Funnels in the Age of Social Media (#socialmedia info) The traditional funnel has worked well to drive sales using traditional marketing media, and there is no reason it should not work with today’s online media, particularly social networks. If you’re a professional marketer or salesperson, then you know all about sales funnels and how important these are to the success of your business.For those of you who may be wondering, a funnel is a conceptual model that represents the customer’s journey from the time he or she first hears about the product to the moment of purchase. Our job as marketers is to optimize the funnel, in essence get as many people through as possible.Funnels 101Traditionally, funnels have been a 6-step process consisting of the following stages.Making people aware of your productProviding prospects with information to get them to consider your productAllow people to build attachments to your brandAllow people to purchase your productsReward customer loyaltyConvert customers into brand advocatesNow keep in mind that the concept of funnels was first introduced just before the 20th century and it has held up quite well even to this day. But for your online marketing to truly benefit and take off, you need to update your funnels to take advantage of 21st century marketing channels. This is particularly true for social media marketing.The New Funnels: Dealing With DistractionThe metaphor of calling them “funnels” may not even be correct any more. In the past, marketers have strived to “shovel” people into the top of the funnel; the funnel is then expected to do its thing and sales are supposed to trickle out through the other end. But this model assumes that buying behavior is linear, and it definitely is not.Prospects often leave the funnel at some point, most likely distracted by something else. But it has happened, and more often than you may think, that the same people who get off the funnel find their way back into it and may even complete the journey all the way to conversion and purchase. Quite frankly, it looks more like a Rube Goldberg machine than a funnel.Social media provides the means to direct people to the mouth of the funnel. This is a fact that we do not need to dwell upon because social networks have demonstrated time and again that what they do best is get people to connect.But when people get distracted and leave, social media also provides the stickiness so that they don’t wander too far away and you can reel them back in, provided your social media accounts are optimized and your engagement strategies are topnotch.The key to driving people through your social media funnels is engagement. Interesting and relevant content provides the awareness that attracts prospects. Engaging content provides the enticement that keeps your prospects coming back. Provide great content on a consistent basis and you have the framework for building trust between yourself and your prospects.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 09:41:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015