Funnel marketing, also known as a sales funnel or the marketing funnel is the process of guiding potential customers through a series of stages, with the ultimate goal of converting them into paying customers. The funnel is typically divided into several stages, such as awareness, interest, consideration, and decision, each with its own unique setof marketing tactics and goals.

Improving your marketing and sales funnel can lead to increased conversions and revenue for your business. Here are some tips to help you improve your funnel:

Don’t lose focus!

Many companies organize sales funnel management based on their own needs rather than those of customers. To do this correctly, study your buyer persona well together with your sales team.

Contacts that come from an inbound marketing process are “intelligent” because they have looked for the solution to their problems and have decided to inquire about it. Salespeople need to be able to continue this “education process” with precise training, able to answer all their latest objections and ask the right questions to get them to the buying stage.

The right questions lead to the right solution, but you need to focus on the customer, not sales.

Don’t neglect the payment methods

How does your customer prefer to pay? For example, you can think of speeding up the payment method thanks to Paypal or GoogleWallet, to bypass the subsequent steps of the funnel and speed up the sales process:

The customer could pay in advance if given the opportunity.

Don’t activate your sales team too early

One of the most frequent mistakes is to ask for the intervention of the salesmen too soon. 60% of the process belongs to marketing! After that, the funnel should be called the “marketing/sales funnel” because the two teams should still work together. By aligning marketing and sales tasks and goals, you can increase your close rate significantly!

Try to have a logical transition point. The marketing team’s job is to provide actionable information and guide the customer through the funnel until they’re ready to buy. At this point, the qualified lead can be closed by salespeople.

The marketing/sales funnel doesn’t handle customer “fears.”

What you should do during the initial phase is understand the fears, needs, and weaknesses of your customers. Fears are what stop them from making a decision. This happens when your team:

Talk about features and benefits too early instead ofaddressing the weaknesses and goals of your customers;

• Does not listen to customer problems;
• It does not reflect their words;

CRM: Customer Relationship Management system

CRM is the most important tool for managing every step of your sales funnel. It will be of great help to track the activities of your leads, your current customers, and pending opportunities. By sharing data with both teams, you will be able to trace the journey of your customers at each stage.

Email tracking software

Today it is very difficult to reach decision-makers and get their attention. They probably receive hundreds of emails every day, but yours needs to stand out more than the others! You need a strategic approach:

Your emails must have an added value compared to the others!

The best way is to track email opens and click rates. This is standard from a marketing point of view, but to date, this data has never been considered by the sales team. By continuously giving information to your salespeople, they, too, will be able to get to know the customer better and approach them in the right way. For example, if offer A is generating 50% more openings than offer B, your sales team can focus on the most suitable offer for the customer, showing how your product can provide various solutions.

Meeting Software

This is a fantastic tool. It is used to send several emails to book an appointment. You send your availabilities; they send theirs, etc. A scheduling tool can help you synchronize directly with your clients’ calendars and scheduling a meeting will become as easy as pressing a button.

How to apply funnel marketing in your company?

Implementing funnel marketing in your company requires a strategic approach. Here are the steps to apply funnel marketing in your company:

Identify your target audience: Let’s say you run an online pet store. You would want to conduct research to identify your target audience, which could be pet owners who are looking for high-quality pet food and accessories. You might look at demographics, such as age, gender, location, and income, as well as psychographics, such as their interests and values.

Develop buyer personas: Using the example of the onlinepet store, you might create a buyer persona for a “Busy Pet Owner.” who values convenience and is willing to pay for high-quality products. You might also create a persona for a “Budget-Conscious Pet Owner” who is looking for good deals and discounts.

Map out your sales funnel: The sales funnel for the online pet store might have three stages: Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion. At the Awareness stage, potential customers might find the store through social media or search engines. At the Consideration stage, they might browse products and compare prices. At the Conversion stage, they might make a purchase.

Create relevant content: At the Awareness stage, the online pet store might create blog posts or social media content that educates pet owners on the benefits of high-quality pet food. At the Consideration stage, they might create product comparison guides or customer reviews. At the Conversion stage, they might offer promotions or discounts to encourage purchases.

Optimize for conversions: The online pet store might test different offers, such as free shipping or a discount on a customer’s first purchase to see which ones lead to the highest conversion rates. They might also test different calls-to-action, such as “Shop Now” or “Learn More.”

Use automation tools: The online pet store might use an email marketing platform to send automated emails to potential customers who have expressed interest in a specific product. They might also use lead scoring to prioritize leads based on their level of engagement.

Analyze and refine: The online pet store might track metrics such as website traffic, bounce rates, and conversion rates to identify areas for improvement. They might use A/B testing to test different versions of their website or email campaigns and make data-driven decisions to optimize their funnel.

Tools To Help Manage Your Sales Funnel

There are several tools available to help you manage your sales funnel and streamline your sales process. Here are some popular options:

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software: A CRM system can help you manage your contacts, track your sales pipeline, and automate your sales process. Popular CRM software options include Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zoho.

Sales automation tools:Sales automation tools can help you automate repetitive tasks such as follow-up emails and lead scoring. Examples of sales automation tools include Outreach, SalesLoft, and Yesware.

Marketing automation software: Marketing automation software can help you create and automate targeted marketing campaigns to move prospects through the funnel. Examples include Marketo, Pardot, and Eloqua.

Email marketing software: Email marketing software can help you create and send targeted email campaigns to nurture leads and drive sales. Examples include Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and Campaign Monitor.

Sales analytics tools: Sales analytics tools can help you track key metrics and insights about your sales funnel to help you make data-driven decisions. Examples include InsightSquared, ChartMogul, and Klipfolio.

Social media management tools: Social media management tools can help you manage your social media presence and engage with prospects and customers. Examples include Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Buffer.

With the right alignment of your marketing and sales teams and the right tools, you can efficiently manage your sales funnel to build more leads, qualify them, and close more deals. Aligning the two teams is a very important step. Share data and goals and see your leads convert.

By using these tools, you can streamline your sales process, improve your productivity, and close more deals. Remember, the key is to choose the right tools for your business needs and integrate them into your sales process effectively.

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