How to Build an Effective Sales Funnel: All You Need to Know
In the world of digital marketing, success doesn't come without a plan. You need to know where your leads are coming from, what's working and what's not, and how to get people to take the next step.
That’s where sales funnels come in! The idea behind a sales funnel is that you (the business) will attract a lead (someone who has shown interest in your product), then nurture them through their journey with your product or service.
This article will teach you how to build an effective sales funnel that will help you sell more.
Define your sales funnel
First, you need to define your sales funnel. As with any digital marketing strategy, you will want to break down the different stages of the funnel. Start by defining the top-of-funnel (TOFU) and bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) steps. The TOFU includes all of the ways you can attract leads, like through ads or social media posts.
The BOFU includes ways to keep leads engaged and on the sales cycle with your brand, like newsletters or live chat.
Next, you'll want to define what qualifies as a "lead." This is an important distinction because not everyone who visits your website will become a lead.
If someone only visited your website once without taking action, they may not be a lead. Defining what designates a lead will help you know where people are in their journey as it relates to your business.
Know where your leads are coming from
One of the first steps to building an effective sales funnel is identifying where your leads are coming from. There are many ways you can generate leads, but it’s most important to know which ones work best for your business so you can focus your efforts.
For example, if Facebook ads are a big part of your marketing strategy, find out how many leads they generate for you and then focus more of your energy on that channel.
The internet has made it easier than ever before to track the sources of our leads. Tools like Google Analytics allow us to see how customers found our website and how they interacted with it - what pages they viewed and what content they engaged with.
Attracting your leads
Sales funnels are all about attracting leads, and there are many ways to do so.
Email marketing: It’s one of the strongest lead generation tools on the market today, thanks to its ability to be hyper-targeted and personalized. You can get in touch with your leads quickly and regularly to offer them the products or services they need.
Social media ads: Social media networks like Facebook offer you a way to target your audience with pinpoint accuracy, which means you can attract your ideal customer by using this platform.
Lead magnets: This is when you offer something of value for free in exchange for an email address or contact information. You might give away some of your best content or provide a white paper that educates people about your product or service without asking for anything in return.
SEO: If you want to generate traffic from search engines like Google, then pay close attention to SEO. A well-executed SEO strategy will help you rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs) and draw more traffic from prospective customers who are actively seeking what you have to offer.
Moving them through the funnel
Whether you’re in e-commerce or a brick-and-mortar store, getting people to take the next step is critical. If someone leaves without purchasing anything, you have wasted an opportunity. So, how do you get them to stay and make a purchase? You need to move them through the sales funnel.
The first stage of the funnel is attracting leads. You see an ad or a mention on social media and it intrigues you enough to click and learn more about what they’ve got. This is a lead!
The second stage of the funnel is when they browse your website or physical store and get more information on what you offer. They might be reading reviews, looking at products, or making comparisons among similar items.
This stage is called awareness!
After this first two stages of the funnel, your customer has become engaged--they are aware of your product but not yet sold on it. The third stage is when they start considering buying something from you! At this point in the funnel, they may want to speak with a live agent or get some guidance before making their purchase decision. This stage of the funnel is consideration!.
The last stage of their journey down your sales funnel happens after they have made their decision to buy from you--it’s conversion! Now that your customer has made the choice to buy from you (because of your persuasive product offerings and informative website), now what? You need to follow up with
Understand how to nurture your leads and convert them into customers
The first step to building an effective sales funnel is understanding how to nurture your leads. By nurturing them, you will be able to help them take the next step in their journey with your product or service. There are a few ways that you can do this:
-Send them emails with tips and tricks on your business
-Follow up with phone calls asking for feedback
-Create blog posts about your business and offer them free downloads
Nurturing leads is all about figuring out what they need and giving it to them.
You want to send value so that they will feel like they are getting something from you. The idea is that once they have gone through the steps of nurturing they will understand more about your company, trust you, and see value in what you offer. Then, when it comes time for them to purchase your product or service, they will be much more likely to buy!
One way that some companies nurture their leads is by sending out a sequence of emails over time.
This allows the lead time to start receiving information from you before making a decision as well as time to get used to receiving emails from you. In order for this strategy to work effectively, it's important not only that each email have valuable content but also that there isn't too big of an interval between each email.
If the intervals are too long, then the lead may forget who you are or why they signed up in the first place. If there is too little time between each email, then
Advice for getting more sales with good content
Your content is your bread and butter. It’s what will get people to take the first step in your sales funnel. But how do you know if the content you’re creating is good?
- The target audience:
You want to be sure that your content speaks to the right people. Ideally, this will be a group of people who are interested in what you are selling. If you have a product for kids, for example, you'll want to create content that targets other parents or those with children.
- The subject:
Make sure you're highlighting the benefits of your product or service instead of listing features. People don't care about features - they care about what's going to make their lives easier!
- The language:
Use simple words when writing your content so it’s easy to understand. You don't want someone to find something interesting in one part of your article but not enjoy reading it because they can't understand it.
- The tone:
Don't use exclamation points or anything else childish! Keep it professional at all times and people will respect you more (and likelier buy from you!)
Conclusion
Building an effective sales funnel can be a difficult task.
It’s easy to get lost in the process, but a successful sales funnel is an integral part of any marketing strategy.
The key is understanding where to start, how to move through the process, and what tools to use.
The next time you’re thinking about your marketing strategy, keep in mind that an effective sales funnel is the foundation for any successful lead-to-customer conversion.