If you work in sales and marketing, you’re most likely familiar with the term “sales funnel.” It is a customer-centered marketing model that works for any type of online business, exhibiting the journey of customers from the start to the end of their purchasing process.
The aim of a sales funnel is to help your prospects turn into customers by establishing trust with them over time. Doing this, of course, requires taking steps to help you bring people from being unaware of your business to ultimately purchasing your products/services.
In this guide, you’ll find out everything you need to know about who needs a sales funnel, the importance of having one, and how you can create the perfect sales funnel to convert prospects into loyal customers.
What Is A Sales Funnel?
Simply put, a sales funnel is a repeatable process that can be set up within a specific business to constantly help new prospects in the following ways:
- Learning about your product/brand and company
- Establishing a relationship with you
- Buying an introductory product/service
- Buying a mainline product/service
- Engage in repeat purchases and become a loyal buying customer who also refers your products to others
A sales funnel often goes by the name of a purchase funnel because it is mainly a visual representation of a customer’s journey. It shows the entire sales process, from creating awareness about your product to encouraging them to take action, i.e., buying it.
The 4 Stages
In the digital marketing world, a sales funnel has become relatively easy and quick to set up. A typical sales funnel comprises four stages:
1. Awareness
The first step is to make the prospects aware of your brand and the products/services you offer. This can be done by creating and posting engaging content on social media.
2. Interest
The second step is to develop an interest in your product amongst the prospects and make the initial contact as they reach out to you.
3. Desire
Thirdly, it’s time to qualify your leads by presenting your offer(s) to them, highlighting the key benefits and features, and telling them why it is the right solution for them. This stage is about establishing a desire amongst prospects to buy your product.
4. Action
The last step is the prospects finally taking action, such as purchasing your service, membership, or product and becoming loyal customers.
Do You Need A Sales Funnel?
The concept behind a sales funnel, often referred to as a revenue or a marketing funnel, is that every sale starts with a significant number of potential customers but ends with a relatively smaller number of prospects who make a purchase and become your customers. Hence, the top of the funnel is broader, and the bottom is narrower.
So you can see that each and every business needs a sales funnel because, without it, they wouldn’t be in business. If you are an eCommerce business, you must establish a strong presence online because people have an abundance of resources to choose what’s best for them.
Moreover, they are keen on purchasing from businesses they trust and have a good relationship with, which is possible when you have it. Technically, if you already have a website or social media account, you already have it.
However, if you want your business to scale, you must work on bringing in more prospects to know about your business and establish a strong relationship with them. This will eventually boost your customers’ lifetime value.
So, having a sales funnel provides visibility that enables you to measure your results, track your progress, and organize a more efficient marketing strategy.
Wrapping Up
In the present day, a successful firm relies on both marketing and sales to guide the customer via the sales funnel and to create customer loyalty, taking advantage of customer data analytics, content marketing, and the 2-way communication offered by social media marketing.
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