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Effectively marketing your ecommerce business is key to its success, however, far too many businesses treat it like an afterthought - posing on social media isn’t enough, you need a full-scale ecommerce marketing funnel.
In 2025's ecommerce game, running isolated marketing campaigns and tactics might generate some results, but they leave money on the table. You might see success with a social media campaign here or an email blast there, but without a cohesive strategy connecting these efforts, you're missing the bigger opportunity.
A comprehensive ecommerce marketing funnel transforms scattered marketing activities into a powerful, integrated system that nurtures potential customers through every stage of their buying journey - delivering significantly better results than any single tactic or channel could achieve on its own.
Lets break down what goes into a full ecommerce marketing funnel, and what you need to ensure that yours succeeds.
An ecommerce marketing funnel is a strategic framework spanning different ecommerce marketing tactics. An effective funnel maps out the complete customer journey from the moment someone discovers your brand to the point where they become a repeat customer and brand advocate.
You can think of it as a roadmap that guides potential customers through different stages of engagement, with each stage designed to move them closer to making a purchase decision.
Unlike a traditional sales process, where customers may engage with a sales person or visit a brick and mortar store, an ecommerce marketing funnel recognises that customers don’t follow a linear path to purchase*. Customers use a variety of different platforms - from initial product education, to searching on Tiktok and Google, to visiting a number of different online stores to discover products - they research, compare, and evaluate options across multiple touchpoints before committing to a purchase. Your ecommerce marketing funnel serves as the structure that ensures your brand is present and persuasive at every critical moment of this journey.
The “funnel” is an apt name because it represents how your audience naturally narrows at each stage. You'll start with a large pool of potential customers at the top and gradually filter them down to those who are most likely to convert and become valuable long-term customers - but each stage is just as important in ensuring your site gets purchases.
It’s also key to point out that a customer may not start their purchase journey from the start of the ecommerce marketing funnel. Impulse buys or purchases made due to a negative experience with a different product still play a role in your total revenue, which is why optimising for every type of customer journey is so important.
*We’re assuming your brand doesn’t have both an ecommerce store and a brick and mortar store. Reports from Shopify actually showcase that most customers prefer to view a product on a store and then buy it in person, or view it in person and then buy it online, rather than siloing the entire process to one channel - but if you don’t have a brick and mortar store, this doesn’t apply. Even with this in mind an ecommerce marketing funnel remains crucial for brand discovery.
It’s not possible to have every customer follow the funnel in the ideal order. For example, a customer may see a piece of middle of funnel content without having ever heard of your business - that’s just the nature of modern ecommerce.
But a - somewhat - structured ecommerce marketing funnel ensures that your marketing strategies are organised, whilst creating a predictable, scalable system for growth. Without the idea of a funnel, your marketing efforts will become scattered shoes in the dark. The data won’t present itself naturally and it will be hard to understand where and why customers are losing interest.
On the other hand, with a full-funnel strategy up and running, you’ll have clarity on customer behaviour at every stage, which will allow you to identify the bottlenecks and make the changes you need. Instead of wondering why sessions are down or why customers aren't converting once they’ve made it to your site, you can pinpoint exactly where your customers are dropping off and implement targeted solutions to keep them engaged.
From a resource allocation standpoint, funnels help you invest in your marketing budget more effectively. Perhaps most importantly, a marketing funnel creates consistency in your customer experience. Every customer touchpoint feels intentional and valuable, building trust and credibility that ultimately leads to higher conversion rates and customer lifetime value.
You may have heard brands refer to top of funnel, middle of funnel, and bottom of funnel strategies before. It’s a semi-structured framework to create different types of content. But a customer’s purchase funnel can actually be split up into five stages
The awareness stage is where customers initially encounter your brand or the problem that your product solves. At this point, a customer may not even know that they have a problem you can solve, or they might be just beginning to research solutions. Your goal is to capture attention - and reach should be prioritised above all else.
The awareness stage of the funnel is where you’re working on attracting potential shoppers to your site. Content marketing, and social media is key at this stage - anything that can get a customer to stop in their tracks and spend some time with your products is essential.
The key is to provide genuine value without being overly promotional. For example a blog post listing different recipes whilst subtly mentioning how cooking with a stainless steel pan will improve the flavour of the food, might be a great way to plant the seed in a potential customer’s head. It’s key to focus on educating or entertaining your audience rather than selling to them, with “edutainment” usually being the best option depending on your product niche.
One such example would be Streetwear brand, Cold Culture, whose entire marketing strategy revolves around filming built-to-go-viral sketches and videos, whilst all of the actors wear pieces from their product line. It’s content built for someone to ask “where’s the hoodie from?” “Where can I buy the t-shirt?” etc.
Social media platforms like instagram and Tiktok offer powerful opportunities for awareness-building, allowing you to tap into conversations and communities where your target audience already spends time. Influencer partnerships and user-generated content can also amplify your reach by leveraging the trust and credibility that established creators have built with their followers.
Paid advertising through search engines and social platforms can accelerate your awareness efforts, but getting too specific with the content can undercut your efforts. For example, there’s little point telling someone in the awareness stage about your 50% off discount in an ad, because they aren’t going to know about or want your products.
Once someone becomes aware of your brand or product category, the interest stage of the ecommerce marketing funnel is where they begin actively engaging with content and considering whether your product or product niche might be relevant to their needs.
This is your opportunity to nurture that initial spark of interest into genuine consideration.
Potentially, a customer has seen your product in an ad placement or on social media, they may have even made it to your site. If a customer is interested, they’ll begin actively engaging with your content or website to see if they actually want your products or not.
This is where retargeting campaigns play a crucial role - helping you stay visible to people who have visited your website but haven't yet made a purchase. The content you make and the campaigns they’re a part of should showcase your products in context, demonstrate their benefits, and address common concerns or objections.
Social proof elements like customer reviews, testimonials, and case studies become increasingly important as people move through the interest stage. They want to see evidence that others have found value in your products before committing to learn more.
The consideration stage is where serious evaluation happens. We’ve said previously that your ecommerce store is as big of an aspect of your ecommerce marketing strategy as any other marketing channel. Sure, you may showcase your products well on social media, but a customer may want to know more about the materials, the warranty, and what your brand stands for.
Potential customers are comparing your products to alternatives and reading reviews. Your job is to make the strongest possible case for why your solution is the right choice.
Product pages become critical conversion tools at this stage. They need to provide comprehensive information about features, benefits, and use cases while addressing potential concerns or objections. High-quality images, detailed descriptions, and clear pricing helps to reduce uncertainty and build confidence.
Bottom of funnel content such as comparison guides, look books, and buying guides can be incredibly effective for capturing people in the consideration stage. By comparing your products to alternatives and helping customers understand the trade-offs, you position yourself as a trusted advisor rather than just another vendor trying to make a sale.
Live chat support and detailed FAQ sections help address specific questions and concerns that might prevent someone from moving forward with a purchase. The faster and more helpfully you can respond to inquiries, the more likely you are to capture the sale.
Free trials, samples, or money-back guarantees can reduce the perceived risk of trying your products, making it easier for cautious buyers to take the next step.
The conversion stage is where all of your ecommerce marketing efforts come together at the moment of purchase. Even at this critical stage, there are opportunities to optimise and improve your results through strategic design and messaging.
Shopify sites are privy to the best converting checkout in ecommerce straight out of the box, but if you’re on another platform (firstly, consider migrating) your checkout process should be as frictionless as possible, with minimal steps and clear progress indicators.
Unexpected costs - delivery costs are historically a big culprit of lost purchase - complicated forms, or technical issues can cause cart abandonment even after someone has committed to making a purchase.
Additionally, giving as many payment options as possible means you can accommodate different customers. After all, some may prefer to pay through buy-now-pay-later services or Apple Pay. Additionally, security badges and trust signals help reassure customers that their payment information is safe.
Here are some additional ways to get more value out of the conversion stage
The loyalty stage recognises that the customer relationship doesn't end with the first purchase - it's actually just the beginning. The loyalty stage is so important because it effectively turns one-time buyers into repeat customers, which is usually more cost-effective than constantly acquiring new customers.
Product development is inescapable here, as nothing’s going to bring a customer back for more than a great experience with your product. Additionally, your product mix plays a big role. If you weren’t able to upsell multiple products the first time around, a customer may come back to shop for a product they didn’t buy the first time. For example buying a pair of jeans with their first purchase and a jacket with their second - there’s a natural encouragement for customers to come back, which not all brands will be able to tap into.
Outside of product mix and the quality of your product, there’s a number of strategies to keep customers engaged with your brand long term.
Getting email sign ups and encouraging customers to follow your brand on social media can massively increase the number of touchpoints a customer sees, and introduce them to other relevant products or services.
Loyalty programs, exclusive offers for returning customers, and personalised recommendations based on purchase history can encourage repeat business and increase customer lifetime value.
Encouraging and showcasing customer reviews and testimonials not only provides social proof for new prospects but also makes existing customers feel valued and heard.
With a full funnel strategy in place across multiple ecommerce marketing channels, you’ll be opened up to measuring the performance of your entire funnel.
Profit is obviously going to be where you look first. But profit alone doesn’t reveal much about what’s going on behind the scenes.
Measuring funnel performance requires tracking both macro and micro conversions throughout the customer journey.
MCOS might be where you look first, as it can tell you the success of your marketing against the amount you’re investing. A healthy MCOS sits at around 18-22%, with anything above 30% being a bit too high and anything below 15% indicating that you need to invest more in your marketing.
From here you can dive deeper, looking into the ROAS of individual ad campaigns and the health of your site. If you’re wondering what metrics you should look at for a healthy site, our ecommerce scorecard looks at six - giving goal metrics for each. They are…
Regular testing and optimisation of each ecommerce marketing channel will drastically improve the effectiveness of your entire ecommerce marketing funnel. Optimising for each stage ensures that customers are guided through the purchase process, ultimately boosting your conversion rate.
An ecommerce marketing funnel doesn’t aim to perfect each stage in isolation, but understands the importance of creating seamless connections between them. Your awareness content should naturally lead to interest-building touchpoints. Your consideration-stage materials should make conversion feel like the obvious next step and so on. And your post-purchase experience should plant the seeds for long-term loyalty.
If you need help building an ecommerce marketing funnel that converts, contact us to see how we can help.
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