Email marketing funnel: How to build one [examples & tools]

Reading Time: 12 minutes

An email marketing funnel helps you guide potential customers through their journey using targeted email campaigns.

The point is to enable strategic, personalized communication to increase conversions, customer retention, and overall revenue growth.

Your customer journey will have several stages: awareness, interest, consideration, conversion, and retention. Each stage has specific types of emails to move subscribers closer to making a purchase or taking desired actions.

Omnisend and other email marketing tools can help you plan and build your funnel, manage subscriber lists, create campaigns, and use analytics to optimize your strategy and improve results over time.

Join us below to learn how to create an email marketing funnel.

What is an email marketing funnel?

An email marketing funnel is a series of strategically designed emails to nurture a lead and drive conversions. It’s also helpful in turning existing customers into loyal ones.

Effective email marketing funnels are designed with the target audience in mind, so you need to create different emails for customers at various stages of their journey.

The main stages of a buyer’s journey that an email marketing funnel addresses include:

• Planning
• Awareness
• Consideration
• Conversion 
• Loyalty
• Retention

Each company should design its email funnel based on its priorities and needs. Here’s an example of an email marketing funnel to get you started:

We’ve added a “planning” stage at the top. It’s not part of the standard email marketing funnel, but it’s critical nonetheless.

You can modify the email sales funnel on the go. It’s not cast in stone, so you can adjust your email marketing funnel depending on how your audience interacts with your brand. 

Email marketing funnel benefits

An email marketing funnel provides various benefits that can significantly enhance your marketing efforts and drive business growth. Here are some of the most significant advantages:

• Improved targeting and personalization: An email marketing funnel allows you to deliver highly targeted and personalized messages by segmenting your audience based on their position in the customer journey 
• Increased conversions: A well-crafted email marketing funnel nurtures leads through strategic stages, guiding them toward a purchase decision and significantly boosting your conversion rates
• Enhanced customer engagement: An email marketing funnel keeps your audience engaged with your brand by maintaining regular, valuable communication with your subscribers 
• Efficient resource utilization: Email marketing funnels leverage automation to streamline much of the marketing process. This ensures timely, consistent communication without requiring constant manual effort, saving your marketing team valuable time and resources
• Measurable results and insights: Email marketing provides comprehensive analytics, allowing you to track key metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to measure the effectiveness of your funnel
• Higher return on investment (ROI): The targeted nature of email marketing often yields a higher ROI than other marketing channels — by focusing on leads who have already expressed interest and nurturing them through the funnel, you can maximize the efficiency of your marketing spend
• Builds trust and credibility: Providing valuable content helps build trust and credibility with potential customers, making them more likely to choose your brand when they purchase
• Retention and upsell opportunities: Post-purchase follow-up emails in the funnel can enhance customer satisfaction by offering additional support, tips, or related upselling and cross-selling products

Implementing an email marketing funnel empowers you to effectively engage your audience, drive conversions, and cultivate long-lasting customer relationships, ultimately contributing to your business’s overall success and profitability.

How to build an email marketing funnel

Building an email marketing funnel involves nurturing subscribers from the initial contact to conversion using these steps:

• Plan your email funnel
• Convert visitors into subscribers
• Nurture your list
• Convert subscribers into customers
• Build customer loyalty
• Retain and re-engage subscribers

1. Plan your email funnel

Stage: Planning

Tools to use: Email marketing software, website analytics

Planning your email funnel lays the groundwork for email marketing success by helping you understand your audience, craft an effective strategy, and avoid costly mistakes. Here are the steps to take care of:

Know your audience inside out 

Before you build your email funnel, take the time to understand who you’re talking to. Dig deep into your target audience’s pain points, desires, and behaviors. Create detailed buyer personas — these will be your guide as you build customer segments and create personalized content.

Map out the customer’s journey 

How do people discover and interact with your brand? Visualize each step, from the moment they first hear about you to becoming loyal customers. This will help you spot prime opportunities for email engagement across your customer’s journey. 

Set your north star 

What does success look like for your email funnel? Is it more conversions, better customer retention, or higher engagement rates? Define clear, measurable goals. These will shape your strategy, help you track progress, and celebrate wins.

The art of opting-in 

Your opt-in forms are like welcome mats for your email list. Make them inviting! Keep things simple, but don’t be afraid to get creative. Remember, you’re asking for someone’s email, so make sure you’re offering something valuable in return.

Landing pages that convert 

Think of targeted landing pages as personalized welcome centers for different segments of your audience. Each should feel tailor-made, with relevant content and offers that align with your email campaigns. Make your call to action crystal clear and impossible to resist.

Plotting your email sequence 

Now is the time to plan out the content and timing of your emails. Mix it up with educational content, special offers, and personalized recommendations based on how subscribers interact with your emails.

Choose a best-fit email marketing tool

Picking the right email marketing software is vital to having the features your business needs to run effective marketing campaigns. Look for automation, segmentation, and analytics features. The right tool will make executing your funnel strategy a breeze.

Plan your content calendar

Consistency is vital in email marketing. Develop a content calendar to keep your communication steady and relevant. Plan for various emails, from welcome series and newsletters to promotional and re-engagement campaigns.

Measure, learn, improve

Set up tracking and analytics from the get-go to keep your finger on your funnel’s performance. Use these insights to continually refine and optimize your approach, ensuring your email funnel becomes more effective.

Email marketing funnel example — Planning

Omnisend lets you use pre-built segments to plan your email campaigns. For instance, you could select “Added product to the cart but didn’t place an order” and “Started checkout but didn’t place an order” to plan for abandoned carts:

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2. Convert visitors into subscribers

Stage: Awareness

Tools to use: Opt-in forms (popups, embeds), landing pages, welcome emails

Irresistible lead magnets 

Offer valuable content in exchange for email addresses. Create shopping guides, checklists, and exclusive discounts that solve a problem for your audience. Ensure your lead magnet is highly relevant and immediately applicable to maximize conversions.

Personalized welcome offers 

Create a compelling welcome offer for new subscribers, such as a discount on their first purchase or free shipping. Display this offer prominently on your homepage and product pages to entice visitors to join your list.

Strategic popup placement 

Use exit-intent popups to capture visitors just before they leave. For engaged visitors, configure your popups to appear after a certain amount of time or scrolling. Test different designs, content, and offers to optimize conversion rates.

Contest and giveaway campaigns 

Host draws or giveaways with attractive prizes related to your products. Ensure the entry process is simple, requiring just an email address. Promote the contest across your site and social media channels to maximize participation.

Optimized landing pages 

Design dedicated landing pages for specific customer segments or marketing campaigns. Focus on a single, clear call to action to subscribe. Use persuasive copy and visuals to highlight the benefits of joining your email list.

User-friendly signup forms 

Place signup forms strategically throughout your site, such as in the header, footer, and sidebar. Keep forms simple, asking only for essential information. Use clear, action-oriented language in your form’s call to action button.

Leverage social proof 

Display subscriber counts, testimonials, or reviews near your signup forms to build trust and encourage subscriptions. Highlight the value others have gained from being on your email list to persuade new visitors.

Content upgrades 

Offer additional, exclusive content related to your blog posts or product pages. Place these content upgrades behind an email signup wall to incentivize subscriptions from engaged readers.

Mobile-optimized experiences 

Ensure all subscription forms and popups are mobile-friendly on smartphones and tablets. Consider using slide-in forms or floating bars for a less intrusive mobile experience that still captures attention.

Notification bar promotions 

Use a persistent notification bar at the top or bottom of your site to promote your newsletter or special offers for subscribers. Make it eye-catching but not distracting from the main content of your pages.

Email marketing funnel example — Awareness

This email popup from skincare brand Blume appears when scrolling down the page, presenting an offer of 20% off on multiple product categories to encourage shopping:

3. Nurture your leads

Stage: Consideration

Tools to use: Emails with customer reviews, user-generated content, free resources, case studies, and product demos

At this stage, the prospect is actively considering your brand as a solution for their problem and comparing it to your competitors’ offerings. Your goal here should be to show they can trust your product or service as the ideal choice.

Share customer reviews and user-generated content to build trust. A research study shows that 84% of consumers are more likely to trust reviews from other customers. And only 41% trust product reviews from brands.

Use case studies to show, rather than tell, how your product or service can impact the prospect’s business or life. Introduce a free trial, freemium plan, or other free tool to give them a taste of what you have to offer.

How can you make your emails for the consideration stage effective? 

Here’s how:

• Clearly mention your unique selling point by highlighting the distinctive features of your product or service
• Use your content to anticipate and address objections the prospect may have
• Show your commitment to addressing their concerns by always including customer support information in your emails
• If appropriate, share blog posts with unbiased comparisons between your and your competitors’ products

Email marketing funnel example — Consideration

Check out this email, which includes customer reviews verifying the product’s reported firmness and benefits:

4. Convert subscribers into customers

Stage: Conversion

Tools to use: Emails with sales promotions, exclusive offers, discounts, and free shipping

This is where you provide the recipient with a clear path to conversion. Your content should nudge them to make a purchase, sign up for a service, or do whatever counts as a conversion for your brand.

Woo your subscribers with bulk offers, promotions, special discounts, and any other incentive that’ll motivate them to hit the buy button.

Here are a few ideas to get great results from your email sales funnel:

• Avoid being too pushy, as this may turn your prospects away
• Use clear and actionable CTAs, making them easy for a prospect to follow
• Use time-limited offers and countdown timers to create a sense of urgency

Email marketing funnel example – Conversion

This email example plays on the buyer’s desire to put winter behind them and focus on the warm months of summer.

5. Build customer loyalty

Stage: Loyalty

Tools to use: Emails with helpful content, emails with loyalty rewards, and exclusive benefits for customer loyalty

Once you’ve achieved conversion from your subscribers, create email funnel marketing campaigns that will keep them engaged and turn them into loyal brand advocates.

Generate content that educates your subscribers on how to solve their biggest problems and get the most out of your products.

You should also include interactive content like polls, contests, and quizzes that encourage active participation, create a sense of involvement, and foster loyalty.  

Ensure subscribers feel recognized and appreciated for their loyalty using exclusive rewards, discounts, and loyalty points.

Here are a few tips you can apply in your email marketing funnel:

• Building loyalty and nurturing relationships is an ongoing process, so consistently provide value to achieve that
• Be proactive with customer support and make sure your support team is responsive
• Use an email marketing software solution that lets you hyper-personalize your sales funnel emails. You can personalize subject lines, email content, and other elements

Email marketing funnel example – Loyalty

See below how McDonald’s uses email marketing to promote its customer loyalty program and notify its customers about reward points earned:

6. Retain and re-engage subscribers

Stage: Retention

Tools to use: Emails with personalized deals, extra discounts, gifts, and other limited-time offers

Your goal here is to keep subscribers interested. Work on optimizing your lifetime customer value and getting the highest ROI on your email funnel marketing investment.

Continually improve your customers’ experience. Provide personalized deals and discounts to cross-sell and upsell.

Here are a few pointers for strengthening your email marketing sales funnel:

• Segment your subscribers: Leverage data like purchase history for email segmentation to provide personalized product recommendations
• Ensure the sales funnel emails are relevant: Show that you understand their needs, interests, and preferences
• Get feedback with survey emails: They’ll encourage your subscribers to engage with your brand and help you better understand their preferences and needs
• Clean your email list to remove fakes and duplicates: Use email list cleaning best practices to ensure you’re not wasting your re-engagement efforts on invalid email addresses
• Send re-engagement (win-back) emails to passive subscribers: A re-engagement email marketing campaign can salvage disengaged subscribers and regain their interest

Email marketing funnel example – Retention

Below is an example of a re-engagement email. It seeks to rebuild the subscriber’s interest with a time-sensitive offer to inspire action.

Tips for creating converting email funnel marketing 

Creating an email funnel that effectively converts requires a strategic approach. You must combine an understanding of your audience with targeted content delivery and then optimize based on results. Here are some practical recommendations for setting up an email marketing funnel that drives conversions:

• Understand your audience: Before creating your funnel, develop a deep understanding of your audience’s needs and pain points. Use customer data, surveys, and feedback to build detailed buyer personas to guide your content strategy.
• Segment your list: Divide your email list into segments based on demographics, behavior, or buying stage. This allows you to tailor messaging to be more relevant and engaging for each group.
• Craft compelling content: For each funnel stage, create content that addresses your audience’s specific interests and needs. This could include educational resources, product comparisons, or exclusive offers.
• Use a strong call to action (CTA): Each email should have a clear, compelling CTA directing subscribers to the next desired action. Make CTAs easy to find and persuasive, whether learning more, signing up, or making a purchase.
• Automate email delivery: Use marketing automation tools to send the right messages at the right times. Automation maintains engagement by responding to user actions, like sending welcome emails upon signup or follow-ups after purchase.
• Test and optimize: Continuously test different email elements, including subject lines, content, layout, and timing. Use A/B testing to determine what works best and refine your approach based on analytics and performance metrics.
• Follow up effectively: Don’t just focus on acquiring new customers. Implement strategies to engage existing customers through follow-up emails, loyalty programs, and personalized recommendations to increase retention and repeat business.
• Ensure mobile optimization: With more people accessing email via mobile, ensure your emails are mobile-friendly. Use responsive design, quick load times, and optimized layouts for small screens.
• Personalize your emails: Go beyond using the subscriber’s name. Tailor content based on user behavior, past purchases, and other data to make each email feel customized and relevant, significantly improving engagement rates.
• Track and measure success: Set clear metrics for each funnel stage to monitor performance. Look at open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and ROI to gauge the effectiveness of your email marketing efforts. Use this data to make informed decisions to improve your strategy.

Implementing these tips will help you create a more effective email marketing funnel that engages your audience, drives conversions, and enhances the overall success of your digital marketing efforts.

Summary

You should create an email marketing funnel to effectively guide your customers through their journey, from first encounters to becoming brand advocates.

Your funnel addresses critical challenges in your ecommerce business, such as customer engagement and retention, helping boost conversions, enhance customer loyalty, and gain valuable insights into purchasing patterns.

To build your funnel, map out touchpoints in your customer’s journey and craft relevant email campaigns and content for each stage. 

Leverage tools like Omnisend to streamline the process with beautiful email templates, pre-built segments, automation, and in-depth performance analysis.