After all your hard work, you're ready to sell products online. You've done your research on how to market your product, and you came across sales funnels. 

And through your research, you started to wonder what the point of a sales funnel is?

Why use a sales funnel, and how do you identify the stages of the sales funnel?

You must understand where your customers are in their buying journey. 

Otherwise, you will lose sales and opportunities to interact with your target audience. 

The Stages of Sales Funnel 

The purpose of a sales funnel is to identify where your potential customer is in their buying journey. 

Are they ready to buy your product? And if they are not, how do you get them to be ready? 

There are three stages to answer those questions. 

Those steps are: 

• Top of Funnel 
• Middle of Funnel 
• Bottom of funnel 

Each step has a specific purpose helping you make better decisions in your business. 

You want to move your prospects from the top of the funnel to the middle of the funnel to the bottom of the funnel. 

Top of Sales Funnel Marketing Goal

The goal of the top of the funnel is to make people aware you exist. 

At this stage, you should understand the prospect's intent. What do you have that can be a solution to their problem?

Often sellers will run advertisements or write blog posts to attract their customers. 

But the key here is they don't sell immediately at the top of the funnel. 

It's more about making the connection. Letting the prospect know that you exist and that you have the answers to their problems. 

Awareness is critical. 

Prospects don't know that you exist. They were most likely google-searched you or saw an ad because they had a problem. At this point in the buyer journey, they don't know an answer exists. 

Once the prospect is aware that there may be a solution to their problem, it is your job to move them forward. 

Strategies for Moving Prospects to the Middle of the Funnel

To move prospects from the top of the funnel to the middle of the funnel, here are some tips:

Inform:

The top of the funnel is your perfect opportunity to answer any questions. 

You want to become the #1 source for that prospect's problem, so they want to learn more from you.

Give Value:

On top of answering questions, you can give away free informational items. These items can include eBooks, PDFs, PowerPoint, etc. 

The point of giving free information items away is to collect email addresses (leads). 

Don't Overcomplicate: 

The top of the funnel is the first chance to make a good impression. Be informative, but don't get complicated with how you present information. 

Be clear and compelling. 

Don't Push The Sell Too Hard:

If you were on a first date, would you expect the other person to propose to you? 

No, right? For you to get to that point of marriage, you need to be dating for some time. 

This is the same idea. Don't sell too hard. Get a few more 'dates' by keeping the customer engaged with your information. 

Know What Your Customers Want Next:

Any customer who makes it to the middle of the funnel is considering your product or service. 

Be sure that you are there to assist them as they make strides to learn more about what you have to deliver. 

Read How To Build A Sales Funnel From Scratch 

Middle of Sales Funnel Marketing Goal

When a prospect reaches the middle of the funnel, they know who you are, and they know you have a potential solution. 

But not everyone at the top of the funnel will make it to the middle of the funnel. 

And that's okay. 

We like to think of this process as a train. 

At the first stop, there are lots of people on the train. 

Towards the middle of the trip, there will be fewer people because people got off the train. 

At the end of the trip, there will be many fewer people on the train that started the original journey. 

Your goal is to keep people on the train as long as possible.

Strategies for Moving Prospects to the Bottom of the Funnel

Here are some tips to get your prospects to the bottom of the funnel:

Keep The Information Targeted:

Continue to give related information that helps solve the prospect's problem. 

Give More Value:

Give more value by offering discounts or free shipping. If you have competitors, your prospect will be looking for the best deal. Show User Case Studies:

Show prospects past results from other real customers. Doing so will boost trust and increases the chances of prospects becoming customers. 

Show The Product In Action:

Show off your product. Offer a demo or schedule a call with potential customers. 

There is no better way to prove you have the solution to a problem than by showing the answer. 

Follow Up: 

The money is in the follow-up. What we mean by this is to follow up with your prospects via retargeting ads or email campaigns. 

The more you extend the conversation, the higher chance the prospect will trust what you have to say.

Bottom of Sales Funnel Marketing Goal

The goal of the bottom of the funnel is action - buying your product.

You helped the prospect understand how your product can solve their issue, and they trust your brand. 

Now it's time for the prospect to become a customer. 

But before the prospect converts, they will want to make sure they are making the right decision.

Strategies for Converting Prospects At the Bottom of the Funnel

Get persuasive:

Using persuasion is a powerful tool. At this stage, you need to pull out all the reviews and testimonials that support your position. 

You want your prospects thinking, "if someone else bought this and it helped solve their problem, maybe it will do the same for me." 

Use Urgency:

Let the prospect know that there is a limited amount of products available or that the deals you are giving won't last long. 

Don't lie. Be truthful. But be assertive in your marketing efforts, and you will reap the rewards.

Address Any Issues:

Think about all the questions prospects could have. Then write answers to them in an FAQ. 

Prospects have questions. Answer the questions before a competitor does it for you. 

Use Past Trust:

Don't let all the trust you built go to waste. Iterate the trust you created in your marketing efforts.

Showcase user-generated reviews or video testimonials to increase confidence.