What is an automated sales funnel?

100% almost all entrepreneurs and marketers have heard about such a concept as the marketing sales funnel.

 

About 60% of them tried to understand what it is and how it works.

 

About 30% figured it out and implemented such a cool tool.

 

About 15% of the time, an automated sales funnel works well.

 

Now let’s deal with the specifics and answer a specific question: “What is a sales funnel?”

 

Automated sales funnels are a cool internet marketing tool that can be implemented in any company, any size, in any niche, and with any level of organization.

 

They are the path of customers from the first acquaintance with the company to the implementation of a target

 

 

 

Has it become more clear?

To bring even greater clarity to this issue, let’s figure out what stages the sales funnel is divided into.

 

Let’s take a simplified example: the sales funnel for the site.com project, which is engaged in the sale of product N. The project has configured targeted advertising in social networks, which leads to a chat with the Facebook chatbot. Here, according to the configured script, the bot can help the user with general questions and offer additional products that will lead the user to the site.

 

How to build a sales funnel in this case?

  1. The first touch

The user sees an advertisement in the feed of the social network.

 

  1. Interaction

The user presses the Send message button and starts interacting with the bot.

 

  1. Pre-conversion interaction

During the conversation, the bot offers the user to purchase additional goods at a special price.

 

  1. Conversion

The user likes the bot’s offer, follows the offered links, and purchases additional products (carries out conversion actions).

 

Let’s assume that the sales funnel of the online store site.com looks like this in percentage terms:

 

stage 1 – 100%

stage 2 – 50%

stage 3 – 20%

stage 4 – 10%

 

As you can see, out of 100% of users, only 10% converted (in our case, purchased). And you paid for 100% of the traffic, plus the work of the developer to set up the chatbot, plus the design…

 

What will you do?

Here’s what we recommend:

 

  1. Conduct a thorough analysis of the sales funnel and understand at what stages and for what reasons users leave the funnel.
  2. Analyze the received information.
  3. Take action.
  4. Record a certain reporting period during which the funnel will work in an edited form. At the end of the period, analyze everything again (we go to point #1).

 

Thus, the sales funnel is constantly being improved and optimized. Perhaps you will add some additional steps or scenarios, perhaps on the contrary, you will simplify everything.

 

Most importantly, don’t forget to take analytical slices at the end of each period and intermediate slices during that period. Do not rely on the opinion of “experts” or gut feeling. You will have the numbers. Use them and only them.

 

Types of sales funnels

Sales funnels can be divided according to the type of sales of your company:

 

  • b2b sales funnel;
  • b2c sales funnel.

 

The difference between the stages of the funnel will depend on the type of your business. In its steps (stages), you will need to take into account the unique characteristics of your client, the specifics of the client’s interaction with your company, as well as the specifics of the niche where you work.

 

You can also divide sales funnels by level of complexity:

 

  • A simple sales funnel.
  • Middle sales funnel.
  • Multi-level (multi-stage) sales funnel.
  • Automated sales funnel.

 

Let’s talk a little about each of the types.

 

A simple sales funnel

A simple sales funnel basically includes no more than 3 stages of interaction.

 

A simple funnel is designed for a “warmed-up” audience that is already interested in your product.

 

An example of a simple sales funnel

Natalia decided to buy a new pair of shoes. She goes online and sees an ad from contextual advertising with her offer. After clicking on it, she gets to the landing page with the application form.

 

The stages of such a funnel:

 

  1. Advertisement in the issue.
  2. Landing/application form.

 

Middle sales funnel

Let’s move on to a more complicated option – the average sales funnel.

 

The middle sales funnel serves to sell more complex goods and services. The ultimate goal of interaction in the average sales funnel is not the purchase itself, but lead generation (receiving contacts of a potential buyer/customer).

 

Through the medium-type funnel, the user is first converted into a loyal user, and then into a client or buyer.

 

Let’s consider the work of the middle funnel in the example of such a type of business as the services of a psychologist. If you apply a simple funnel here, the main part of the audience will simply read the material and leave. And we paid for it, do you remember?

 

There is a need for further interaction and the creation of a lead magnet (a free or very low-cost product that will allow you to collect contact details of potential customers and continue communication).

 

A lead magnet in the case of a psychologist can be, for example, a brochure “10 ways to fight fear” or a recording for a webinar.

 

In this way, the business receives the customer’s contacts and can continue to interact with him.

 

The middle sales funnel often includes from 3 to 10 steps. When creating such a funnel, you need to take into account an important point: depending on the specifics of the niche and the type of your business, the conversion time from user to client varies.

 

Multi-level sales funnel

Let’s move on to complex sales funnels.

 

A complex online sales funnel is suitable for complex types of businesses that usually prefer to be advertised only in the media and whose ads are seen by a huge layer of loyal audience. That is, these are ridiculously spent advertising budgets.

 

Building a sales funnel for such businesses allows you to achieve a colossal increase in ROI for equivalent costs. Plus, as you have known for a long time, everything in Internet advertising can be digitized. And this is an important plus for the advertiser.

 

Let’s analyze how to calculate the sales funnel using the example of a real estate business. Most developers work according to the principle “Tell everyone you can – maybe someone needs it.” The insight of this business niche is that a potential buyer chooses an apartment on his own, using many parameters for this, and without having the information that the buyer needs, the developer never knows whether the deal will happen.

 

At the same time, real estate marketers often miss the opportunity to provide, for example, apartment mortgages to people who are not currently looking for real estate but are potentially interested in it.

 

These can be, for example, couples who have recently married, but now live with their parents or in rented accommodation.

 

How to find such pairs? For example, with the help of targeting in social networks. Setting up Facebook/Instagram targeting allows you to find and work with this segment.

 

For example, you can create a useful brochure on the topic “How to buy an apartment when you live on a salary?” and send it to this audience. Then monitor her reaction and send new offers depending on it.

 

Let’s move on to an even more complex way of interacting with the audience – automated sales funnels.

 

It is difficult in terms of implementation and thinking through scenarios. But these efforts will pay off handsomely as soon as the funnel starts working without your participation.

 

An example of an auto sales funnel

To make it clearer what we are talking about, let’s give a simple example.

 

Let’s take the same site.com and its Facebook page.

 

The company’s marketer set up targeting for interested users. The purpose of the ad was user interaction with the Facebook page via Facebook Messenger.

 

A user saw an ad reinforced by a lead magnet, and in order to receive a so-called “ball” from a lead magnet, he had to write to the company’s Messenger. A bot was already waiting for him here, which automatically subscribed the user to the newsletter, received his contact and sent the promised “cake” in Messenger. All actions do not take even half a minute.

 

Later, the bot will contact the visitor again after the time period planned in the script. This will happen automatically (without human intervention). The bot will prompt the user with more detailed information about the product or interaction.

 

You can set up multiple scripts and program the bot to send messages depending on the user’s response. Such a smart intellect.

 

And so it continues until a conversion occurs.

 

As a result, we automatically get conversions (sales).

 

Sales planning is a complex task, and a properly configured sales funnel will be an excellent tool to meet KPIs.

 

Let’s figure out how to make it.

 

How to create a sales funnel

Step №1 — Product matrix.

A well-thought-out and well-designed product matrix will help products sell themselves one after the other. This approach significantly increases conversion due to the fact that the cost of the purchase gradually increases in direct proportion to the level of trust and loyalty of the client.

 

Step №2 — Behavioral scenarios.

At this stage, it is necessary to think carefully about the scenarios that users will follow. And do not forget that the user’s response is not always positive. You should definitely think of what to do in case the customer says no.

 

Step №3 — Setting up communication.

At this stage, you need to set up chains of trigger letters in e-mail, sms, and push messages, and automated sending of messages in Messenger. This is very important because it is at this stage that a real automated process is built.

 

 Step №4 — Traffic.

First, we start advertising to drive traffic to your resource. Secondly, do not forget to start retargeting. This will allow you to retain or return users.

 

As you can see, with the help of not-very-clever actions, you can build an asset that will work 24/7 and all 365.

 

Who needs an automated sales funnel and why?

We think you yourself already understood how cool car funnels can be. But, as they say, to close the issue, we tell.

 

  1. Considerable unloading of the call center, a worthy alternative to the expansion of the sales department.
  2. Minimization of error or deficiency due to the human factor. Autofunnel does not have critical days, hungry children, a bad mood, and usual laziness. She doesn’t choose which orders to process and which not to, or to prioritize (unless, of course, you ask her to). But the most important thing is that the auto funnel does not make mistakes.
  3. Effective time management. You configure any recurring processes only once. In the future, you will go to the settings section only to change something.

 

Sounds cool! Do you agree?

 

To make the process of building a funnel as easy as possible for you, we provide a small checklist.

 

7 key elements of the auto funnel

Strategy.

It is necessary to describe in as much detail as possible all the processes that will take place inside the funnel and lead to the final result. As a result, you should have a diagram similar to the one in the picture below. All user steps should be recorded in both positive and negative scenarios.

 

Entry points.

Selling head-on is a utopia. The very philosophy of the auto funnel and its structure involves the user taking several steps. Otherwise, it doesn’t work. First, you need to provide the user with free content, and only then expect purchases from him.

 

Come up with several lead magnets, and create several landing pages (by the way, costs for landings can be minimized by creating pages in constructors). 

 

Thank you page.

After the lead generation has taken place and the user has left you the long-awaited contact details, thank them and make them an offer they can’t refuse.

 

We build relationships.

Come up with scripts for sending messages in Messenger or email (or better, both here and there) that will help you make repeat sales or sales of additional products automatically.

 

Selling pages.

Don’t forget to include in your funnel structure the sales pages that will sell your paid products or services. The steps involved in such pages should be subtle and unobtrusive.

 

Segmentation.

If you want to sell a lot at a good price, do not forget about the segmentation of the base. By dividing the general base into smaller segments, you can make offers more personalized and show them to the most interested audience.

 

Post-sales work.

Once you’ve made a sale, you can’t leave the customer. Your job is to connect it to the continuous funnel process. Give him “buns”, make new suggestions, and conduct a dialogue.