The shopping funnel – why should it be taken care of?

One of the key tools to help achieve business success in almost any sector (including e-commerce) is the purchase funnel. This marketing concept plays a vital role in turning potential customers into loyal and determined buyers. The value of a strategy based on the purchase funnel is invaluable. With its help, your business can accurately manage the sales process, identify the stages at which customers are likely to become discouraged and disengaged, and take appropriate action to persuade them to buy. This is an opportunity to increase the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and generate more conversions. If you want to know the details – be sure to read this article! Enjoy reading.

What is a purchase funnel?

The purchase funnel is a marketing model that describes the path a potential customer takes from learning about a product or service to completing a purchase. Symbolically called a funnel because of its shape, this model represents the gradual narrowing of the group of interested parties to those who actually make a purchase.

The stages of the purchase funnel can be divided into several main phases:

• Awareness – in this phase the potential customer becomes aware of the product or service. This can come from advertising, recommendations from other people or marketing activities. Customers gain information about the brand and begin to identify their needs.
• Interest – at this stage, the potential customer shows more interest in the product or service. They are considering different options and looking for more detailed information. This may include reading reviews, watching instructional videos or visiting websites.
• Consideration – in the consideration phase, the potential customer actively compares different options and weighs up the advantages and disadvantages. He or she reviews different offers, compares prices and analyses the features of the products or services. This stage may include reading reviews, seeking recommendations or participating in product trials.
• Decision – after careful consideration of the available options, the customer reaches a decision point. In this phase, he or she makes a final purchase decision and chooses a preferred product or service. This may involve completing an online order, visiting a shop or signing a contract.
• Purchase – the final stage of the purchase funnel is the fulfilment of the purchase. The customer makes payment and becomes the official purchaser. This is an important moment that can influence the customer’s continued loyalty and their eventual recommendation of the brand to others.

The purchase funnel – a simple example from the e-commerce sector

Let’s assume that Jacob, a potential customer, has found out about a new smartphone that has recently been launched. He starts from the awareness stage, the moment he notices an advertisement for the smartphone on a website. He becomes interested and moves on to the interest stage, where he reads reviews, checks user feedback and watches videos demonstrating the smartphone’s features.

He then moves to the consideration stage, where he compares different smartphone models, checks technical specifications and prices. After carefully considering his needs, he decides that this particular smartphone best suits his requirements.

Finally, in the decision phase, Jacob has made his final decision and decides to buy the smartphone of his choice. He heads to the manufacturer’s website, adds the product to his basket and makes payment. In this way, he passes through the purchase stage, becoming an official purchaser.

Source: https://seoguide.wix.com/pl/article/jak-osi%C4%85gn%C4%85%C4%87-cele-biznesowe-dzi%C4%99ki-obecno%C5%9Bci-online

Why is the purchase funnel important? – 5 benefits

The purchase funnel plays a key role in the sales strategy and has a number of important benefits for any company, business or online shop:

1. More effective sales management

The purchase funnel enables you to better understand the extent to which potential customers move through the various stages of the purchasing process. This enables you to better manage your customer data and adapt your sales strategies to the needs and preferences of your customers in the different phases of the funnel. Effective sales management allows marketing and sales activities to be fine-tuned, resulting in more effective and efficient operations.

2. Higher conversion rates

The purchase funnel allows you to identify potential problems or obstacles that may cause you to lose customers at particular stages. This allows appropriate action to be taken to convince customers to continue with the purchase process. Improving conversion rates is a key objective for any sales strategy, and the purchase funnel provides the tools and information needed to achieve this goal.

3. Increasing customer loyalty

The purchase funnel enables you to better understand your customers’ needs and preferences at different stages of the purchasing process. This enables you to provide them with more personalised and targeted content and offers. By providing valuable information and effectively engaging customers at each stage of the funnel, you will build greater customer loyalty and engagement, which in turn will lead to repeat purchases and ultimately increased conversions.

4. Less waste of resources

Effective use of the purchase funnel allows you to target marketing and sales resources more precisely. By better identifying potential customers and their needs at different stages of the funnel, you can avoid wasting resources on inappropriate audience groups. Optimising marketing activities and focusing on the most promising customers leads to more efficient use of time, effort and budget.

5. Shortening the sales cycle

By understanding the stages of the purchase funnel and acting appropriately at each one, you can reduce the time it takes to convince customers to make a purchase. With more targeted and personalised actions, you will speed up decision-making processes and eliminate barriers or doubts that can delay a purchase. A shorter sales cycle leads to faster financial results and greater efficiency throughout the sales process.

How do you create a thoughtful purchase funnel?

Creating a thoughtful purchase funnel requires taking into account the different stages of a customer’s buying process and tailoring marketing and sales activities appropriately to the needs and preferences of buyers at each stage. Below are key tips for the top, middle and bottom of the funnel.

Top of the Funnel:

Define your target audience

Identify exactly who your target audience is at the top of the funnel stage. Identify the demographics, interests and needs of your potential customers so that you can deliver relevant content and information to them.

Generate awareness

Focus on marketing activities to increase awareness of your brand and products or services. Use display advertising, content marketing, social media or SEO in this case to reach potential customers and get them interested in your offer. A performance marketing agency can help you with this.

Middle of the Funnel:

Provide valuable content

In this stage, focus on providing valuable content to help potential customers understand their problems and consider different solutions. Build trust by publishing, among other things:

• blog articles,
• e-books,
• webinars,
• case studies.

This will build trust and reinforce your position as an expert in your field.

Personalise your communications

Collect data about your potential customers and use it to personalise your communication. Tailor content and offers to their preferences and needs. Use marketing emails, personalised recommendations and dynamic website content to increase engagement and communication effectiveness.

Bottom of the Funnel:

Convert prospects into customers

Focus on convincing potential customers to make a purchase. Provide them with information about your offer, prices, benefits and guarantees. Offer customised solutions to encourage them to take up your offer (e.g. with product samples).

Offer support and encourage purchase

Provide potential customers with additional support in their decision-making process, e.g. by offering free consultations, recommendations from customers or loyalty programmes. Use tools such as remarketing emails, chatbots and retargeting to maintain interest and convince customers to complete a purchase.

The purchase funnel – summary

The purchase funnel is an essential tool in your sales strategy that contributes to more effective sales management, higher conversion rates, increased customer loyalty, reduced resource wastage and a shorter sales cycle. Taking care of the purchase funnel allows businesses to better understand their customers’ needs, tailor marketing and sales activities to specific stages of the funnel and achieve better business results.

FAQ – most common questions and answers [purchase funnel]

Below are the most common questions and answers about the purchase funnel.

1. What tools can I use to implement a purchase funnel?

There are many tools that can be used to implement a purchasing funnel. These can include marketing automation systems, CRM platforms, content personalisation tools, data analytics tools, email marketing systems, chatbots or remarketing tools. Decide on the solutions that best fit the needs of your business and sales process.

2. How do you monitor and optimise your purchase funnel?

Monitoring and optimising the purchase funnel involves analysing conversion data at each stage, tracking customer actions, investigating the causes of funnel abandonment, testing different strategies and tactics, and using analytics tools to gather information. Based on the data collected, optimisation of actions can be made to improve the performance of the purchase funnel and achieve better sales results.