The Traditional Marketing Funnel is not enough for your Conversion Rates
When you view the traditional sales funnel everything seems to be in order doesn’t it? No one is to blame too much for this because all are trained to study this traditional marketing funnel to get to the conversion rates and whether the customers remain loyal and come back for repeat purchases. However, things are changing in today’s scenario; it is simply not enough if you think you know your customer. You need to find out how exactly it relates to the funnel, because today’s buyers do not go according to the way the funnel predicts.
Today, the buyers are so tech and Internet savvy that they search the web thoroughly and browse several sites of various digital marketing companies before making a decision to buy. They are great at comparing prices, quality, reliability, on-time delivery etc and will come to you only if they are satisfied that you offer the best deal. Things are a lot more complicated with companies needing to understand their customers. These days, the customer decides to buy only when he or she is absolutely sure of getting what is in their minds.
Unlike done earlier, it is not a great idea to jump with glee when one of the first leads come in. The sales team needs to be educated in this aspect, as they need to probe the customer some more to find out if this (what is being offered by the digital marketing companies) is what they are looking for. The team must be ready to answer questions, if any, and show a more friendly and accommodating attitude. You cannot afford to get an answer that says “I’ve still not decided” to your question if they would like to place their order now. Creating trust in the minds of the buyers plays an important role in converting them.
This trust can either be created directly by the sales personnel whilst they are talking to prospective customers. Or, it can be done in a more subtle manner through the social media. For instance, imagine your company is engaged in the business of selling tennis shoes. Your customer is already aware of this particular brand as he or she saw another friend recommending it on Facebook. Hence the “Discovery” and “Awareness” parts of the funnel do not work here, as the friend and the social media together have played that part effectively. Here, a trusted friend recommending a product has more value and drives the buyer directly from the “Discovery” and “Awareness” stages to the “Purchase” stage.
In order to ensure the “Purchase” stage remains firm and goes on to the “Retention” stage of the funnel what savvy digital marketing companies do is indulge in a small value addition. The company selling these tennis shoes goes a step further to make this product special by suggesting that the buyer considers buying a pair of specially designed insoles that helps the buyer be comfortable and protect his or her feet during rigorous tennis practice. This not only speed up the process from the “consideration” state to definite “purchase” stages, but also sows the seed for retention, which is a major achievement. With the social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and a few others making a huge difference how digital marketing companies like Infognana operate, the traditional marketing funnel is not enough in today’s business scenario.
