Business development in our time is impossible without the involvement of online technologies. More and more purchases are made online. To effectively engage in online marketing, you need to use different strategies. One such tool is a sales funnel.
What is a sales funnel?
This technology arose at the end of the 19th century due to the fact that the supply was significantly ahead of demand, there was a very strong competition. To fight for customers, entrepreneurs came up with a technology that was unique at that time, which is still used today.
These 4 stages stand out in the AIDA formula, which is successfully combined in a funnel. Now, it’s hard to imagine these two tools separately. If the client successfully passes all 4 stages, then he is considered “warm”, that is, a person who is ready to purchase the product no matter what.
What is the value of a sales funnel?
First of all, this tool allows you to evaluate the effectiveness of each of the business departments: from marketing to communication with the client. In addition, the funnel allows you to estimate the number of customers that pass through each stage.
Conversion
Conversion is a percentage that shows the effectiveness of each stage of the business. Consider the previous example. If an advertising banner was seen by 1000 people, and only 10 visited the site, this indicates a low conversion rate. In this case, it will be equal to 10/1000=0.01 or as a percentage – 1%. Such a low conversion rate indicates the ineffectiveness of advertising.
You can also calculate the conversion not for two separate stages, but for the entire funnel. For example, out of 10 people who visited the site, only 5 called the sales department. Of these 5, only 1 bought the product. The entire conversion will be equal to 1/1000=0.001=0.1% An indicator of 0.1% for the entire funnel is considered average, but a conversion of 1% for a separate stage is a very low result. It is desirable that it be 10% or more.
Analyzing the above example, we can come to the conclusion that the work of the sales department and the site itself is most effectively arranged. Their conversion is 50% and 20% respectively.
Increasing conversions with site traffic analysis
To increase the conversion of the sales funnel, you need to track the statistics of the site. Now there are a large number of scripts and services that allow you to do this. Such tools will help track the conversion on each individual page of the site, and it will also be possible to see the main sources of traffic.
Cross-selling will help increase website conversion. In business, this term refers to sales accompanying the main purchase. For example, a customer purchased a printer from a store, and may also be interested in offers to buy a cartridge or paper. However, don’t be too intrusive, as cross-sells are very annoying and scare away potential customers.
Another trick that works well is offering products from another manufacturer. It often happens that the buyer simply does not like a particular manufacturer. Dislike may be caused by bad experiences in the past. This problem especially affects products from the category of gadgets. If the buyer leaves the page without buying a product, then it is worth offering him a similar one but from another manufacturer. Of course, the price of the alternative should not be lower or higher.
