Here’s the problem with how most e-commerce brands do marketing: everything is disconnected.
One person runs the ads. Someone else handles email. The website was built by a third party. Nobody talks to each other. Each channel has its own strategy, its own goals, and its own metrics.
The result? Customers get a disjointed experience. Your ads say one thing, your emails say another, and your landing page doesn’t match either. Money leaks out at every stage of the journey because nobody’s looking at the whole picture.
The fix isn’t working harder on each channel. It’s connecting them into one system.
What full-funnel marketing actually means
A marketing funnel isn’t a diagram in a textbook. It’s the journey a real person takes from “I’ve never heard of this brand” to “I’ve just made my fifth purchase.”
Every person goes through three stages:
- Attract — they discover your brand for the first time
- Nurture — they learn about you, build trust, and consider buying
- Convert — they make a purchase (and hopefully come back for more)
Full-funnel marketing means having a deliberate strategy for each stage — and making sure they talk to each other.
Stage 1: Attract — getting discovered
The attract stage is about reaching people who’ve never heard of you. This is where social advertising does its best work.
What works
- Meta (Facebook + Instagram) ads targeting lookalike audiences based on your existing customers
- TikTok ads if your product is visual and your audience skews younger
- Pinterest ads for products in fashion, home, beauty, and lifestyle
- Organic social content that builds awareness over time
- SEO and blog content that captures people searching for solutions you offer
The goal
You’re not trying to sell here. You’re trying to get the right people to notice you. The metrics that matter are reach, click-through rate, and cost per landing page view — not direct sales.
How it connects to the next stage
Every person who clicks an ad and lands on your site enters your retargeting audiences and (if they opt in) your email list. That’s the bridge to nurture.
Stage 2: Nurture — building trust
Most people don’t buy on their first visit. They need to see your brand multiple times, understand your story, and feel confident that your product is worth their money.
The nurture stage uses email marketing and retargeting to stay in front of people who’ve shown interest.
Email nurture
- Welcome series — the first 3-5 emails a new subscriber receives. Brand story, social proof, and a gentle first offer.
- Browse abandonment — “Still thinking about it?” with the products they viewed.
- Educational content — tips, how-tos, and behind-the-scenes content that builds the relationship.
Retargeting ads
- Dynamic product ads showing the exact items someone viewed
- Testimonial ads featuring real customer reviews
- Founder story ads that build personal connection
The goal
Move people from “I’m aware of this brand” to “I’m ready to buy.” The metrics that matter are email engagement, return visits, and add-to-cart rate.
How it connects to the next stage
Nurtured leads who visit your site multiple times and engage with your emails are primed to convert. The final piece is making sure your site doesn’t let them down.
Stage 3: Convert — making the sale (and the repeat sale)
Conversion isn’t just about getting the first purchase. It’s about maximising the value of every customer over time.
This is where funnel optimisation comes in.
First purchase optimisation
- Landing pages that match the ad that brought them there (message match)
- Product pages with clear benefits, real reviews, and strong photography
- Checkout flow that’s simple and frictionless (no surprise shipping costs at the last step)
- Abandoned cart emails that recover 10-15% of lost sales
Repeat purchase systems
- Post-purchase email flows — thank you, usage tips, review request, cross-sell
- VIP programmes for your best customers
- Win-back campaigns for customers who haven’t bought in a while
- Retention ads showing new products to past purchasers
The goal
Maximise conversion rate on first purchase and increase customer lifetime value through repeat purchases. The metrics that matter are conversion rate, average order value, and repeat purchase rate.
Why most brands get this wrong
Mistake 1: Treating channels as silos
If your social ads person doesn’t know what your email strategy is, you have a problem. The customer doesn’t care about your internal org chart — they experience your brand as one thing.
The fix: One team (or one person) who sees the whole picture and coordinates across channels.
Mistake 2: Only measuring last-click attribution
If you only credit the last thing someone clicked before buying, you’ll think email is doing all the work and ads aren’t doing anything. In reality, the ad introduced them, the email nurtured them, and the whole system converted them.
The fix: Look at blended metrics. Total revenue divided by total marketing spend. Don’t over-optimise individual channels at the expense of the whole system.
Mistake 3: Skipping the nurture stage
Too many brands go straight from awareness ads to “BUY NOW.” That works for the 3% who are ready to buy today. It ignores the 97% who need more time.
The fix: Build email flows and retargeting campaigns that bridge the gap between first touch and first purchase.
Mistake 4: Ignoring retention
Acquiring a new customer costs 5-7x more than retaining an existing one. If you’re spending all your budget on prospecting and nothing on retention, you’re on a treadmill.
The fix: Build post-purchase flows, VIP programmes, and retention ad campaigns that turn one-time buyers into repeat customers.
Building your full-funnel plan
Here’s a practical framework:
Step 1: Audit what you have
Before building anything new, look at what’s working and what’s broken:
- Are your ads driving traffic to the right pages?
- Is your email list growing? What flows do you have?
- What’s your site conversion rate? Where are people dropping off?
- What percentage of revenue comes from repeat customers?
Step 2: Fix the biggest leak first
Don’t try to build everything at once. Find the biggest leak in your funnel and fix that first.
- Low traffic? Focus on prospecting ads.
- High traffic but low conversions? Fix your landing pages and build retargeting.
- Good first purchases but no repeat buyers? Build post-purchase email flows.
- No email revenue? Build your core Klaviyo flows.
Step 3: Connect the dots
Once the individual pieces are working, connect them:
- Make sure your ad landing pages match your ad messaging
- Set up your email flows to trigger based on ad-driven behaviour
- Create retargeting audiences from email engagement data
- Use customer purchase data to inform ad targeting
Step 4: Measure the whole system
Track blended metrics monthly:
| Metric | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Blended ROAS | Overall marketing efficiency |
| Customer acquisition cost | How much it costs to get a new customer |
| Customer lifetime value | How much each customer is worth over time |
| Email revenue share | How much revenue email generates (target: 30-40%) |
| Repeat purchase rate | Whether customers are coming back |
Key takeaways
- Full-funnel marketing connects attract, nurture, and convert into one system
- Social ads bring people in. Email nurtures them. Your site converts them. One system, not three silos.
- Only 3% of your audience is ready to buy right now — your strategy needs to serve the other 97%
- Fix the biggest leak in your funnel first, then connect the pieces
- Measure the whole system, not just individual channels
- Retention is cheaper than acquisition — invest in keeping customers, not just finding new ones
Want a clear picture of your funnel?
We audit your ads, email, and site — and show you exactly where money is leaking and where the real opportunities are. No jargon, no fluff, just a plain-English breakdown.
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