Sales funnel and increasing inbound traffic

The current century has ushered in the information age in human evolution. The development of information technologies and global telecommunications has impacted all of modern society, in all spheres of our activity. The internet is changing everything around us. Many business methods have also changed. Our article is about some innovations in sales and the practical benefits they offer us.

Sales Funnel: An Effective Marketing Tool

The sales process for any product consists of a series of sequential stages – starting from finding potential buyers and ending with the actual sale of the product. For various reasons, the number of potential buyers at each stage decreases (is filtered out) compared to the previous stage. A graphical representation of this process resembles a funnel. Hence the name – «sales funnel.».

For example, Figure 1 shows a classic sales funnel, where the number of attracted customers at each stage of the sale is displayed horizontally, and all stages of the sales process (turning a potential customer into a buyer) are displayed vertically from top to bottom:

1) Prospecting for potential clients («cold calling,» email marketing, media advertising, etc.);

2) Establishing contact with a potential client;

3) Presentation of the product to the client;

4) agreement on the terms of the sale and purchase agreement;

signing the sales contract;

6) Invoice payment;

7) Shipment (release) of goods.

In online sales, the name «conversion funnel»which displays the sequential change in the number of site users during the conversion process—from a customer visiting the site to their purchase of the offered products.

The sales funnel has been successfully used in business for quite some time, especially abroad. It clearly shows how marketing leads a client to a purchase, i.e., turns them from a potential buyer into a real one. It is a convenient tool for planning and analyzing the sales process at any of its stages. Moreover, a sales funnel can be built both for the company as a whole and for each individual manager. It can be built both manually and automatically – a whole range of special computer programs has been developed for this purpose.

Certainly, such a tool is primarily needed by a manager. If, for example, the number of potential customers for your product was 93 people at the first stage (Fig. 1), and only 59 remained at the second stage (establishing contact), then perhaps the sales manager did not work efficiently enough, or perhaps this situation is quite normal and planned for your company. In any case, you, as a manager, should have this information, analyze it, and manage the process. This tool can also be effectively used for personnel management - by analyzing and comparing the sales funnels of individual employees.

What opportunities exist for optimizing a sales funnel? How, for example, can its «diameter» be widened (in other words, increase the number of clients)? How can the «taper» of the funnel be reduced, bringing its shape closer to a «pipe» (i.e., guide all potential customers through all stages with minimal losses)? We will discuss this.

Revolutionary Changes: «Inbound Marketing» Instead of «Outbound»

Just 10 years ago, no one would have dared to dispute the advantages of the main methods of attracting clients, developed by theorists of traditional marketing (P. Kotler, T. Levitt, M. Porter, etc.) and successfully applied in practice by the biggest sharks of global business. As far as our sales funnel is concerned, at the stages of turning a potential buyer into a real buyer, these methods are well-known to us: cold calling potential clients, advertising mailings, distributing flyers, outdoor advertising, telemarketing, radio, television, print media advertising, presentations, customer negotiations, etc. This traditional marketing is also called «outbound marketing.».

However, the rapid development of information technologies and the Internet has managed to shake the seemingly unshakable foundations of classic «outbound marketing.» It has been replaced by so-called «inbound marketing», based on e-commerce methods and tools.

The term «inbound marketing» was coined and widely popularized in 2005 by the founder of the IT company HubSpot. Brian Halligan, who approximately defined his strategy as follows:

create landing page/website to sell their products;
attract incoming traffic to your page/website;
convert visitor pages/site in potential buyer;
Convert a potential buyer into a real one buyer;
Convert customer to loyal customer;
Continuously analyze and improve all your actions.

The key difference of «inbound marketing» is that It's not you looking for clients, but clients finding you. Initially, «inbound marketing» was exclusively the prerogative of e-commerce. However, it has gradually evolved into a modern universal tool for any type of trade - whether for online or offline sales, wholesale or retail, sales of any kind of product - industrial, food, or informational. This has been appropriately reflected in sales terminology. For example, the term «lead» is increasingly heard instead of «potential buyer,» and «inbound traffic» also implies an incoming flow of potential customers.

Advantages of «inbound marketing»

First, it is more technological and effective than «outgoing.» Traditional marketing methods like «cold calls» and mailings are not targeted; they often hit a dead end. Additionally, traditional «outgoing marketing» advertising is becoming less effective. Old methods don't work well in new times. Conversely, with «inbound marketing,» people come to you themselves, showing interest in your content, and are more likely to become potential buyers.

Second, «inbound marketing» is less expensive than «outbound marketing.» An advertising campaign using the «inbound marketing» approach costs approximately 60% of the cost of a traditional advertising campaign.

Thanks to its advantages, «inbound marketing» is increasingly being adopted in practice, especially by small and medium-sized businesses. It's a path to real sales growth.

Increasing inbound traffic: An effective way to expand the «funnel»

So, after embracing the belief in the wonderful possibilities of «inbound marketing,» you've created a website to promote your product sales. What's next?

One of the fundamental principles and tasks of «inbound marketing» is to increase inbound traffic. To attract customers to a website, simply placing banners and contextual advertising is no longer enough. Modern marketers often create entire scenarios for engaging visitors.

What are the ways to increase inbound traffic?

You can attract visitors to a website primarily through high-quality and useful content: interesting articles, educational and entertaining materials, videos, audio, e-books, etc. This can be done with the help of a blog.

The next important step is search engine optimization (SEO).

It is desirable that your content not only encourages visitors to make a purchase, but also motivates them to share the information they have received with others. Therefore, website visitors should be provided with the ability to share information about your content with their friends on social networks (Facebook, Twitter, VKontakte, etc.). This will undoubtedly have a positive impact on inbound traffic.

Integrating all of the above methods will increase inbound traffic and, as a result, the number of potential customers and sales. Your business efficiency will increase. Your sales funnel will expand and turn into a «bottomless bucket.» Use it with good health!

What to do to convert incoming traffic into actual buyers the topic of this article.Follow our news.

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