If you've heard of a sales funnel in digital marketing, but you don't know exactly what it is and why it's important, this article is for you!
The first thing you need to know is that the sales funnel is made up of stages, and each one of them has an impact on consumer behavior, so it is essential to know them very well.
By knowing what each stage is and how it works, you can use tactics and techniques to improve the number of people who move from one level to another. That is, knowing when people are going down the funnel.
Let's imagine you've doubled the number of people in 2 funnel steps. Now, you've doubled the leads and doubled the percentage of new sales. This provides 4 times the number of new customers per month.
Defining and managing your sales funnel in digital marketing is one of the most powerful concepts in any type of business.
But, after all, how to do this?
Read on and discover everything you need to know to succeed with the sales funnel!
Come on?
What is a Sales Funnel?
To better understand, imagine that you have a physical store. People at the top of the funnel pass through your store. A certain percentage of them decide to join, moving on to the next stage of the funnel.
One of the people sees a shelf of T-shirts on sale. She looks at the products and is now on her way to the next stage of the funnel.
Then the person selects some products and goes to the cashier. She is at the last stage of the funnel. If all goes well, she completes the purchase and reaches the end of the funnel, becoming a customer.
This same process applies to many types of businesses in one way or another, whether physical or online.
It is worth saying that any marketing channel can be part of your sales funnel. And its funnel can be applied across multiple channels.
While there are many words used to explain the different stages of the sales funnel, I will name the four most common terms so you can understand how each stage works and how a person goes from visitor to prospect to customer.
A visitor can reach your website through a Google search or link on social networks.
He now becomes a potential customer. This way, you can check out some of your blog posts or browse your product options.
At some point, you will have to offer him the chance to sign up for your email list.
If that visitor fills out your form, they will become a lead. Now, you will be able to have contact with him outside your website, for example, through email or phone.
Leads tend to come back to your website when you contact them with special offers or new blog posts, for example.
The sales funnel gets narrower as visitors pass through it. This is because you will have more potential customers at the top of the funnel than buyers at the end of the funnel, but also because your message needs to become more and more targeted.
What is the importance of the Sales Funnel in Digital Marketing?
The sales funnel in Digital Marketing illustrates the path that potential customers should follow.
Understanding your funnel can help you find the “holes” in the stages – the parts where people might give up and never convert.
If you don't understand your sales funnel, you can't optimize it. As a result, you can miss out on many sales opportunities.
Also, by understanding the funnel, you can think of ways to move leads through all the stages until they become customers.
I will go into the details of how the funnel works later. For now, keep in mind that you can influence how visitors to your website or social media, for example, move through the funnel and end up converting to customers.
Sales funnel stages
You will be able to find different definitions of sales funnel and its phases. Today, I will use as an example the phases of: Awareness, Interest, Decision and Action.
These four phases represent the mindset of your potential customer.
Each step requires a different approach, and you don't want to send the wrong message at the wrong time.
It's like a waiter asking you what you want for dessert before you even order your entree.
Next, understand how each stage of the sales funnel works.
Awareness Phase
At this stage it is necessary to draw the attention of the potential customer. It can be through an Instagram post, a tweet, a Facebook post, a Google search, and so on.
Your potential customer will learn about your company and what you offer.
When you reach the right people, sometimes they buy right away. It is a scenario of the right place and time. The potential customer has already researched and knows that you are offering something they are interested in.
Understand that this stage feels like dating. You will need to convince the potential customer to return to your site to engage more with your business.
Interest Phase
When potential customers reach the interest stage of the sales funnel in Digital Marketing, they are doing research, doing price comparisons, and looking at options.
This is the time to focus on quality content that helps them, but doesn't try to sell.
If you try to sell your product or service, you will likely alienate your potential customers.
The goal at this stage is to establish your experience, help consumers make an informed decision, and offer your help in any way you can.
Decision Phase
The decision stage of the sales funnel is when potential customers are ready to buy.
They may be considering some options, and with luck, you're included in that list.
This is the time when you must make your best offer. You can offer free shipping – while most of your competitors charge for delivery – or send a discount code or bonus product.
Whatever your strategy, make your offer so irresistible that your lead can't wait to take advantage of it.
Action Phase
At the end of the sales funnel, the customer takes action. He buys your product or service. Just because a consumer reaches the end of the funnel, however, doesn't mean their work is done.
The action phase is for the customer and marketer. You need to do your best to turn a purchase into 10, and from 10 to 100, and so on.
That is, you need to focus on customer retention. To accomplish this, express your gratitude for the purchase you made, ask your customers to provide feedback, and make yourself available for technical support, if applicable.
What are levels of consciousness?
In addition to the stages of the sales funnel in Digital Marketing, it is also essential that you understand the levels of consumer awareness, which are 5 in total.
Check them out below:
level 5
Level 5 is the level of consciousness. Here, the person is already aware of your product or service and your brand, and it takes little time for them to acquire what you offer.
People with this level of awareness are ready to close deals, and since they already have a lot of information about your business, they have what it takes to become customers.
Level 4
At the fourth level, the person is aware of the product or service, but still has a way to go before converting.
This is because not all of her questions have been answered and she still needs to feel safe to complete the purchase.
For example, imagine that a person wants to buy a vacuum cleaner, but still needs to find out about it to know which is the best option for their needs.
Level 3
Here at level 3, unlike level 2, the person is aware of the solution he needs. This means that she knows what result she wants to have, but she doesn't know that you are the best option.
At the third level, potential customers may not know your product or service, the only thing they know is that they want to achieve a certain result.
Your role here is to show these people that you offer them a solution that will lead them to the desired result.
This can be done with content that educates the audience so they want to buy from you.
Level 2
At the second level, the person is already aware of the problem he has. Here, she knows she has a problem and needs to solve it, but still doesn't know that there is a perfect solution.
If you have a problem and you are looking for a solution, what will you find? A good example is the posts that make it clear that they are for beginners, where there is a detailed step-by-step with everything needed to complete a task.
Level 1
Level one is when the person doesn't know anything. Even she doesn't understand that she has a problem.
This is the level of non-awareness. It may seem strange that a person doesn't know what problem they have, but this is much more common than you think.
All the levels that were mentioned are very important for you to define and organize your sales funnel in Digital Marketing.
Try to understand what level of consciousness your lead is at. When you manage to define this, you will be able to identify which challenges can be overcome to help and convince your potential customers that your business is the best solution for them.
How to use the Sales Funnel
Now that you know what a sales funnel in Digital Marketing is and how it works, it's time to learn how to use it.
To help you, here are some important steps to take the first steps and build your sales funnel.
Step 1: Understand your target audience's behavior
The more you know about your audience, the more effective your sales funnel becomes.
You're not marketing to everyone, you're marketing to people who want what you sell.
It is important, for example, that you know how your potential customers behave on your website. Understand where they click the most, how much time they spend on a specific page, and so on.
All of this will help you define who your persona is, that is, your ideal customer.
Step 2: Capture your audience's attention
Your sales funnel will only work if you attract people to it. This means you need to get your content in front of your target audience.
Focus on organic posts and post as much content across all your platforms. However, I'm not talking about any content, but publications that are quality and catch the attention of your target audience.
You can publish infographics, videos, e-books and other types of content.
If you can spend more money, invest in ads . The ideal channel to run these ads will depend on where your target audience is. For example, if you sell to companies (B2B), you can invest in advertising on LinkedIn.
Step 3: Build a landing page
Your ads and content need to take your potential customers somewhere. Preferably, you need to direct them to a landing page, with a great offer.
A landing page should take the visitor to the next stage of the sales funnel.
You need a bold call to action that tells your potential customers exactly what they should do, whether that's downloading a free ebook or watching a video.
Step 4: Create an email engagement campaign
Engage your leads via email, offering high quality and relevant content.
Do this regularly, but not too often. One or two emails a week can be enough for your leads.
To sell on Instagram , for example, you first need to educate your audience. Think about what they want to learn and what objections you need to overcome to convince them to buy from you.
At the end of your email engagement campaign, offer an awesome offer. This content will make your leads take action.
Step 5: Keep in touch
Once your leads become customers, don't forget about them. Instead, continue to send content.
Whenever possible, thank them for their purchases, send them discount coupons, and so on.
Conclusion
The sales funnel in Digital Marketing has become something essential nowadays, where it is necessary to think about efforts to reach potential customers on the internet.
But creating and optimizing a sales funnel takes time. This is hard work, which requires a lot of dedication, but it is the best way to survive in such a competitive market.
And believe me, a small detail like choosing a source for lead generation can affect your sales conversions. And if you ask people to buy from you early on, you will drive them away.
If you want to boost your sales, it's critical that you take the time to build your sales funnel, one that represents what you want and what your target audience wants.
Optimize over time, make adjustments to your approach at every stage of the sales funnel, and understand why your efforts aren't paying off.
I hope you enjoyed the content and that, after this article, it is clearer what a sales funnel is in Digital Marketing, why it is important, how it works and how to use it.
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