Mastering the Funnel

Get the right people on your radar

Whether digital, direct or measured media, advertising is fuelled further each day by technology, enabling you to reach various benefits in both advertising efficiency and effectiveness.

Marketing Automation services are becoming a bigger tool used by successful businesses seeking to break beyond their limitations, especially as digital marketing moves away from focusing on creating websites with a bunch of CTA’s, which overwhelm and even confuses prospective customers into leaving empty-handed. With this in mind, the importance of developing a Qualified Sales Funnel to be successful becomes even clearer.

We aim to answer the simple but ever-important aspects of getting the right clients at the right time, so you aren’t wasting time and money on those who aren’t going to add to your bottom-line.

So, what’s Sales Funnel?

A sales funnel is a consumer-focused marketing model that outlines the theoretical customer journey towards purchase. There are 3 main components to consider in your Sales Funnel:

• Leads
• Prospects
• Opportunities

After you have closed the sale at the bottom of the funnel considering Aftercare Marketing is vital.

The difference between a lead and a qualified lead

The definition of a lead is “to direct the activity operations, or performance of” and “to bring some conclusion or addition”. Though there’s multiple types of leads, some you don’t want to waste your time or budget chasing:

• Information Qualified Leads (IQLs) are leads that have received valuable information in return for their contact information. For example, those who signed up to a subscription service. These are the customers who are in the very early stage of the process and aren’t familiar with your business, likely not yet considering it as a viable solution.
• Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) are when IQLs take that next step and engage with your marketing advances, making them a Marketing Qualified Lead. An example is those who have engaged or downloaded walkthroughs of your business, product, or services’ and their effectiveness, they are more curious than IQLs but still aren’t sold on your offerings.
• Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) have engaged with your marketing and have been qualified and vetted by your sales team as a good fit and a likely prospective buying client. e.g. those who are watching product or service demonstrations or participating in a free trial. SQLs have demonstrated a strong interaction with your business offerings and should be addressed and followed up directly.

Turning a Lead to a Prospect

As we work our way down the funnel, the ideal scenario is for every lead to become a prospect: a lead that’s proven to be a great fit for your business, product, and/or service and is ready to interact with your sales team.  This is the first chance you get to consider how you could have qualified your leads before they become a prospect. In short, are they even in the market for what you’re selling?

Identify Sales Opportunity

• When a prospect progresses to the final decision-making phase of the funnel they’re not just a prospect and you’re now presented with the opportunity of a sale; this is the second stage of qualifying your sales journey.
• You’re presented with the chance to sell, up-sell and cross-sell.

Aftercare Marketing

• After you secure a sale your job is far from over. Your customer may not even realise you offer other products or services which are relevant to them because even though your customer’s initial experience with you is over you still want them to come back again, and also share their experience.
• This means using more pointed and directed marketing efforts to foster the connections you’ve already established to keep yourself at the front of the consumers’ minds.

The short of it all

Considering how you can best qualify every stage of your sales funnel is the key to realising the full potential of Marketing Automation. These tips will equip you with the tools you need to save time and watch your sales grow.