3 Components of a Sales Funnel
A sales funnel is the pathway in which potential customers go through to become a customer. Every company has a sales funnel, be it online or offline. For our article today, we’ll be mainly talking about online sales funnels.
3 parts of a Sales Funnel
A funnel is usually segmented into 3 parts. Your objective as a marketer is to bring down as many people from the top of funnel to the bottom of funnel.
Top of funnel – where audiences are unfamiliar with your brand and/or products
Middle of funnel – where audiences are somewhat familiar with your brand and products; and may need more reason, information and trust to become a customer
Bottom of funnel – where audiences are in need of your services/products; and need to be convinced to purchase from you.
Components of a Sales Funnel
In digital marketing, a typical sales funnel has 3 main components:
1) Traffic Source
2) Lead Capture
3) Lead Conversion
1) Traffic Source
Without people, there won’t be customers.
You’ll need to drive people to your website or store in order for people to browse your goods/services. Here are some ways you can drive traffic:
Social Media Content – Being active on Social Media helps your brand reach out to potential audiences.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – Having your website easily searched on Google helps bring in audiences with high buying intent.
Paid Ads – From Social Media ads to Search Engine ads to offline media placements, these forms of outreach are highly efficient in helping your brand get greater reach.
Referral Programmes or Word of Mouth – direct referrals can drive high quality traffic but may not be easy to activate
2) Lead Capture
Once you’ve gotten the attention of your audience, you can direct them to your website or landing page. This step involves getting information from your customers so you can continue keeping in touch.
The more touchpoints you have with a person, the more likely that someone will buy from you.
Depending on your industry, here’re some ways you can use to capture your audience’s info:
- Landing Page with an attractive offer or freebie
- Website inquiry form with consultation session
- Membership programme
- First time-signup Voucher/Promotion
- App download
3) Lead Conversion
Once you’ve managed to get the details of your potential customer, it’s easier for you to establish more touchpoints and keep your brand top of mind.
This is where you’ll need to nurture your audiences, build trust and win them over.
You can do this via:
Email marketing – a relatively cheap and underutilised way to send news, updates and promotions
Social Media marketing – great instilling brand perception and can be entertaining for your audiences if done well
Paid ads – you can target your leads directly through paid ads, or create a lookalike audience that’s similar to your leads for best results
Online groups – Telegram, WhatsApp or other Social Media platforms are a great way to send updates quickly and efficiently.
Meet-ups. Consultations and Demos – great for higher ticket items
With this, you now have a basic Sales Funnel structure for your brand. The details will differ based on your industry and products. However, this should give you a good starting point to build on.