THE DIGITAL SALES FUNNEL

So you've just built the greatest invention in the world, it's going to save people money and they're going to love it. Just one problem: how do they find it? If you've got £1 billion to spend on marketing, then save yourself the time and don't read the rest. But if you don't, you may want to carry on reading to find how different tools can find your customers at different stages of the sales process. Typically, a salesman used to look like Jeff in the photo (sorry, Jeff).

He'd knock on your door and use a horrendous combination of jargon and big words to confuse you into buying something you probably didn't need. Thankfully, those days are over. Waves of digitization have brought in different, easier tools to reach your customers quickly and cheaply. Tools like blogs, social media, videos and forums make guerrilla marketing the new weapons of choice for digital marketing. The section below highlights the ways that these tools can be used at different stages to build trust, loyalty and deliver value to your customers at various stages of a business's or products life cycle.


Gathering Information

Getting customers to know you and your product, and to gain an audience of potential customers is so important because it is the start of a customers journey through the sales funnel. Tools like blogs, whitepapers and videos are great for boosting your SEO ranking through quality content and engaging customers.

Most potential customers will only ever get to this stage of the sales funnel but it's important to remember that to stand the best chance of boosting your online conversions, all of these touch points need to draw customers attention, gain their interest and allow them to take action. The formula goes that the more people you engage at this process, the more sales you will have as a result. 

Comparison 

Reviews are a huge factor before buying online, and with tools like 3rd party review websites, social media and FAQ's available, it's important that your brand has a strong presence in these areas to reassure customers before they progress to the next stage. Google found that online users will look at roughly 10 different online sources about a product before purchasing. 

Take Action

This is the final stage. This is where it all comes together. Whether your customers are buying through you or on a 3rd party website you have to make sure the purchasing process is as smooth as possible. Somewhere between 60-80% of us online add a product to our basket and then fail to purchase it. Reducing these barriers is really important. 

Close the Loop

The great thing about all of these different tools is the ability to access the data at every single point. By following this process you create a closed loop marketing process where you can track the success of every tactic you implement, and compare it against different ideas to create an optimised and supercharged online business.