Sales Funnel Stages

Understanding each stage of your sales funnel is crucial for your overall success. In this post, we’ll walk you through each phase of the sales funnel so that you can hack it—and get conversions—like a pro.

The Sales Funnel At A Glance
A sales funnel typically has three stages:
the discovery stagethe engagement stagethe conversion stage
Each of these stages reflect an individual’s journey from being a lead to becoming a paying customer. Before we do a deep dive into these stages though, it’s vital for you as a marketer to understand two things: what you’re offering, and who you’re offering it to.
You need to have a very clear idea of your product or service and how it can make your customers’ lives better. What are your company’s values, and why should people choose you?
On top of that, you must know your ideal customer. Apart from the usual demographics, you also need to have a clear understanding of their pain points, values, sources of information, and role in the decision-making process.
Once you’ve got that figured out, you’re ready to build that funnel. Below you’ll find a breakdown of each stage:

The Discovery Stage
The Discovery or Awareness stage is the one you can find at the very top of the funnel. As the name suggests, your only goal in this stage is to get discovered by your leads. No offers, no upsells. All you want to do is to make your audience aware of your presence and to get their contact information (as in a newsletter sign up, follow on social, or subscription to your podcast or channel). You can do this by creating:
social media posts and paid ads Optimised blog posts or guest posts on other blogs, podcasts, Webinars, Infographics Videos.
Focus on creating valuable top-of-funnel content on the platform where your leads like to hang out the most. Once you get their contact information, you’re ready to move them to the next stage of the funnel: the engagement stage.

The Engagement Stage
The Engagement stage is all about nurturing your leads. You’ve got their attention; now you’ve got to keep it. You can do this by providing more valuable content on a regular basis, as in email newsletters, blog posts, lead magnets, sneak peaks, and the like.
This stage is all about consistency, and knowing what your audience likes. Segment them based on their needs, and create content that specifically meets those needs. To push that lead closer to the last stage of the funnel, you can offer testimonials, case studies, free trials, and exclusive discounts.

The Conversion Stage
The last stage is where you convert that lead into a customer. In this stage, your lead is now ready to commit to your offer and make a transaction. Your goal is to make that transaction as smooth as possible. Create sales campaigns that have compelling calls to action. Optimize your landing pages and provide them with info about shipping, returns and exchanges, FAQs, and the like. Most of all, make the checkout process fun and fluid.
Now, don’t stop after you’ve made a sale. Make sure that your customer is satisfied with their purchase. Ask for reviews and testimonials. Check up on them. Run a re-engagement campaign for previous customers or create a flow for abandoned carts. Continuing to touch bases with your customers will make them feel valued. Customers who feel valued are more likely to recommend you to others, and when they do, you better be ready to take those new leads into the funnel again.