Sales funnel: what it is and how to create one for your digital business
Are you working your sales funnel the right way in your digital business?
When it comes to digital marketing and sales, this is a step you can't forget. After all, getting the lead to move down the funnel is what will make sure your digital product sells more. Even so, the topic often raises questions and leads to mistakes that stall sales and, sometimes, even kill digital businesses.
If you need help, in this article Cademí's team of specialists will help you understand:
- What a sales funnel is
- Why the sales funnel matters for digital businesses
- What the stages of the sales funnel are
- The best strategy for each funnel stage
- How to implement a sales funnel
What a sales funnel is
Basically, we're talking about a framework that maps a potential customer's journey from their first contact with your digital business all the way to the purchase.
This model is meant to help structure launches. Using it as a foundation, you can define the mental triggers in your messaging and improve your email marketing funnels, for example. On top of that, it helps you line up realistic, effective sales strategies. After all, your approach should change depending on how close your lead is to making a buying decision.
Why the sales funnel matters for digital businesses
It's an important strategy in general, but even more so for digital businesses. After all, the online buying process is even less uniform.
Before actually buying a digital product, your lead goes through a journey. To illustrate, the path usually includes:
- Discovering your solution;
- Seeing it as something they need;
- Considering the purchase.
By keeping this in mind and building it into your strategy, it becomes easier to win new leads. That's because you'll align your narrative with the buying stage they're in and then fine-tune it as they move forward (and as you help them move forward).
So, what are the stages of the sales funnel?
In short, we can split the sales funnel into three major stages: top, middle, and bottom of the funnel. Within them, there are important steps to keep your lead moving.
Top of the funnel
This is the discovery and learning stage.
It's the moment when you find potential customers. The goal, then, is to get them to discover your digital business. So focus on educating them and positioning yourself as a go-to reference.
Middle of the funnel
This is the consideration stage.
Here, your potential customer already knows your digital business and has made their first conversion. In other words, they signed up to get a lead magnet. Now the goal is to show that your business can solve their need.
Bottom of the funnel
This is the action stage.
In other words, your lead is ready to buy. So it's time to make your offer.
The best strategy for each funnel stage
With digital products, every stage of the sales funnel can be worked with content.
What changes is the approach and also the format.
Top of the funnel: you can use informational content (such as blog posts, webinars, e-books, or podcasts) and ads. If your digital business is about dentistry, for example, it's worth addressing dentists' biggest objections in an educational way to start that relationship.
Middle of the funnel: at this point you already have the lead's attention, so the goal is to build trust. Here, the best strategy is to help with tips and techniques.
Besides the formats already mentioned, you can also send newsletters and use other formats that position you as an authority
Bottom of the funnel: this is the time to present your product in your messaging and make an offer.
If you use a launch strategy, the strategy will usually be split across all stages of the sales funnel. For evergreen digital products, on the other hand, which sell continuously, all the funnels run at the same time, respecting the stage of each group of leads.
The sales funnel ends when qualified leads make a purchase and become customers. So, in an inbound marketing project, this moment is marked by moving negotiations into a CRM. That's because your lead is already qualified and meets your sales team's requirements for a potential purchase.
How to implement a sales funnel
This strategy has a direct effect on both lead acquisition and converting leads into customers. In other words, if you have a digital business, you need to work on your sales funnel.
The first step is to understand the strategy. Next, it's important to revisit your persona and get a fresh understanding of their pain points, questions, and motivations. That will make it easier to map the funnel, which is simply identifying the stages your leads will go through from first contact to purchase and loyalty. Then move on to:
- Creating relevant content;
- Monitoring and analyzing results;
- Making data-driven adjustments;
- Doing it all again.
In this implementation process, one of the most common mistakes is assuming all leads will become customers at the same pace. That's not quite how it works. Depending on their generation and even their stage of life, each person has their own buying pace. That's why it's important to analyze the data often and not focus only on attraction, but on every stage of the process.
You need leads. But once they're in your list, they need to keep getting attention to move through the stages of the sales funnel. So split your strategy in a way that makes sense for your persona. And, if needed, make adjustments.
And remember: to take your digital business to the next level, you can always count on help from Cademí's specialists. Whether it's figuring out how to sell faster to leads or making new sales to existing customers. Schedule a strategy meeting now and find out how we can help!
