Generating great ideas, creating awareness, and building anticipation around products and services isn’t enough to get high conversion rates. Optimizing page layouts, creating impeccable designs, and writing stellar website copy isn’t enough either.
So, what is it that guarantees conversions? The answer is simple!
Fully optimized sales funnels are the only effective way to ensure conversions.
Today’s shopper is smart and has more access to information. After all, every purchase is only a click away. Writing about sales funnels reminded us of the many shopping decisions we make each day. We have the power to “channel hop” and we wield this power before making any major purchase. Think about any major purchase you made recently. Chances are that you Googled it, saw reviews, viewed features, went from website to website, got ads on your phone, maybe even went to a store to see the product in person, and you finally made the purchase on an e-commerce website because it cost less than the in-store version. Do you notice how many channels come in-between you and the final purchase?
Well, this is precisely why it is important to build seamless sales funnels that are built with a deep understanding of buyer psychology, use smart CTA placement, and work across multiple channels.
A sales funnel illuminates and emphasizes the importance of each step that a prospect takes before actually making a purchase. The traffic on individual websites is very large, and with prospects dropping off at various steps in that path, the percentage of final conversions becomes significantly small. Understanding your funnel plays an important role in finding the loopholes in your sales strategy and can help you revise and optimize them.
Understanding the four crucial stages in a sales funnel
● Awareness – “Awareness is the greatest agent to make the change.” Lack of awareness means your prospect doesn’t even know you exist. For business success, you must place immense focus on ensuring that you educate potential customers about your products/services and about the problems that your offerings can help solve.
● Interest – Using incredible content to help persuade the prospects and helping them in carrying forward their research is one way to develop a favorable interest in customers. The key takeaway of this stage is to aid the customer in the process of making a well-informed decision and not push your product on them and chase them away.
● Decision – Presenting the best offers, together with a strong sales pitch can help in lead conversion. Therefore, the company needs to make an irresistible offer, be it a bonus product, discount code, or free shipping. Follow-up emails indicating the benefits of the offering can also help in this stage.
● Action – This is the stage where the customer finally acts and purchases your product or service. He or she is now an active part of your business ecosystem; however, your work is still not over. The focus now shifts to customer retention; hence put forth services like tech support, or feedback, and do not forget to express gratitude to your customers for making the purchase.
The steps involved in building sales funnels that convert
● Researching your target audience’s behavior
Deep dive into the buying behavior of your customers, their psychology, social media platforms they use, their income level, marital status, and spending habits before finally creating your sales funnel. This will help you in defining target personas and understanding your targeted audience.
● Developing buyer’s persona based on individual needs
The success of your sales funnel is directly proportional to your ability to lure people with the right persuasion techniques. People differ in behavior and have distinct choices. Therefore, different buyer personas need to be built. Prepare various marketing campaigns for distinct segments of your customers.
● Preparing the best strategy for traffic and lead generation
Only when people are aware of the products you sell, will they make the purchase. Hence, you need to adopt different lead generation strategies to drive prospective customers to your website. Creating audience engagement and lead nurturing strategies is a must.
● Converting your leads
Converting leads is the most important step in the sales funnel process. Converting visitors into paying customers isn’t easy and requires a lot of effort. Ensuring ease in shopping and accessibility is of the essence in this step.
● Keeping in touch with existing customers
Don’t forget to show gratitude to your existing customers, and continue reaching out to them with distinct offers, or connecting them through your social media sphere.
Conclusion
Measuring the success of a sales funnel is as important as building one. One way to do this is by tracking your conversion rates, so as your business grows, you get to learn more about the taste and preferences of your customers and thereby helping the evolution of your sales funnel.
Want help in building fantastic sales funnels that persuade more prospects to buy your products?