Customer Touchpoints, The Marketing Funnel & GA4

Collaborating with a diverse range of clients across various sectors, it’s important to understand the rationale behind the tasks undertaken for each client. Whether it involves crafting a blog post, executing a social advertising campaign, releasing a YouTube video, or implementing pricing options on a website; grasping how these endeavours align within the marketing funnel is pivotal.

This understanding assists marketing agencies, like Northern Media determine the optimal course of action for our clients.

Customer Touch-Points

Customer touchpoints are any direct or indirect contact a customer has with a brand. For e.g. a customer visits the Apple store, or an advert from Apple reaches the customer whilst watching TV, or they see a social media complaint which exposes the customer to the brand.

The average consumer journey now involves 20-500+ touchpoints. Low-risk purchases like buying a Diary Milk from the corner shop doesn’t require many touchpoints at all whereas buying a house or booking a holiday abroad requires many.

Given this information, it’s logical to assume that each customer might find themselves at a distinct point within the marketing funnel prior to buying your product. This underscores the significance of presenting the appropriate marketing information precisely when it is most relevant.

Understanding The Marketing Funnel

A marketing funnel is a model of the customer journey. It represents the buying stages people go through after becoming aware of a business, service, or product.

An easy way to simplify the process, is by thinking of the marketing funnel in three stages:

Top of the funnel (ToFu): Awareness stage

Middle of the funnel (MoFu): Consideration stage

Bottom of the funnel (BoFu): Decision stage

Let’s look at an example of how FitBit may guide a customer through this journey:

ToFu: FitBit run a social media campaign showcasing workout tips, inspirational stories and health facts. These posts target a wide audience interested in fitness, health, and wellness.

MoFu: FitBit create a guide comparing different types of activity trackers, highlighting the pros and cons of each. This helps potential customers make informed decisions.

BoFu: FitBit offer the option to book an in-store demo of their product. This gives potential customers a hands-on experience before committing.

Top of the Funnel

[widest audience, have some interest in what you do, least ready to convert]

This refers to the initial stage of a customer’s journey or engagement with a brand or website. This is where we generate informative content to make new prospects AWARE of products and services. At this stage we would create blog posts, videos, podcasts, social media posts, answer questions on Reddit/Quora and more.

Middle of the Funnel

[targeted audience, interested in a benefit you provide, more engaged but not ready to convert]

This is where users have moved past the initial discovery phase and are CONSIDERING their options. At this stage, customers want to know which product or service is right for them. They are more engaged than ToFu users but might not be ready to make a purchase yet. Examples include: email marketing, newsletter sign-up, brochure download, in-depth video, how-to-guides and more.

Bottom of the Funnel

[narrow audience, interested in your specific product, ready to buy]

This corresponds to the final stage of the customer journey, where users are close to MAKING A DECISION, like making a purchase or signing up for a service. Users at this stage are often seeking final reassurances or specific details before converting. Examples include; product demos, pricing pages, customer reviews and testimonials, case studies, “vs.” content and more.

How We Can Use GA4 To Analyse Each Step of the Funnel

Universal Analytics has been the go-to analytics platform for marketers and website owners for many years. However, as user behaviour and technology evolved, it became clear that a new approach was necessary to provide better insights and adapt to changing tracking requirements, including those posed by privacy regulations.

Enter Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

GA4 is designed to address these challenges whilst offering a more holistic view of user interactions, encompassing both websites and mobile apps. GA4 shouldn’t be viewed as a simple checkbox exercise to mark-off our list of things to do, it can be used to analyse each step of the marketing funnel in greater detail.

ToFu in GA4

You can analyse ToFu data by looking at metrics such as page views, bounce rates, traffic sources and more. This information can be accessed by going to Reports – Engagement – Pages & Screens. This will give you insights into how users are finding and engaging with your content.

MoFu in GA4

GA4 analysis for MoFu could involve tracking user interactions with specific content, downloads, newsletter sign-ups, form submissions and more. This information can be accessed by going to Reports – Engagement – Events. Understanding which content resonates most with MoFu users can be of extreme value to a customer.

BoFu in GA4

GA4 analysis for BoFu could focus on tracking conversion events, measuring the effectiveness of call-to-action buttons, monitoring cart abandonment rates, and understanding the user flow leading to conversions. This information can be accessed by going to Reports – Engagement – Conversions.

Summary

To analyse the marketing funnel using GA4, you can set up appropriate events and goals to track user interactions that correspond to each stage.

This could involve configuring events for tracking page views, form submissions, downloads, clicks on important buttons, and completed transactions.

By segmenting and analysing user data based on these stages, you can gain insights into the effectiveness of your marketing strategies, content, and user experience at various points in the customer journey.

This article doesn’t serve as a comprehensive how-to-guide or an exhaustive, in-depth exploration of each topic. Nevertheless, our aim is for you to discover value in this content and gain the confidence to start analysing your marketing efforts through GA4. Should you require help in configuring GA4 or if you simply wish to engage in strategic discussions with a group of experienced local marketers, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

We hope this helped you in your ppc journey!

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