American Marketing Association Professional Certified Marketer (PCM) Content Marketing Practice Exam

What is the first phase of any marketing funnel?

1. Affinity

2. Action

3. Attention

4. Aware

The correct answer is: Aware

The first phase of any marketing funnel is focused on building awareness among potential customers. This phase is crucial as it establishes the initial contact between the brand and the audience. By creating awareness, marketers aim to inform potential customers about their products or services, highlighting what they offer and the benefits involved. In this phase, strategies can involve a variety of tactics such as advertising, content marketing, social media outreach, and public relations, all aimed at capturing the attention of the target audience. This is a critical step because if potential customers are not aware of the brand, it will be challenging to move them further along in the funnel towards engagement and ultimately conversion. The terms that suggest various stages, such as "affinity," "action," and "attention," refer to follow-up stages or different aspects of the process, but the foundational goal is to first ensure that potential customers are aware of what your brand represents and what it can offer. Awareness serves as the building block for all subsequent engagement and conversion activities in the marketing funnel.