One of the most important elements of a business is the conversion funnel. A term that gets thrown around often, a conversion funnel is a critical component of a business because it demonstrates the overall health and long-term prospects of the business itself.
Although many businesses eschew delving too deep into their funnel, that is a mistake that can often become costly to a business. Though it might seem like an arduous or overwhelming task to undertake, the initial effort will be worth the investment because of the long-term value of understanding the funnel.
What Exactly Is A Conversion Funnel?
What quickly becomes a common thread with businesses is that yes, they know need a conversion funnel…but they do not know what it actually is. At its core, it is a term that helps you understand the customer journey – that is the simple overview.
To get a little more complex, it tracks that journey that starts when a customer arrives at your page and undertakes the desired action, that is the conversion. The funnel essentially refers to the steps that lie in between the customer landing on your page and taking the desired action. Understanding what the steps are in between, and at which point conversion is most likely to occur is what you are aiming for with this funnel establishment.
Okay, But How Does That Help Me?
Your business is reliant on digital, and it is also reliant on understanding what your customers want. If you combine the two, the conversion funnel that ensues can help you create a highly targeted strategy that ensures that each customer leaves your site with exactly what they want, every single time.
The short-term benefit is that understanding the conversion process, and its pain points (i.e. understanding when your customers are most likely to leave your page without doing the desired action) means that customers find your site convenient and you have converted users that will be loyal to your brand.
The long-term benefit is that it provides you with clear insights on what is working for your site, and what is not. Using the conversion funnel and its subsequent data will arm you with the knowledge needed to improve the customer experience, both from the end user side as well as your end. This will help retain customers in the long run and give you sustainable ways to drive success for your business.
Recommended Digital Marketing Conversion Funnel
The key to a successful conversion funnel is not only understanding why you need it, but also how to build it. The current recommendation for a digital marketing conversion funnel rests on the following elements
- Awareness
- Interest
- Desire
- Conversion
- Retain
This article provides a good overview of each of these elements, but essentially what you must determine is the following:
- In what ways can I make users aware of my business
- How can I make them interested in what my business is offering
- Why should they want/desire the offerings of my business
- How can I make them take the step of actually attaining that offering
- How do I keep them coming back?
The awareness and interest is one component of the strategy, as is identifying what the key ingredient is that makes them take the desired action. Once they have done that though, are you able to keep all of the converted leads?
Think about your current digital marketing strategy, whether it is based on content, social media, SEO or all of the above. Are your current efforts able to drive awareness and interest in your brand? If not, how can you improve them?
And if they are successful in actually capturing interest – are your current digital marketing efforts able to sustain and retain that interest and turn into a conversion? If the answer is no, it might be time for a digital strategy overhaul.
The best way to establish and maintain a conversion funnel is to work with an expert who understands how to drive that traffic and turn into a conversion and use those strategies in a long-term.
The short-term investment in working with an expert will yield results as you can learn more about best practices and see in real-time how a conversion funnel can drive major success for your business. To learn more, please contact us.
