Digital marketing is a non-negotiable form of marketing for every business these days. In fact, when it comes to marketing, digital marketing has far surpassed the relevance and effectiveness of traditional marketing.
Digital marketing encompasses multiple avenues and resources. Most businesses don’t use every form of digital marketing, however, they do attempt to use those that are the most relevant for their target audience.
Two of the most commonly used tools in digital marketing are sales funnels and websites. While some businesses might consider the two to be the same on a surface level, they actually have many differences that make each one an effective tool in its own right.
Here’s what you need to know about each one:
Sales Funnels
A sales funnel is an intentional pathway that consumers take, leading to conversion. It leads them on a specific customer journey that begins with initial awareness of a brand, product, or service, and ends with becoming a customer and developing brand loyalty. Sales funnels are important because they increase sales and customer loyalty.
When developing a sales funnel, marketers will foresee any potential pitfalls that a person on the customer journey could fall into, taking them off of the path. With that foresight, they will be able to create specific steps to lead the target market over those pitfalls, keeping them journeying forwards towards conversion.
These steps include:
● Awareness
If the target market doesn’t know that there is a business out there and it has the solution to one of their problems, then they’re not going to enter the business’ funnel or become their customer. That’s why the starting point of the customer journey is always awareness. Simply put, businesses must set their brand up on platforms their target market uses, and publish consistent, relevant, high-quality content.
● Interest
When the target market begins to develop an awareness of the brand, they have taken the first step into the funnel. At this point, the marketing goal is to get them to continue on through it. To do this, businesses must show their lead that they have something valuable for them. By focusing on the potential customer’s problem and the solution they’re offering, businesses can nurture leads with compassion and connection.
● Desire
Once leads have reached the next step, they know who the brand is and what it stands for (awareness), and they’re interested in it because they’ve developed a connection and trust. Now, they’re ready to find and purchase a solution. In this step, the business will showcase their products or services, offering them up as an effective solution to their problem.
● Action
Action is the bottom of the funnel. It’s the finish line. It’s where everything has been heading. The consumer knows who the business is, they feel connected and comfortable, they know what the business has to offer. Now, they just need something to push them to say yes. This is where customer reviews, ratings, and testimonials come into play. With the additional confirmation, warm leads will easily be able to say yes.
● Loyalty
Retaining customers is just as important as gaining new ones. That’s why the ultimate goal of the sales funnel is to keep customers at the bottom. The sales funnel is a great way to build loyalty because the entire funnel is a bonding and connecting experience. By the time customers buy, they’ve gone through an entire journey with the brand and they’re going to stick around.
Websites
A website has multiple interconnected webpages, each one under the same domain. Websites have text, images, video, and are a great way to showcase a business. They are a great way to market products/services and provide information to consumers.
A website is an effective way to nurture potential leads, as they can view information and learn more about the brand and their products. They’re important because they are essentially the hub of information and brand content for the specific business, giving people a place to head when they want to learn more.
In Conclusion
Sales funnels and websites are both essential digital marketing tools. However, they differ greatly in their purpose and in their conversion rate. The sales funnel refers to the steps the customer takes on their journey, while the website is the digital face of a business. To get the customer in the door of the website, oftentimes they’ll need to be heading down the sales funnel. Overall, the two tools work flawlessly together and provide much needed support.
