Is the Sales Funnel Dead?

This question comes up often, is the sales funnel dead? The simple answer to the question is no, but the traditional sales funnel has changed. No longer is today’s sales funnel a linear process where the potential customer follows a step-by-step set of actions. Sure, all the stages/steps are still there; creating awareness, research, and consideration, prompting decisions and advocacy but the process a buyer goes through is no longer from Point A to Point B.   

Marketers need to adjust their tactics to be successful with today’s potential customers who can enter and exit the sales funnel at any stage. This is because, as they exit your funnel, those potential customers could be entering a competitor’s funnel. Keep reading to learn about how you can stay ahead of the curve and create a successful sales funnel for potential customers. 

The last decade and especially the last two years have changed everything we thought we knew about sales and marketing. Many sales teams are now relying on inbound leads generated through content and automated lead nurture applications instead of relying on outbound cold calls. The customer is in control and by the time they talk to your salespeople, they already know what they need and are ready to buy. In fact, 90% of business buyers say when they are ready to buy, they’ll find you. - Pardot 

Demand Gen Report

What does the new sales funnel look like? 

To understand the ‘new’ sales funnel we first need to take a step back and look at the old funnel. The old funnel looks something like this (see image). In fact, we had been teaching this funnel in our half day workshops. The truth is though, it’s a much too simplistic view of what customers do before they buy. 

The new funnel is lifestyle-focused and relies on a holistic approach to move the potential customer from being a lead to making a purchase. Your leads now educate themselves through the content on your website, reviews in social media channels, and by consuming content about your products and services on a variety of websites and apps. Meaning the point of contact with your sales team comes later in the process, after the consumer has already educated themselves and decided to engage with you. Because of this, you’ll need to present your value proposition clearly throughout your various channels of communication.  

The sales funnel is really a ‘journey’ and like most journeys, there are twists and turns, starts, and stops. Take a look at an example of today’s buying journey, note how many touchpoints and channels are used prior to a buying decision. 

So how do you engage with prospects and turn them into customers?  

Make it easy for your prospect to buy on their preferred timelines and channels with the type of content they prefer. We distill this down to the right content, at the right time, in the right place. 

Are you creating content for content’s sake or are you strategically creating content that focuses on your defined personas and aligns with your buying process? Many marketers skip the strategy part of planning and move directly to tactics. By doing this, you are creating random acts of marketing. It’s important to take the time to create a content marketing strategy first. Then, move on to creating content that aligns with how your customers buy from you. 

Can content move the prospect through the decision-making process? 

IDX has been espousing the value of content marketing for the past 10 years. Our definition, which still holds for today goes like this: 

Content Marketing is the art of providing relevant, useful content to your customers without selling or interrupting them. Instead of pitching your products or services, you deliver information that makes your customer more informed before they buy. 

The overarching benefit of creating content aligned with the buyer’s journey is that the content provides you with the ability to nurture prospects toward a conversion rather than trying to immediately pitch your products and sell them the second they come to your website. 

This is because, most visitors that come to your website are not ready to buy.  Instead, they are researching and gathering information because they’ve just realized they have a problem or they’re looking for the best solution for their needs. When you align your content with the buyer’s journey you are providing the information a prospect needs to gently move them towards the sale, while building a relationship along the way. 

With the right types of content, you’re able to give potential customers the right type of information at the right time to educate and empower them to make a purchase, rather than overwhelming them with pushy sales copy or ads. 

What content should I create for each stage of the buyer’s journey? 

Awareness Stage 

In this stage, the prospect has never met or heard of you before. They are unaware of your products or services…but they have a pain point or problem in need of a solution. How can you position your brand or product in such a way that it solves their dilemma without ‘selling’ them?  

Put yourself in the place of the potential customer.  What will they type into a search engine? In many cases, it will be a question. Content with titles posed as questions work very well for search engine rankings.  Titles written as questions have a 14 percent higher click through rate on the search engine results pages. (Source: Backlinko) We suggest you use Google autocomplete or other keyword research tools to see exactly what your potential customers are searching for. One more reason to use questions as titles. 

Questions Your Awareness Content Should Answer 

• What problem does your product or solutions solve? 
• What searches will your prospective customer type into search engines? 
• What sources will they research both online and offline to find solutions for their problems? (where do they go for advice) 
• What gaps in their knowledge about your product or service will your content need to fill? 

Consideration Stage 

You’ve done the hard part, getting a prospect to your website.  You’ve gotten their attention and they’ve read your content. If your content has answered their questions and enlightened them to a solution, they may move to the next stage of their journey. 

Versus content works well in the consideration stage.   

At this point, they are trying to find their best option and will research a variety of companies and solutions. If you can answer all their questions and build trust, they will potentially take that next step. Comparing your solution to others and pointing out why you’re the best will help them move to the next stage. 

Questions Your Consideration Content Should Answer 

• In what ways is your product or solution the best one? 
• What comparison information does the buyer need? 
• What are the pros and cons of your solution? 

Decision Stage 

Most of the companies come to us with a wealth of decision content. Pricing options, features and benefits, testimonials, discounts and other content designed to close the sale. However, it’s important to make sure your buying process is as simple as possible. You don’t want to lose a prospect here because there is friction in your ordering process. 

Questions Your Decision Content Should Answer 

• What are the buyer’s dealbreakers? 
• What questions do your buyers typically have about implementing your solution? 
• What are the most important criteria your buyer is basing their decision on? 
• What ‘proof’ do your prospects need? 

Advocacy Stage 

Are you reaching out to your buyers asking them for reviews and testimonials? Remember, prospects use both to lead them to a decision, so you need to make sure you have a process in place to gather this content. Video is the most compelling format and quite easy to shoot and produce. 

Questions your Awareness content should answer 

• How does your new customer quantify value, results, and how does your solution meet their needs? 
• What is the easiest communication channel to get reviews and testimonials from your customers? 

Adapting to the ‘new’ buyer’s journey 

Our approach to the journey looks like this: we focus a lot on higher education and this example shows a prospective student journey to admissions. As you look at this, you realize that a prospect can visit your website at any stage of their journey. Prospects will come and go; they will move forward and back as their research is not linear. Also, realize that there will be online and offline influences in their decision-making. As they get closer to their decision, they will start to interact with your sales teams. 

So, is the sales funnel dead?  

No, but it’s no longer a very simplistic step-by-step funnel (journey). With the continuing move to digital first focus, businesses need to realize that there are many touchpoints along the way to a decision and developing a strategy and creating content that aligns with your prospects questions and research needs will help you close more business. 

Get in touch with IDX today to learn more.