Here’s a fact – no matter how hard you work or how many hours you spend on marketing, all of can be wasted if you are on the wrong track.
While no doubt everyone’s mission is to increase sales and revenue, only 69% of marketers feel that lead conversion should be their top priority. Get too caught up with attracting prospects that there is less strategy on measuring how well you are converting them to customers.
79% of marketing leads are never converted into sales – just imagine your budget and time being spent on something that will attract the audience but with the wrong strategy doesn’t lead them towards a conversion or worse wastes your time speaking to the wrong leads. A huge waste of resources, right?
The solution? Create a marketing funnel and make sure that it is optimized according to what your prospects want, what they need, and most importantly, create a funnel that you can measure how well it is converting them to buyers.
Marketing funnels come in many shapes, but the AIDA model is a simple one that also mirrors the typical buyer’s journey. Here’s how it works:
Stage 1: Attention
It all starts when a person becomes aware that your company exists. It may be because your website showed up on a Google search, they watched a YouTube review of your products, or your brand was recommended to them by a friend.
Why they became aware of your brand will differ from one individual to another, but they do have one thing in common – they have a problem that needs to be solved.
It can be a student who wants to upgrade his laptop, a pregnant woman searching for ways to prevent morning sickness, or just someone looking for places to visit. It can be any problem, minor or major, but the way you address their concerns is critical in their buyer’s journey.
37% of marketers believe that this stage is the hardest but it’s important to remember how crucial this step is. This is the stage where you begin setting yourself as an authority on the solution to their problem, even if they are not consciously aware they have that problem yet.
Stage 2: Interest
The second stage of the buyer’s journey is when they become interested in what a brand is offering. From a marketer’s perspective, this is where we should supply them with content that will capture their attention.
96% of people who visit your website aren’t ready to buy but it doesn’t mean that they won’t purchase anything in the future. What you should do is answer their questions for them: What can you offer? How will it help them solve their problem? Will it make their life easier? Is it worth buying? Educate them.
FACT: Did you know you’re 65% of the way to a sale if you just build rapport and establish the prospects need?
Stage 3: Desire
If you manage to maintain your prospect’s interests, they will gradually move to the third stage. This is where they know what their problem is, what your service can do, and how it can help them. However, this is also where they will explore other alternatives, so the question is: What makes your product or service superior?
A typical customer will gather 3 or more options, contact all of them, and decide which one to choose. Now if all of their choices offer the same services at almost the same price, how will they decide?
Research suggests that 78% of buyers are said to make decisions based on whoever reaches out to them first. This is where speed to lead is essential – a very powerful tool that can help you with sales conversion at any stage of the marketing funnel.
If you did the first two steps correctly you will be one of the first companies they reach out to. Don’t give your competition a chance to beat you to helping this person with their problem!
Stage 4: Action
The last stage is when they finally buy your product, the stage where they are converted to customers after being convinced that you can help them.
You can make this stage easier for them by offering discount coupons, freebies, or anything that will make them purchase immediately. This is also where their buyer’s journey ends and depending on their overall experience, they can be loyal to your brand, recommend it to others, or write a promising review or testimonials.
All of this will in turn generate more audiences who are ready to undergo the first stage of your funnel. If your service is good enough, this sales cycle will repeat over and over again!
The funnel is in the shape of an inverted pyramid which means that if 1000 people visit your website or stumbled upon a Facebook ad, not all of them will be interested. In fact only about 6-7% of these people will be open to your offer. Of those, only half will be ready to buy now. Similarly, only a small percent of those will be converted to your customers.
In short, it is impossible for 100% of your prospects to reach the last stage of your funnel – not all of those who entered will automatically exit as customers.
Figuring out to set yourself apart from your competitors is crucial. The lesson here is to teach your “prospects” what they need to know to make a smart buying decision and position your solution as the “obvious choice”.
On a similar note, knowing how to plug or fix your marketing funnel “holes” and finding out how to optimize it takes time and effort, a bit of trial and error, as well as an expert CRM manager.
All of this will help you move a step closer to a higher lead conversion rate while maintaining a marketing strategy that isn’t solely focused on attracting but also prioritizes conversion. It’s important to remember that without a good marketing funnel, it will be hard for you to have steady conversions, let alone repeat customers.
With hundreds and thousands of competing brands, isn’t it time for you to step up your game and improve the overall journey of your prospects?
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