The marketing funnel - sometimes called the sales funnel, the purchase funnel, or the buyer’s journey, - is a fundamental concept in marketing for understanding the step by step process that consumers go through to make a purchasing decision.

Each week we will focus on one segment of the funnel and go into more detail. Last week we introduced the interest stage.

This week’s segment: Evaluation

When a user gets to the evaluation stage, not only have you captured their attention, but you have convinced them that your product or service can solve a problem they have identified. They have already done some basic research, and are now evaluating whether or not this is the right choice for their particular situation.

In many industries, this is the moment where shoppers are comparing different brands and experiences. They want to know who else is out there, and how their solutions match up to yours. It’s more than just who offers the best price. It’s who offers the best value. Who’s solution best matches my needs?

Of course there are consumers who do not do a lot of shopping around. If they find a solution that works for them, they’re more likely to give it a try. The evaluation stage for them would be digging deeper into your products, perhaps speaking to a salesperson or customer service rep to get answers to more specific questions, or researching your existing customers to see if there are many negative reviews out there.

The stage after Evaluation is Commitment. And to get your prospects from one stage to the next, you need to convince them that this is the best choice they can make. That’s why it’s critical to give them the answers to all of their questions. Provide it online, at the point of purchase, and through an accessible contact channel. Drive home the key differentiators between you and your competition’s products so that customers can see why this is the right choice. Use testimonials or case studies to show how other customers made this choice before and were happy with the results.

Stay tuned next week for another edition of the Marketing Funnel series.