Funnels and the Buyer’s Journey.

Next let’s talk a bit about the buyer’s journey and the sales funnel. You may have seen one or both of these. They are basically different ways to illustrate the same concept… that’s the idea that your customer moves through various steps as they approach a purchase decision.

They’re not all that different to the stages of awareness that we just talked about… which is why we are talking about these concepts together.

The typical funnel looks like this… large at the top and small at the bottom. The idea is that as customers move from expressing interest in your product (pictured at the top) toward a purchase decision (which happens at the bottom). As people move through the funnel some drop out at each stage which is why it gets smaller at the bottom. There are always more people in the interest stages, than in the purchase stages.

As customers enter at the top, they are likely problem or solution aware. They are interested in solving the problem and learning about solutions. Lower in the funnel they become product aware then most aware.

At each point in the funnel you will provide them with different types of content. Customers at the top need more educational content and proof. Customers at the bottom need more sales materials, copy that overcomes objections, and asks for the sale. And the content in the middle needs to move them from interest toward action.

Another common way of visualizing this buying path is the customer journey map. This is an example of what that might look like.

Often the buyer’s journey goes from awareness to consideration to a purchase decision. And this is where a journey map differs from a funnel… it usually outlines the steps beyond purchase including onboarding, retention, and even evangelism where your customers sing your praises.

However, funnels aren’t a perfect construct for all customers and the journey they take. Not all customers go through all the stages. Some customers don’t enter at the top. They enter in the middle or towards the bottom. Some show up ready to buy and they don’t need to move through the first stages of the funnel or buyer’s journey. This is why it’s so important to do your customer research and understand what stage of awareness they are in.

Once again, the five stages of awareness map very closely to th typical marketing funnel and the first half of the buyer’s journey. 

Whether you think about the customer journey as a funnel, a map, the stages of awareness, or by using some other framework, it’s the same thing, just different ways to talk about how customers move toward a purchase decision. Which is why we’re talking about them together.

In the next segment, we’ll share a model for decision making and action that will be useful as you decide how much “selling” you need to do with your copy.