3 Tips for Creating Your Sales Funnel

If you run an online retail business, converting visitors into paying customers is of the utmost importance. Channeling customers through your website to make a purchase is a basic fundamental of website design and internet marketing.

Whether you call it a marketing funnel, sales funnel, or something else, it is useful to visualize the structure of your lead nurturing process. So we are going to talk about key ideas to make your sales funnel as effective as possible.

1. First Impressions Count

Generally, most people will be introduced to your sales funnel through the landing page. The landing page is the name for the first page that a visitor “lands” on when they follow one of your links. First impressions are important as visitor retention is determined within the first few seconds of being on the page. Landing pages should include promotional specifications and be directly relevant to the ad or link that the visitor followed.

There needs to be some kind of continuity between your ad and the landing page. For example, the headline message should match the message displayed in the ad. Consider the difference between these two ad/landing page content combinations:

• Bad
  • Ad: Get 60% Off Select Laptops!
  • Landing page: Welcome to Bob’s Computer Hardware
• Good
  • Ad: Get 60% Off Select Laptops
  • Landing page: Browse Select Laptops 60% Off at Bob’s Computer Hardware!

Notice how in the second example there is a continuity of messaging between the ad and the landing page.

2. Utilize Social Media

For many businesses, social media functions as a kind of net to capture leads and direct them down their sales funnels. Considering that literally billions of people worldwide have social media accounts, you would be remiss to not take advantage of this platform to get leads.

One of the best things about modern social media is the interconnected aspect of it all. Pages on Facebook or Instagram can be used as mini-funnels to draw people to your main business page, and they can also be used as a means of growing your audience. Social media also gives you the ability to interact and build a relationship with your customers.

3. Stay In Touch

The sales funnel process does not necessarily stop when the customer leaves your website. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools are a way to stay in touch with your customers after their initial visit. A versatile CRM solution will help your business remain on the cutting edge of customer interaction and can be integrated with live chat functions to interact with customers in real-time.

Here are a couple of stats to show the importance of CRM tools for lead nurturing:

• 87% of businesses use cloud-based CRM tools
• CRM tools can increase sales productivity by 15%
• Ad ROI is over 4 times higher when sales rep use CRM tools

These are some of the reasons it’s important to create a sales funnel strategy.