The journey from awareness to sale is known as the marketing and sales funnel. It’s a combination of marketing and sales that builds product awareness and nurtures consumers toward a purchase. For retailers, understanding the funnel and how customers experience it is an essential part of converting shoppers to loyal customers.

How the Funnel Guides Customers

In reality, there is no actual sales funnel. The funnel is a visualization technique designed to illustrate the process of turning leads into customers. The funnel is wide at the top to cast a wide net that captures as many potential customers as possible. Since it's not possible to turn every lead into a sal is not possible, the funnel narrows to only include your brand's ideal customers.

While the funnel isn't always clearly divided between departments, there are generally certain notable stages in both the B2B and B2C sales funnel. The four stages of the funnel are typically awareness, interest, decision, and action.

These stages are clearly designed to take the consumer's point of view into perspective. However, the funnel is actually created through the actions of the marketing and sales teams.

The Role of Marketing

You could create the most useful product in the world and never sell a single one. It might seem like an impossible statement, but consumers can't buy a product if they don't know it exists. This is where your marketing plan comes in.

Whether you're a startup with a single employer, or you have a large marketing team, your marketing plan plays a pivotal role in the funnel that guides shoppers toward conversion.

Awareness

There are many ways your customers can become aware of your products. The most common are advertisements, social media, blog content, referrals, internet search, emails, and media mentions. These points of awareness are typically generated in some way by your marketing efforts.

Today's technological advances mean that much of the awareness stage is online. 81% of retail shoppers conduct online research before buying. Helping to create an effective level of awareness online may include paid advertisements, social media campaigns, SEO tactics, content generation, and videos.

Interest

Once potential customers are aware of your brand, they can evaluate your company and the product they desire. For marketers, this is the time to provide educational content about your product. Research shows that consumers are 131% more likely to buy from a brand after consuming educational content about a product.

During the interest stage, shoppers are likely to evaluate how your product will address their problem and compare to competitors.

The Role of Sales

When consumers show interest in a brand or company, it's time for the sales team to step in and nurture the shopper toward a purchase. Since consumers have taken a more involved approach through digital research, marketing may extend into the early stages of the sales funnel.

During the sales stages of the funnel, the goal is to stay visible in the customer's mind.

Decision

This is the period when your potential customers will choose to purchase your product, move on to your competitors, or decide they don't need the item. While many shoppers gather information provided by online marketing campaigns (like educational content, customer reviews, packaging options, and prices), the sales team has an important job in the decision-making process.

At this point, it's time for the sales team to be prepared with a plan to provide additional information to clarify information and eliminate doubts. This can be accomplished through emails, calls, demos, or supplementary information.

Action

At this point, the shopper has the item in their shopping cart, seemingly intending to buy. However, it's not time to celebrate yet. Research shows that nearly 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned.

Now is the time for the sales team to shine. The action stage of the funnel provides sales professionals with an opportunity to keep the shopper on the hook for the current purchase and create an experience that encourages loyalty.

Objectives from the sales team during the action phase may include coupon offers before the customer leaves a website, follow-up emails, or ad retargeting. If the customer decides to make the purchase, your sales team has an opportunity to provide a premium buying experience that will convert the shopper into a loyal repeat customer.

The Difference Between the B2C and B2B Funnel

While different marketing/sales funnel representations vary, the journey essentially travels the same primary path for consumers. Yet the purchase journey for B2B shoppers is typically more involved than that for shoppers making a personal purchase.

A B2C purchase is usually a singular journey completed with minimal input from other parties, while a group of people generally completes a B2B purchase. In a firm with 100-500 people, seven people are involved in most buying decisions. These purchases are driven by logic and often must be approved by multiple decision-makers like company executives and stakeholders.

Naturally, these differences will impact the way retailers approach the marketing/sales funnel.

B2C funnels target a single person focused on personal needs, use emotion-based sales tactics, and are often a short-term solution. These funnels are often short, with a purchase occurring so quickly that direct interaction with the sales team might not be necessary. Most often, a B2C funnel begins with a very wide net and is designed to grab and keep attention for a short period of time to result in a quick sale.

A B2B funnel almost always requires a more strategic path with more steps and a slower customer journey. The B2B funnel targets a group of people based on logic and ROI and is usually designed to solve a problem long-term.

These funnels usually start with a narrower opening and include in-depth, detailed marketing materials to help prove the value of the purchase. B2B consumers typically interact with the sales team before making a purchase and are more likely to require product demos and additional product information.

A Carefully Planned Funnel Yields Results

The marketing/sales funnel for any purchase is designed to attract attention and nurture consumers toward a purchase. While no two funnels are identical, following a standard path is one way for retailers to create a journey that provides both attention-grabbing visuals and vital information about products in a way that resonates with specific shoppers.

While B2C and B2B companies are likely to include different steps in the funnel, the same phases generally apply to both customer journeys. A successful funnel is timed to give every consumer the personal treatment they need to make an informed purchase that doesn't lead to buyer's remorse. Ultimately, these sales can work to offer more leads to fuel successful marketing and sales funnels in any industry continually.

Marketing/sales funnels are a constantly evolving process that changes with technological advancements and consumer behavior. VTQ Magazine consistently offers updates on global business topics and thought leadership articles to provide valuable information to professionals worldwide.

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