are all conversion funnels the same? Find out yours

what is a conversion funnel or conversion funnel?

The conversion funnel is an online marketing term related to our business objectives and that we consider when we start an online business.

It is a way of classifying and organising the different stages that consumers go through: from the moment they generate a need until they decide to fulfil it and become customers.

These three stages are:

• TOFU stage (top of the funnel): this is the first stage of discovery: the user detects a need and is looking for information to find a solution.

To attract the attention of this potential consumer, you have to provide general information about your products and services.

• MOFU stage (middle of the funnel): in this second stage the user evaluates different options, and starts to show consideration and interest in our product. To make the user decide for our offer and become a lead, we will have to offer him valuable content.
  
  
• BOFU stage (bottom of the funnel): lastly, at the bottom of the funnel we have the users who already have the intention of buying our product and only need a final evaluation to decide. This is the time to offer them exclusive offers such as free trials or discounts to get their attention and make them buy.

Advantages of using the conversion funnel

In order to understand how to correctly interpret our conversion funnel it is necessary to understand how and why we acquire customers and how to retain them, both of which are the basis for business growth.

The main advantages of the marketing funnel are:

• It allows us to know what is the percentage of user loss of our website in each of the stages in order to find a solution. And for this our goal should be to reduce this percentage as low as possible. Or, in other words, that the users that pass through the different stages are as many as possible.
  
  
• The conversion funnel can be of great help to us, since in addition to its metric function, it can also help us to optimise our plan in the different phases. And thus, make the best decisions about what to do in each of the stages in which the user advances. The funnel allows us to have a much clearer idea of exactly where we have to focus our efforts.
• It is vital for the marketing and sales departments to be connected and work towards common objectives. As our website improves, the type of lead that will reach the sales team will be very prepared for the sale and the sales team will have very few difficulties in closing the deal. Both marketers and salespeople can access all the information from each stage of the funnel, so the improvements made will have an impact on all the processes.
  
  
• The effectiveness of the sale increases and, therefore, you manage to lower the costs at the customer acquisition level, thus achieving a constant source of new customers in a much simpler way. However, managing to retain the customer and gain their loyalty will mean an additional investment in your marketing.
  
  
• The ability to measure results in real time is key to improving results. When you create a marketing funnel, the lead qualification process is automated, saving you time and improving your performance.
  
  
• It also helps us to calculate the return on investment (ROI) of our campaign. One of the most common mistakes in an online marketing campaign, and especially in inbound marketing, is to focus efforts on attracting the largest number of customers, that is, to place users in the widest phase of the funnel, so sometimes we forget to improve our relationship with the customers we already have.
  
  

what is the right conversion funnel for my industry?

The definition of a conversion funnel, with its different stages, can make us understand that it can be more profitable and effective to attract a more interested type of user and thus reduce the percentage of drops within other phases of the process.

Depending on the type of funnel you apply, you will have to take into account some things or others. Here we explain them to you:

• In the first phase of the funnel, your objective will be to capture leads, that is, to convert a visitor to your website who reads some of your content into a lead. It is a simple and quick process, as it consists of the user leaving their contact details, but at the same time it is hard work, as you will have to commit a lot of resources to improving the quality of your portal and attracting the undecided public.
  
  
• The second phase is lead nurturing, also known as lead nurturing. It aims to improve the relationship with the potential customers in your database. During this process you will be increasing the interest of these potential customers in what you offer. To do this, you must know the interests of each of the contacts in the database and offer them personalised content based on their interests and needs. If during this process the prospect shows interest, then it will be time to move on to the sales process.
  
  
• The sales funnel aims to convert contacts into customers through the purchase of your product or service. Once the buying process is complete, it is important to maintain the relationship with the customer by, for example, advertising other products or services they may be interested in, or even offering them exclusive promotions for their loyalty.

To find out which funnel is the most suitable for you, we recommend you to:

Set up your metrics well. Analyse how you capture traffic to your website and track your social networks and see what results you get once users have viewed your content. Most current web analytics services, such as Google Analytics, offer the option to configure the different phases of the conversion funnel so you can analyse them in detail. Make sure it is correctly configured and review it to detect any weak points.

It is also very important to know who your buyer personas are. Creating a database to segment your users into different profiles will help you to define the characteristics of these buyers and thus adjust to their needs throughout the funnel.

If you want users to stay with you , make sure that your website visitors can easily find what they are looking for and that the different steps of the funnel are clear.

Do a keyword study to be able to work your content according to the most relevant searches according to users.

On many occasions, visitors may have doubts throughout the purchase process. If they do not find a quick answer, they may abandon your page. To avoid this happening, you can include a FAQ page or a chat to solve their doubts.

When it comes down to it, you need to have a strategic plan that can be measurable and scalable and, above all, that can generate a business opportunity. Keep these recommendations in mind when optimising your online marketing plan and get the one that best suits your business.