Just like the top and middle of your sales funnel, the bottom requires strategy and finesse. Unlike your top-of-funnel brand awareness strategies, the mid-funnel stages rely on the success of your strategy in the stage above. For your bottom-funnel strategies to succeed, you must have each stage before it fine-tuned for the ideal customer journey.
In the third and final installment of our three-part series on the digital marketing funnel, we look at the bottom stages of the funnel: decision and action. In this article, we will take a closer look at these essential stages in the sales funnel and some of the digital marketing strategies you can use to strengthen them.
Give Them the Information They Want
Your content marketing strategy shouldn’t end three-quarters of the way down the funnel. Consumers in the decision stage have already interacted with your brand and shown an interest in what you have to offer. Consider the questions that your customers ask right before a purchase, and answer them on your blog and in your social media posts. With the right content and delivery strategy, you can get potential customers the information they need to convert them into purchasers.
Set Yourself Apart from Competitors
Even if the consumer has shown an interest in your brand, you haven’t made your competitors magically disappear. It’s important in the final stage of your sales funnel, perhaps more than any other stage, that you set yourself apart from your competitors. Include testimonials, savings opportunities, and the bottom-of-funnel content mentioned above in your social media and email campaigns. You’ve gotten the consumer this far down the funnel. Now it’s time to finalize the sale.
Stay Engaged
Not every customer who is considering your business is going to make a phone call or walk into your store. Stay engaged on social media to let them know that you’re ready to answer their questions through direct messages or comments. After all, 78% of consumers are willing to make a purchase if they’ve had a positive experience with that business on social media.
The Funnel Doesn’t End There
The goal of your funnel shouldn’t be to capture a sale. Yes, the sale is always a win, but the real victory comes with developing brand loyalty. Will the consumer continue to choose your business when they need another product that you carry? Take steps to ensure their experience is a positive one well beyond the purchase. Offer content that will enhance their experience with your product, check in on your customers to ensure your product lives up to their expectations, and don’t forget to say thank you. Let them know that you appreciate them and that your business is always there when they’re ready to make their next purchase.
Each digital channel presents an opportunity to strengthen your sales funnel. From brand awareness to brand loyalty, your business should utilize strategies such as social media, online advertising, and email marketing to ensure an exceptional shopping experience that will keep customers coming back. If your business is in need of the digital marketing expertise required to make this happen, we’d love to hear from you.
