When it comes to marketing, companies want to see results fast. Understanding Full Funnel Paid Media and how long it takes to work can help set realistic expectations.
That’s particularly true among smaller organizations, who need to understand the investment abd gauge if they can afford to wait months to see an impact on brand awareness, growth, and conversions.
This is part of what makes paid media strategies like paid social and search campaigns so attractive.
Paid media typically delivers faster results than other marketing strategies, such as SEO and content marketing. However, the downside is that traditional Paid-Social and PPC campaigns often struggle to deliver long-term results. That’s where full funnel paid media campaigns come in.
Full funnel strategies, which involve engaging your customers at multiple stages throughout their buyer journey, strengthen relationships with buyers, increase brand awareness, and deliver long-term results. However, they can also take longer to demonstrate an impact.
So, how long do full funnel paid media campaigns take to work?
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How Long Does it Take for PPC to Work?
Let’s start by looking at the general “time to impact” for paid media and PPC campaigns. As mentioned above, PPC campaigns can deliver faster results. Some companies see a preliminary impact on traffic and conversions within the first 3 months.
However, even with paid campaigns, the results are variable. As one study noted, the results you see from the first 3 months will generally allow you to grab onto low-hanging fruit, boosting initial traffic to your website, particularly if you use highly targeted campaigns.
Within 8 months of continuous spending, you might notice higher rankings and a more prominent presence among competitors, as well as more predictable results in terms of overall clicks and web traffic. However, it can take up to 12 months to really see increased impression share, return on ad spend, and significant conversion rates.
Again, though, depending on your approach to paid media campaigns, those results could be temporary. If you’re only focusing on conversion and not connecting with customers through the buyer journey, as soon as your paid campaigns stops, your results will likely diminish.
Plus, it’s worth noting that the timeline for return on investment from paid media can vary across different channels. The results you get from paid search campaigns can take longer to form than results from paid social campaigns, for instance.
The Difference with Full Funnel Paid Media Campaigns
The difference between traditional paid media advertising, which focuses on rapidly converting customers, and full funnel campaigns, is how long your results will last. Traditional paid media campaigns focus on driving eyes towards your products with targeted ads.
However, they don’t always engage and nurture customers through every stage of the funnel. Remember, even if you can drive greater awareness for your products and services, it takes time to turn leads into customers, and even longer to turn them into loyal brand advocates.
That’s where full funnel paid media campaigns make all the difference. They’re designed to connect with your audience even before they begin their buyer journey and improve consideration, not only boosting conversions, but generating brand recognition and engagement, for longer-term results.
With a full funnel approach, you nurture relationships with customers on a longer-term basis, generating trust for your brand, and boosting your chances of long-term conversions.
This approach takes longer, and can be more expensive initially, but the results are stronger.
How Long Does it Take Full Funnel Paid Media Campaigns to Work?
The general consensus among full funnel paid media experts, is that it can take around 10-12 months to see significant benefits from your campaigns. That’s not to say you won’t see some results faster than this. Many companies do see leading indicators of campaign success within 6 months or less, such as increases in traffic and click-through rates.
However, full funnel paid media campaigns do require a longer-term commitment. As a marketing research report from Fospha found in 2023, the return on investment for companies that invest in full funnel strategies for at least 10 months is much greater than it is for those who only sustain their activity for 3 months.
This is particularly true for companies that retain their ad spend on specific segments of the funnel, such as raising awareness, and improving reach. Companies that spend consistently on brand awareness campaigns for at least 10 months achieved 42% higher ROAS (Return on Ad Spend).
Alternatively, firms that reduced their awareness spend, to focus more on conversion, found it was up to 35% more expensive to acquire a new customer. There are two primary reasons for this. Advertising often cheaper for companies focusing on the earlier stages of the funnel, as there’s less competition. Additionally, upper funnel activity is what lays the foundation for future conversions.
Fospha’s research showed that consistent investment in awareness and reach delivers stronger results in the long-term, reducing ad spend and even increasing conversion rates. However, there’s a lag in impact. Within 3 months, the effects of your campaigns are unlikely to have materialized fully. That’s why it’s so important to make a commitment to a longer-term strategy.
Patience Pays Off with Full Funnel Paid Media Campaigns
Our suggestion that longer term investments (particularly in early stage funnel campaigns) are more valuable for full-funnel ROI isn’t just based on market reports, or our own experiences with clients. There are plenty of case studies that prove this theory.
For instance, Gousto, one of the world’s leading recipe box subscription services, spent years using paid media campaigns online and on television to increase signup and conversions. However, the company’s limited approach meant they quickly hit a ceiling with their performance.
To achieve longer-term results, the company needed to switch to a more comprehensive, full-funnel paid media strategy. Doing this meant spending more time and money on optimizing experiences in the early stages of the funnel for potential Gousto customers.
Though the new strategy took time to implement, it drove significant results. In 2018, more than 80% of the company’s sign-ups came from performance marketing strategies with big customer acquisition costs. Three and a half years later, 82% of sign-ups came through referrals and organic strategies, neither of which have a direct impact on the company’s marketing costs.
The reason for this? Gousto established a strong framework for brand awareness, and earned the trust and loyalty of its customers with a full funnel paid media strategy. Doing this not only strengthened the company’s presence among consumers, but helped to convert existing customers into advocates that drive new business to the organization for free.
Give your Full Funnel Strategies the Time They Deserve
It’s difficult to patient when it comes to advertising. Every company wants to see results as fast as possible. However, it’s important to think about the big picture. Quick outcomes are great, but if they mean you’ll be spending more in the long-term to acquire and retain customers, the ROI of your marketing campaigns will suffer.
Full funnel paid media campaigns will take longer to generate results on a massive scale, but the long-term impact is much greater. With a comprehensive full funnel strategy, you’ll not only see increased conversions and traffic to your website. You’ll build relationships with customers, and strengthen brand awareness, to the point where your customer acquisition costs will naturally drop.
You’ll be able to convert customers into advocates for your brand, and earn more sales through referrals and organic methods, leading to a higher ROAS and ROI in the future. Often, the best things in life require patience, the same is true for your full funnel paid media campaigns.
Ready to take the first step? Contact the Graygency today to learn more about our full-funnel approach to advertising, and how we can help you achieve sustainable, long-term growth.
Want to learn more about full funnel paid media ? Try these articles below:
Full Funnel Paid Media: Everything you Need to Know
How Much Should You Invest in a Full Funnel Paid Media Strategy?
What is Full Funnel Marketing? Insights, Data and Tips
