A conversion funnel is an online marketing term related to the business goals we set ourselves when we start an online business. It is also 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.
what are the stages and how should I treat my leads?
- TOFU stage (top of the tunnel): This is the first stage, the discovery stage. In this stage, the user detects that they have a need and begins to look for information to solve it. In this stage, you should act by providing them with general information about your products and services. Therefore, it is advisable to disseminate:
-Blog articles, in which you can talk about the latest news or market trends.
-Publications on social networks that invite your followers to interact in order to generate engagement, such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn...
-Tutorial videos that show explanations on how to use your product.
- MOFU stage (middle of the funnel): In this second phase, the user evaluates different options and begins to show consideration and interest in our product. To make this visit become a lead, you have to provide them with specialised content in exchange for their contact details, such as their email or telephone number, through a landing page. To do this, you will have to offer them valuable content such as:
-Ebooks that delve into the topic of interest to your target audience and are interesting to the reader.
-Webinars to educate leads and tell them about the benefits of hiring your services or purchasing your products.
-Interesting or eye-catchingevents that put prospects in context and feed their curiosity.
- BOFU stage (bottom of the funnel): At the bottom of the funnel we have the users who already have the intention to buy our product and only need a final evaluation to decide. That is why it is of utmost importance to provide content that helps them make the purchase decision such as:
-Product demonstrations or free trials for the user to evaluate whether it is what they are looking for. This is one of the most effective techniques as everyone is willing to get something for free, which they may or may not end up buying.
-Previoussuccess stories so that future users can see that your service and product is effective.
-Discounts to encourage purchase.
Other stages the sales funnel is divided into
The funnel methodology is not only divided into three stages depending on the part of the funnel in which the users are. It can also be divided into five stages depending on how the customer is doing:
-Lead acquisition: In this stage, the most important thing is to get your future customers to give you their data so that you can use them in your funnel.
-Prospect: Once this happens, what you have are prospects, we classify the previous leads in order to create strategies according to them, so you save effort by knowing where each of your leads is in your sales funnel.
-Opportunity: In this phase you should focus on finding your sales opportunity, that is, you already know what product or service the potential customer is most interested in, so you should focus on showing him only what he considers relevant and discard the rest of the information.
-Qualification: Measure and analyse the interactions that these future customers have had with the products, so you will know what specific interests they have and what will drive them to make a purchase.
-Closing: This is the last stage of the sales funnel, in this stage the lead has already become a customer, that is to say, they have already made a sale, so the company has achieved its main objective.
Advantages of using the conversion funnel
- It allows us to know the percentage of user losses on our website in each of the stages in order to find a solution. Our goal should be to reduce this percentage as low as possible, or, in other words, that the users who 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.
- 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 little difficulty in closing the deal.
- It 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 customers we already have.
Remember that if you build your sales funnel strategy well, you will be able to take your leads phase by phase until they become loyal customers.
