SALES FUNNEL: WHAT IS IT?

Heyyy, entrepreneur, great to have you here! This article will be really useful to you because BEING PROFITABLE ON THE INTERNET, growing, and expanding with low risk is a goal every business owner and company seeks. To achieve it, the most effective strategy is to implement the sales funnel of the internet 

But… ATTENTION: you must be clear, it is not a magic trick nor easy money; instead, it is a system that, when designed and implemented correctly, can become a conversion machine that increases your sales through digital platforms.

Although this system is complex in terms of its structure, you will be amazed at how easy it is to understand, the logic of its step-by-step process, and the pros that add to its favor.

 

WHAT IS AN ONLINE SALES FUNNEL?

 

 

An online sales funnel or conversion funnel is basically the process of acquiring customers online.

Its goal is to attract users to your brand or business and convert them into customers, following a process that is based on the natural behavior of human beings.

How does an online sales funnel take into account the natural behavior of human beings?

That’s right. Instead of overwhelming the user with commercial information from first contact, a sales funnel attracts them, makes them aware of a desire, need, or problem they have; then educates and “nurtures” them so that in the end, when you offer your product or service, they believe and trust you so much that they have no choice but to acquire your solutions.

Bringing it to a real-life example:

Imagine you meet a man or woman you like. What is the first thing you do?…

I don’t think you would immediately propose to be their boyfriend/girlfriend or tell them how great you are as a partner and everything you have to offer. Such a mistake could cause that person to reject you immediately and even tell someone else about the bad experience.

This same thing can happen when trying to get clients online; to avoid it, a funnel or sales funnel uses at least three stages that the user must go through before becoming a client. 

You can continue reading or skip to point three:  WHAT ARE THE STAGES OF A DIGITAL MARKETING SALES FUNNEL?

CHARACTERISTICS – and advantages – OF A SALES FUNNEL

The wonderful thing about an online sales funnel and what sets it apart from other types of strategies in the digital environment is that it is a SYSTEM:

• Scalable: its structure is designed to grow without undergoing complex modifications and without losing quality.
• Traceable: with the help of various tools and procedures, the sales process can be tracked at each of its stages.
• Measurable: the great advantage of the internet is that thanks to tools like Facebook’s pixel, Google Analytics, Hotjar, and the different statistics offered by social media platforms, mass mailings, among others, we can track, evaluate, and measure each of the actions we take towards our users and vice versa.
• Susceptible to improvement: having traceability and measurement, there is enough information to make improvement decisions that lead to a more effective result.
• Predictable: with a well-defined audience, a solid structure, and a good mix of organic content and advertising budget, the funnel can predict user behavior, how much needs to be invested to obtain N number of new customers, among other data.
• Automatable: one of the great advantages of implementing a sales funnel in any online business is that its three stages can be 100% automated. After its design and first months of operation, the human work focuses on optimization.
• Integral: with the sales funnel, all the elements of the digital marketing plan, that is, social media, the website, email marketing, landing pages or landing pages communicate with each other and all focus on feeding a single goal: generating CONVERSION in terms of sales.

The above points mean that an online sales funnel is an intelligent decision for any type of business and represents low risk and uncertainty when investing in its design and maintenance.

Who would refuse to invest resources in a strategy if they know they will get positive and consistent results?

 

WHAT ARE THE STAGES OF A DIGITAL MARKETING SALES FUNNEL?

The online sales funnel is literally an inverted triangle containing three crucial stages (although depending on the strategy, it may have one or more additional steps).

• Brand awareness
• Consideration
• Conversion

 

But ATTENTION, before continuing, you should know:

• The first and most important tip for a successful sales funnel is to be clear about who your IDEAL CLIENT is because from there you will know what type of users to attract to the funnel, what they like, what content they prefer, and how to talk to them. Read how to find your ideal client.

• The ultimate goal of a sales funnel is, sorry for being redundant, to GENERATE SALES; not simply obtain an email, view, or download, which is important but during the process.

Now let’s get started:

STAGE 1:  BRAND AWARENESS

The brand awareness stage is at the top of the funnel. 

The brand awareness stage is at the top of the funnel. or top of the funnel.

As you can see, it is the first and broadest phase of the funnel. Many users will come here who, although they fit your IDEAL CLIENT, most likely do not know anything about your brand or your solutions; they may know they have a need or problem to solve or may not even be aware of it.

• THE CHALLENGE: make yourself visible to all users aligned with your ideal client, catch their attention, and make them aware of your brand.
• TYPE OF TRAFFIC: at this stage, we consider users to be “Cold Traffic,” meaning they are not ready to buy YOUR solutions.
• WHAT YOU SHOULD TALK ABOUT: talk to them about the problem, need, or desire your ideal client has. Discuss these topics in general, do not mention your brand or your products or services. To attract them, use LEAD MAGNETS or “bait.”

Briefly, a lead magnet is a hook or an ethical bribe that you give to a user in exchange for their contact information. This lead magnet can be FREE or very low cost, should be related to your services or products, and we recommend that it be very easy for your user to consume.

Some lead magnets are:

• Checklists
• Guides
• Templates
• Ebooks
• Discounts and promotions
• And our HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: QUIZZES

STAGE TWO: CONSIDERATION

The second stage is Consideration, in English Consideration Stage or middle of the funnel.

At this point, your audience already knows you, follows you, has shown some interest in your brand, and it is very likely that you already have their email. Now these users need to know what solutions your brand offers for the problem, need, or desire they have.

In this step, we must prepare these users so that later they can become clients. For this, CONTENT is key, because you must nurture and educate them with useful information.

You must generate a lot of trust, make them perceive you as a reference, an expert in the solution you offer; moreover, you can even generate a feeling of “commitment” or “gratitude” towards your brand, just by sharing valuable and timely content with them.

• THE CHALLENGE: get the user to consider your brand and your solutions as one of their purchase options.
• TYPE OF TRAFFIC: the user at this step is considered “Warm Traffic,” meaning they are just one step away from becoming your client.
• WHAT YOU SHOULD TALK ABOUT: since they are aware of their problem or need, mention your solutions, give them a chance to compare, why is your brand the most appropriate for them? It works very well to share with them:
• • Your or other references’ success stories.

• • Testimonials that give social approval to your brand.

• • Specialized content that shows you master the subject.

• • Free samples of your products or services.

• • Listen to your users and create content that addresses their doubts and objections.

STAGE THREE: CONVERSION

In this third stage, which in English is called Conversion Stage or bottom of the funnel, is when users become your clients.

Being the narrowest part of the funnel, you will understand that the number of users who reach here is much smaller than those who entered the funnel, with the difference that these are quality users, they already know your brand and think they need your solution, that is, they are ready to acquire your products and services.

• THE CHALLENGE: close the sale of your product or service. An appointment, a quote, or a business call.
• TYPE OF TRAFFIC: at this stage, the users are “Hot Traffic,” meaning they are ready to buy or may have already bought once and want to do it again.
• WHAT YOU SHOULD TALK ABOUT: talk to them about the specific solution you know they need. Always accompany this content with a strong call to action: BUY IT NOW, GET IT HERE, BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT NOW. And if you want to be more convincing, use techniques such as:
  • Scarcity principle: only two spots left; two products in stock.
  • Limited time: offer valid for two hours.
  • Irresistible offer: give them a discount code, free shipping, or free return. (Promises that are real. Not to deceive the client)

In this stage, you have to continue generating a lot of trust; the content should also aim to clarify:

• Guarantees
• Usage Policies
• Shipping policies
• Return Policies
• How the purchase process works
• If your website is transactional, show them that it is a secure site.

With this last point, the three basic stages that make up a sales funnel or sales funnel are explained. However, as I mentioned at the beginning, there are some strategies that requires adding one or two more steps after Conversion, which would be:

LOYALTY STAGE: constant actions to ensure the customer is recurrent, for example, VIP discounts, partnerships with different brands, memberships, among others.

EVANGELIZATION STAGE: this stage consists of turning your customers into promoters or a sales army, as happens in business models like Avon or other affiliate programs.

And so, my dear entrepreneur, this article concludes where we learned what a sales funnel is; what the advantages of implementing a good Sales Funnel in any type of business are and finally, what stages make up this online sales process.

I know this information is very useful for you, especially when you are evaluating how profitable it is to continue investing time, human resources, and money in your business’s online presence.

If you still don’t know what stage your business is in at the moment and want to know what steps you should follow to get better results online, DO THIS.

 

Until next time, see you in the TROPIC!