A funnel is a marketing tool used to track and measure the progress of a company’s prospects through the various stages of conversion, from traffic acquisition to the finalization of a sale.
The term “funnel” refers to the geometric shape of a funnel, with a wide opening at the top and a narrow exit at the bottom, symbolizing the way prospects are targeted and directed towards a final action.
The conversion funnel is a key tool for companies looking to optimize their online marketing and sales strategy, by targeting the customer most likely to carry out a final action (such as purchasing a product or subscribing to a service). It allows you to monitor the performance of each stage of the funnel and identify any sticking points or opportunities for optimization.
By using conversion funnels, companies can do the following:
- identify key stages in the prospect’s buying and conversion journey and measure performance at each stage;
- identify sticking points or optimization opportunities in the conversion journey, using tracking and analysis data;
- target prospects most likely to perform a final action using targeted marketing strategies;
- improve conversion rates by optimizing funnel stages and implementing retargeting strategies; and
- increase sales by targeting the most qualified prospects and proposing offers tailored to their needs.
The conversion funnel is divided into different stages, which correspond to the different actions desired by the business. Here are a few possible funnel stages:
- Traffic acquisition: attracting visitors to your website through inbound marketing strategies, search engine optimization (SEO), search engine advertising (SEA), content marketing, or content sharing on social networks, for example.
- Lead generation: converting visitors into qualified leads from your lead nurturing strategy by offering visitors the opportunity to buy a product, subscribe to a newsletter, download a free white paper, or fill in a contact form.
- Initial contact: getting in touch with these potential customers and presenting your products or services, using marketing automation tools or personalized actions (SMS, email, retargeting, etc.).
- Sale finalization: closing the sale with targeted consumers and converting them into customers by proposing special offers or loyalty programs to encourage them to buy.
It’s important to note that these stages are not necessarily linear and that prospects may enter and exit the funnel at different times.
For example, a prospect may be qualified on their first visit to your website, or they may enter the funnel by downloading a white paper, and exit the funnel without having been retargeted by a retargeting campaign.
