I am sure we are all aware that we are right in the midst of the Christmas season, from department stores playing Johnny Mathis carols to Black Friday ads on almost every website you visit. In this post I wanted to dedicate some time on the effective ways to use conversion funnels to boost conversions and drive sales.
Holiday online sales are likely to increase between 11% and 15% in 2021 totaling $189 billion, according to Deloitte’s annual holiday retail forecast. Are you nurturing your leads?
Knowing how to create and iterate on a sales funnel is one of the most profitable concepts an entrepreneur can master. Every online store wants to turn cold prospects into paying customers and yet we rarely break down the buyers’ journey. Creating a conversion funnel for your ecommerce site is the difference between hiring an expert-trained personal shopper to guide your prospect through their shopping experience rather than letting customers aimlessly browse our site. To effectively create content for the buyer’s journey and increase your conversions here are three questions you should ask yourself:
E-Commerce conversion funnels are intentionally crafted series of landing pages, forms, and sales copy meant to guide potential buyers from consideration to conversion. Every business will have a unique sales funnel - however, the fundamentals of eCommerce sales funnel staging are always basically the same. Sales teams or small business owners can create sales funnels for one product, an entire category, or specific target audiences. Now let’s talk strategy!
The funnel starts with a lead generation landing page - which offers something of value for free (in exchange for the visitor's email address). Once the visitor enters their details and clicks the submit button, the visitor is redirected to a confirmation page, which includes instructions on how to access the free download. Your landing page should also be equipped with an exit popup form to offer a different incentive for another chance to entice your page visitor to sign up. Their details are also sent to your email service provider, which will add them to your email list. Once your list has started piling up with contacts, it is important to maintain the list appropriately to maximize its use-potential for automation. What automation, you might ask, here is where you start to promote your products, share special offers, and invite them to other interactions like webinars. Rather than building a customer list, you’re building a loyal fan base.
A video sales funnel uses a collection of videos to attract, educate and convert buyers. When created effectively, it’s a great way to streamline customer acquisition. It’s alive 24/7 and can accelerate the sales cycle. According to research by Brightcove, 85% of millennials buy products or services after watching a video. Here’s how a funnel work:
1. People with specific problems begin to search online for answers. They find your brand and content (via search, organically on social media or via paid ads).
2. As your audience watches your videos, they begin to find answers to their questions. This usually takes place at the top of your funnel (more on this later). As they learn more about how to define the challenges they face, and how your brand and solution can help, they proceed on their journey down your funnel.
3. Buyers arrive at the decision-making step. While this is typically where they make a purchasing decision, this can differ depending on what kind of solution or product you’re selling. For example, enterprise account software would likely include a demo before it can be signed off on and purchased, where a home theatre system can be bought immediately.
By using cookies, you can target buyers on various platforms and serve-up highly-personalized ads that make the right offers at the right time. Here’s a look at metrics you can use to set goals for each stage of the funnel:
Before you jump into frantic activity on social media platforms, it’s crucial to remind yourself who exactly you are targeting. These funnels can be used at the top of the funnel and also persuade prospects to buy at the bottom of the funnel. These are the five stages of the buyer journey and the social media activities best suited for each stage.
Organic Tactics: Social media contests, Facebook Live, YouTube and SEO to attract free subscribers
Paid Tactics: Facebook ads or Instagram ads, pay influencers to do takeovers
Organic Tactics: video testimonial, product demos videos, reviews or comments
Paid Tactics: Facebook remarketing ads and product catalogue ads, third party blog posts
Organic Tactics: Convert social traffic into email sign-ups, timed offers or coupons
Paid Tactics:Facebook Messenger and lead ads, Pinterest buy buttons
Organic Tactics: Hosting regular Twitter Chats, answer customer questions in a weekly live stream
Paid Tactics:Sponsored Facebook posts, private Facebook Group for customers
Organic Tactics:customer advocacy program, Customer communities on Instagram
Paid Tactics: Go to the organic section for advocacy tactics.
The final thing about building a social media sales funnel is to always remember that the goal of the funnel is to lead the customer to action (and then eventually advocacy).
This funnel tactic is one of the best tactics to promote products every day. If you think you haven’t heard of it, think about some of the largest department stores using content such as “Daily Deals” or “Limited Time Doorbusters” to influence you to buy a certain product at a certain price for a certain amount of time. The discounted offers are often used at the front end of campaigns to generate leads or at the back end to get customers to purchase more. The most popular offers are:
Customers are aware of short lived offers, take the time to re-frame your offer to build trust and demonstrate value before you start the sales sequence. Create a sales sequence and special offer page that will only be available before each subscriber's deadline. The funnel has two pages:
Incorporating the right sales tactics into your customer journey can streamline lead and sales generation. To do your work effectively, you must create the right content for each stage of your funnel and make it engaging through the buyer’s journey.
For more information on how to level up your sales Book a Demo with us or join our weekly Facebook live streams.
Thank you for reading,
Joe
