The Sales Funnel is a representation of the stages a potential customer goes through, from the very first contact with the company until closing a deal. It is divided into Top (ToFu), middle (MoFu) and bottom (BoFu). Each stage has its own characteristics and functionalities. That’s why, the content must be adapted to each one of them.
In a store, a person viewing a display is in a different moment than someone else who is choosing a product, and these people are in a separate moment from yet another person who is already paying.
As you might notice, each person is in a different stage of their buying journey. One is simply viewing the products on display and checking if any of the items meet their needs. The other one is choosing a product that they might be uncertain about, but know must be bought. Now, the one that is already checking out has defined what is needed and is in the final stage of the purchasing process.
Following this line of thought, it’s easier to understand the importance of the sales funnel. When someone accesses your business’s website, the buying journey starts. Each content this person will have access to should be tailored to the stage in each the user is currently at. By doing so, you will have a better chance at turning leads into customers.
In this article you will understand:
As we’ve said, each stage of the funnel has different functionalities. Check each of them:
In this stage, known as ToFu (top of the funnel), visitors will find out that they have a need or problem to be solved, unknown until now. This is the consciousness stage, triggered by the first contact with your company, which could have been through the website.
The role of marketing in this stage is to educate the audience with accessible information and content, such as articles on the website’s blog. These content aim to allow users to identify a problem and how to solve it.
Rich content might be offered in this stage, an ebook for instance, infographics and newsletters. Users provide their contact information in exchange for this material. With that, the visitor is now a lead, and advances to the next stage of the funnel.
In this stage, known as MoFu (middle of the funnel), we are dealing with Leads. They are searching for solutions for their needs, even though they don’t know exactly how to do so yet. The objective of marketing is to to identify these needs and to develop content that will help guide the lead towards the final stage.
At the BoFu (bottom of the funnel), qualified leads turn into opportunities: they’re practically ready to be approached by the sales team. More than aware of their problems, they’re searching for solutions.
In this stage, your business establishes a relationship of trust. For your lead, your company is the reference when it comes to this particular subject, making it possible to initiate a negotiation, become the ideal partner or close a deal.
The sales funnel closes when the prospects make a purchase and turn into clients.
Now that you have understood the what is a sales funnel, its importance and what are the characteristics of each stage, it is time to understand the benefits of it:
At each stage of the buying journey along the sales funnel, new strategies can be implemented, which in turn promotes a higher productivity from the marketing team. It is also possible to notice when strategies are in need of improvement.
With the funnel, it is possible to understand the profile, needs and behaviors of prospects. This way, it’s possible to know how many people you need on Top to generate a specific number of sales on the bottom.
The funnel allows you to find out which strategies are working, what’s getting more attention and which models can be replicated. It’s the so-called opportunities, which means, to surf the higher waves and try to understand what's the low ones. So, it is possible to raise the chances of conversion in all stages of the sales funnel.
Content must be created according to each stage of the funnel the lead might be in and according to the lead’s needs. Here are some examples of content:
Throughout this article, you saw how the sales funnel is essential to guide your leads through the buying journey. You also saw how important it is to have your content designed to fill in each stage of the funnel.
By knowing how to develop the right strategies, it is possible to achieve good results that go from raising awareness of your business to boosting online sales. However, to make the best out of it, you need to count on a specialized team.
Visit our website and get to know the methodology applied by 4Leads, which accelerates the digital transformation of your business, bringing solid results. Talk to our specialists to build a map with everything your business needs to go from zero to the top in the digital market.
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