What is the sales funnel and how to apply it to your business – Ecommerce Blog

It is understood by sales funnel either sales funnel to the marketing model that describes the stages of a customer on the way to making a purchase in a business. Learn here how to apply it to your business.

The sales funnel or sales funnel is one of the most important tools for a businesssince it is similar to a treasure map that you must follow to achieve the objectives that you have planned.

If you don’t know what a sales funnel is or what the stages of the sales funnel are, here I’ll help you build one applicable and personalized to your company. After reading this article you will have a clearer idea of ​​what to do, where to go and what you need to get to the next level. Let’s start from the basics, shall we?

What is a sales funnel?

A sales funnel or sales funnel it is a strategic model of the stages a potential customer would go through in order to complete their purchase. That is, it is a map of the key moments that a consumer goes through and is usually made up of three parts: the upper part of the funnel (ToFu), the middle part of the sales funnel (MoFu) and the lower part of the sales funnel. sales (BoFu).

Also known as a marketing funnel or a conversion funnel, the sales funnel is a graphic way of illustrating how a customer interacts with our brand, starting with a large number of prospects to the group of customers who actually end up making a purchase from us. products or services.

What is the sales funnel?

Sales funnel is actually an expression made up of a word in English and a possessive adjective in Spanish. funnel in English it means funnel, therefore the appropriate expression to refer to this marketing model, avoiding the mixture between both languages, it would be sales funnel.

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 on the website.

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?

Without a doubt, knowing and building this sales 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;
  • Easy detection of opportunities;
  • You can get to know your customers better;
  • It gives you valuable information to develop new products;
  • Get more customers.

Now I explain each of them:

Improve the productivity of your company

Having a sales funnel helps you know what you have and what you lack in your sales process. By making a map of the route of your potential clients, you can have greater control of the promotional actions that you have already implemented and what you still need to do, giving you the opportunity to prioritize and leave aside those activities that you have already covered and/or They can wait.

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Do not forget that the productivity of your company is measured taking into account the time you invest and the profits you get, so by applying this work model it will be possible for you to invest more time in what gives more value to your users and your business. .

Easy detection of opportunities

Another advantage of having this model applied to your business is that through it you will be able to detect what you need and where the opportunities are. It may be that you have very good brand recognition, but perhaps your customers take a long time to complete their purchase.

The sales funnel will help you detect which stage you should focus on and where to apply the effort to obtain greater and better results.

You can get to know your customers better

To build an effective model of the sales funnel, knowing your customers is vital, so this tool will make you more aware of your buyers, of the main objections they may have to make the purchase and what motivates them to give the next step.

Through different tools you can know if discounts are a motivator for them or if the motivation is in the prestige of your brand or in the benefits of your product. In addition to allowing you to establish a relationship of trust with them, improving interaction, engagement and the way they perceive your company, making it more human and attainable.

Gives you valuable information to develop new products

Although it may seem incredible, the sales funnel can also help you develop new products for your business, since by knowing your potential customers and knowing what motivates them, you can decipher if expanding the inventory or the number of colors of your items is really a motivator or not.

If cost is one of the constant objections or something that is stopping your prospects from making their purchase, adding a cheaper version of your product or service may be the opportunity you needed and thus generate greater value, both for your company and for your customers. your potential customers. You could hardly know this if you didn’t have this tool built for your organization, don’t you think so?

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 by influencing their decisions to get them to the purchase stage. So, without further ado.

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What are the stages of the sales funnel?

The stages of the sales funnel or sales funnel (whatever you want to call it) are the following:

  • 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 bottom of the sales funnel)

Below I explain each of them in more detail.

The top of the sales funnel (ToFu)

The top of the funnel (ToFu) is the prospect discovery stage. At this stage the customer may or may not be aware of a need, they may not be familiar with our brand or the benefits of our products.

Let’s take an example to make it clearer: suppose you have a company dedicated to the sale of swimsuits for plus sizes and you start making publications on how to look great in a swimsuit, on-trend colors and types of cuts that most favor women. your body.

Both the publication and these contents would be designed with the intention of attracting users to your business, attacking a need and putting in the minds of potential buyers a solution to their problem: looking good in a bathing suit.

In this first stage of the sales funnel all the first interactions of the client with our brand enter, although they may not mention our business, they are focused on attracting the attention of a larger audience.

Among the most common strategies used at this stage to take the customer to the next stage of the sales funnel we can find:

  • social media postings;
  • blog articles;
  • Introductory videos to the client’s problem.

The challenge will be in taking 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 our brand, however they are not yet fully informed about the benefits or added value of our business.

Users in this part of the sales funnel are looking for comparisons, content that helps them know which choice to make, and can often have two or three brands in mind. Our job is to provide you with that content to let you know why our brand can solve your needs.

Let’s continue with the example of the company dedicated to the sale of swimsuits for large sizes. At this stage, we could provide our prospect with content that helps them buy the best swimsuit, how to know which size is better or what type of fabric to choose, even slowly mention the benefits of our products.

Some of the strategies used for this stage of the sales funnel are:

  • Ebook, guides and downloadables;
  • educational webinars or live broadcasts;
  • blogs and infographics;
  • podcasts;
  • Informative videos or style “how-to” using the product.
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This is the perfect time to invite them to our 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 our brand, are already very close to completing their purchase.. They just need a final push to finish the process.

Depending on the actions within your sales process, there are different strategies that you can apply for this closing stage, which can range from mentioning the differentiators of your product, what makes it special, striking and unique, to giving you discount coupons for first purchase or even make it part of a flash sale campaign to build a sense of urgency and get you closer to completing your in-store checkout.

In the example that we gave of the company dedicated to the sale of swimsuits, at this stage of the sales funnel some of the actions to be carried out would be to give a discount coupon to the future customer so that they make their purchase or perhaps share customer comments. satisfied where they explain 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 it works;
  • Success stories and reviews from satisfied customers;
  • Webinars or workshops;
  • Free samples.

⏰ Take note: The time it takes for the user to reach this stage of the funnel can depend on many factors such as timing, economic issues, personal decisions, etc. Knowing what the customer’s objections are and what prevents him from making his purchase will be useful to design actions that really impact the potential customer in the most efficient way possible.

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 by defining what a marketing funnel is.

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 a business opportunity is obtained.

The marketing funnel or marketing funnel is the map that the marketing team follows…

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