising is crucial for your customer’s journey. This is because it is the first touch point for your customer, allowing you to increase your market awareness and communicate your brand values clearly.  

Make sure to focus on understanding your target audience and experimenting on various platforms like Meta, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok and Snapchat, to name a few. This approach will help you optimize your top funnel and increase your chances of boosting your performance in the bottom funnel, which focuses mainly on gaining conversions. This way, you can better engage your target audience and gain a competitive edge in your industry.   

Optimize your social ads with MediaGroup 

Thinking about optimizing your social media ad campaigns? At MediaGroup, we have a highly experienced team of paid social media advertising specialists who can help you run your campaigns, increase brand awareness, and grow customer acquisition. Contact us today for a free consultation.