You may have heard the term ‘conversion funnel’ in the process of designing and building a website and/or marketing campaign. It’s a term often used, but little understood.
Essentially, it’s the process through which a customer becomes aware of your brand, buys from your brand, and keeps coming back.
Define that process well and people will be happily shepherded along the funnel. Design it badly and you’ll lose customers along the way – something well thought-out analytics can measure.
Here are the 5 steps you need to be aware of.
Brand awareness
The point at which a person becomes a potential customer. They’ve gone from not knowing about your business at all to knowing you exist.
This could be through an advert, a blog post, word-of-mouth – anything. This is a fragile stage of the funnel, come on too strong and they’ll be put off.
Engagement/interest
If they like what they see, they’ll begin to engage with you. This is where social media excels. It’s a chance to read your content, comment, share it… Casual interaction, with no obligation to buy.
This point of the funnel requires nothing more than for you to be appealing. It’s like having a chat.
Consideration/desire
Once they’ve become familiar with your brand, they’re beginning to consider your product or service as a solution to their particular problem (or something they just want).
At this point they will make direct contact with you: request an ebook or whitepaper, read your website, contact your customer service department… This is your chance to gently convince them that you should get their business. But keep it casual.
Conversion/action
This is the point at which they have decided to do business with you the first time. This is where an aggressive sales pitch will work. They no longer need convincing, you’re just guiding them into the final act of buying.
This point of the conversion funnel is the call to action at the bottom of your ‘services’ page, imploring to ‘book now!’
Retention
Having already bought once, customers are more likely to come back. Moreover, this is the most efficient way of running your business – getting customers back into the funnel.
This is where social media and automated emails excel. Gently reminding customers that you exist, for the next time they need something from you.
A clearly defined, well designed conversion funnel will help the customer along his journey toward buying your product or service. It also makes it easier to set up analytics to see at what point customers are dropping off, and therefore which part of the funnel requires attention.
Wisetiger Provides tools and services to help optimise the conversion funnel. If you want to find out more, get in touch.
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