A marketing funnel (or sales funnel) is the process a lead goes through to become a paying customer or client. The end goal may also be non-monetary, like capturing a person’s email address.
Marketing funnels (sometimes referred to as the “customer journey”) are essential because they help turn prospects into customers. They’re called funnels because at the beginning of the process you cast a wide net to attract lots of potential customers. Some people continue down to the next step, while others “drop out,” until you’re left with those who take the target action (like making a purchase).
Each stage of the funnel represents a state of mind. Some people know exactly what they want and just need the right offer. Others aren’t sure exactly what they want and just need the right pitch.
The standard top-down marketing funnel formula is AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. It’s been around for more than decades because it works has worked.
But the way we purchase has changed. Social media, influencer marketing, and brand advocacy have all impacted how, where, and why we buy what we do.
Marketers still have to attract leads, generate interest, nurture decisions, and inspire action. But not necessarily in that order. Today, prospects can enter the marketing funnel at any stage. That means you may need to up your game.
Here are 5 ways to optimize your marketing funnel to get the results you want.
1: Know your audience
It sounds obvious, but to optimize your sales funnel you have to know enough about your prospects. Understanding your target audience will help you create better marketing messaging and boost your conversions.
Start by building buyer personas—semi-fictional representations of your ideal customers. To create buyer personas, you’ll need to consider demographic information (age, gender, household income, etc.), buying habits, lifestyles, goals, and motivations. Your buyer personas will drive everything from your content creation to sales follow up.
Also study your successful competitors. Try to understand what’s working well for them. Analytics tools can help. They’ll give you insight into your competitors’ traffic sources and their top-performing content so you can try to break down what is resonating with their audience.
2: Use an omnichannel approach
Consumers today expect a seamless and personalized buying experience across platforms. This is why omnichannel marketing is so important. To pull off an effective omnichannel marketing strategy you’ve got to get your entire team on the same page—that means your sales, marketing, product development, customer support, and PR teams.
Every interaction with a potential lead—whether it’s through email, your website, or social media—is an opportunity to deliver a personalized marketing experience and gather more information about prospects.
Disney is a great example of a company that’s nailed down omnichannel marketing. The beautifully designed website works seamlessly on mobile, and the My Disney Experience tool lets you plan out your trip in advance. In the park, visitors can use the mobile app to locate attractions and find out wait times. And the company keeps coming up with new innovations—the Magic Band wristband lets you check in at Fast Pass entrances, charge food and merchandise purchases to your account, access your hotel room, and more.
Thankfully, you don’t need Disney’s massive financial resources to create a great omnichannel experience for your audience. You just need to enlist the help of a good digital marketing agency.
3: Create great content
Valuable content helps drive sales. Research backs this up. Think about the last time you bought a product or signed up for a service. Odds are you read or watched some informative, entertaining, or otherwise compelling content that helped seal the deal for you.
What exactly is great content? In a nutshell, it’s original, it’s intentional, it answers questions, and it’s engaging. Great content helps people solve their problems. It gives them ideas. It gets read, shared, and talked about.
A perfect example are YouTube product review videos. Chances are if there is a product you are considering, there is a review video with thousands of views that has helped (directly or not) sell more of the product.
Go back to your buyer personas (which you’ve already started creating, right?). What are their pain points? What solutions might appeal to them? Use these questions to create useful blogs, videos, and other content that will help them address their problem, issue, or need.
4: Shift the focus from transactions to relationships
Whether your goal is to get people to buy a product, enroll in a service agreement, or sign up for a newsletter, building relationships is how you get there. And it’s how you create repeat customers and brand advocates. Think about how you can help nurture leads through every stage of the customer journey.
Get creative with targeted content, remarketing, or even personalized videos. Today marketing funnels are double-sided. Your goal isn’t just to get a purchase, it’s to create loyal customers and brand advocates. It is no longer just about the “sale”—it is about the lifetime value that customer can bring to your brand, and it all starts with the relationship.
5: Use positive reviews and testimonials to your advantage
Reviews, testimonials, and customer stories can help you build trust with prospects. One report found that displaying reviews on websites and landing pages can boost conversions by 270%. If you’re fretting about those less-than-optimal reviews, don’t. The same report found that while positive reviews are helpful, too many (or only) 5-star reviews make people suspicious. It turns out some negative reviews are actually a plus because they make a product or service seem more credible.
Posting reviews on your site or other platforms you use can increase conversions, especially if you’re selling higher priced items.
Ready to Rebuild Your Marketing Funnel?
The digital marketing experts at National Positions can help you revamp your marketing funnel to keep up with the ever-changing sales landscape. From lead tracking to marketing automation to content creation, we’ll help build an integrated campaign that boosts conversions and builds customer loyalty.
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