It’s time to sit down, grab a pen and a piece of paper, and finally work out your sales funnel. Trust us, it’s worth it. If people have seen your ads but aren’t buying, the problem is likely your sales funnel or lack of one. Every single business should have a sales funnel to keep their marketing on track and observe whether or not their marketing or advertising tactics are helping to grow their bottom line. Better yet, create a sales funnel for each of your main services or products so that you scale across all areas of your business.
But first, what exactly is a sales funnel and how does it help?
A sales funnel is a series of steps that a business uses to guide prospects into becoming happy paying customers. The main goal is for the customer to follow the steps of the funnel to the very end where they purchase your product or service. There are a few stages involved, and your sales funnel should be updated regularly by looking at your website analytics alongside any other customer metrics you have to see if you can create a better customer buying experience. The better the experience, the more sales you will have as a result assuming that there is a need in the market for your product or service.
Having an outlined sales funnel can also help you predict the estimated sales expected each month. It’s true that once you have implemented a sales funnel that converts, your marketing becomes more of a numbers game than anything else. The key to the success of your sales funnel though, lies in analysis. By evaluating the sales funnel, you can tell where your customers are most likely to drop off and not complete a transaction so that you can improve those areas along the way. If look closely enough you can also discover WHY they don’t buy as well.
There Are 4 Important Stages of Your Sales Funnel
Leaving one out means you may lose your prospect and in turn lose a sale. But, if you keep these 4 key stages in mind while you build out your strategy, you’re sure to create a path for your customers that herds them in the right direction.
1. The Awareness Stage
This is where the prospect learns about your brand or company and what you have to offer. Customers at this stage are doing their research through search engines, social media, word of mouth, engaging with advertising, promo materials, and so on. At this point, the customer is determining whether or not your brand/product/service has any value to them. If it does, then they go to the next step of the funnel. If it doesn’t they drop out of the funnel.
WHAT TO AVOID AT THIS STAGE
Errors you might make during this stage come down to your brand’s identity and style. A customer may not engage because they simply don’t like the first impression you made. A poorly built website without enough information or that has broken links and spelling errors, can turn the customer away instantly. Your graphics, colour scheme, and professional image are being evaluated as a representation of your brand. First impressions are very important so make sure to put your best foot forward.
KEY METRIC TO LOOK AT
Pay attention to the CPR (cost per reach) and what type of media you use to spread the word about your company, product, or service. CPR is a metric that marketing professionals use to determine where to place ads and how much to pay for them. You want to calculate the CPR for the number of consumers each media outlet will reach. This includes radio and TV. You can measure this by conducting surveys and monitoring how many leads are being brought in through each medium. If you aren’t developing the number of leads you are hoping for, it’s time to re-evaluate your CPR to come up with a better plan but, not until you give yourself time to test out a few iterations. No one is amazing at anything the first time they try it so know that you’re going to likely roll through a few growing pains along the way.
2. The Interest Stage
This is when the prospects are researching different brands or services knowing that they have a need for the solution or product. Holding the interest of the customer can convince them to purchase your product or service instead of going to a different company to make their purchase. Your marketing and sales team should collaborate to determine their ideal target audience and then craft engaging content that speaks to the customers’ pain points so they know you “get” them.
Customers want to know that you’re an expert in your field. If you include downloadable resources with information that would benefit them, it shows them that there is a reason to be loyal to your brand because you add value to their lives. Little things like a resource guide encourage customers to complete the transaction. Testimonials are also a good tool to assure potential customers that you are legitimate and trustworthy.
WHAT TO AVOID AT THIS STAGE
Be careful that you aren’t too pushy when selling your product or service. This might chase people away from completing a purchase. Having a downloadable resource is one thing, emailing them aggressively on a daily interval until they submit to your purchase just to make you go away is another. Heavy-handed sales tactics don’t gain customers, it often scares them away.
KEY METRIC TO LOOK AT
CPC refers to the amount of money you pay when someone clicks on your ad on social media, websites, mobile apps or search engines. It’s a ratio between the number of people who saw your ad and how many clicked on it which helps show you whether your ad is engaging enough or sometimes whether it’s well targeted or not. It’s a good idea to do A/B testing in this stage to see which words or images garner you the best result so that you can repeat more of what works, and dump whatever doesn’t.
3. The Decision Making Stage
This is when the customer has decided whether or not they want to buy your product or service. Discounts, special offers, promotional offers, free shipping, and gift-with-purchase offers can help secure the deal because it will validate that the customer is saving money and they will be less likely to hesitate. However, it’s important to not always use a discount to secure customers or you risk being known as the discount brand.
WHAT TO AVOID AT THIS STAGE
Make sure you don’t have any sudden extra costs or conditions that might upset the customer. If they get to the checkout and there’s a handling fee, a long delivery window, or a bunch of fine print comes up about their purchase, they may be hesitant to finish the deal.
It’s also important to ensure your website is optimized to its full potential when viewed on a desktop or mobile device. Slow loading times that delay a transaction or errors in the checkout form may make a customer exit the website and not return.
KEY METRIC TO LOOK AT
The OTHER CPC — the cost per conversion. It tells you how many people are actually going down the sales funnel and requesting more information, booking a consultation, or adding the product to their cart. If your CPC rate is low in this stage, then it impacts the final stage of the funnel which is the key to growing your business. You might even look at the CPC of various stages from requesting a download to booking a consultation and signing a contract depending on what your business sells. Various engagement points might all have different CPC rates which you can optimize individually to improve your results.
4. The Action Stage
This is the last part of your sales funnel, where the customer has completed the transaction and has purchased your product or service. It’s important to make the customer feel welcome by expressing gratitude for their purchase. It’s also the time to encourage them to return to your business for other products or services they might need. Alternatively, you could ask them to sign up for a newsletter, follow you on social media, or recommend your business to a friend. Another great way to engage them is to offer them a discount code for future purchases. This encourages customers to come back and possibly purchase another product/service.
There are so many things at this point you can employ to nurture a relationship with your newest customers. You can send them an email and ask them to post a review on their purchase to help other people decide whether or not to buy. You can set up widgets on your website so that a positive review will go directly to your Google page and a negative review will be sent to the company’s email to be addressed. The options are nearly endless but, having some sort of next step in the funnel helps develop a long-term relationship that lasts.
WHAT TO AVOID AT THIS STAGE
Don’t be demanding. Not everyone will take the next step you want them to. And, if you get a bad review, don’t ignore the problem. Have a plan in place when negative experiences pop up so you know how to de-escalate the situation as quickly and professionally as possible.
KEY METRIC TO LOOK AT
CPA is the cost per acquisition. It’s a marketing metric that measures the cost of everything you have done to attract and convert that new customer. Looking at this metric tells you how much you spend to get 1 customer which helps you scale your sales funnel and revenue. For example, if it cost you $100 to get one customer, if you spend $800 you can estimate that you would get 8 new customers. But, you could also look at this number and set a goal as to how much you want to decrease that cost so that you can get more bang for your buck. You have to be realistic with this goal as there is a certain level of spending needed but, we are firm believers that there is always room for improvement in everything we do.
After You Create Your Sales Funnel How Do You Improve Your Conversions?
The answer lies in better understanding your target audience
What if a large number of customers aren’t going down the funnel? Maybe they are leaving on the third step, the second, or even the first.
Understanding your audience plays a big part in the success of your sales funnel. Who are you trying to attract? Why do they need your product or service? If you are selling mobility products and your audience is older, then having an easily accessible website with a large print will help pull in customers. If you have a dance company specializing in ballet, you aren’t going to have dark colours with an ominous style of writing like you’re talking to Terminator fans. You need to figure out your brand’s identity, persona, and voice so you can stay consistent throughout all your content whether on social media platforms, your website, or the ads that appear on search engines. It all needs to speak to and attract your key customer.
WHAT TO AVOID AT THIS STAGE
Talking to everyone often means you are talking to no one. We often meet with business owners who initially say that everyone is a potential customer. However, the best results are achieved by creating a sales funnel that speaks to collections of niche audiences.
Other Things To Ask Yourself While Creating Your Sales Funnel…
- Are you properly explaining why customers would want to purchase your product?
- How does your product or service benefit the customer?
- Did you plan your content strategically to speak directly to them?
- Are you attracting them by showing how using your product or brand can benefit their life?
PRO TIP: Research other brands/companies similar to yours. What do you think their sales funnel looks like? By understanding how they are marketing their products, what social media platforms they are advertising on, and what kind of leads they are aiming for, you can get a feel for your competitor’s way of selling their service. By doing this research, you can optimize your sales funnel to put you on the podium and outperform the other competitors.
As you can see, a sales funnel has a lot of complex steps to it but, when planned accordingly sales funnels can help you climb that ladder of success one rung at a time.
Do you want to create a sales funnel that gives your marketing strategy the structure it needs so that you not only attract more customers but, convert them systematically too? Our diverse team of marketing and advertising experts specializes in creating and optimizing sales funnels that convert not sporadically but consistently. And, that consistency is what helps you grow your business and your bottom line. Want to learn more? Book a consultation with us and let’s start creating the sales funnel system you need to reach your revenue goals.
