Are you focused on creating a sales funnel, or are you focused on creating a customer journey and experience?

Think carefully about the way people are responding to traditional advertising today. In the online world, on both desktop workstations and mobile devices, ad-blocking continues to grow in popularity.

People are responding less favorably to carefully crafted messages and shallow marketing catchphrases. Talk is cheap, but brand experiences are more valued than ever before.

So, how do you identify your sales funnel in today’s digital world?

Understand That Linear Sales Paths No Longer Work

Sales funnels aren’t dead, but consumers today are far less likely to travel a linear path to the sale. They come and go at different stages, and they might even be noticeably quiet for months before deciding to make a purchase.

In other words, the buying process is fundamentally different from how it used to be. Today, it isn’t just a matter of generating leads and handing them over to the sales team. It’s about handholding the leads through the sales funnel to determine whether or not there is buying intent.

Grasping this shift will go a long way towards helping you identify your sales funnel in today’s digital world.

Stop Trying To Build Awareness & Start Holding Attention

In today’s marketplace, awareness simply isn’t enough. It used to be that a TV ad would drive consumers to a store to purchase products. Companies invested more and more capital into advertising and other marketing channels that drove awareness.

But today, awareness doesn’t immediately lead to sales. More often than not, it actually leads to searching online. And when consumers search for products, they are retargeted with similar offers that follow them around the web.

What this means is that the same people who came to your online store to browse through your offers may have ended up purchasing the good through one of your competitors that retargeted them.

Leverage Your Data

By collecting, organizing and analyzing your data, you can become more aware of customer behavior and trends. You can tweak your strategies based on projections and mitigate potential disasters in your business before they ever happen.

It’s important to understand the opportunity that exists in Big Data. You can continuously gather data in real-time and garner insights from it. You can improve your marketing messages and customer experiences by keeping an eye on your data.

What is your data telling you? If crafting an effective sales funnel is a priority, then you need to start paying attention.

Create An Experience

Consumers today are interacting with companies and brands in a variety of different ways – social media, websites, blogs, on their smartphones, in physical retail spaces, and more. These touch points need to be treated as opportunities for connection and for experiences.

So the question is, how do you serve your customers? How do you guide them in their purchases? How do you create an experience that they will remember?

94% of customers who have a low-effort service experience will buy from that same company again (Clarabridge).

Customer service is still of primary importance, which is why no touch point can be ignored, whether it’s on the phone or by email. Since customers aren’t following a direct line to a sale, a greater emphasis needs to be placed on serving the customer at every stage. Metrics are still important, but they can’t be your top priority – your customers need to be.

Final Thoughts

55% of customers are willing to pay more for a guaranteed good experience (Huffington Post).

If you’re interested in serving your customer and identifying your sales funnel, you can’t just focus on building awareness. This is the old model. While it might work in some situations, you may as well be redirecting customers to your competition if this is your only strategy.

What you need is a plan centered on the customer. By delivering a memorable brand experience, you can build credibility and loyalty over the long haul.

If you need to make adjustments to your sales funnel, going at it alone can be a challenge. If you’re looking with help with website development, make sure to get in touch with us.