Sales funnels are one of the most important aspects of online marketing, yet they are often misunderstood.
A sales funnel is simply a process that leads a potential customer from initial awareness of your product or service to eventually making a purchase.
The key to a successful sales funnel is understanding your customer’s journey and then designing your funnel to match that journey.
In this article, we’ll take a look at what a sales funnel is, how it works, and some tips for creating your own.
1. What is a sales funnel and how does it work?
A sales funnel is a process that leads a potential customer from initial awareness of your product or service to eventually making a purchase.
The key to a successful sales funnel is understanding your customer’s journey and then designing your funnel to match that journey.
AIDA model is a proven model in marketing and advertising campaigns.
It has been around since the early days of advertising.
The AIDA model is an acronym that stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.
The AIDA model is a framework that you can use to create successful marketing and advertising campaigns.
There are typically four stages in a sales funnel:
- Awareness: This is the stage where the potential customer becomes aware of your product or service.
- Interest: In this stage, the potential customer begins to develop an interest in your product or service.
- Decision: In this stage, the potential customer decides whether or not to purchase your product or service.
- Action: In this stage, the potential customer takes action and makes a purchase.
2. The different stages of a sales funnel
TOFU, MOFU, BOFU…
Funny name I know, but it’s an important concept to understand when thinking about your sales funnel.
The stages of a sales funnel can be divided into three parts:
- The top of the funnel (TOFU)
- The middle of the funnel (MOFU)
- The bottom of the funnel (BOFU)
The top of the funnel (TOFU):
The top of the funnel is where the potential customer becomes aware of your product or service.
This is typically done through marketing activities such as content marketing, search engine optimization, and social media marketing.
The goal of TOFU is to generate awareness and interest in your product or service.
The middle of the funnel (MOFU):
The middle of the funnel is where the potential customer begins to develop an interest in your product or service.
This is typically done through marketing activities such as lead generation, lead nurturing, and email marketing.
The goal of MOFU is to generate leads and move them further down the funnel.
The bottom of the funnel (BOFU):
The bottom of the funnel is where the potential customer decides whether or not to purchase your product or service.
This is typically done through marketing activities such as lead conversion, product demonstration, and free trials.
The goal of BOFU is to get the potential customer to take action and make a purchase.
3. How to create a sales funnel that matches your customer’s journey
Now that we’ve looked at the different stages of a sales funnel, let’s take a look at how you can create a sales funnel that matches your customer’s journey.
The first step, is to map out your customer’s journey.
You can do this by creating a customer persona.
A customer persona is a fictional character that represents your ideal customer.
Once you have created your customer persona, you can then start to map out their journey.
The second step, is to identify the marketing activities that you will need to carry out at each stage of the funnel.
As we’ve seen, the different stages of the funnel require different marketing activities.
It’s important to make sure that you are carrying out the right activities at each stage of the funnel in order to move your potential customer down the funnel.
The third step, is to create a plan and start executing your marketing activities.
Once you’ve identified the marketing activities that you need to carry out, you need to create a plan and start executing your activities.
It’s important to track your results so that you can see what is working and what is not working.
You can then adjust your activities accordingly.
4. The benefits of using a sales funnel
There are many benefits of using a sales funnel.
Some of the benefits include:
- It allows you to focus your marketing efforts on the right activities.
- It allows you to track your results and see what is working and what is not working.
- It allows you to make adjustments to your activities based on your results.
- It helps you to generate more leads and sales.
- It helps you to better understand your customers.
If you are not using a sales funnel, then you are missing out on these benefits.
5. How to get started with using a sales funnel
If you’re not using a sales funnel, then you’re missing out on the many benefits that it can offer.
But how do you get started with using a sales funnel?
The first step is to map out your customer’s journey.
You can do this by creating a customer persona.
A customer persona is a fictional character that represents your ideal customer.
Once you have created your customer persona, you can then start to map out their journey.
The second step is to identify the marketing activities that you will need to carry out at each stage of the funnel.
As we’ve seen, the different stages of the funnel require different marketing activities.
It’s important to make sure that you are carrying out the right activities at each stage of the funnel in order to move your potential customer down the funnel.
The third step is to create a plan and start executing your marketing activities.
Once you’ve identified the marketing activities that you need to carry out, you need to create a plan and start executing your activities.
It’s important to track your results so that you can see what is working and what is not working.
You can then adjust your activities accordingly.
If you follow these steps, you’ll be well on your way to using a sales funnel to generate more leads and sales for your business.
Sales Funnel Resources
There are some great resources out there on sales funnels.
Here are some of the best ones:
- The Ultimate Guide to Sales Funnels – This guide is from ClickFunnels and it’s a great resource that covers everything you need to know about sales funnels.
- What is a sales funnel, Examples and how to create one – This guide is from Crazy Egg and it covers the basics of creating a sales funnel.
- Funnel Hacking Secrets Webinar – This FREE webclass by Russell Brunson will teach you how to funnel hack your way to success.
If you want to learn more about sales funnels, then these resources will be a great starting point.
Final Thoughts
Does having a website consider having a sales funnel in place?
A website is just one part of a sales funnel.
A sales funnel is a process that you use to generate leads and sales from your website.
Your website is just one of the touchpoints that you use in your sales funnel.
Other touchpoints include:
- Search engine optimization
- Content marketing
- Social media marketing
- Paid advertising
- Email marketing
- Lead generation forms
- Sales calls
- In-person meetings
Which one should you focus on first?
This is a common question that people ask when they are just getting started with their sales funnel.
The answer is that it depends on your business and your goals.
If you’re just getting started, then you should focus on the top-of-the-funnel activities such as traffic generation and lead generation.
Once you have a steady st