You may want to operate your business in the most efficient way possible. This is why you need to know about the stages of marketing funnels that will handle everything, even if you are sleeping.
The stages of marketing funnels will take care of everything from the visitor conversion to redirecting a paying customer into a secure payment channel.
Many business owners may not be moving away from marketing funnels because they think that the methods are too simplistic and mechanical for their potential customers. However, this is still a useful approach when you want to introduce your products to the customers without needing hard selling.
Introduction to Marketing Funnels
Funnels will introduce your products and services to your potential clients on an exciting journey. You’ll learn specific stages on sites like Traffic Tsunami that will tell you more information. The stages of marketing funnels include awareness when the visitor will first learn about what your business does up to the final stage and purchase your products and services. Many funnels may include follow-ups and ensuring customer satisfaction so that you’ll be able to build a database of repeat clients over time.
For many online entrepreneurs, the first step is to get organic or paid traffic to their websites. If you are one of them, you can always write SEO-friendly articles with backlinks to your money site. As the visitors become leads and progress through the funnel, you can start the outreach methods of emails, newsletters, and personalized memberships for your subscribers. Many business owners will present their products through video demos or call their potential buyers until the sale is made.
Examples of Ineffective Marketing Funnels
James owns an accounting software company that has 20 people and a single product. The owner doesn’t have any marketing and advertising experience, so he hires salespeople or telemarketers to do the job. He hands his team a list of leads that he has gotten from an online source. He’s encouraging his team to call potential customers for dollars.
The problem is the salespeople frequently get frustrating experiences. The leads were not interested in the accounting software, and overall, they are considered “cold lists” that don’t have a lot of value. The telemarketers are often talking to people who are not interested or those who can’t see any use of the software in their lives. Overall, there’s less than 1% of the prospects that are interested in the product.
A More Effective Approach
Julia has a similar size of the company to James. However, instead of her taking the first company’s approach, she instead created sales funnels that will help her salespeople close more deals with lesser efforts. Read more information about the sales funnel on this site here.
Julia started to write and create content pieces that have a higher chance of grabbing her potential customers’ attention. Her potential customers would then interact and leave comments on her blogs, videos, and graphics to learn more about her offer.
The would-be buyers are becoming interested in her services, and some of them even requested online demonstrations. They fill up the forms that she put on her website’s landing page. Her sales team directly manages the requests for presentations.
Because the sales team is already dealing with warm leads, they close about 50% of the deals. The customers who demanded to see the presentations were able to be more open about the whole process.
Five stages of marketing funnels to Know About
- Recognizing the Problem or Need
It’s understandable that if a customer doesn’t need your products and services, he won’t make any purchases even if he is on your website. Most needs are not exclusive to products and services, and they can range from problems that can be solved immediately to those issues with vague solutions.
An example is that suppose a furnace goes out in the winter. The problem may be getting a new furnace, and the solution is to call your local HVAC service providers for prices. However, if you need a car, you may want to choose between a mid-sized sedan or an SUV. You will also be frustrated when you know that your accountant charges you too much with the taxes, but you aren’t familiar with cloud-based accounting software solutions.
For the purchase to happen, the buyer needs to recognize that he has a problem that needs solving. Know more about modern buyers’ needs here: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/the-modern-buyer-needs-a-modern-seller-podcast/510433/. If you are running a consulting firm, you may want to let clients know about issues with certain service areas. Most of them will appreciate it if they can help with disorganized spending in accounting or a higher cost of leads in the marketing department.
- Searching for Information
Recognizing that the consumer needs something triggers a search on Google or Bing. Many strategies used for information can vary in their scope and size of the purchase. If you are a consumer and you begin to get hungry, you may want to check out Yelp for local fast-food restaurants or diners in your area.
Many people search for plenty of terms related to their problems on Google. They want to find out about businesses that can help them. Some even turn to social media forums and communities for answers.
What you can do as a business owner is to position yourself as the leader in your industry. You can help people with content with no strings attached. If you are an accounting firm, you may want to create content that will let new entrepreneurs know how to handle their finances.
- Alternative Evaluation
What follows a quick search for information is comparing alternatives that can solve a consumer’s problem. Potential customers will read various articles and contemplate a purchase if your products and services help solve their needs. They may consider simple things like, “It may be time for Chinese food for dinner, and not Mexican.”
But if the consumer is evaluating programs regarding automation for sales funnels. Because the software may cost around $2,000 a month, a more careful evaluation process takes place. They may want to have demonstrations and free trials to test your products first.
If you’re in the marketing niche, you may want to write content that will help your customers choose a marketing agency, pricing guides, and more. The examples are non-promotional and educational resources to attract more customers.
- The Decision to Purchase
The purchase process is the conclusion after a consumer has undergone the previous three steps. The customer has determined that they have a need or a problem to solve, and they went online to see the options available for them. They choose among the options out there, and they are now ready to pull out their credit or debit cards.
The bottom stages of marketing funnels will help your customers feel that they have the right choice. You can make your previous clients an excellent example and create case studies for a more practical approach.
If you are selling software to start-up companies, you need to showcase that they can make 10x leads if they buy your product. If you have an enterprise version of the software, show it to the right company. An enterprise case study may be too high a price to pay for start-up businesses. In the same way, the start-up case may not interest a sizable marketing team with global customers.
However, there’s bad news. The two factors that can prevent a client from purchasing include negative feedback and their motivation in accepting the feedback. If you are a customer and decide to purchase a road bike, you may brush off the shops with less than stellar feedback. Others may take other people’s comments with a grain of salt.
However, when your fellow bicyclist tells you that he hates this specific bike, you may be more inclined to follow the advice of someone whom you know personally. When it comes to negative feedback, this is better viewed as an opportunity to expand and improve the business. Complaints and criticisms are essential because they give you the chance to make changes that you need or risk losing your business to competitors.
- Behaviors after Post Purchase
At the very end of the tunnel is the post-behavior purchase. What happens after a sale is made is essential. If the customers felt that they were greeted by a warm onboarding process and received personal attention throughout the transaction, you may expect to have repeat customers.
Satisfied customers will make product endorsements and recommendations to their loved ones and other people on social media as well. Avoid making a disappointing experience for your customers. This can result in negative reviews, refunds, and write-ups that will recommend your competitors.
You can’t make up a terrible purchase experience with content. If you know that you have a great product, then make the experience of buying hassle-free, and you find yourself getting more customers as the days go by.
Some of the actions you need to take to facilitate excellent post-purchase behavior may include creating FAQ content. This makes it easy for everyone to provide feedback, and they can enable you to provide excellent customer support in the process.
