What is a Digital Sales Funnel?
The funnel is like a journey
Maybe you have a natural instinct when it comes to getting the attention of a stranger, compelling them to lean in closer, and turning them into your best friend and advocate. That’s cool, but can your business do it? It’s a little different, of course, and a lot more complicated. It’s done with a digital sales funnel.
A digital sales funnel is a fancy way of talking about the journey a customer takes from the moment they notice you. This journey continues all the way until they are a loyal, returning customer who is willing to recommend that others check you out as well.
Communicate value
A key theme throughout the entire journey is that the customer finds value in each interaction with you. This may seem like an obvious point, but we’re always surprised by how many people seem to think a customer should find value in their business simply because they exist. While a business may have a perfectly useful product or service offering, there needs to be engagement.
Communication matters. If you don’t do it, there’s no way a person will know that what you offer could be of value to them, or gain trust in your brand to deliver on future engagements. So, how do you accomplish this for your business? Oh, let us count the ways.
Dig into digital marketing strategy
This is where you get into digital marketing strategy. Your strategy should include a variety of tactics that
1. Gain the attention of the customer
2. Cause them to engage with you, and
3. Built their trust.
Most tactics can’t do all of those things. Map out a combination of appropriate tactics that effectively engage customers at different points throughout their journey with you. This is where a little empathy will get you a long way. Do you often disclose personal details about yourself at your first encounter with a brand? Probably not. So don’t ask people to provide personal data right off the bat. Get them a little farther into your funnel—say, your website—where they can better determine if there is a valuable reason to do so. Trust takes time, and it’s built little by little throughout the journey.
Focus on user experience
When we first designed the eCommerce website for a CPG client back in 2012, their website sales grew by a whopping 1,100% in the first three years. But that was just the start of helping them build out and refine their digital sales funnel. In 2019 we refined their website for an optimized user experience (think about the “experience during their journey”), and improved their marketing automation infrastructure enabling them to better engage with customers at the appropriate times. In early 2020, we placed a lead magnet on their website that increased organic lead generation by three times. As a result, between 2019-2020, their website sales increased by another 260%.
We make it sound simple, but that’s because it’s what we do, and what we’re passionate about. You don’t need to shoulder this funnel business alone. Reach out to our team to find out how we can equip your business with a digital sales funnel that gets (and keeps) your customers in a place of trust and loyalty.
