Understanding the Sales Funnel: Key Concepts
People aren’t patient. They don’t scroll on websites any more than they do in life. That’s why the people who sell things to people like you and me had to get better at it.
There’s another thing they’re not good at, committing. Would you marry the first person you see (unless it was a Johnson or a Beckham). You wouldn’t, right. That’s why you need some kind of structure.
The way I see it, i prefer dating, but if it works for millions of people, then i guess a sales funnel is just as good as any. So, what exactly is a sales funnel. I’m glad you asked.
What looks like an upside-down ice-cream cone on your PowerPoint presentation is actually one of the most remarkable tools ever invented for marketing. It’s literally a way to visualise how your customers move through your website (or don’t) and why they eventually don’t buy that little black dress you spent months sourcing from Milan (or some other place). By giving you ways to increase or ease awareness about your products, sales funnels are marketing’s love letters. Does it sound ‘creepy’ that companies map out your digital behaviour.
Yes. But are you being watched by Google anyway. Also yes. It’s now very important for businesses to map their potential customer’s journey so they can improve on things along the way.
With every customer that gets hooked into buying something, there is always some opportunity missed or lost somewhere along the way. So here’s where sales funnels come in to help you get more customers. With all this information, where do you begin.
The start of the journey - by understanding key concepts about sales funnels that help you decide how your customers are behaving and what decisions you should make in response to them. At the end of the day (there will always be one), if business owners can understand how customers behave when online shopping and make better decisions based on these patterns - everybody wins. But then again, where's the mystery.
Step 1: Define Your Target Audience
There's no denying the power of a well-built sales funnel. When it works, it's seamless, like watching an expert juggler at the circus. And yet - so many marketers go about it all wrong. They throw everything they have at everyone and hope something will stick.
It starts with the first step, really - knowing who your target audience is. I've been there before, trying to cast my net wide enough that I'd catch anyone looking remotely in my direction. I'm still surprised with just how little I caught - even though my metaphorical fishing boat was filled to the brim with all sorts of products and services. Since then, I've learnt that focusing on a particular group is always more effective than fishing around for anybody who might be interested.
The way I see it, part of this is because you need to create personas that represent each of your ideal customer groups or segments. Try demographic data for starters. These figures are all about your audience's age, gender, location and other similar categories. Throw in some psychographic information too if you're looking to dive deeper.
These delve into motivations and attitudes: what interests or hobbies do they have. What lifestyle choices have they made. From here you can start to build content that's highly personalised for each group and meet them where they are - instead of waiting for them to come looking for you.
I suppose it sounds simple enough but there are always unique challenges each marketer must face when narrowing in on their audiences. But this makes it one of the most important steps out there - without a clear idea of who you want your customers to be you lose out on an effective marketing and sales strategy.
Step 2: Create Compelling Lead Magnets
You wouldn’t walk up to someone in the street and say “Buy my stuff. ” and expect that to work. Unless you’re drop-dead gorgeous and you’re selling yourself. Or you’re a serial killer.
It’s the same with online customers. They need more than a sales pitch to make them part with their money. Lead magnets act as a valuable tool that helps build trust with potential buyers by providing something of value before asking for anything in return.
The key is to offer something that your target audience finds useful, relevant, and aligned with their interests. This could be anything from an ebook, webinar, checklist, template, or discount code - as long as it solves a specific problem or fulfils a particular desire of your audience. And when I say solves a problem, it might not be the thing they realise they need but the thing that you know they need.
The most effective lead magnets are those that are closely related to your core offering. They should not only attract leads but also qualify them as potential customers who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer. By creating compelling lead magnets that address pain points or provide solutions, you can establish credibility and position yourself as an authority in your industry. As a result, businesses can capture more high-quality leads who are more likely to convert into paying customers down the line.
Seems simple enough but the main thing is ensuring your lead magnet actually offers value to customers and isn’t just clickbait with no payoff.
Step 3: Optimize Landing Pages for Conversions
I noticed - with a tinge of frustration - that sales can flatline no matter how many leads come in. Clicks and traffic are promising, but they don’t mean much if you can’t convince people to stick around. It feels like that awkward moment at a party where everyone shows up on time, drinks your best wine, but then leaves before dinner is occasionally served. That’s why you need to optimise those landing pages.
Design plays a role, sure, but colour schemes and fancy graphics aren’t everything. In my view, the ideal landing page is concise with only a single call-to-action button visible above the fold and another at the bottom for when people have scrolled through. The way I see it, multiple cta buttons on a single screen is like those store assistants who won’t let you browse in peace.
Too much, too soon, and just plain annoying. Getting people to act is seldom also about value perception. We’re all selfish - it’s built into our core programming - so we have to feel like we’re gaining something from the exchange or there’s no exchange at all.
Establish this early on in your headline, preferably within 15 words that spell out exactly what’s in it for them. Now, if you’re paying close attention here, you’ll see that I haven’t gotten into A/B testing or analytics or social proof simply because those are supposedly conditional - they don’t work unless your layout and messaging actually make sense. It’s something to think about; because sometimes you’re talking too much and not saying enough when you can hardly ever say less and achieve so much more.
Step 4: Implement Effective Email Marketing Strategies
You know, email marketing used to have a bit of a whiff about it - like that unmistakable scent of desperation when you stumble upon the street performer on a deserted corner. Not anymore. I Doubt it’s grown up and it’s learned a thing or two about boundaries. These days, you can leverage it to create long-lasting relationships with your customers, improve customer retention and in a roundabout way, drive up sales.
The way I see it, crafting catchy subject lines is one way to get your emails opened but we’re not exactly magicians here. There are several other tricks up our sleeves. Segmenting your email lists and customising content to suit individual preferences is almost guaranteed to get more eyes on your newsletter - as is regularly sending out engaging content about discounts, promotions and other events related to your business or brand. Having said that, don’t go overboard with the frequency of your emails because nothing says unsubscribed like being bombarded by six emails in the space of a week.
Personalisation is at the heart of every email marketing campaign. People want to feel heard and they want to feel seen. The easiest way for them to do both those things. Getting content that’s tailored for them, in their inboxes every week or so.
I mean, I’d sign up. Make sure you’re sending out great content though otherwise this entire exercise will seem like it was all for nought.
Many marketers tend to write off email as a means of communication with customers in 2024 but there’s still some merit in including it as part of the overall funnel process. This is especially true if you’re looking to create repeat customers who see the value in your business and keep coming back for more.
Step 5: Analyze and Adjust Your Funnel Performance
I notice some people seem to think that ‘funnels’ are some sort of magic sales machine. Sounds Like like you build it, plug in your products and voila - cash will rain down upon you (well, that’s certainly the hope). But the truth is, a sales funnel needs a bit more TLC than just leaving it to its own devices. And here’s the thing - if you don’t keep track of the numbers, how would you even know where your bottlenecks are.
There’s no point blaming your product or copy if what you need to address is seldom perhaps slow delivery times or maybe even get rid of certain items on your store. The way I see it, and this step is nearly always less about dwelling on the nitty-gritty details of why something didn’t work and more about getting an overall picture of what did and didn’t. It’s actually quite simple when you look at it that way. Some would say that data doesn’t lie but I find that it only gives you a certain perspective.
Don’t get me wrong, analytics are great but sometimes you need to observe what people are doing with your store before deciding to scrap something entirely. What I’m saying is, all this new information can be rather exciting to look at but it takes an experienced person to know what to do with it. It appears most creators have gotten over their hang-ups about the need for performance analytics and even some negative feedback. Bad news is nearly always still better than no news because at least now you know what doesn’t work instead of wasting time with something that’s bleeding money out of your business.