Much like a real world funnel, where we
pour water into the top, which filters down to an end destination,
the sales funnel is much the same. At the top,
a lot of visitors who arrive may enter the funnel, but there's one key difference.
Unlike the funnel you and I are accustomed
to, not all who enter the sales funnel will come out on the other end.
Let's find out how you can ensure
a seamless journey from top to bottom for your customers.
Hey, guys, it's Jack here from Neighbourhood,
where we help brands find, sell, and keep their people.
At its core, a sales funnel is a series
of steps that someone has to take in order to transition into being your customer.
And in marketing terms,
it's a customer-focused marketing model designed to help you
gain qualified prospects and turn leads into new loyal customers.
A typical sales funnel leads is a prospective customer through each step of their
journey, be it through social media posts, videos, landing pages, or blog posts.
The end goal is the moment a potential customer becomes a buyer.
So, why is a sales funnel so important?
Well, understanding your sales funnel is
essential for ensuring a healthy conversion rate of prospects to customers.
Picture this, you build a marketing strategy, gain a decent number of clicks,
but no one takes that final step to convert.
How will you know what's wrong?
This is where sales final management comes in.
With a thorough understanding of the customer journey that your
prospects are taking, you'll be able to better identify the weak points.
Sales funnel is a tool that lets you take
control of your buyers purchasing decision, because without one,
you're essentially flying blind and creating cold prospects.
So what are the steps?
Well, there are four sales funnel stages. Awareness, interest, decision, and action.
Let's get educated on what each of these stages is.
First up, awareness.
The awareness stage is the moment
at which you catch your potential customers attention.
It might be a social media ad, a tweet,
a Google search, or anything else that brings you to their attention.
But essentially,
your prospect is now aware of your business and what you have to offer.
The second stage is interest.
At this stage of the sales funnel,
your potential buyer is doing research, comparing your products,
watching video testimonials, and thinking over their option.
This is not the moment to push your product.
Instead, you should offer them some
relevant marketing content that solves a problem for them.
The goal is to establish yourself as
an expert in your field and help your prospect make an informed decision.
The next stage is desire.
This delicate decision phase is where your customer is prepared to buy.
They may still be juggling options,
but they're set in their decision to spend money.
This is the moment in which you should present your best offer.
This can include free shipping, a bonus product, or a discount code.
Whatever the offer, make sure it's relevant and attractive
enough that your lead will want to take advantage of it.
And stage number four, Action. Welcome to the bottom of the sales funnel.
They purchase a product or service
and become an official part of your customer poll.
However, just because you've gained a new customer doesn't mean your work is over.
You want to turn your customer
into a repeat buyer and an advocate for your brand.
This is the stage at which you should thank them for their purchase,
deliver on your promises, and reach out to them for feedback.
It's also all about customer retention.
Look after them and they'll look after you.
Ok, so now we have a better understanding of the sales funnel and it's steps.
Now what? Let's have a look at example sales funnels
that hit all the relevant points, starting with analysing audience behaviour.
Knowing your audience is key when it comes to any marketing effort.
Where the better you know your target
customer, the more effective your sales funnel is.
After all, you're not marketing to just anybody.
You're aiming to peak the interest
of those who are a good fit for what you're selling.
When designing a sales funnel,
you need to have a good grasp on your target audience's behaviour.
You should know what platforms they use, what they share, and how they interact.
This information will help you develop
customer personas that will be able to further improve your marketing effort.
Number two, capturing attention. Your sales
funnel is only as strong as its first stage.
If you can't lor people into it, the process becomes stale.
This is a point at which you want to put
content in front of your target audience, go organic and post heaps of content
across multiple platforms, focusing, of course, on those your target
demographic frequently visits. Diversify the types of content
with product demo, videos, infographics, Google ads, and other types of media.
The goal here is to make your target audience aware of your brand.
Number three, building a landing page. Your
content needs to take your prospect somewhere.
This is where building a landing page with a can't miss offer comes in.
Just remember, now is not the time to push a hard sell.
Instead, you should focus on capturing leads.
Your landing page must steer your visitor to the next stage of your sales funnel.
Ensure it has a bold call to action that tells them explicitly what to do next.
This could be signing up for a newsletter
or downloading a free e-book. Fourth, creating an email campaign. Pick at your target
audience's interest further with a steady but non-intrusive email campaign.
At first, you want to make your audience
aware of your brand and your product or service, but not give them a hard sell.
Your campaign should introduce the concept
of a sale to your lead gradually and build their interest with relevant
and educational material through an email sequence.
At the end of this drip feed,
hit them with an incredible offer they won't be able to refuse.
Fifth, is staying in touch.
Keep your existing customers in the loop by rewarding them with a thank you
for their purchase and perhaps a discount code for future ones.
The key here is to make them feel supported,
listened to and valued.
Following that is measuring the success
of your sales funnel, as this will be essential to fine tune the process.
Things like A/B testing your landing page or email campaigns are great strategies
for measuring and monitoring your funnels progress.
When in doubt, always monitor your conversions.
How many people click through from your posts?
How many subscribe to your newsletter?
How many went on to become buyers? Tracking
these numbers will ensure that you
measure your funnels success and cheque for weak points in the process.
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And finally, finding cracks in your sales funnel.
Like any process, the sales funnel isn't perfect.
When you first delve into the development
of the funnel, you'll likely make mistakes.
The important thing is that you find any
leaks in your funnel and plug them up fast.
Finding cracks in your funnel doesn't need to be tricky.
Simply follow the numbers.
Did a lot of people click through
from your social post, but not a lot acted on your call to action?
This indicates a problem with your landing page.
Perhaps it isn't optimised properly.
Maybe the copy is turning people off.
This is where hiring a professional
designer and copy editor will be useful for your business.
Do you have a lot of email sign ups, but not a heap of conversions?
This is an indication to look at your email campaign performance.
Creating an effective sales funnel takes
time, skill, and effort, but it's well worth it.
With a killer sales funnel, you'll be able to guide your prospective
customers through the process of buying easily and effectively.
So what are you waiting for?
Copy needs to be written.
Email sequences need to be scheduled.
Pixels need to be installed.
You'll be capturing all that is flowing through that sales funnel in no time.
If you found this video helpful, feel free to share it with someone
who needs a hand with understanding sales funnel.
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you'll find a bunch more tools, tips, and templates to help you find, sell,
and keep your people just like Neighbourhood does.
So that's it for me. Happy selling.