Create and optimize your sales funnel

Having an effective sales funnel is a necessity, whether you're a growing start-up or an established company.

This is a marketing strategy designed to guide a potential customer through the various stages, from initial contact to final purchase. It is structured to reduce the number of prospects at each stage, filtering out those most likely to convert into actual customers.

In this guide, you'll explore the steps for creating of your sales funnel, and see strategies for optimizing each phase of your sales process.

The importance of a sales funnel

A sales funnel in a nutshell

A sales funnelalso known as a sales tunnel or conversion funnel, is a marketing model that illustrates the theoretical customer journey from initial contact with your company to final purchase. 

This concept takes the form of a funnel, representing the way in which the number of prospects decreases at each stage of the sales process. These stages are :

1. awareness, where the prospect discovers your company or product;
2. the prospect'sinterest in your offer;
3. consideration, when the prospect evaluates your offer in relation to those of your competitors;
4. the decision when the prospect is ready to buy and chooses your product or service;
5. action: the prospect becomes a customer by making a purchase.

To illustrate the sales funnel concept, let's take the example of Basecamp, a team management solution. It uses landing pages that compare scenarios before and after using their tool. 

This strategy leverages social proof by showing how many companies have signed up recently, and how the tool has helped similar users solve common problems. In this way, this approach facilitates the progression of prospects through the sales funnel to the purchase decision.

Optimizing your sales funnel boosts your marketing and accelerates sales growth. It also allows you to :

• Understand the customer journey by providing a clear and comprehensive view of your customers' purchasing path;
• Identify and resolve friction points by revealing the obstacles that prevent prospects from converting into customers;
• optimize theallocation of marketing resources by identifying the most effective tactics;
• personalize communication to increasecustomer engagement ;
• improve conversion rates ;
• specify sales forecasts.

Another notable example is Netflix, which used a 30-day free trial strategy to attract users into its sales funnel. This strategy generated a high level of brand awareness and attracted users through its simplicity and accessibility.

Once attracted, users are guided through a simplified process to choose andsubscribe to a plan, with reminders aimed at reducing abandonment and converting prospects into paying customers.

Key stages in the sales funnel

Let's explore each phase of the sales funnel and discover how to improve them.

1. Awareness

Objective: Grab your audience's attention and create a positive first impression.

Strategies:

• SEO optimized content to increase online visibility;
• Targeted advertising on social networks;
• Public relations campaigns;
• Participation in industry events;
• Informative blog posts;
• Short videos and podcasts.

Example: Edflex, an e-learning platform, used a multi-channel strategy to raise its profile, combining the creation of inbound content with outbound campaigns.

2. Interest

Objective: Engage prospects and encourage them to learn more about your offer.

Strategies :

• Educational content (blogs, videos, infographics) ;
• Informative newsletters;
• Free webinars;
• Detailed case studies ;
• Downloadable practical guides.

Example: Lingo, a company leveraging blockchain technology in real estate has created over 100 pieces of content and built a community of over 13,000 members.

3. Evaluation (consideration)

Objective: Enable the prospect to analyze the offer in detail to confirm their intention to buy. 

Strategies :

• Product demonstrations with live demos or recorded videos accessible ;
• Socialproof, with shared case studies, customer testimonials and customer success stories;
• Special personalized offers, such as temporary discount codes;

Example: Spotify uses in-app notifications and personalized emails to highlight the benefits of its Premium subscription, such as ad-free listening, unlimited song skipping, and offline playback.

4. Commitment (Decision)

Objective: Convince prospects that your solution is the best one to meet their needs.

Strategies:

• Case studies and customer testimonials;
• Product comparisons;
• Free trial offers;
• Personalized consultations;
• In-depth FAQs;
• ROI calculators.

Example: Addingwell, specialized in GTM Server-Side deployment, created newtunnels on Facebook and LinkedIn to present their unique value proposition.

5. Action (Action)

Objective: Facilitate decision-making and eliminate the last obstacles to purchase.

Strategies:

• Simplified purchasing process;
• Time-limited offers;
• Satisfaction guarantees;
• Responsive customer support;
• Optimized sales pages.

Example: Comptables.com, a recruitment marketplace, has optimized its landing pages, achieving a conversion rate of 45% on their best page.

Prospect analysis and segmentation

Prospectanalysis and segmentation enable you to optimize your sales funnel by targeting the needs of different customer groups more precisely, thus improving marketing strategies and conversion rates.

How do you target and analyze prospects?

Prospect targeting involves identifying and prioritizing the groups most likely to convert into customers, based on specific criteria. 

This practice enables companies to focus their marketing resources on the most promising audience segments. It's crucial because it optimizes campaign effectiveness and improves ROI.

1. Study prospects' actions on your website and social networks.
2. Award points to prospects based on their interactions with your brand.
3. Collect and analyze information such as the age, location and profession of your prospects.
4. Use questionnaires to obtain information directly from your prospects.
5. Monitor conversations on social networks to understand your audience's concerns and interests.

What segmentation of the buying path?

Segmentation involves dividing your prospect base into distinct groups sharing similar characteristics . The aim is to personalize marketing approaches and maximize their effectiveness by sending messages tailored to the expectations and preferences of each group. Here are some commonly used segmentation criteria:

• demographics: age, gender, income, education ;
• geographic: location, climate, culture ;
• psychographic: lifestyle, values, personality ;
• behavioral: buying habits, brand loyalty, benefits sought.

Example: Kahler Communications, a specialist in leadership training, used a segmentation approach to penetrate the US market. By developing highly targeted inbound and outbound campaigns on Meta and LinkedIn, they were able to generate 692 qualified leads with an average cost per lead of $35 in specific geographic areas such as New York and Silicon Valley.

Sales funnel optimization tools

Marketing Automation Tools

• CRM (Customer Relationship Management), such as Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive ;
• Email marketing platforms, such as Mailchimp, Sendinblue, ActiveCampaign;
• Lead scoring tools, such as Marketo or LeadSquared ;
• All-in-One marketing automation platforms like HubSpot or Eloqua.

Example : Aircall, a start-up specializing in cloud-based business telephony, has optimized its use of marketing automation tools, configuring workflows and automations in their CRM to enable data analysis by marketing teams.

A/ B testing and performance analysis

• Identify the elements to be tested : titles, CTAs, images, page layout, contact forms ;
• A/B testing: Use tools such as Optimizely or VWO ;
• Results analysis: Focus on key metrics such as conversion rate, bounce rate, time spent on page ;
• Continuous iteration: Apply the lessons learned from testing and keep experimenting.

An optimized sales funnel is the key to sustainable sustainable growth. By understanding each step, analyzing your data, and adjusting your approach, you can turn more prospects into customers.