Have you ever wondered why the sales and marketing teams seem to be working in silos?
It’s because they’re using different funnels!
Sales Funnel and Marketing Funnel are two important, but very different strategies for businesses.
It’s daunting to separate Sales Funnel from Marketing Funnel, so let’s break it down.
In this article, we will discuss Sales Funnel VS Marketing Funnel, their main components, and when you should use each one.
Ready? Let’s get started!
Definition: Sales Funnel VS Marketing Funnel
The Sales Funnel is a sales process used to convert leads and prospects into paying customers.
It involves a series of steps designed to build relationships, qualify leads and educate potential customers about the product or service being offered.
It’s kinda like a funnel, right?
You start with a lot of people and narrow it down to the ones that are actually interested in your product.
The Marketing Funnel is a customer experience journey that begins with brand awareness and ends with loyalty and advocacy.
This funnel focuses on building relationships, creating loyalty, and providing an overall great customer experience.
It’s kinda like a funnel too, but this time you’re starting with a lot of people and narrowing it down to those who are passionate about your brand.
Let’s take a closer look at Sales Funnel and Marketing Funnel, so you can see how they work and when to use each one.
What is a Sales Funnel
The closest definition of a sales funnel is a Customer Journey.
From the time a potential customer hears about your product to the time they become an actual paying customer, there are several steps involved in the Sales Funnel.
Typical steps in Sales Funnel include:
- Awareness Stage: In this stage, a potential customer first discovers your product or service through marketing and advertising.
- Interest Stage: In this stage, the potential customer shows interest in learning more about your product or service.
- Decision Stage: In this stage, the potential customer decides whether to purchase your product or service.
- Action Stage: In this stage, the customer makes a purchase and becomes a loyal customer.
Each of these steps is designed to build relationships, qualify leads and educate potential customers about the product or service being offered.
An Example of a Sales Funnel
I like to look at the sales funnel from the “Best Funnel Builder”, Russell Brunson.
He’s the CEO of ClickFunnels, a sales funnel builder software company.
For this example, let’s look at his “Your First Funnel” offer.
First, he starts with a tripwire funnel, which is an offer of a low-cost, high-value product to capture leads.
In this case, his offer is FREE + Shipping for Your First Funnel Kit, which includes some books, T-shirts, a funnel-building toolkit, and digital products.
He uses pop up to capture emails first before he sends them to the order page.
Some may argue this step drives down conversions, in fact, it’s the opposite!
You see sometimes things happen during the checkout page when customers are ready to order.
By collecting emails first, you can re-engage them if they didn’t complete their orders.
Then, he can retarget these drops off with retargeting ads or email follow-up sequences.
You can see how every step is designed to work together to convert leads into paying customers.
So do the sales ends there?
Not necessarily.
One of the bonuses for this offer is a 5-Day Challenge.
The challenge is designed to give an additional education, getting them more excited and ready to buy.
On day 4 of the challenge, Russell will offer the full course for his product. (High-Ticket)
This step is designed to close the deal as most of the participants are already warmed up and ready to buy.
This Sales Funnel works so well because it’s easy to follow, provides lots of value, and gives customers exactly what they want.
What is a Marketing Funnel
A marketing funnel is an essential element of a successful sales and marketing strategy.
The marketing funnel helps prospects become aware of the product or service you offer, identify leads that are interested in what you have to offer, and nurture them through to becoming a customer.
It starts with inbound marketing efforts such as lead generation, advertising campaigns, and content creation that help generate interest in your offerings.
From there, lead nurturing tactics like email campaigns and targeted messages can further engage prospects until they become qualified leads ready to be handed off to the sales team.
The sales team can then work their magic with sales prospecting, follow-up calls, and other strategies tailored to each individual customer.
With effective lead management techniques in place that focus on the entire customer journey—from prospecting through purchasing—marketing funnels will drive more customers who are ready to make a purchase.
In another word, a marketing funnel is a sales support marketing strategy.
An Example of a Marketing Funnel
Marketing campaigns.
Yep, that’s right, marketing campaigns.
You see, the goal of any marketing funnel is to get sales prospect interested in your product and move them down through the sales funnel toward a conversion.
To do this you need to create an effective campaign that will capture attention and generate leads.
For example, let’s say you’re launching a new product.
Your goal is to get people interested in the product so they will purchase it.
So, you need to create an effective campaign that will include content and advertisements to reach your target audience.
The target audience is your customer persona and the people who are likely to be interested in your product.
Once you identified who is your ideal customer, you can start crafting your campaign.
Depending on your target audience, you can craft contents and online ads that are tailored to their interests.
You can also use re-targeting ads and follow-up emails to keep sales prospect engaged so they move further down the funnel and eventually become customers.
Here is a list of marketing campaigns that you can use to get more people interested in your product:
- Paid media campaigns
- Social media campaigns
- Email marketing campaigns
- Content marketing campaigns.
- Joint venture campaigns
What is the difference between sales funnel and marketing funnel?
Sales funnels are focused on the customer journey from becoming aware of a product or service to make a purchase.
They involve stages such as awareness, interest, decision, and action.
Marketing funnel can be viewed as an extension of sales funnels and are used to generate leads and convert them into customers.
They involve activities such as lead generation, lead nurturing, advertising campaigns, content creation, etc. to capture qualified leads that can then be handed off to the sales team.
The main difference between sales and marketing funnels is that the goal of a marketing funnel is to drive more leads through qualified channels while the goal of a sales funnel is to convert leads into paying customers.
What is the similarity between sales funnel and marketing funnel?
The similarity between sales funnels and marketing funnels is that both are used to drive more customers and convert them into paying customers.
Both involve stages such as awareness, interest, decision, and action to engage with sales prospect and ultimately turn them into customers.
In addition, both involve activities such as lead generation, lead nurturing, advertising campaigns, content creation, etc. to capture marketing-qualified lead that can then be handed off to the sales team.
Bottom Line: Sales and Marketing Funnels
Marketing and sales funnels work together to move potential customers through the sales process, from awareness of your brand to becoming loyal customers.
The Sales Funnel focuses on turning leads into customers, while the Marketing Funnel works on engaging with a prospective customer and creating awareness about your product or service.
The Sales Funnel is more focused on results, while the Marketing Funnel is more interested in understanding customer needs and building relationships.
By using Sales Funnel and Marketing Funnel side by side, you can ensure that your business is getting the most out of its sales and marketing efforts.
Ultimately, Sales Funnels and Marketing Funnels are both important to your success as a business.
They should be used in conjunction to achieve the best results.
Sales and marketing funnel help you identify, engage and convert your leads into customers.
By understanding the similarities and differences between Sales Funnels and Marketing Funnels, you can maximize your sales process to get the most out of each lead.
And that’s what really matters in the end!
