All online retailers go through a conversion funnel process whether they know it or not. However, being aware of your conversion funnel will allow you, as a business owner, to excel in your industry and drive the right traffic to convert.
By definition, a conversion funnel is a funnel (that upside down tool you’d find in a kitchen) that allows businesses to establish where a customer is in their purchase phase before converting (or to put it plain and simple, where they are in their journey before purchasing your product/service).
A conversion funnel looks something like this:
The funnel allows you to determine the flow and conversion paths of potential prospects that will (hopefully) evolve into purchases. This can be done in an abundance of methods including (but not limited to) SEO, social media, email marketing, and PPC.
It’s important to note here that a conversion goal will begin to fluctuate as customers begin to move their way through the conversion funnel. Here’s how you could give them a helping hand and guide them around the funnel to see yourself an increase in conversions.
Create Awareness
Bring about awareness of your business with regards to those that are unfamiliar with what you’re selling. Your goal here is to keep them coming back for more. You need to build your brand from the ground up. People can’t buy your products/services if they don’t know who you are. Use the likes of social media, SEO, PPC and other powerful tools to begin constructing your businesses’ foundations into sky-high towers!
Engage With Customers
Pull potential prospects into the funnel by encouraging them to make little commitments to your business. This could be in the form of signing up to your mailing list and offering incentives before they have landed on the page, such as discounts when signing up to make an account. Utilising the right call to actions will allow you to collate a database of customers that will soon (hopefully) transform into a conversion on your website.
Educate Customers
Content is still king. Consumers in modern-day use social networking for reviews and referrals as well as search engines for blogs and articles to research products and services before purchasing. In this stage, consumers will be researching into topics for any information they can find before their purchasing decision is complete. This is your time to shine.
Moreover, you could begin building rapport using email newsletters. Automated emails that are sent out to subscribers with tips and guides about your product/service is an effective way to get started. Using these forms of engagement and communication will allow your website to not only be seen on social media amidst the interconnectedness of the world, but it will allow your website to begin ranking higher on Google. Read our blog post here on how to optimise your site for SEO.
Begin Converting
When prospective customers have searched for your product/services within the plethora of information that is held on the internet, the most vital point now comes into play. You must begin converting.
Make it easy for customers to find products and services on your website with simple shop buttons that they can navigate around the website with. Don’t just assume that they’ll go looking for the checkout, you must hand it to them on a silver platter. Utilise emails to promote your newest products and services and try to push out newsletters around times that are in sync with national holidays. Making greater use of cross-promotion will also aid you with expanding your potential reach for conversions on other marketing channels.
Whilst all of the above should guide potential customers to shop, there may be instances where they drop off their journey for an array of reasons. If this is the case, you must switch up your marketing tactics and make them want to convert. What happens when you use an actual funnel? All the liquid flowing through would be pushed into the other side. In the same way, these potential prospects must go somewhere. It’s absolutely crucial at this point in the process that you don’t end up with a leaky funnel. Drive the customers to where they need to be.
Conversions In The Loyalty Stage
It is typically easier for businesses to sell their products/services to customers that have already purchased than it would be to sell to new customers. Why not offer them incentives on social media on national holidays or simply spread some joy and offer discounts to returning visitors when logged into their accounts? When loyal customers have shopped with you, drop them a message and ask if they would be oh-so-kind to refer your business to friends and family for a nice little discount on their next purchase.
Did someone say happy birthday? Emailing customers on their birthday as a thank you with a discount or an incentive goes a long way. Using this feature really does go a long way to retain customers and drive returning visitors back to your website. You’ll be sure to see better conversions and more traffic hopping back onto your site in no time.
All in all, it is vital that you focus on the funnel to drive engagement to push education to then convert. Now that you have mastered the funnel that is conversions, you’ll be on your way to excelling in converting a prospect into a sale almost every time. However, not every superhero wearing capes succeeds. If you’ve followed the above guide and still find difficulty in the process, be sure to contact the Colewood team to effectively improve your conversion rate.
