Marketing Sales Funnel: What It Is and How to Build It

A marketing sales funnel (or sales funnel) is a marketing model that describes the stages a potential customer goes through from learning about a product to making a purchase.

Thanks to the funnel, business owners and marketers can visualize the sales process, analyze results, identify weaknesses, and adjust each stage.

Typically, the model is visualized as an inverted cone and reflects all the stages of sales that a client goes through. The top part contains the most leads (potential clients). But not everyone gets to the "neck" where the purchase occurs, so the cone narrows at the bottom.

Sales Funnel Stages (Classic Model)

This model is based on the AIDA consumer behavior framework.

Its creator, William Townsend, divided the process of interaction with the client into several stages:

• Awareness – a potential buyer learns about a product for the first time. The brand makes itself known using various forms of advertising.
• Interest - a person begins to be interested in a product or service. At this stage, it is important to provide additional information about the benefits of the offer.
• Decision — the user makes a decision about the purchase. This can be achieved, for example, with the help of discounts or special conditions.
• Action — a person buys a product. It is important that this process is simple and comfortable (ease of registration, payment, delivery speed).

There is an extended funnel model. In addition to the previous points, it includes the following stages:

• Loyalty - the customer returns to make a repeat purchase.
• Brand protection (Advocacy) - clients spread positive information about the brand and actively recommend it to their circle of friends.

Sales Funnel Tasks

• Organization of the sales process: the sales funnel structures the customer's path from the first contact to the purchase, allowing you to systematize actions and optimize the sales process.
• Increase conversion: the main task of the funnel is to convert potential customers into real buyers. Each stage of the funnel should be aimed at bringing the customer closer to the purchase.
• Optimization of marketing efforts: the funnel allows you to track the effectiveness of various marketing channels and tools at each stage, which makes it possible to reallocate resources in favor of the most profitable areas.
• Reduced customer acquisition costs: An effective funnel helps reduce the cost of customer acquisition by focusing efforts on the most promising leads and optimizing processes.
• Sales forecasting: By analyzing customer flow data through the funnel, you can more accurately forecast future sales and plan production capacity.
• Improving customer experience: The funnel allows you to better understand the needs and expectations of customers at each stage of interaction, which helps improve customer service and increase loyalty.
• Building a Loyal Customer Base: Beyond the Action stage, the funnel also aims to build long-term relationships with customers by increasing their loyalty and encouraging repeat purchases.

Types of Sales Funnels

There is no universal sales funnel that would suit every business. Even within one company, the model can periodically change depending on the goals.

Let's look at the main types and highlight their features.

Funnel for "cold" clients

When working with "cold" people, it is necessary to immediately generate interest in the offer. Expert content is well suited for these purposes. These can be articles in industry media or blogs, promotional campaigns in specialized media.

Let's look at a funnel for "cold" clients using the example of selling apartment finishing services

• Attracting attention: when making a search query, the user sees contextual advertising for turnkey apartment renovation services.
• Generating interest: a website visitor fills out a form to receive a free consultation and basic information on preparing for repairs.
• Decision making: during the consultation, the user receives a bonus - free wallpaper removal when ordering a full package of services.
• Closing the deal: Positive reviews and a special offer encourage the buyer to hire a team to do the repairs.

Funnel for "hot" clients

Suitable for mass-market products or services. Here, you don't have to devote a lot of resources to "generating interest." And sometimes, you can skip the stage altogether. The main efforts should be directed at awakening the desire to purchase the product. You can interest the buyer, for example, with the help of discounts.

Example of a funnel for "hot" clients

• Attracting attention: the user independently studied information about the Internet marketing course, read useful articles on the school blog, subscribed to the newsletter to promptly receive materials.
• Generating interest: a person receives a personalized email based on their actions on the site, giving them free access to the first lesson.
• Decision making: the user takes a lesson, studies reviews on the site, sees clear payment terms.
• The transaction is completed: the buyer pays for the purchase and receives a discount on another course on a similar topic.

"Hot" customers go through a more compressed funnel that emphasizes personalization and ease of use.

Funnel on the Internet

Maintaining sales levels online is much more difficult than in an offline store. The user can compare different offers at the same time. In such conditions, it is much easier to switch to a competitor.

Example of a funnel built for an online fitness store

• Attracting attention: a user who previously searched for fitness clubs near their home begins to see targeted advertising for a sports goods store.
• Generating interest: on the store’s website, the user is offered a selection of exercises for home use, a branded accessory, or a trial lesson with a trainer.
• Decision making: A person sees clear product cards and reviews from previous customers, so they add clothes to their cart.
• Making a deal: the user receives an email reminder to complete the purchase and a coupon for a personal discount. After that, he pays for the selected goods.
• Repeat purchase: The customer joins the loyalty program, receives discount offers by email and returns to the store again.

Auto funnel sales

The sales funnel can be partially or fully automated.

Autofunnel is a system that helps attract, warm up, convert leads on the Internet without constant human intervention. Scenarios can be implemented in various channels: email newsletters, chat bots, social networks, etc.

Let's consider the use of an auto funnel using the example of an online school

• The user saw a message on social networks about a free selection of programs for creating images.
• He went to the website, entered his details in a special field, and then received the materials by mail.
• Then he received an email with an offer to buy a training course on working with neural networks at a special price.
• The client went back to the site and paid for the product.
• After this, he may again receive messages with new, advantageous offers for him.

This entire scenario can be performed automatically, the main thing is to initially set up trigger points well.

How to build a sales funnel

Building a sales funnel is a very labor-intensive process.

Here are some steps to help you create an online sales funnel:

• Target audience analysis and USP formation. Find out who your potential client is, what they are looking for, what their problems, needs, values ​​and lifestyle are. To do this, analyze search queries and social networks. Then segment the audience by key parameters and create a unique selling proposition for each group. Show how your product is better than competitors. This can be done with a low price, excellent quality, short delivery times or impeccable service.
• Content creation. This is an important stage necessary to attract the attention of potential buyers. These can be, for example, thematic articles, videos, podcasts, webinars, etc. The main thing is that the materials are interesting and informative.
• Attracting traffic. Use SEO optimization, email marketing, SMM, contextual, targeted and other types of advertising.
• Lead collection. You can get contacts of potential clients using a subscription form, special landing pages and other lead magnets with free useful content (checklists, digests, books).
• Lead generation. Email newsletters with product information and retargeting are suitable for “warming up” potential buyers.
• Customer retention. To make a person come back again, you need to provide quality support. It is important to maintain contact with the client even after the transaction. Personalized offers and loyalty programs will help to retain the buyer.

Factors Affecting Sales Funnel Effectiveness

There are many factors that influence the effectiveness of the funnel. Some of them are difficult to influence: the economic situation, supply problems, etc. But in most cases, sales can be increased.

To do this, please pay attention to the following points:

• Demand for the product. The target audience may not be interested in the offer. For example, down jackets are rarely bought in the midst of the summer heat. In this case, sales depend on the season.
• Customer objections. It is necessary to justify the reason why the price of a product or service is higher than that of competitors. It is important to highlight the advantages of the product, think through bonuses (additional support, free delivery, extended warranty, etc.)
• Work of managers. How efficiently and quickly do consultants process orders? How do they communicate with clients? In the sales sphere, customer focus is extremely important.

Funnel errors

• The path to purchase is too complicated. The more steps separate the buyer from the deal, the higher the probability of him going to competitors. Leave only the most necessary stages, simplify the customer path.
• Attracting untargeted traffic. This mistake is easy to track: most potential leads are lost at the first stage. Set up targeting and create relevant content - then the ad will attract only the interested audience.
• Lack of segmentation. If you use the same funnel for all types of target audiences, you can’t count on high conversion. Divide the audience into groups. For example, “warm” and “cold” clients. Develop an individual scenario for each.
• Lack of content and offer optimization. If the content at each stage of the funnel does not meet user needs and requests, this can lead to loss of interest and decreased conversion.
• Lack of continuous analysis and monitoring. Some companies forget how important it is to analyze and monitor performance indicators.
• "Hanging" deals. This happens when the client has looked at the commercial offer and left to think. Or put the goods in the basket and did not pay. Do not let unclosed deals accumulate at any stage. They clutter the funnel and distort the statistics. Close obviously unpromising deals as unrealized, so as not to waste time. For the rest, set tasks and track the results.

How to Analyze a Sales Funnel

Analysis of key sales funnel indicators and its subsequent optimization are necessary to increase the effectiveness of the marketing strategy and reduce losses.

Continuous analysis is carried out through:

• Stage-by-stage conversion measurement. Marketers track how many customers go through the stages of the sales funnel, what share of transitions between stages. This way they find bottlenecks where there are problems with content or feedback.
• Use of analytical tools. They help marketers track the actions of the target audience, identify factors that influence conversion, and make data-based decisions.
• Segmentation. Dividing the target audience into segments helps analyze the effectiveness of the approach for each group separately. This way, differences in behavior and needs are identified in order to develop individualized strategies for each user group.

What is a sales funnel for?

1. The sales funnel is one of the main tools of effective marketing. Understanding the stages that each buyer goes through allows companies to create more targeted and effective promotion strategies.
2. Continuous analysis and optimization are necessary steps to increase sales and grow a loyal customer base. By regularly monitoring metrics and implementing improvements, companies can minimize audience loss and increase conversion. 
3. No business can do without this tool. The sales funnel helps to attract, retain and maximize customer value. And its constant analysis and optimization allow companies to adapt to rapidly changing market conditions and consumer behavior, ensuring business sustainability and growth,