A sales funnel is a popular way to guide potential customers through the buying process, from the initial awareness-building stage through to the first interaction and hopefully, the all-important purchase.

Understanding the buyer journey

In order to help drive engagement and encourage prospects to buy, it’s important to understand the buyer journey. The idea is to use relevant content to connect with potential customers at each stage through the funnel until that person is ready to part with their money.

The reality is that few people make immediate purchases, particularly if they are considering a big-ticket item. But once a prospect gets to know you and the brand, and trust has been established, they are far more likely to buy from you.

The three stages of the sales funnel: As the buyer’s intent is different at each stage of the process, it’s important to share the correct content at the right time to increase engagement with the brand

Top of the Funnel (ToFu)

The top of the sales funnel is the starting point for the buyer journey, it’s the awareness stage.

This is when the prospect is doing the necessary research in order to resolve whatever issue he has. At this point, the prospect is unlikely to be in the market for making a purchase so endless sales led material is unlikely to cut it and could even work against you.

The objective here is to attract the buyer’s attention, show that you offer the best solution and gently introduce your brand.

This is the time to position the company as the industry expert and help educate the prospect on the particular pain point in question.

Educational content such as ‘how-to’ guides, infographics, checklists, blog posts, podcasts, webinars, and ebooks which illustrate how to solve a specific problem, is really valuable at this stage of the sales funnel and can be hosted online and promoted via social media and email newsletters to extend your reach and attract visitors to your website.

MoFu: Middle of the Funnel

By the time we reach the MoFU stage, the focus is about guiding and educating the remaining prospects who are interacting with your content. (prospects that didn’t engage at the ToFU stage are not ‘in market’ and will have dropped out of the funnel, either on a temporary or permanent basis).
The objective here is to support the prospect on the next stage of the journey which is to gain an in-depth understanding of how your product helps them overcome their issue.

Nurturing content is generally product-led and one of the most cost-effective ways of keeping engagement levels high is by sharing reviews, case studies, white papers and success stories via email marketing. (the type of content needed here will vary depending on the business model e.g. a simple consumer product will require less in-depth info over a shorter nurturing time frame than a more complex item). Content should continue to educate and add value whilst again highlighting your brand as the solution to the problem.

BoFu: driving sales

By the time the prospect reaches the bottom of the funnel, they have done their research and made a decision to purchase. But they are browsing the options and choosing where to buy from. Content here needs to focus on benefits of your brand versus competitors and product and price comparisons plus customer reviews are a useful way to help drive a sale. One-on-one engagement, sales calls or a free assessment are strategies you can also use in this phase of the journey.

Using marketing automation platforms

There are numerous platforms available that help streamline sales funnel management by automating key tasks and optimising workflows. Some of these systems incorporate CRM (customer relationship management) so can be a valuable, timesaving investment for many businesses.