A well-structured marketing plan can deliver great results. And a great way to optimize the performance of your initiatives is to use the sales funnel to map the customer journey.

That way, you’ll have much clearer direction on which decisions to make about every single process.

However, for this to actually work, you need to truly understand what these terms mean and, above all, how they relate to each other.

With that in mind, we’ve put together this article so you can learn about the sales funnel and the customer journey. Keep reading to find out more!

What is a sales funnel, and why is it called that?

The sales funnel is a strategy used by the teams within a company that are responsible for tracking the entire process of purchasing a product or service.

The sales funnel lets you analyze the entire user experience, from the moment people discover they have a problem to the moment they decide to use what you offer.

The analogy with the object comes from the sales process itself. Usually, a large number of people are potential customers and may even be interested in the product.

However, that number keeps narrowing until it reaches the small group that actually completes the purchase or hires the service.

Companies across different industries use this data precisely to increase the number of people who make it to the bottom of the funnel.

For example, dental practices, in a field where marketing isn’t a priority, can also use the sales funnel to understand how their patients’ journey unfolds until they actually come into the clinic for procedures such as getting clear aligners

Get to know the stages of the sales funnel

The sales funnel is divided into three parts, with each stage reflecting a situation the potential customer is going through.
Based on this, marketers can define the best actions to take to lead the person to a purchase. Here are the stages:

• Top of the funnel (discovery): in this first stage, consumers don’t yet know they have a problem and aren’t looking for solutions.
• Middle of the funnel (consideration): here, they’ve realized they have a problem and start researching their options to solve it.
• Bottom of the funnel (decision): in the final phase, customers decide which product they’ll buy, move into the quote stage, and close the deal with the company offering the best value for money.

It’s essential to figure out which stage of the funnel the consumer is in, because that’s how you’ll be able to offer content aligned with their needs.

Let’s look at an example.

Imagine you run a dental practice and discover that a large share of your audience is still in the middle of the funnel.

There’s no point in creating solution-focused content like “how much does a dental implant cost?” when they’re only just beginning to consider the possibility of an implant and their searches still revolve around “implant-supported dentures“.

These are small details, but when it comes to structuring an action plan, they make all the difference.

Beyond the internet

It’s worth emphasizing that this sales funnel can be used beyond the internet. Using this strategy to bring people to retail stores’ points of sale is a way to boost your results.

For example, imagine a retailer wants to convert people in the middle of the funnel at the POS. One solution is to deliver targeted messaging about the specific product these people are looking for and offer special discounts on purchases at the brick-and-mortar store.

That way, in addition to meeting a need, you’ll also create a great experience for these prospective consumers. After all, who doesn’t like getting special deals, right?

Understanding the customer journey

The customer journey is precisely the entire path consumers take before making a purchase. As you can see, its whole scope is closely tied to the sales funnel.

The customer journey relies on the body of customer information and their status to offer them what they need.

Knowing customers’ behavior, their problem, and the possible solutions is truly the starting point for addressing their needs.

After all, understanding the actions customers take is essential for making their relationship with the company the best it can be.

The 4 stages of the customer journey

• Discovery: consumers don’t yet really know what their problems are, but they’re searching;

• Problem recognition: here, customers realize they have a problem and want to find a solution;

• Consideration: at this stage, customers have identified their solution options and are weighing a few alternatives;

• Decision: finally, buyers know how to solve their problem, have decided which option to go with, and start choosing the companies that, in their view, deliver the best value for money.

We know that figuring out a customer’s journey these days is no easy task, since consumers no longer go to stores to learn about products.

In the past, people only bought an item after visiting the point of sale and asking staff for information. Today, however, much of the population simply reads reviews online.

That’s why using the sales funnel is so important. It lets you understand which stage a potential customer is in and make the best decisions.

So, how do you put it into practice?

To put both the customer journey and the sales funnel into practice, you need to use a few digital marketing strategies.

But first and foremost, you need to know who you’re talking to. So the first step should be identifying your persona.

After all, having a good plan isn’t enough: if you don’t know who your recipient is, there’s no point in sending the message.

Once you’ve defined who the target of your activations will be, it’s time to put your strategies into practice. Let’s get started!

Invest in good content

Content marketing is one of the most widely used approaches and one of the best examples of how to capture consumers’ attention in a positive way.

Using blogs, social media, email marketing, apps and anything else that generates leads is essential to optimizing the customer journey.

That’s why it’s essential to plan content according to each stage of the journey and the funnel. After all, even if your focus is promoting a specific product, the tone of voice changes at each stage.

You shouldn’t be offering special deals to someone who hasn’t even decided whether they need a solution.

Ideally, you should publish content for every stage. That way, you’ll be able to reach the largest number of people.

Use marketing automation

Just as many everyday activities have been automated, you can also automate marketing tasks to save time.

Let’s use email marketing as an example. In the past, you had to send emails from your own inbox, and if you needed to send customized layouts, it would take an entire day to send them one by one.

Today, you can send thousands of emails with a single click and even create customized versions for different groups and lists.

Invest in SEO techniques

SEO is used to optimize your content for search engines. With it, your content can achieve better rankings in search results.

This way, potential customers will find you more easily during their buying journey. Another key aspect of SEO is improving the quality of your content.

For example, a text that uses an information hierarchy and includes internal and external links not only gains more relevance on search engines like Google; a well-structured text also improves the user experience.

We can’t forget the importance of keywords. They are essential for achieving good rankings.

To know which ones to use, you need to do some research beforehand and understand how your persona searches for certain topics.

Let’s say that when your potential customers search for dental offices that offer teeth whitening, instead of typing “dental offices that perform whitening,” they go with “in-office whitening.” The second option is the one you should use in your content.

Final thoughts

Now that you know how to guide your customer’s journey through the sales funnel, you surely have a better sense of how important these strategies are and understand how they work together, right?

Start using them in your company’s marketing. Even if your business operates in physical stores, such as retail points of sale, these strategies will not only help you analyze your audience but also support your communication across multiple channels – physical and digital.

Content produced by Mayara Santos, copywriter at Vue Odonto