The sales funnel is one of the most important processes for those who have an online business, and want to see it grow and get results.
It is a representation of the process that potential customer goes through from when they learn about you and your brand to the purchase stage.
And as such, it needs basic knowledge to be able to make the most of it.
Read on: in this article, you will find the definitive guide of DiventaUnMarketer regarding sales funnels.
Sales funnel: definition
Many people don’t know what a funnel is and get confused by it.
The definition of a sales funnel is literally “sales funnel” and represents all those strategies used to attract and acquire customers from different and multiple sources.
Through a sales funnel, it is possible to analyze every step that leads a user from being such to an actual customer.
Thanks to its study and its optimization it is possible to increase sales, awareness of the brand/brand, and customer “loyalty”.
What are a sales funnel and how does it works
By studying what a sales funnel is, it is possible to know how you need to act to attract potential customers within specific phases.
Stages are often described in many different ways but converge in the same results.
A traditional channel is made up of 4 different moments:
- Awareness
- Interest
- Decision
- Action
The first step for those who want to know what a sales funnel is and how to make the most of it is to increase the number of visitors to their site and attract potential customers.
There are many ways to do this.
You can opt to create quality content from an SEO perspective, publish articles, lead magnets and get backlinks.
As people progress through the funnel, your strategies for generating more customers through your sales funnel will tend to become more and more personal and specific.
In some cases it may be advisable to offer a free demo of your product or a phone call, until the result of the sale is reached.
Deepening the phases of a sales funnel
Using this strategy to create sales funnels is somewhat similar to the concept, used in copywriting, of the AIDA scheme. The acronym AIDA derives from the initial letter of each phase in English: awareness, interest, decision, action.
These 4 phases represent the evolution of the mentality of potential customers.
Every single part of the sales funnel requires a different approach on your part, to avoid sending the wrong message at the wrong time.
In fact, everything must keep a correct history to avoid confusing its potential customers.
To give a practical example, if certain phases are not respected, it is as if a waiter proposes the desserts even before the main courses.
Let’s take a closer look at each stage of the sales funnel
Awareness.
For those who want to know how to create a sales funnel, the first step to take is that of awareness.
This is where you first get a consumer’s attention.
You can use a message via social media such as a tweet or a Facebook post, or opt for a Google or another.
This way your potential customer gets to know about your business and what you offer.
It may happen in some cases that customers decide to buy immediately.
But this is actually much rarer than expected, as the consumer has already done a research phase and is aware that you are offering something desirable at a reasonable price.
More often, however, it happens that through the awareness phase, you have to be able to convince the potential customer to return to your site and interact more with your business.
Interest
When consumers reach the interest stage within the sales funnel, they research, compare purchases, and reflect on their options.
This is the time to intervene with free, high-value content using well-crafted squeeze pages that make them understand the quality of your services.
The goal at this stage is to establish your experience, help the consumer make an informed decision, and offer to help.
Decision
The decision stage of the sales funnel is when the customer is finally ready to buy.
He or she might consider two or three options, including you.
This is the time to make your best offer and differentiate yourself from your competitors.
It could be free shipping, in the case of selling a physical product, where most competitors charge, a discount code or a bonus product.
Either way, you need to be able to make it so compelling that your lead will be eager to take advantage of it.
Action
At the bottom of the sales funnel, the customer takes action.
Buy your product or service and become part of your company’s ecosystem.
How to create a sales funnel: a practical example
Let’s take a practical example to better understand what a sales funnel is and how to best use it.
Think you’ve created an e-commerce site that sells specific products or services.
You know that your target audience frequents Facebook a lot and that your target customers are males and females between the ages of 25 and 65.
For this reason, you decide to sponsor yourself through Facebook by creating an ad that drives traffic to a landing page.
On the page, ask your prospect to join your mailing list in exchange for a lead magnet – free, high-quality content.
At this point in the sales funnel, you were able to convert potential customers into leads through this funnel.
In the following weeks, your goal is to send your contacts content to educate them and share tips and help them.
At the end of the email sequence, you can offer them personalized offers for their first purchase within your eCommerce.
Later you will insert the same customers in new email lists, and they start the process again but with different contents and offers.
This was a practical example for those who want to know what a sales funnel is :
- Phase 1: Awareness.
Create a social media ad to funnel people to your website.
- Phase 2: Interest.
Offer high-quality content in exchange for lead acquisition.
- Phase 3: Decision
Content informs the audience and prepares them for purchase.
- Phase 4: Action
By offering a coupon for the first purchase on the site, people will be motivated to take action and buy.
More comprehensive strategies
There are also other strategies that can be used at the end of the first sale to increase its effectiveness.
- Repeat
Just because a consumer reaches the bottom of the funnel doesn’t mean your job is done.
Many marketing sales funnels stop after the purchase is made.
But in today’s dynamic and competitive environment, it’s critical to keep customers with you for as long as possible.
In this regard, good after-sales service and the use of a CRM can be used to increase the chances of customers becoming repeat customers.
Invite your customer to contact you with feedback one week after purchase and make yourself available for technical support to stay in touch with them.
2. Loyalty
In the loyalty phase of the sales process, customers develop a preference for you and your brand.
They no longer make repeat purchases because you remind them, but because they genuinely like your product.
It means customers remain “loyal” even when there may be problems.
To make this happen you need to be able to create a strong bond with them, through commitment, involvement, personalization, and loyalty programs.
3. Promotion
In the best cases, it happens that your customers are so happy with your products or services, that they spontaneously start to become promoters.
In fact, if they are enthusiastic they talk about it with their family, or friends or share their experiences on social media.
In other words, they are now helping you build awareness and authority in your brand.
Sales funnel: conclusions and takeaways
In this article, I’ve talked about sales funnels: what they are and how they work.
The 4 main steps to follow for those who want to know how to create a sales funnel are:
- Awareness
- Interest
- Decision
- Action
In addition, you can also enter additional steps at the end after the first sale:
- Repeat
- Loyalty
- Promotion