Marketing Funnel vs. Sales Funnel

Marketing and sales are one of the basic aspects for a business to run smoothly. Back then, sales and marketing teams used to work separately and on their own. But as the digital world moves forward, the traditional marketing and sales strategy don't work anymore. Both teams have to work together and remain on the same page. Because sales and marketing are interrelated. If they are not on the same page, then your target customers will suffer the most.

Marketing and sales are connected but their objectives are different. The marketing team's job is to create brand awareness and captivate your target audience towards your service/product. When the customer discovers your brand and starts browsing your products, then come the sales team to take the sales home. Now you know how important it is that both teams should remain in sync to regulate sales and attract customers.

A Marketing Funnel

Marketing is a fundamental requirement for the growth of every business. With digital platforms running in full swing and almost half of the world's population using them, marketing has become quite easy. Social media influencers have been a huge help with this. They create a community of followers with whom they share their personal experiences and everyday stuff. This way, their followers urge them to try new products, that are popular in the market and share the reviews. Brands know about this so they send in PR packages to bloggers and influencers, sometimes before the actual launch, so that their product gets reviews even before it comes out in the market!

To execute this, brands have to make a marketing funnel. The funnel starts when the customer discovers the brand, along with many others, and ends when the customer finally chooses which brand to buy from. A marketing funnel helps the prospect to get familiar with the brand. For the business, it helps in identifying where the customer is in their buying journey so that the brand creates sales strategies accordingly.

The following are the components of a marketing funnel:

• Creating Awareness: Leveraging social media to the fullest in order to gain customer's attention. This can be done through ads or posts. Hashtags can work wonders as well. The only aim here is to let the customer know that our brand sells what you need. This doesn't guarantee that you'll get a customer but gaining attention is one of the core aspects of making sales.

• Maintaining Interest: This is one of the most crucial things to do. You can captivate your audience but keeping them on your page and website is not an easy task. You have to make the customer think that your brand is the only one that will fulfill their requirement. Once you do that, there is a high chance you can turn them into your customer.

• Customer Evaluation: You have to make sure that the customer coming to your website is interested in your product. If not, they will increase your bounce rate and there is a high chance that your website might be marked as spam.

The marketing funnel is broken down into two phases:

• Lead Generation: This comprises marketing campaigns that involve the creation of inbound marketing, content marketing, advertisement, email marketing, and many other stuff. Having a descriptive landing page and convenient website navigation is really important in this phase.

• Lead Nurturing: When the prospect starts to take an interest in your brand, then it is time to show them that your brand is the only one that will fulfill their need. You can give out promotions or offers to entice your future customers.

Sales Funnel

You've learned that the purpose of a marketing funnel is to lure in prospects and convince them to buy your product. The main goal is to convert your target audience into customers and when the funnel detects people like these, then comes the time for the sales team to control the reigns.

Sales team has the toughest job. They have to retain those prospects and convince them to buy the product from their brand. They have to show them how the brand solves their problem and what is the unique quality which makes the brand better than others. If the sales team successfully does that, not only do they gain a customer but they may gain someone who would repeatedly buy the product from them.

The sales funnel is the narrowest and the most concise funnel as it contains only those people who are interested in buying the target product and nothing else. The sales funnel comprises the following components:

• Awareness: Making the client know that your brand is present with a solution to their problem.

• Interest: The prospect starts to notice your brand and visits your website or social media channel.

• Desire: The prospect is certain that they really need to buy that target product but they're still skeptical whether to buy from you or your competitor.

• Action: The customer is certain to buy from you and check out from your shopping cart.

Summary of the Funnels

Marketing funnels make the prospect aware of the brand and use tactics to convince them to buy from that particular brand. When the prospect is convinced, the job of the sales team starts. The sales team has to make the customer think that their brand is the only one that can fulfill their needs and is the best in the market to buy from. When all is done, the prospect becomes a customer and the funnel is a success!

Final Words

Always remember that these sales and marketing tactics take time. Meanwhile, make sure that your team is communicating well with each other so that all the processes run smoothly. You have to entertain the customer after they have checked out as well. So, make sure that you have the best customer service. This will help you in gaining positive reviews and recommendations. Having repeat clients will increase your authority and will give you more sales than making a client from the beginning. So, never forget your old clients and send them follow-up emails and even discount codes if they haven't shopped for a while. Happy marketing!