In today’s business environment, “growing your customer base” is more important than ever. It is not enough to simply announce a new product on the web. Today’s consumers are looking for a complete solution to their needs and are reluctant to make a purchase until they are satisfied with the final outcome. As such, the sales funnel or buying funnel, serves this need by bringing the customer through the stages of purchasing intent – where they may be halfway toward a purchase decision – to the stage of conversion, where they must actually make a purchase to achieve their goal.
The journey in marketing funnel is two-phased. At the beginning, the prospects are referred to as “warm leads.” These are people who have expressed an interest in your services and/or products but little else. At this stage, you can sell them a variety of offerings that may be related to what they indicated they were interested in. You can also highlight your most lucrative offers – offering the best return on investment, the greatest opportunity for growth, or the greatest benefit plan. This will attract the “warm leads” to continue their journey through the marketing funnel.
When the “warm leads” perform well and are not sold anymore, they become “cold leads.” At this point, they are receptive to your sales pitch and are more likely to make a purchase. The third stage of the journey through the marketing funnel is where the prospects are converted into “qualified leads.” This is typically a sales pitch aimed at closing the sale.
A crucial aspect of marketing funnel is the creation of an effective customer journey. Without a clearly defined customer journey, a company cannot correctly apply itself to the process of prospecting, which in turn, prevents growth. In addition, without a customer journey, companies effectively can’t apply themselves to the process of increase web traffic. The purpose of the customer journey is to create a clear path between prospect and sale, so that the company is able to efficiently market itself to the right audience at the right time with the most appropriate offer.
To achieve success in the marketing funnel, a company must first build up a strong foundation. To do this, the company must focus on creating quality and relevant leads before it delves deeper into the process of prospecting. The first stage of the funnel is to identify potential prospects. By identifying potential leads, you’re more likely to find qualified prospects and convert them into brand leads.
Once you’ve determined your targeted market and/or audience, you then need to segment your audience by finding unique attributes about them, such as their age, geographic location, preferences, and other characteristics that will help you market to this target audience. Next, you need to understand how you want to differentiate yourself from your competitors in the highly competitive market for products and services. Finally, you should provide the best presentation of your brand.
To reach the sales process, the last stage of the marketing funnel involves calling prospective customers. During this stage, you must call and make an appointment to discuss your product or service in order to build the awareness necessary to convert prospective customers. At this meeting, you also have an opportunity to market your product or service to this target audience. However, to ensure a successful endgame, the customer should be aware that you exist. By using the right marketing tools, you can give this stage a powerful finishing touch.
The final stage, converting prospects into buying customers, is often the most challenging for companies because it requires rigorous research and extensive planning. By using Google Analytics and Facebook Ads, companies can better gauge the effectiveness of their marketing funnel. These two marketing tools provide companies with detailed information about their potential customers, including age and gender, location, and interests. By combining information about these three factors with social proof, companies can improve the effectiveness of their marketing funnel. Social proof includes the recommendations of friends, connections, and other individuals who have availed of your products or services.