In the past, many businesses had a sales team that talked to “hot leads” and waited for the payment to go through. This is where the fun of reeling in became very popular, and companies made lots of sales back then.
However, today’s competition is tougher, and getting that sale is more challenging than many had thought. It’s rare that a visitor visits a website through an ad, provides information in the contact forms, talks to a representative, and decides to go ahead with the purchase. The buyers’ journey today consists of brand recognition, relationship-building, and a combination of effective products and services that make them repeat customers.
Still, the role of marketing and sales are very important. So, this is where the funnel comes in. The funnel for each process can be different, but the goal is the same: to encourage leads to make purchases and become repeat buyers.
About the Marketing Funnel
Funnels that are made for marketing strategies usually generalize how clients interact with a company. It looks at the ad performance, buyers’ journey, and overall satisfaction of the customers. An in-depth analysis of the marketing funnel vs sales funnel can help companies improve their techniques and operations to succeed over the long run. Marketing is the part where a business does everything to increase its visibility and get an edge over the competition.
This is where the marketing funnel guides the buyer from their first interaction with a certain brand to developing that urgency to buy a specific product or service. This is crafted in a way that many people will recognize a brand, and the funnel is achieved through the following methods.
Collecting Leads: Lead generation includes the creation of marketing content, campaign, and ads that will want to build more awareness for the company. These include inbound marketing, trade shows, viral videos, whitepaper, direct mail, newsletters, and more.
Nurturing of the Leads: After the prospective audience begins to develop awareness and interest in a business, the marketing team needs to nurture this relationship with their targets. This can be a crafted package that addresses the needs of specific customers or simply greeting them during the holidays.
Overall, this is the level where trust is established. It can be through frequent newsletters, free webinars, e-books, and emails. This is helpful for those who are interested in a specific product or service of a company.
What to Know about Sales Funnels?
Sales funnels are generally great for more diverse demographics. Its primary goal is to get more information about prospects who are interested in a product and who can become buyers in no time. When the team identifies these people, they get in touch with them, and the process of entering the sales funnel begins.
This is a system that takes over the marketing campaign, and the focus is more on conversion. When you think of a funnel as a cone shape, you can imagine that the sales funnel is at the very end of the narrowest part of the entire process and you can learn more about it on this page.
Generally, the sales funnel consists of customers who already know about the company. They need a slight push so that the organic visitors will buy the offers. There should be further engagement down the line, and everything can be sped up by actual demos and free trials.
However, the sales funnel continues after the customer has purchased something. There should always be follow-ups where you want to maintain retention and encourage repeat buyers. Others will want to get feedback, identify possible issues, automate everything, and boost sales to inspire trust.
What are the Differences to Know About?
Although other businesses might use them interchangeably, there’s actually a fine line between marketing and a sales funnel. It may be hard to differentiate the two, but most people want to take advantage of the differences to improve their marketing strategies and techniques.
Usually, sales and marketing have distinctive functions, each of which has different maps regarding a buyer’s journey. The marketing and ads generally build attention, interest, and brand recognition.
To sum it up, customers need to recognize your brand first, which is the first step of the funnel. They might see a lot of engagement or ads about the company. Then, they become buyers, and when they find that the products or services suit their needs, they develop loyalty over the long run. Afterwards, they will share the effectiveness of certain products with their friends and families, which can result in more sales.
In a sales funnel, the first thing that the team will do is gather leads. They will determine their qualifications based on demographics, behavior, inquiries, and other factors. Then, the negotiations will begin, and some customers might get discounted rates, rebates, coupons, or vouchers. After a free trial or a product demonstration, the deal is then closed. For service-based companies, an account will be created, and effective management of customer details can be key to success.
If you’re getting a high-level strategy in your ad campaigns, you can begin engaging with people unaware of our business. With proper follow-ups, more visibility, and engagements, most visitors will become buyers, and the goal is to make them repeat customers. This is the phase that begins with awareness and ends up in sales.
On the other hand, the sales funnel encourages people to take action before they miss out on something. They might want to reserve event tickets, attend an exclusive member-only webinar, or participate in business-related launches. The point is for the people to take action.
This is a series of strategies, websites, marketing campaigns, chatting with representatives, getting in touch, emails, and others that will persuade people to go from being interested in becoming repeat buyers. It might become harder for businesses to distinguish one from the other, but with the help of the right specialist, you can make your funnel seamless and effective, where each funnel does the work it’s meant to do.