Post by surovyakter on Jul 30, 2024 23:39:01 GMT -7
Making a sale without losing potential consumers to other products and businesses is often a difficult task for entrepreneurs. At this point, companies that use a sales funnel in their strategies tend to benefit and optimize their commercial results.
With this well-structured tool, it is possible to Barbados Email List map the path that the consumer takes from the moment of discovery of the brand to the after-sales service. This tactic helps to lead the consumer to an ultimate goal, which is the sale of your product or service.
Want to learn how to set up a sales funnel for your company? Follow this content and understand its steps, benefits and importance!
What is a sales funnel?
The sales funnel is a strategic model that shows the customer journey — which consists of the entire path that the consumer takes from the first contact with the brand. This tool is also known as a pipeline and is one of the main concepts of Inbound Marketing .
The entire process consists of following the customer from the moment they learn about your solution until the purchase is finalized or the deal is closed. It is made up of a combination of triggers and steps that facilitate decisions regarding the customer acquisition model and the planning of a business.
The sales funnel is literally represented by a funnel, being divided into:
As you have seen, the sales funnel is used to track the potential customer's journey, providing a prediction of the individual's behavior. From this, it is possible to develop actions aimed at each stage of this strategy, helping to attract and retain consumers.
It is important to understand that the purchasing process is not homogeneous, it happens in stages. After all, during the purchasing journey, the customer goes through several stages that indicate how close they are to buying.
The first stage aims to spark the buyer's interest and make them aware of a business opportunity or problem. Then, they identify this issue and begin to look for a way to solve it.
In the third stage of the customer journey, the customer has already gathered some possible solutions and begins to evaluate the best alternatives for their problem. Finally, they reach a conclusion and move on to the purchase decision process.
By understanding these purchase stages, you can discover which type of company is able to organize its sales stages in a way that qualifies the consumer, prevents bottlenecks and reduces the sales cycle. In this way, the sales funnel allows for better alignment between the marketing and sales departments.
Is that clear? Below, learn about the characteristics of each stage of the funnel to unite the concepts presented and put this strategic model into practice!
What are the stages of the sales funnel?
The sales funnel stages are also known by the English names Top of the Funnel (ToFu), Middle of the Funnel (MoFu) and Bottom of the Funnel (BoFu), meaning respectively, top, middle and bottom of the funnel.
Top of the funnel
This first stage is the phase in which the consumer becomes aware of your brand and is aware of a need. Before this, they were indifferent to their own problem. This means that the person was not necessarily looking for a specific product or had a problem. This was something unknown to them.
However, from the first contact with your brand, it identifies a demand and seeks to study it. At this point, your business must position itself as an expert on the subject.
To do this, it is important to offer content to educate the consumer about that need, helping to diagnose the problem and demonstrating that there is a solution for the situation. Some examples of materials that can be produced at this stage are e-books, newsletters, and blog articles. At this point, any doubts or questions that the consumer may have about the topic will come to you.
With this, you will try to convert the user to want and buy a product or service. This way, it is possible to advance to the next stage of the sales funnel.
Middle of the funnel
The second stage of the sales funnel involves problem recognition. Users identify a need, are aware of it, and look for ways to solve it, such as purchasing a product or service. Therefore, your company's role is to solve this demand.
You can present tips and methods to help your potential customer, as well as apply remarketing strategies , for example, reaching that person who had already been interested in your brand.
To make this tactic clearer, try to remember a search you did on Google, maybe for a product, service or company. After a few days or weeks, you started seeing ads for related products on different websites. Has this ever happened to you? It probably has, since remarketing is widely used by many online businesses.
Another form of remarketing can be done via email. For example, you added some products to a store that you already have an account with, but you didn't complete the purchase. After a few hours with your cart full, you received an email reminding you of these products that were not in stock and, sometimes, even offering a free shipping coupon, encouraging you to close the deal.
In the middle of the sales funnel, we are dealing with leads — individuals who have already interacted with your brand or content and provided contact information in exchange for some valuable material, for example. Remember that your goal is to help the consumer and not sell to them at all costs. It is important to create a relationship of trust between your company and the lead so that when they are qualified, they can move on to the next stage.
Bottom of the funnel
Finally, at the bottom of the funnel, the customer is about to make a purchase. At this stage, you are dealing with MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads). They already understand that they have a problem, have been educated, and know that they need to acquire a solution.
If you and your team have already implemented the marketing strategies correctly up to this point, your business is probably already a reference in the field and the customer understands that they can trust your service.
Therefore, this step is the time to give the lead a little push to close the purchase. A good tip is to use mental triggers, such as the scarcity trigger, offering an offer with a deadline to finish or showing that there are few items in stock. These factors can be decisive at the time of purchase.
Once the purchase is complete, the customer will become a customer. After this, some companies also include the fourth stage, after-sales — which focuses on the relationship with the customer in order to build loyalty and make them promoters of your brand.
How important is the sales funnel?
The sales funnel is a great tool for knowing exactly what actions you need to take to win over your customers. It also helps reduce the loss of potential customers along the way.
Furthermore, by correctly structuring this strategic model, it is possible to monitor the flow of buyers and discover the key periods in your brand's purchasing trajectory. This way, your business is able to create strategies to achieve its goals, discover areas for improvement and increasingly increase conversion.
For example, with an e-commerce platform to sell your products, you can apply the sales funnel tactic by sending marketing emails to consumers who add an item to their cart and do not complete the purchase.
What are the benefits of a sales funnel in e-commerce?
So far, you've probably identified some positive aspects of the sales funnel, right? There are many benefits! We've detailed the main ones so you can understand better. Check it out!
Increased productivity
With well-organized marketing strategies and alignment with the sales team, it is possible to measure employee productivity. This also allows you to focus on actions that actually yield results, increasing team productivity.
Furthermore, when employees monitor data and know how the marketing sector and its actions work, they tend to strive to bring ideas that are more aligned with consumer needs and present better results.
With this well-structured tool, it is possible to Barbados Email List map the path that the consumer takes from the moment of discovery of the brand to the after-sales service. This tactic helps to lead the consumer to an ultimate goal, which is the sale of your product or service.
Want to learn how to set up a sales funnel for your company? Follow this content and understand its steps, benefits and importance!
What is a sales funnel?
The sales funnel is a strategic model that shows the customer journey — which consists of the entire path that the consumer takes from the first contact with the brand. This tool is also known as a pipeline and is one of the main concepts of Inbound Marketing .
The entire process consists of following the customer from the moment they learn about your solution until the purchase is finalized or the deal is closed. It is made up of a combination of triggers and steps that facilitate decisions regarding the customer acquisition model and the planning of a business.
The sales funnel is literally represented by a funnel, being divided into:
As you have seen, the sales funnel is used to track the potential customer's journey, providing a prediction of the individual's behavior. From this, it is possible to develop actions aimed at each stage of this strategy, helping to attract and retain consumers.
It is important to understand that the purchasing process is not homogeneous, it happens in stages. After all, during the purchasing journey, the customer goes through several stages that indicate how close they are to buying.
The first stage aims to spark the buyer's interest and make them aware of a business opportunity or problem. Then, they identify this issue and begin to look for a way to solve it.
In the third stage of the customer journey, the customer has already gathered some possible solutions and begins to evaluate the best alternatives for their problem. Finally, they reach a conclusion and move on to the purchase decision process.
By understanding these purchase stages, you can discover which type of company is able to organize its sales stages in a way that qualifies the consumer, prevents bottlenecks and reduces the sales cycle. In this way, the sales funnel allows for better alignment between the marketing and sales departments.
Is that clear? Below, learn about the characteristics of each stage of the funnel to unite the concepts presented and put this strategic model into practice!
What are the stages of the sales funnel?
The sales funnel stages are also known by the English names Top of the Funnel (ToFu), Middle of the Funnel (MoFu) and Bottom of the Funnel (BoFu), meaning respectively, top, middle and bottom of the funnel.
Top of the funnel
This first stage is the phase in which the consumer becomes aware of your brand and is aware of a need. Before this, they were indifferent to their own problem. This means that the person was not necessarily looking for a specific product or had a problem. This was something unknown to them.
However, from the first contact with your brand, it identifies a demand and seeks to study it. At this point, your business must position itself as an expert on the subject.
To do this, it is important to offer content to educate the consumer about that need, helping to diagnose the problem and demonstrating that there is a solution for the situation. Some examples of materials that can be produced at this stage are e-books, newsletters, and blog articles. At this point, any doubts or questions that the consumer may have about the topic will come to you.
With this, you will try to convert the user to want and buy a product or service. This way, it is possible to advance to the next stage of the sales funnel.
Middle of the funnel
The second stage of the sales funnel involves problem recognition. Users identify a need, are aware of it, and look for ways to solve it, such as purchasing a product or service. Therefore, your company's role is to solve this demand.
You can present tips and methods to help your potential customer, as well as apply remarketing strategies , for example, reaching that person who had already been interested in your brand.
To make this tactic clearer, try to remember a search you did on Google, maybe for a product, service or company. After a few days or weeks, you started seeing ads for related products on different websites. Has this ever happened to you? It probably has, since remarketing is widely used by many online businesses.
Another form of remarketing can be done via email. For example, you added some products to a store that you already have an account with, but you didn't complete the purchase. After a few hours with your cart full, you received an email reminding you of these products that were not in stock and, sometimes, even offering a free shipping coupon, encouraging you to close the deal.
In the middle of the sales funnel, we are dealing with leads — individuals who have already interacted with your brand or content and provided contact information in exchange for some valuable material, for example. Remember that your goal is to help the consumer and not sell to them at all costs. It is important to create a relationship of trust between your company and the lead so that when they are qualified, they can move on to the next stage.
Bottom of the funnel
Finally, at the bottom of the funnel, the customer is about to make a purchase. At this stage, you are dealing with MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads). They already understand that they have a problem, have been educated, and know that they need to acquire a solution.
If you and your team have already implemented the marketing strategies correctly up to this point, your business is probably already a reference in the field and the customer understands that they can trust your service.
Therefore, this step is the time to give the lead a little push to close the purchase. A good tip is to use mental triggers, such as the scarcity trigger, offering an offer with a deadline to finish or showing that there are few items in stock. These factors can be decisive at the time of purchase.
Once the purchase is complete, the customer will become a customer. After this, some companies also include the fourth stage, after-sales — which focuses on the relationship with the customer in order to build loyalty and make them promoters of your brand.
How important is the sales funnel?
The sales funnel is a great tool for knowing exactly what actions you need to take to win over your customers. It also helps reduce the loss of potential customers along the way.
Furthermore, by correctly structuring this strategic model, it is possible to monitor the flow of buyers and discover the key periods in your brand's purchasing trajectory. This way, your business is able to create strategies to achieve its goals, discover areas for improvement and increasingly increase conversion.
For example, with an e-commerce platform to sell your products, you can apply the sales funnel tactic by sending marketing emails to consumers who add an item to their cart and do not complete the purchase.
What are the benefits of a sales funnel in e-commerce?
So far, you've probably identified some positive aspects of the sales funnel, right? There are many benefits! We've detailed the main ones so you can understand better. Check it out!
Increased productivity
With well-organized marketing strategies and alignment with the sales team, it is possible to measure employee productivity. This also allows you to focus on actions that actually yield results, increasing team productivity.
Furthermore, when employees monitor data and know how the marketing sector and its actions work, they tend to strive to bring ideas that are more aligned with consumer needs and present better results.