Study of 3000 Consumers and How To Evolve Your Sales Funnel

Have you ever really stopped to think about how online has changed the path to purchase and how it effects your strategy? The rules and new. More complex and it actually doesn’t really look like a funnel anymore. More like a flight path of consumer interaction, till they arrive at the one thing that triggers a shopping action. But how do you identify that exact moment in time where the customer goes, YES! I want this and I feel comfortable to buy it from you. Everyone is different, some of us are spontaneous, competitive, human and methodical. It’s important to have your strategy accommodate all types or buyers.

Sounds straight forward right? Not really, we tend to jump between the types based on the meaning and context of the purchase… It’s a mind field out there people! But hopefully this blog will help you adjust your strategy to keep you top of mind with everyone searching for services similar to yours.

In 2012 Google did a study to try an understand the path consumers take to get to the checkout. What they found was of the 3000 people analysed NOT 1 person took the same path, but they did have similarities on the pathway to purchase.

In this study by Google, they found that there are similar stop off’s along the way between all of us and based on these findings, I don’t think the path ends at a purchase, unless of course you’ve entered into some really crappy customer service resulting in a bad review putting off the masses.

So, how do we re adjust our “sales funnel” to keep the modern consumers attention?

Sales Funnel

There are plenty of opportunities to get more from each customer whether it be repeat purchase or customer referral. The best news about this all is a lot of the time can be an automated marketing strategy. Today, I’ll be sharing with you some no brainer strategies we use to get the customers converting with you. 

Curious? Let’s start!

Give them a voice – Everyone loves the sound of their own voice and opinions good/bad can be golden. According to research by the United States Consumer Affairs a happy customer will tell, on average, 7 people. Why not amplify that by asking for feedback post purchase? How many times have you Googled “[Product of interest] Review” probably a lot, trying to qualify if this is the right item for your need. This is how you get to those qualified searchers.

Encouraging your customers to review their experience will show new customers 1. You care about your customer and 2. Positives reviews from real people will help first time shoppers fall “in trust” with you, influencing them to look no further and buy from you. You can read more about this in another article – The Power of Social Customer Service

The ultimate HOT prospect – Your email subscribers are your most qualified customers and advocates. Up to today, email marketing is still the highest converting marketing strategy, so make sure you put extra effort in attracting more subscribers and nurturing them relevant information to their interests and behaviours. Avoid just using email marketing as a sales tool or you’ll run the risk of looking spammy.

Would you like fries with that? – Have you ever wondered why your local cashier always has a pack of candies near the counter? Because, there’s ALWAYS an opportunity to upsell if you just take a quick review of your sales process. Whether it’s at the checkout to get free shipping or suggestive selling based of purchase history. If you don’t up sell, look at your purchase path and identify key points in the shopping experience to up sell. Maybe it’s post purchase to gain points and discounts? Or perhaps mid purchase with a couple of items in the basket to get just 1 more item in to gain free shipping? Physiologically your customers will love that you’re giving them a deal and this will increase your Average Order Value.

Voodoo, aka Dynamic Remarking – For even more customised content for ads, marketers can turn to dynamic retargeting. Dynamic retargeting can generate ads in real time that feature abandoned products. So, for example, a shopper searches for, clicks and maybe abandons a pair of shoes, you can automatically begin serving him ads featuring those shoes. To the exact colour. Whilst this isn’t voodoo and the feedback from consumers is mixed, the results keep pouring in as a cheap and effective way to keep you top of mind during the flight path to purchase. I wrote about this here.

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