The sales funnel is a strategic model used by the marketing and sales areas of companies to map the key moments in the flow of attracting a customer. It is also known as a sales funnel.
It is one of the most important tools for a business, since it is similar to a treasure map that must be followed to achieve the objectives.
After reading this article, you will know what a sales funnel is, what its stages are, and how to build a custom one for your brand.
Let us begin.
What is a sales funnel?
A funnel or sales funnel is a digital marketing concept that represents the stages that a potential customer ideally goes through to complete their purchase.
In other words, it is a map of the key moments a consumer goes through and, in general, is made up of three parts:
- ToFu (Top of the funnel or top of the sales funnel);
- MoFu (Middle of the funnel or middle part of the sales funnel);
- BoFu (Bottom of the funnel or lower part of the sales funnel).
Also known as a conversion funnel, the sales funnel is a graphical way of illustrating how a customer interacts with a brand, starting with a large number of prospects all the way down to the group of customers who actually purchase the product or service being offered.
What is the sales funnel for?
The sales funnel is used to predict and follow the path that the potential customer will travel, from the first contact with the brand to making the purchase in the online store.
Through the sales funnel, it is possible to create specific actions for each stage of the journey, solving the fears and objections that the future buyer may have, giving them the information they need and thus taking them by the hand until they make their purchase.
What are the advantages of applying the sales funnel to your business?
Knowing and building this funnel in your company can help you achieve your goals more easily. Here are some of the main advantages of applying the sales funnel to your business:
- Improve the productivity of your company;
- it makes it easier to detect opportunities;
- you can get to know your customers better;
- gives you valuable information to develop new products;
- you can get more customers.
Now let’s look at each of them in detail:
Improve the productivity of your company
Having a sales funnel helps you understand what are the areas for improvement in that sales process.
By taking a tour of your potential clients, you can have greater control of the promotional actions that you have already implemented and you can also identify what you need to develop.
Remember that productivity is measured taking into account your earnings and the time you invest to achieve them. Therefore, creating a sales funnel will allow you to prioritize the tasks to be accomplished and invest time in what is most valuable to your potential customers.
Makes it easier to spot opportunities
Another advantage of having this model applied to your business is the possibility of detecting where the opportunities are. It may be that you have a very good service, but perhaps your customers take a long time to complete their purchase.
The sales funnel will help you identify which stage you need to focus on and where to put more effort to get better results.
You can get to know your customers better
The sales funnel is ideal to better observe your consumers, to know what their main doubts are when buying and what motivates them to take the next step.
Through different tools (which we will list later!) you can find out if, for example, discounts lead them to complete their order faster or if the motivation lies in the prestige of your brand.
With this information in your possession, you have more chances to establish a relationship of trust with users, improving interaction and the way they perceive your brand, making it more human and close.
It gives you valuable information to develop new products
Although it seems incredible, the sales funnel can also help you develop new products, since by knowing your potential customers and knowing what motivates them, you can figure out if expanding the inventory or the number of colors of your items is really necessary or not. .
If price is one of the constant objections or something that is stopping your prospects from making a purchase, adding a cheaper version of your product or service may be the opportunity you needed to improve your sales process.
Keep in mind that a prospect is a potential customer who matches the characteristics of your ideal customer, has the means to buy and is empowered to make decisions to purchase a product or service.
You can get more customers
In the end, all the actions considered within the sales funnel are aimed at making your business shine and acquiring more customers, influencing their decisions to get them to the purchase stage. So, without further ado.
What are the stages of the sales funnel?
Let’s see in detail what the stages of the funnel or sales funnel are.
The top of the sales funnel (ToFu)
The top of the funnel (ToFu) is the prospect discovery stage. In this phase the client may or may not be aware of a need, they may not be familiar with your brand or the benefits of your products.
Let’s think of an example: suppose you have a company dedicated to the sale of jackets and you start to make posts on social networks about how to combine them with other clothes, trend colors and their versatility, since they can be used in autumn, winter and part of the season. spring.
Both the description of the product and this complementary content will be focused on , attacking a need and putting in the minds of potential buyers a solution to their problem: having a fashionable and useful jacket to wear almost all year round.
In this first stage of the sales funnel all the first interactions of the client with the brand enter, although they may not mention the business as such, they are focused on attracting the attention of a larger audience.
Among the most used strategies at this stage to take the customer to the next phase of the sales funnel, we can find:
- social media postings;
- blog articles;
- Introductory videos to the client’s problem.
“The challenge is to take them through the funnel until they make their purchase.”
The Middle of the Sales Funnel (MoFu)
The middle of the sales funnel (MoFu) is the stage where potential customers have identified a need or desire to purchase a product or service. They may already be familiar with your brand, but are not yet fully informed about the benefits or added value of your business.
In this part of the funnel, users make comparisons between two or three brands that they have in mind. Therefore, they look for content that helps them make a decision. Your job in this phase is to provide them with useful information that confirms why your brand can meet their needs.
Let’s continue with the example of the company dedicated to the sale of jackets. At this stage, you can spread content about the variety of fabrics that exist and which one best suits the user’s interests; You can also take the opportunity to mention the benefits of your products.
Some of the strategies used for this stage of the sales funnel are:
- E-books, guides and downloadables;
- educational webinars or live broadcasts;
- blogs and infographics;
- ;
- informative videos in the style “how to…?” (“how…?) using the product.
This is the perfect time to invite them to your online store and help them get down to the closing section of the funnel.
The bottom of the sales funnel (ToFu)
The bottom of the sales funnel (ToFu) is the stage where potential customers, after having compared and learned more about your brand, are very close to completing their purchase. They just need a final push to finish the process.
There are different strategies that you can apply in this closing stage, such as:
- Mention the differentiators of your product, what makes it special, eye-catching and unique; offer discount coupons for the first purchase;
- launch a last-minute sales campaign to create a sense of urgency;
- share comments from satisfied customers explaining how good they feel about their purchase and the items purchased.
Other strategies commonly used within this stage of the sales funnel that encourage the purchase are:
- Promotions and discounts;
- demonstrations and tests of how the product or service works;
- success stories;
- webinars or workshops;
- free samples.
Sales funnel vs. marketing funnel: what’s the difference?
Now that you know what a sales funnel is, it is worth making the difference between it and the marketing funnel. Let’s start with the conceptual part.
What is a marketing funnel?
The marketing funnel is the graphical representation or working model that is used to map business opportunities. In other words, it is the process that a marketing team would follow from the moment the potential client’s contact information is obtained until an appointment is obtained.
It is worth clarifying that this marketing team is not in charge of the sale as such, but of generating contacts (or leads) and captivating or maturing them until they are ready to make the purchase.
What is the difference between marketing funnel and sales funnel?
The difference is based on the goals and who uses the funnel. The marketing funnel refers to the incubation process that a contact goes through until it becomes a conversion opportunity. For its part, the sales funnel refers to an action plan by the sales team to ensure that a user becomes a customer.
In a large company, it is common for there to be a sales funnel and a marketing funnel that complement each other, but they are not the same. We could even say that the sales funnel is the bottom of the marketing funnel, which can start at a point much higher than the sales funnel.
How to make a sales funnel?
Making a sales funnel may seem like an arduous task, however, when we think about the benefits that we can obtain, it represents a favorable investment of time.
Let’s see what are the 5 steps to create a funnel for your business:
- Map the buying cycle
- Define key moments
- Start up and monitor
- measure strategy
- Optimize and retest
Let’s delve into each of these points, shall we?
1. Map the buying cycle
In this first step you will discover valuable information about your audience, especially what is the buyer’s journey (or shopping trip) of your prospect.
The purchase journey or buyer’s journey is the path followed by the customer to make a…
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