What’s a sales funnel and how do you use one?
If the mere mention of sales funnels makes your eyes glaze over (yet you secretly suspect your business would benefit from one), here’s all you need to know.
If you’re looking to grow your business online, you’ll have heard marketers and copywriters (sorry) throwing around the term, ‘sales funnel’.
It’s such a jargon-y term, but thankfully not nearly as complicated or technical as it sounds.
Let’s start with the basics.
What is a sales funnel?
It’s the journey people take from becoming aware of you to buying from you.
Think of it as a concept, rather than a specific tool.
Calling it a sales funnel – rather than a journey – simply highlights the element of control. You can define how to move customers through your funnel, providing information and building their trust, so they end up clicking on your ‘buy now’ button.
Why ‘funnel’?
Imagine 100 people have heard of your business (top of the funnel) and then 5 decide to buy from you (bottom of the funnel). The top will always be wider. You need a lot of people to be aware of you, to make one sale.
What happens between the top and the bottom?
The stem of the funnel represents all the touch points that a potential customer might encounter on their journey with your brand. It’s the relationship you build with them along the way. Many customers will encounter up to 20 touch points before clicking ‘buy now’.
By making sure these touch points are relevant and valuable, you’ll continue channeling your ideal customers down the funnel, closer to the sale.
Is that where content comes in?
Yes. People want to know what you can do for them and why they should trust you. And as they become more interested, they move further down the funnel.
Your content should give your ideal customers everything they need to know to make a final decision. How can you reassure them? Or excite them?
You might:
- Answer questions clients often ask
- Give them an insight into your paid service
- Help them make some progress themselves
- Show your own brand, personality and values
- Share testimonials and case studies from similar customers
This content could be in the form of free guides, blogs, social media posts, videos, podcasts and discovery calls.
How do you attract people into the funnel?
A lot of businesses offer a lead magnet – a free and valuable piece of content targeted at their ideal customers, that someone can download in exchange for their email address.
You can create your own lead magnet in 5 simple steps here.
What tech is involved?
To keep in touch with your ideal customers, you need to collect their email address early in the process and get permission to email them. An email marketing platform (such as mailerlite) helps you do this, and lets you automate your emails.
Social media platforms can help you share relevant content (focus on the ones your audience uses!). Having a private Facebook group can help you engage a targeted group of prospects and share specific value.
How does a complete funnel look?
Here’s one example:
1. Offer a free lead magnet (create one that your audience can’t resist here)
2. Send a welcome sequence of 5 emails
3. Recommend they subscribe to your blog or follow you on LinkedIn
4. Continue to share content and value through social media, blogs and emails
5. Link to your sales page/website where they can choose to buy
A customer would rarely travel from 1 to 5. The touch points between 2 and 4 build their interest, offer more information and gain their trust.
That’s an overview of a sales funnel. By defining your customer journey, you can work out what content to offer them, in what order and on what platform, and purposefully encourage them through a funnel to ultimately buy from you.
If you have any more questions, or need a hand putting your own funnel together, please get in touch.