Funnels for Sales and Marketing
There are different names for a similar concept – marketing funnel, sales funnel, sales pipeline and so forth – yet the principle is one of entering a relationship that leads to deeper engagement. Through this process, you acquire leads, close sales and retain customers for future and more frequent sales. In other words, your prospect becomes a customer who becomes a repeat customer who becomes a loyal and referring customer.
A sales funnel and a marketing funnel are different approaches to this same goal, and your database helps you manage the communications that are essential to these funnels.
In a marketing funnel, your introduction generally starts in the media with the broadest reach (billboards, radio, search engine marketing, for example). As you target neighborhoods in your market and/or get a name and address for your database, your Direct Mail is a more targeted media. Similarly, you market to lookalike audiences on Social Media. You continue communication through newsletters and other Customer Retention pieces. And you formalize the loyalty with a Maintenance Agreement membership.
The sales funnel follows a similar, collaborative process that starts wide at the top in order to bring in as many leads as possible. This is the “awareness” stage, where prospects become aware of you through broad media exposure. As they’re drawn in through your marketing or their Google searching, a lead is generated, and they’re in the “interest” stage. As you begin to nurture these leads through drip email, they reach the “consideration” stage and become prospective customers.
Nurturing continues to the “intent” stage, where they demonstrate an interest in purchasing from you. The “evaluation” stage is their point of decision – perhaps between your company and a competitor, or between different options from your company. With another nurturing nudge, they reach the “purchase” stage.