The Marketing Equation: Connecting Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion

The marketing equation connects the dots between awareness, consideration, and conversion, simplifying your analysis and helping you create a recipe for success.

Think of your marketing funnel like crafting the perfect dish:

• Awareness is gathering good-quality ingredients—it’s the foundation for better results.

• Consideration is blending those ingredients, getting the balance just right to bring out the best flavour—or maximum customer value.

• Conversion is plating and serving—making the final presentation irresistible.

The key to great results is tasting throughout the process—testing and measuring at each stage to ensure everything is on track. When done well, this recipe leads to delighted customers and measurable growth for your business.

A Simple Equation

At its core, the marketing funnel equation ensures the right balance of your investments and outcomes:

Conversions = ((Ai x Ae %) + (IMi x IMe %) + (Ri x Re %)) / CVR

Variables:

1. Ai: Total number of impressions in the Awareness stage.

2. Ae %: The percentage of impressions in the Awareness stage that lead to meaningful engagement.

3. IMi: Total number of impressions targeting in-market audiences.

4. IMe %: The percentage of in-market impressions that lead to meaningful engagement.

5. Ri: Total number of impressions targeting retargeting audiences.

6. Re %: The percentage of retargeting impressions that lead to meaningful engagement.

7. CVR (Conversion Rate): The proportion of engaged audiences that complete a desired action (conversion).

Visibility is your recipe for marketing success—helping you measure, optimise, and improve each stage of the funnel. These top level metrics and the underlying KPI's will give you greater understanding where you need to focus your marketing efforts to drive more performance.

Breaking Down the Funnel

Awareness: Gathering the Ingredients

The first step in any recipe is choosing the right ingredients. In marketing, this means ensuring your campaigns reach the right audience efficiently. Just as high-quality ingredients make a better dish, well-targeted awareness campaigns set the foundation for success.

Key Insight:
Not all impressions are equal. Balancing reach, frequency, and cost efficiency ensures you’re getting the best value from your awareness efforts.

• Good Ingredients = High-Quality Data and Targeting: Ensuring your campaigns reach the right people with the right message improves the "flavour" of your funnel. Have you got the right data, insight, creative and marketing tools in place to maximise the response from your target market.

Consideration: Blending the Ingredients

Consideration is where you combine your awareness and In Market activity into meaningful engagement, much like mixing ingredients to create balance and depth in your dish. Too much of one element (e.g., targeting only one type of prospect) or too little of another (e.g., insufficient nurturing) can throw off the results.

Key Insight:
Testing during this stage is critical, much like tasting your dish to ensure it’s on track. Cost Per Engagement (CPE) across the stages measures how efficiently your investment turns awareness and in market activity into meaningful actions, such as clicks, downloads, or sign-ups.

• Balancing Ingredients = Tailored Messaging: Mixing the right content and engagement tactics ensures prospects move seamlessly to the next stage.
  

Conversion: Plating and Serving

The final stage is about presenting your efforts beautifully—turning engaged prospects into paying customers. Just like plating a dish, the final presentation matters. A seamless checkout process, a compelling offer, or personalised follow-ups make the difference between an ordinary experience and an exceptional one.

Key Insight:
Conversion Rate (CVR) measures how many engaged prospects become paying customers. This is where you serve the "finished dish" to your audience, ensuring it delivers on the promise.

• Presentation = Smooth Conversion Journeys: Reduce friction and make the experience enticing and intuitive. Having the right focus and measurement at this stage can be the difference from single digit to double digit growth.

Tasting as You Cook: The Importance of Testing and Measuring

Every great chef knows the value of tasting as they cook. Similarly, marketers need to test and measure at each stage of the funnel. Key performance indicators (KPIs) like CPC, CPL, and CVR help you track progress and adjust your strategy to ensure you’re on the right track.

• Adjusting the Recipe = A/B Testing and Optimisation: By iterating on campaigns, you can refine each stage of the funnel and improve outcomes.

Why This Framework Works

• A Clear Recipe for Success

  This framework breaks your marketing funnel into simple, actionable stages, ensuring the right balance of efforts for the best results.

• Focus on Quality Ingredients

  High-quality inputs—whether targeting data, creative messaging, or nurturing strategies—lead to better customer experiences and higher ROI.

• Tailored to Any "Cuisine"

  Whether you’re B2B, B2C, or D2C, this recipe adapts to your business needs and audience dynamics.

• Measurable Outcomes

  With KPIs at each stage, you can track progress, make adjustments, and ensure your marketing recipe is a success.

Take the Next Step

Are you ready to perfect your marketing recipe and uncover new opportunities for growth? Let’s start a conversation. Drop me a line or share your challenges below. Together, we’ll refine your funnel, optimise investments, and maximise ROI.