Over the course of the last eight weeks, we have featured a series of blog posts dedicated to breaking down the marketing funnel, and describing each stage in full. For those that happened to miss any or all of those posts, we’ve organized them all neatly below:
Stay tuned next week for the start of a brand new series.
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 purchase stage.
This week’s segment: Loyalty
An older version of the marketing funnel, that many companies still wrongly use today, would have ended with last week’s “purchase stage” explanation. But the modern marketer’s job does not end when a customer makes a purchase. We want that customer to be satisfied, and we want that satisfaction to translate into future sales.
Loyalty is the new end of the funnel. And one could argue the start of a brand new funnel specifically designed to sell to existing customers.
To effectively take someone from the first sale to the second one, you have to make sure a couple of things happen on a consistent basis:
Happy customers come back for more. They refer their friends. They leave positive reviews online and help your company’s reputation. Unhappy customers flee for your competitors and leave negative reviews online for all to see.
To improve customer happiness, marketing can conduct customer surveys, create an online community, offer incentives for frequent shoppers, and actively work with customer service teams to improve customer relations.
So ends the seven part series on the different stages of the marketing funnel. Did you miss any? Look back here.
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 commitment stage.
This week’s segment: Purchase
Congratulations! At the purchase stage you’ve made the sale. The hard, time-consuming, expensive work of signing up a new customer is over.
In the old days, we might say that this is where marketing’s job ends. Marketing gets a qualified lead to sales. Sales signs them up. Game over.
But we know better than that. The job is never over. Once we have a new customer, it is marketing’s job to make sure that new customer is happy and becomes a repeat customer. Loyal, even.
This is the stage where we have to reach across organization lines and work closely with service and product teams, community managers, etc. in order to make sure that all customer contact is consistent and works towards keeping the customer engaged. Because when it comes time to turn a one-time purchase into a lifetime customer, this first impression will make all the difference.
Stay tuned next week for another edition of the Marketing Funnel series.
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 evaluation stage.
This week’s segment: Commitment
When you have gotten a prospect all the way through to the commitment stage, you are as close to making a sale as you’re ever going to be without actually making one. And that’s why it is crucial that you don’t stop to congratulate yourself too soon.
The commitment stage is significant because the prospect has chosen to do business with your company. They have reviewed your promotional materials, researched alternatives, gotten the answers to all of their questions, and have chosen your product or service.
Sounds like a done deal, right? Well, for many industries this is where things really get tricky. Now comes the negotiation, where your sales team tries to close the deal with the right price and contract terms.
For consumer goods and many other B2C companies, this stage might be less important. When a prospect chooses you, there may be very little negotiation available to them. But for B2B companies, this is the whole reason you have a sales team. If you lose a prospect at this stage, it’s a costly missed opportunity.
So be prepared with flexible, easy to understand terms and conditions. Give your sales teams the right incentives and the power to do what it takes to close. If you do, you’ll plug up one of the most painful leaks in the funnel.
Stay tuned next week for another edition of the Marketing Funnel series.
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.
Zach Heller Marketing is all about perfecting the way you and your company communicate with consumers in the digital age. Our specialties include email marketing, social media marketing, direct mail, and website design and development.
Hey there! My name is Zach Heller. My goal is to create a place of open communication about marketing, advertising, small business, etc. I invite comments, emails, and connections of any kind. You can connect with me anytime.
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