Embracing the future of full-funnel campaigns

Many marketers today face challenges while building a successful campaign. From measurement to attribution to fragmentation, achieving sustainable growth while also driving immediate sales can be a complex balance.

Relying solely on lower-funnel advertising, for example, might seem practical in the short term. But it also means your brand misses out on upper-funnel opportunities for brand awareness and consideration—key building blocks for both attracting new shoppers and maintaining long-term customer relationships. While the future isn’t yet written, one thing’s for sure: the consumer journey is no longer linear. That’s why making investments in upper- and mid-funnel strategies, alongside lower-funnel, can set your brand up for more sustainable success.

A unified strategy for a complex consumer journey

Today’s path to purchase is more of a winding road than a straight line—which means engaging your audiences at every stage of the journey, from awareness to purchase, is more necessary than ever before.

For example, modern consumers interact with brands through an average of 20 or more touchpoints¹ during the purchase journey, including apps, social media, in-store visits, and streaming services. With all these touchpoints, it’s no wonder that most consumers (91%)² report seeing one or more irrelevant ad daily. But it’s not just consumers who experience information overload. When it comes to understanding the impact of campaigns across channels and devices, 62% of marketers³ say they struggle to connect the dots.

All of this might seem daunting, but there are brands that thrive despite these challenges. These successful brands are meeting consumers where they are—from brand awareness, to consideration, and through to purchase—rather than missing out on these important stages by investing in only half of the journey. By leveraging cohesive, impactful messaging at all stages of the funnel, brands are able to build customer loyalty and attract new shoppers, a powerful combination that sets them up for sustainable growth.

As consumers increasingly embrace omnichannel shopping, brands that deliver cohesive, multichannel experiences across the full-funnel are also empowering shoppers with the timely, relevant information they need to make a purchase decision.

Leaning into consumer behavior trends

Consumers today trend toward pre-purchase behaviors powered by tech, such as using the internet to search for a product, considering different retailers, reading reviews from peers, and comparing pricing. A full-funnel strategy is especially powerful here, as competing brands investing in upper- and mid-funnel tactics have more opportunities to connect with shoppers through brand awareness and consideration stages.

Let’s consider an example: Zoe was out shopping over the weekend when she saw an espresso machine for sale. She checks out the reviews on Amazon from her phone, which are positive, but Zoe isn’t quite ready to buy. Later in the evening, Zoe is watching her favorite show on Prime Video, and sees a related ad. She searches the brand again on Amazon to gather more information, and views a product detail page, which means she’s now highly qualified as a remarketing prospect. A few more days pass, and Zoe has decided to purchase the espresso machine. She holds for a discount, before converting on the website. After this purchase, Zoe gets a demand-side platform video ad served for the same brand—an espresso grinder, which for Zoe, feels like a seamless continuation of her initial shopping experience.

Effective marketing strategies focus on the entire consumer experience, rather than missing out on valuable brand-building moments with future loyal shoppers. With a full-funnel strategy that embraces the way consumers prefer to shop, brands can win more value than a single sale.

Lower-funnel tactics excel at capturing demand, and are a needed part of any successful marketing campaign—but they are rarely able to generate the demand itself. That’s why, by investing in a full-funnel campaign approach, marketers can achieve their objectives across all stages, setting themselves up for future wins.

Maximizing results with full-funnel insights

Some marketers might hold the perception that connecting the measurement dots is more challenging earlier in the consumer journey. And while this might have been true years ago, today’s advances in more unified measurement tools, alongside the right advertising partner to activate them, means that upper-funnel campaigns have the opportunity to provide equally as compelling insights as lower-funnel. This means marketers can have a data-driven means to achieving repeatable success at every stage.

For example, tools powered by AI, such as those offered by Amazon Ads, can pinpoint which upper-funnel messages drive the most mid-funnel engagement. This enables marketers to adjust strategies and allocate resources dynamically, ensuring efficiency and adaptability across their campaigns. And Amazon’s full-funnel measurement solutions combine unified analytics through Amazon Marketing Cloud with integrations from over 40 trusted providers. This empowers marketers to verify performance and optimize campaigns using robust data, while at the same time creating opportunities for more meaningful connections with audiences.

As the advertising landscape evolves, adopting a full-funnel approach will help brands achieve their objectives and remain resilient. It’s time to let go of the old linear path to purchase, and embrace today’s consumer behavior with a full-funnel campaign strategy.

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