What is a sales funnel and why do you need them in your business?
One of the core concepts you will hear about in marketing is the sales funnel. What is it? And why do you as a small business owner need to know about it
What is it?
A sales funnel is exactly what it sounds like. A process or concept that “funnels” consumers through to your business and maps their buying journey from awareness through sales conversion and beyond.
A sales funnel has five stages: Awareness; Interest; Consideration; Intent; and Purchase .In each of these five stages of the sales funnel, leads are nurtured with targeted marketing material to help massage and guide customers through “touch points” and on to the next stage of their buying journey towards sale conversion and purchase. We’ve all been to a clothing store.
We browse, and then a sales assistant comes along and greets us warmly and then offers assistance. Just before checking out, our eyes wander to the clearance rack of dresses. The sales assistant connects with us there too and drops in that he can discount the dresses further if we buy 2 or more.
Intrigued, we select 3 dresses and head to check out. Just before checkout, the sales assistant mentions there is a scarf that would go well with the dresses. Sure enough, a scarf is added to the purchase as well. It doesn’t end there–we are so pleased with the store’s service and products, we go back again and again. This same process of nurturing leads through a sales funnel happens on your website.
How does it help you and your business?
A good sales funnel leads to increased growth. According to Salesforce, 68% of companies have not identified or even attempted to measure their effectiveness of their sales funnel. By creating and/or evaluating your current sales funnel, you can potentially drive greater sales, create stronger brand awareness and increase loyalty to your products and services.
Here are three good reasons why your business needs a good sales funnel:
1. It helps you pick a marketing strategy
A good sales funnel helps you find your target audience and develop marketing and advertising material that appeals to that target audience.
2. It helps you generate more sales
Because you have developed a great marketing strategy, you are able to relate to your target audience better, subsequently driving the right kind of customers to your business.
3. It helps you improve on the ways that help improve your business
No business is perfect. Having a sales funnel in which you can monitor marketing campaign outcomes and sales, you can easily develop strategies to improve weaknesses in your business processes and remove road blocks that stop customers from purchasing your products.
What are the tools you need to build a sales funnel?
Building a sales funnel is surprisingly easy. Here is how to build a simple sales funnel fast in a few easy steps:
Identify your target audience and analyse their purchasing behaviour. The better you know about your target audience, the more effective your sales funnel...
Capture your target audience's with a good ad. When I say good, I mean make it eye catching, funny, intelligent. Make your business stand out.
Build a landing page. They need to have somewhere to go to read all about your amazing business and sign up to your email data base!
Create a sequenced email campaign. Show a bit of leg...then even more slowly...show them just some of the meat and potatoes...
Keep in touch. This is important. Businesses forget about this. Out of sight, out of mind is exactly the opposite of what we are aiming for here.
What does a sales funnel look like?
Let me paint a pretty picture: You have started up a business selling beauty products online. Being the amazing business person you are, you know that your target audience is between the ages 18 –55 years and are constantly scrolling through Instagram. So, you run an Instagram campaign that drives traffic to your landing page. There you draw customers in with a few tips on how to find the perfect foundation colour for your skin and asked them to sign up to your email list in exchange for some more tips.
Sign up = real leads (and not just prospects).
Over the next few weeks/months you will send more tips via email, educating consumers on how to perfect that eyeshadow. Giving them confidence to try new products. You tell them how easy it is to perfect that flawless foundation look and at the end of your email you offer a 15% discount off their first product purchase.Then BOOM! Beauty products are flying out the door. New customers and one-time customers are added onto a new email list and the whole process starts again with new content.
You have led your customers through a very simple sales funnel.
Awareness: The Instagram ad.
Interest and Consideration: The sequence of emails and information to assist with decision making.
Intent: Discount offer on products they are interested in and have now considered.
Purchase: You got‘em baby!
Having said all the above, building out a sales funnel is no mean feat. Although the steps within the funnel are simple, the work to create a connection with the target audience and nurture consumers through the sales funnel with well thought out targeted content to ultimately have the consumer believe that it was their idea to purchase your product or service takes time and a good deal of planning. But hopefully, this article will have given you the basics concepts on how to start building out your sales funnel. Now go out there and herd those customers in! What the Creative Assistant has to say...-We don’t think you should set up so many sales funnels that you start to annoy or badger your customers. - Not too salesy! Try to be softly, softly with your nurturing-Finally, if you need any help with setting up sales funnels please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
What Carlie has to say...
We don’t think you should set up so many sales funnels that you start to annoy or badger your customers.
Not too salesy! Try to be softly, softly with your nurturing
Finally, if you need any help with setting up sales funnels please don’t hesitate to get in touch.