Business is art. There is no magic formula for making a business successful.
Indeed, some principles must be adhered to. For example, precise calculations and instinct in seeing trends. The rest, there are no rules. How the business runs or the dynamics of the business itself is an art.
However, how about we leak a concept that will help your business? This concept will improve business as a process-oriented art. Then, turn it into a result-oriented company.
With this concept, you can maximize promotions and see the results in income. Not jor-rod promotions that only burn money.
So, what concept do we mean? Yes, it is a marketing funnel. What is the marketing funnel, and how can you apply it to your business? That question will be answered in a moment.
Marketing Funnel Glimpse
The marketing funnel is another form of the customer journey. The marketing funnel and customer journey describe the process of someone from not knowing the brand, getting to know, considering, making a purchase, evaluating the product, to becoming a loyal customer.
Funnel Marketing Stages
The initial stage of this marketing funnel is calculated from the number of users opening the website. The next phase of the marketing funnel, consideration, is calculated from the number of sessions per product page.
Then the decision or decision part in the marketing funnel is calculated from the number of users who put the product into the shopping cart. Then, the final stage of the marketing funnel is the purchase or purchase seen from the number of users who complete the transaction.
Instead of going over all types and variations of marketing funnels, we’ll cover the five essential steps in the marketing funnel. No matter what kind of industry, product or service, platform, and data you are looking for ━ , you can definitely find these five steps:
1. Awareness
Awareness is the most crucial stage of the marketing funnel in business promotion. This early marketing funnel stage allows you to reach as many potential customers as possible. The more targeted audience, the more likely you are to make a profit.
So it’s expected that many new players in the business devote large budgets to promotions in the early stages. Unfortunately, the budget can be wasted if you are not smart enough.
For that, you have to remember two things. First, whatever promotional efforts you make, make sure it increases brand awareness. You should answer at least three of the prospect’s questions at this stage:
- Who are you? What do you sell?
- Why should the target market care about the product being offered?
- What does the target market get when using the product? What does the target market miss when not using the product?
Then secondly, make sure you already have a specific target market. Without a particular target, it means you are not targeting anyone.
After holding the two things above, it’s time to talk about the right way of promotion. Here, we recommend two methods of advertising:
Content Marketing
Content marketing is a marketing strategy that involves creating and distributing content. Through business content, the target market has more information and can educate themselves.
Apart from knowing more about the products offered, the target market gets added value from your content. They really understand what they need. Then, they also get tips and considerations before buying those needs.
So, at this early stage, take your time with hard selling. You don’t need to overwhelm your target with information about product features and advantages. Moreover, to force them to buy at that time.
Public Relations Traditional
Another way that can be applied at the awareness stage in the marketing funnel is traditional public relations.
You should be more familiar with this type of promotion. Starting from advertisements on television, print media, radio, billboards, and even reaching out to social media. Included in this method are creating events and sponsorship partnerships.
2. Consideration
At this marketing funnel stage, consumers are looking for more information about the desired product. Included in this stage is comparing one brand with another.
The same goes for Adi. Maybe he surveyed different types of shoes and brands. Look at the advantages and disadvantages, materials, and price of shoes.
Below, you can find the marketing channels for the consideration stage. Plus, other factors influence potential customers at this stage.
Blog
Blogs are a powerful marketing medium for businesses. Having a business blog can increase website traffic by up to 55 percent. Business blog pages are also four times more likely to be indexed by Google. This means up to four times the possibility of your business being met by potential customers.
Then, what kind of content needs to be created?
One, of course, is content that describes the features and advantages of the product. Just standard.
Second, content tips for choosing a particular product or service. For this content, you can provide general tips. You connect to the product’s advantages and features from available information. That way, promotional efforts can be much more elegant.
Third, tips, tricks, and inspiration for using the product. This kind of content will strengthen potential consumers to buy products. Because they need more ideas to use the product. For example, recipe content for grocery products. It can also inspire fashion styles for fashion products.
Social Media
Social media marketing is the most popular promotion method. Promoting through this medium is quite simple.
You must create relevant content, publish it consistently, and keep in touch with your followers on social media. When you hold these three methods, you can be sure that the popularity of your business will increase.
Email Marketing
This method can reach potential customers in the long term. In fact, when they no longer have time to touch the content, you create on social media. So, it’s no wonder that 69 percent of businesses focus on gathering these potential customers and working on them to convert.
If you are interested in implementing this strategy, there are two more things to prepare:
- Lead-generation landing pages.
- Newsletters. This is the content of the email sent to the subscriber.
3. Purchase (Purchase)
Your focus is only on ensuring that the transaction process runs quickly and smoothly. You can provide a few options or buttons on the checkout page. Connect the page to less relevant content.
Because, at this marketing funnel stage, you are in a race against time. When the buying process takes less time, you risk losing customers. They can change their minds halfway when they want to complete the transaction.
Apart from the display, design, and user interface issues, you can try several other things to expedite the customer journey at this marketing funnel stage. We talk about promos, upselling, reminders, and live chat.
Promo
No one does not like promos. So, it’s clear that ━ promos can invite many people to see your business. After all, the fact is so. As many as 93 percent of people know a company from the promotions offered.
If it’s manageable for the business, try implementing promos and discounts as a marketing strategy. You can use important moments such as anniversaries of particular days, beautiful dates, or the first moments of the month.
Like Niagahoster, Niagahoster also provides domain hosting promos which will undoubtedly attract consumers to buy parts and hosting from the promos given.
Upselling
For the number of transactions to increase, you can upsell to consumers. That is, you offer complementary products to the goods consumers buy.
For example, you offer other socks for a pair of shoes purchased. Another option is to provide watch straps for the watch products purchased.
If you want to be a little “aggressive,” this upsell can be done in a bundle. So, you sell products in packaged form at lower prices than when you buy them individually.
Reminder
Another way to streamline the purchasing stage of the marketing funnel is to send reminders. Visitors often need to remember to complete a purchase transaction, especially in the case of promos, where they are usually in a hurry just to put the coveted item in the shopping cart.
4. Retention (Repurchase)
It’s easier to get money from old customers than find new ones. It’s not just a figment. A survey revealed that 80 percent of business profits come from 20 percent of existing customers. Isn’t it interesting?
To invite old customers to buy again, usually a business depends on the quality of products and services. Yes, that’s something that can’t be contested. So, here we provide a few technical tips that can lure old customers into shopping again:
Rewards/Points
Collecting spending points is the most commonly used strategy in the marketing funnel retention stage. Consumers get several points for every purchase of a specific nominal value and multiples. Later these points can be exchanged for particular products or prizes.
Product recommendations
Another way to attract existing customers is to send product recommendations. Not just any suggestions are offered, but the advice is based on products that have been purchased. This kind of strategy feels more personal to the recipient of the recommendation.
Help Center
This one tip is an extension function of the live chat feature on the web. Live chat should also double as a help center for customers. When there are difficulties, questions, or complaints ━ , customers can easily reach you.
Having a help center will reduce complaints on social media. Something you should avoid as it risks ruining your reputation.
5. Advocacy (Testimony)
Because consumers are always satisfied, they become loyal. They give good testimonials and recommend products or services to those closest to them.