Do you know why branding and selling are considered art? Attracting customers towards your service or product, convincing them to invest in your business, and doubling your revenue is not a smooth and easy process. It involves a lot of brainstorming and creativity. To stand out from the competition, the brand needs to establish its presence such that it grasps attention immediately. The time, effort, and planning that goes into developing a marketing strategy for an online business are extremely important. The first step is always the hardest, but nothing stops you on your road to success once you get on that pedestal.

In such times, it’s essential to understand the need for funnels. Every service needs a sales funnel strategy. Without it, your marketing efforts might go down the drain. While it sounds intimidating, a sales funnel is merely a process to follow. It’s the process by which you turn your leads into customers.

Let’s break down the structure of a funnel to ease our understanding. At the top of the funnel, the widest part is the beginning stage. It involves serious marketing. As you go down the funnel, you will notice many phases taking place, and your leads will turn into purchasing customers by the end of the funnel. As you go further down the funnel, you will find several phases into play.

These phases depend on what your business is selling. Every sale funnel is different from the other. Costlier products and services will need a longer sales funnel, as they will need a longer time to convince customers.

Value Ladder

Before we dive into the funnel phases, let’s understand the concept of a value ladder. As a business, you want to make a lot of money by selling the most expensive product or service you have onboard. But the chances of a purchase happening in the initial steps are unlikely as they don’t know you. A value ladder is designed to help you decide what you value more.  In the beginning, prospective leads must recognize your brand first before becoming a potential customer.

Offer them products or services at a low price, which draws them to spend their money on your business. Once they recognize the value you provide, you’ll find them climbing up the ladder to invest in costlier products.

Phases of a sales funnel

Every phase of the funnel directly impacts the buyer’s journey of returning to your business.  An effective sales funnel is essential in creating a loyal customer. When customers climb up the value ladder, they’re more than invested in your business as they recognize your brand’s value and quality. Every phase of the funnel must be carried out with precision and strategy. Specifically, if you’re running an online business, a proper sales funnel must be set up to achieve a successful online persona.

1. Brand Awareness

This phase involves building your brand from the ground up. How do you establish your presence in a saturated market? You double your consistency and efforts. At this phase, potential customers or prospective leads learn about your products and brand. They want to find a solution to a specific problem they’re facing. So what do they do? They hop on to Google. Here, your business should rank at least in the top 10 on the results page to make it. You can build brand awareness through SEO, videos, webinars, social media posts, guest posts, infographics, etc.

2. Driving interest

People who are interested in your product will do more research on your brand at this phase. They show an interest in your brand and what you offer. At this stage, they’re aware of their problem and the solution you offer, which means they’re interested in becoming a purchasing customer. Email campaigns, blog posts, free trials, and chatbots are some ways to interact with your audience and increase their interest. Connecting with your audience at this stage is essential so make sure you get on of the reliable AT&T Internet Plans. The super-fast connection ensures you are always connected to them!

3. Evaluation and comparison

At this stage, potential customers compare and evaluate your products against your competitors. Potential customers consider many factors at this stage, including customer service, consistency, content, price, sponsored posts, reviews, and more. Once your lead becomes familiar with your brand and products, they’ll develop a greater interest.

4. Desire and action

At this phase, your lead is more than just a prospect. You have their full attention, and the right move can make them spend their money on you. They will evaluate how your product aligns with their budget and expectations. At this stage, content matters most. You have to turn their desire into action. Offer discount codes, customer reviews, testimonials, pricing pages, and live demos to convince your prospects. This move makes the lead interested in your brand even if they’re not ready for a full commitment.

5. Purchase

This is where you seal the deal with your new customer. But your efforts shouldn’t come to a halt at this stage. You want to make sure your customers return to you. Offer them material on the product they’re investing in. You want them to introduce your product to their daily lives. You can provide bundled packages, premium offers, follow-up email, and customer success tips at this stage to build a long term relationship with your customers.

You don’t want to upsell your next product and shove it in their face right away. Instead, give them time to adjust and understand the product they just invested in. Once your customer is familiar, you can always re-engage with them and offer a better experience.

6. Re-engagement

Re-engaging with happy customers is an excellent way to earn a loyal customer following. Satisfied customers don’t just invest in your products more, but they also put in a good word with their friends about you. This kind of marketing can only be done if you follow the right sales funnel strategy. You can introduce referral programs, email campaigns, and upsell campaigns to re-engage with customers and keep the long-term relationship going.

Every stage of the funnel should appeal to your potential customers. Every business builds a different funnel. It’s not a one size fits all. It’s essential to understand the approach of your target audience before the beginning of the sales funnel. While each content strategy you pull off at any of the funnel stages is powerful enough to stir interest, it, unfortunately, won’t work unless you know your audience. You want your audience to feel they can connect with your brand emotionally. Effective sales funnel builds credibility and trust through content. 

Final Words

If you’re looking to gain trust, attract attention, build brand awareness, and create lasting relationships with your customers, you need to follow a sales funnel. Not only will it help you scale your business, but it will also motivate you to build meaningful trustworthy relationships with your prospects.

Make sure to follow the steps of the funnel and cover every stage with the right content. It will need a lot of research and in-depth preparation from your end, but once you figure out your buyer persona, you can identify future events and mistakes long before they occur.

Baldwin Jackson is a successful digital marketer with expertise in search engine optimization and content marketing. The perfect balance of his analytical ability and creative thinking is what sets him apart from other practitioners in the digital marketing realm. He has helped a lot of small and medium-sized businesses in crafting their digital marketing strategies that are not only cost-effective but delivers results as well.

Baldwin is also a proud father of two kids and a Sports enthusiast. When he is not working, you will find him watching ESPN and NFL network. He has been able to get an amazing package on his favorite channels from Buytvinternetphone.com.