Mobile Marketing Essentials

I remember learning the marketing funnel in undergrad (cough, cough… a very long time ago). It felt so clear. So clean. Awareness → Consideration → Conversion. A rational progression you could sketch on a whiteboard and feel solid about. And to be fair, it worked. Then we modernized it. We turned it into a loop, added retention, layered in loyalty and advocacy, built nurture tracks, embraced PLG, referrals, flywheels, and LTV. We extended it, instrumented it, optimized it. But we never really questioned the premise: that the brand moves the customer through stages. What feels different now is that customers aren’t moving through stages at all. They’re auditing us. In fact, 78% research online before engaging with a brand. 84% compare prices on their phone while standing in a store. 67% check at least three sources before buying. They aren’t progressing neatly from awareness to consideration - they’re triangulating, validating, forming opinions before they ever “enter” your funnel. Even personalization, which was supposed to make the journey smoother, has tension baked in. 71% expect personalized experiences, but 76% get frustrated when it’s done poorly. Buyers want relevance without creepiness. Help without manipulation. The bottleneck isn’t exposure anymore, it’s confidence. So the real journey today looks less like Awareness → Consideration → Conversion. And more like Relevance → Credibility → Safety → Identity. By the time someone lands on your site, they’re not asking “What is this?” They’re asking, “Can I trust this?” The funnel wasn’t wrong before, but it was built for a world where brands controlled the narrative. Today, consumers control the investigation, and that changes the job of marketing entirely.

Do you have sticky leads which refuse to move? The secret to a seamless customer journey lies in understanding and mastering your sales funnel. When I first started as a Sales coach, I realised many of the people I mentored struggled to understand the Sales funnel. Sure they could draw a diagram and describe the stages, but to be an effective tool, the Sales Funnel needs to be understood on a deeper level. Each stage has a different goal, and needs you to have different conversations and strategies. I usually understand things better when I have an analogy to something I love - and there’s nothing I love more than Bollywood! So let’s Imagine your sales funnel as a Bollywood blockbuster in the making! Each stage of your funnel is like the phases a film goes through, from the first teaser to the grand release. Let's break it down. Top of the Funnel (TOFU)  🎯 Goal - Capture attention and generate interest. If product is like the next big Bollywood hit, at this stage, you're releasing teasers and trailers to create a buzz. Spread awareness with eye-catching content that intrigues your audience, just like how movie trailers attract viewers. 💬 Types of Conversations  🔸 Share exciting stories and facts that resonate with your audience's needs. 🔸 Ask open-ended questions to engage them. 🔸 Provide educational content to build interest. Middle of the Funnel (MOFU)  🎯 Goal - Build trust and deepen interest. Think of this stage as promotional tours and early reviews. The stars are giving interviews, and critics are sharing their thoughts. Provide valuable content—detailed articles, behind-the-scenes looks, and testimonials. 💬 Types of Conversations: 🔸 Discuss specific challenges and how your solutions address them. 🔸 Share case studies, white papers, e-books and exclusive resources  🔸 Offer free trials, demos, or detailed guides. Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU)  🎯 Goal - Encourage decision-making and conversion. This is the grand release. Your audience is ready to buy their tickets and watch the movie. Make a strong final push with compelling offers and clear value propositions. 💬 Types of Conversations: 🔸Personalised demos and consultations 🔸 Talk about ease of Implementation 🔸 Offer Training and User support  🔸 Highlight the unique benefits and ROI of your offering. 🔸 Create urgency with limited-time offers or exclusive deals. 🔸 Send a comparison to highlight your unique advantages  🔸 Address remaining objections or concerns Just like a Bollywood blockbuster, each stage of the sales funnel is crucial in drawing in your audience and converting them into loyal customers. This week, we'll be diving deeper into each stage of the sales funnel. Stay tuned for unique insights that will make your sales process as captivating as the next #Bollywood superhit! #sales #salesfunnel #salestraining #salescoach #womeninsales #India

Funnels aren’t meant to “sell”… Too many marketers push for a quick buy. Instead, answer questions and clear objections. Many misunderstand that. But let's be clear. It's more than just a series of steps. Understanding your audience is the foundation. I’ve teamed up with the king of funnels, Justin Hardy, to show you exactly how to build converting funnels. Here’s the 3-step blueprint to make it happen: 1. Research Phase Your funnel is only as strong as your customer insights. Here's what you need to know: → Customer demographics → Pain points and objections → Core values and outcomes → Who they follow and trust → Competitor insights Deep insights = Stronger funnels. 2. Copy Strategy Funnels shouldn’t focus on hard selling. They need to answer questions and solve problems. Your copy should guide, not push. Lead your audience on a journey of clarity. Remove doubts by addressing objections early on. Effective copy is simple and honest. Help them see the “yes” in the offer. 3. Landing Page Building Blocks Each section on your page matters. Here’s how to structure it effectively: Hero Banner – Strong headline and subheadline Audience Call-Out – Address your customer directly Solution & Risk – Show the solution and cost of inaction Show Expertise – Build trust by showcasing authority Testimonials – Real results, real proof from customers Future Pacing – Paint a vision of their success Final CTA – Close with a clear call to action This isn’t a new approach, but it works. Each block builds trust and guides action. Integrate these elements. Create funnels that convert. Follow Charlie + Justin for more. Reshare to help others.

MrBeast sold 1 million chocolate bars in 72 hours. Feastables did $10 million in revenue opening weekend. From one YouTube video. But here's what actually made it work: He sold a golden ticket lottery. Every bar had a code. 10 codes won a trip to compete in a real Willy Wonka factory he built for a video. Grand prize: Win the factory. People bought 47 bars trying to find a ticket. Not because they wanted 47 chocolate bars. Because they wanted to be in the video. But here's the retail capture strategy: Most DTC brands never get customer data from retail sales. You buy at Walmart, the brand has no idea who you are. MrBeast printed a shortcode on every package: "Text FEAST to 69420 for a chance to win $10,000" To enter, you had to send a photo of your receipt. This did two things: 1. Captured customer data from retail (which brands never get) 2. Turned one time retail buyers into SMS subscribers 30,000 new SMS subscribers from retail packaging alone. Then they used SMS to ask: "What flavor should we make next?" 12,000 people voted. Milk chocolate won. When milk chocolate launched, those 12,000 people felt ownership. They told everyone "I voted for this flavor." It's now their #1 SKU. For your retail brand: Can you put QR codes or shortcodes on packaging to capture retail customer data? Can you turn product launches into competitions or lotteries? Can you ask customers what to make next before you make it? Your packaging is a data capture tool and a referral mechanism.

I talked to several DTC brands in the last 10 days that told me SMS marketing performance was significantly down this BFCM compared to last year... here is a fix guaranteed to increase performance and lower unsubscribes in 2025👇 Inject better customer data into your SMS platform 👉 Guided selling funnels SMS has become one of the most saturated marketing channels in just a matter of years in DTC eCommerce. I think its awesome — and I believe whole heartedly in the channel having spent years in SMS marketing. However, while brand and consumer of adoption of SMS has risen, true personalization has not. Enter guided selling funnels as the fix. Guided selling funnels, also known as "quizzes", are high converting eCommerce funnels that ask shoppers a series of questions about their interests and preferences and pair them with the with products for seamless check out. On average, they increase conversion by over 300%. Quiz funnels handle purchase objections, develops a customer relationship, and most importantly for SMS, gives the brand a VAST amount of zero party data to connect with their customer in future marketing experiences. It's quite literally "marketing funnel efficiency". 💡 In fact, a brand putting a first time shopper going through a Digioh experience can capture over 50 unique points of zero and first party data to use to send personalized texts. Any brand who is not pushing this into segmentation for their campaigns automations is missing out Here are a few examples of vanilla texts brands send 😒 Coffee brand: "Shop all coffees now" Athleisure brand: "Check out our best sellers" Men's Grooming Brand: "Shop grooming products" 🔑 And here's how it becomes highly relevant by using quiz funnels and pushing that data into SMS ☕️ A coffee brand learns a shopper likes dark roast, whole beans, and usually buys 5lb bags. They uses that data to say: "shop whole bean dark roast coffee". 🏀 An athleisure brand knows a shopper is shopping for their husband, prefers dry-fit clothing, and likes neutral colors. They can retarget the shopper with "Get your husband the all new performance wear". " 🪮A mens grooming brand knows a shopper likes sandalwood, has sensitive skin, and doesn't like multi-step routines. - They can then text the shopper with, "Try the all new sandalwood face wash for one step results". Instant meh to great — and this can all be done easily within any SMS platform. SMS lives and dies by right message right time and having better data ensures a message can actually connect. With how expensive it can be to acquire an SMS subscriber and then retarget them with campaigns... relevancy matters. SMS doesn't need to be vanilla when paired with zero party data! As someone who cut their teeth in sms marketing… I couldn’t be more pumped to help Digioh customers do this at scale within platforms like Klaviyo, Postscript, Yotpo, Attentive, Braze, etc... to make texts that consumers want in their inbox!

While working closely with hundreds of brands, one thing kept bothering me. We were all sending “personalized” campaigns. Same flow. Same timing. Same channels. Just a different name at the top. And we called that personalization. But it didn’t feel personal. Some customers only responded on WhatsApp, yet we kept emailing them. Some opened emails at night, but we sent them in the morning. Some were ready after one touchpoint, others needed three. Completely different people, treated exactly the same way. That’s where the idea of 1:1 personalization started for us. What if every customer had their own journey with different channels, different timing, different decisions? What you’re seeing here is not a campaign. It’s one customer, being understood in real time. Athena tracks behavior across touch points what they viewed, where they dropped, how they engage Then the Markopolo AI INC adapts the journey. 🔥 Push is skipped due to fatigue 🔥 Email is prioritized based on high engagement 🔥 SMS is timed based on past clicks 🔥 Calls happen when the user is most likely to respond Not a fixed workflow, but decisions made for that one individual. This is what 1:1 personalization actually looks like.

Are We Skipping Crucial Steps in the Sales Cycle? (Here’s how slowing down might actually accelerate your sales 🚀) In today’s world, it seems like everyone is focused on shortening the sales cycle—rushing from introduction to purchase at lightning speed. But with the pressure to "book that demo," "schedule that discovery call," or "convert visitors to buyers," it’s easy to overlook two critical stages in the buyer's journey: Awareness and Consideration. (Have we forgotten how our buyers actually navigate through these stages?) Let’s pause for a moment. What if instead of rushing, we helped buyers move through their journey in a more organized and supportive way? Here’s a breakdown, stage by stage: 1. Top of the Funnel (Awareness) Persona Identification: Identify the pain points and needs of each persona. Content Strategy: Focus on educational content—blogs, videos, and social media posts that inform and engage, rather than sell. Engagement Tactics: Use targeted ads and SEO to reach your personas where they’re actively seeking solutions. 2. Middle of the Funnel (Consideration) Persona Differentiation: Understand how each persona evaluates options. What are their criteria? What objections do they have? Content Strategy: Offer in-depth resources—whitepapers, case studies, webinars—that speak to their specific evaluation criteria. Engagement Tactics: Use email campaigns and remarketing to stay top of mind as they weigh their options. 3. Bottom of the Funnel (Conversion) Persona Focus: Now that they’re ready to decide, align your messaging with their final concerns—pricing, ROI, and implementation ease. Content Strategy: Deliver clear CTAs, personalized offers, and detailed product info. Offer live demos or trials to give them that final push. Engagement Tactics: Follow up promptly with tailored messaging that makes it easy for them to say "yes." Conclusion: Rushing prospects through the funnel can lead to missed opportunities and lost sales. But by understanding and guiding each persona through awareness, consideration, and conversion, we create a smoother, more effective buyer journey—one that naturally leads to conversions. ♻️ If you found this helpful, consider resharing to help others slow down for better results. Thank you!

True personalization isn't about first names or company names. It's about market awareness. Let me break this down... Most people's "personalization" looks like this: "Hey [First Name], noticed you're the [Title] at [Company]..." That's not personalization. That's mail merge. Real personalization is understanding where your prospect is in their journey. Example: We helped a client pitch web design services. Instead of: "Hey John, noticed you're the CEO at TechCorp..." We wrote: "Hey John, saw you just raised your Series A. Most founders at this stage struggle with converting their increased traffic into demos..." See the difference? We're not just showing we found them on LinkedIn. We're demonstrating that we understand exactly where they are in their journey, what challenges they're facing right now, and what actually matters to their business at this moment. This approach took their response rate from 2% to 15%. But here's the key: Your messaging needs to match their stage.  A seed-stage startup needs help with foundations.  Series A companies need scaling strategies.  Series B? They're all about optimization and efficiency. The beauty is, your core offer doesn't change. Just your positioning. This subtle shift in approach is what separates 6-figure agencies from 7-figure agencies.

Using "Hey {first name}" in your marketing emails and calling it personalization is like picking up a rock and calling it a hammer. Technically, it works. But we have better tools now, and failing to take advantage of them is going to leave you choking on the dust of your competitors. Here's how to catch up with the times and use TRUE personalization to boost engagement, loyalty, and conversions: 1. Use dynamic content fields to customize emails based on customer attributes, behaviors, and preferences. Go beyond just {first name} – incorporate product views, past purchases, and customer lifecycle stage. Don't be creepy! Be conversational. You want the reader to feel like you understand their needs, not like you've been peeking through their blinds. 2. Set up behavior-triggered automations like browse abandonment and cart recovery flows. Make these highly relevant by including viewed products, social proof, and timely offers. Marketing is all about getting the right offer in front of the right person at the right time, and behavior-based emails are one of the best ways to do that on a consistent basis. 3. Implement Recency, Frequency, and Monetary Value (RFM) segmentation to deliver personalized messaging to different customer groups. Target VIPs, at-risk customers, and prospectives customers with specific messages to convert or retain them. 4. Create personalized journeys that adjust the user's experience based on customer data or actions. For example, if you're sending the exact same post purchase sequence to a repeat purchaser as you are for a first-time buyer, you're missing a huge opportunity. 5. Use replenishment flows for consumable products, reminding customers when it's time to reorder. Or, capture email addresses on PDPs for sold out products and notify them when the item in back in stock. Easy sales. Be careful to avoid these common personalization mistakes: 🙅🏼 Over-personalizing in a way that feels intrusive or creepy 🙅🏼 Sending irrelevant recommendations due to inaccurate or outdated data 🙅🏼 Over-segmenting to the point where segments are too small to be effective 🙅🏼 Using templated, robotic language that sounds unnatural The key is finding the right balance ––  personalized enough to be relevant and engaging, but not so specific that it becomes cringey or off-putting. When done well, personalization makes customers feel heard, understood and valued. This builds loyalty, increases engagement, and ultimately drives more conversions and revenue. Level up your personalization with one (or more!) of these strategies, and your KPIs are going to shoot up and to the right.

Despite the resurgence of QR codes, I’ve been skeptical of their practicality. But at the behest of my marketing team, and with support from the savvy folks at Digiphy, we’ve decided to give them a go (they make it so easy!). Here are 3 ways we’re leveraging Digiphy’s interactive platform, and what we’ve learned so far: 1. In-Store Demos We wanted to test whether offering a coupon during our in-store demos would boost sales, or not. Using Digiphy QR codes to send shoppers a digital coupon has been a less expensive way to test the market. We can play around with various offers and messages in real time, without committing to something on paper. Nimble and less wasteful! 2. Sampling programs   We send a lot of free product out into the world, but can’t always measure the return. Enter Digiphy. Now we tag our samples with a unique QR code to capture leads, bring them into our brand world with a Digiphy Storyline, and make a sale one click away.    3. Signage Whether our team is tabling at a trade show or putting together a charcuterie board, having scannable signage ensures every passerby can engage with us, even if we step away. It’s been remarkable to see how many people engage in a more passive way. What’s been working for you? We’d love to know!