The fact that the world of digital marketing and sales is a very dynamic one and the competitiveness of today’s business landscape makes running a business tougher than in times past. However, there are tools and resources that can be harnessed for business success. One of those resources/tools is sales funnel.
A sales funnel is very important for getting your prospect from the point of awareness to that of becoming loyal customers. There are many types of sales funnels and they include the following:-
- Lead Generation
- Sales Conversion
- Onboarding
- Product Launch
- Webinar
- High-Ticket Sales
- Membership
- E-commerce
- Upsell and Cross-sell
All of the above funnels have their unique purposes and are designed to serve the different phases of the customer’s journey. It is therefore necessary for businesses to understand how these funnels can help them maximize their marketing strategies and enhance conversion rates which will in turn drive growth and business success.
In this article, we will explore the concept of sales funnels with an emphasis on onboarding funnel. We will discuss how to use an onboarding funnel to convert leads to paying and loyal customers. At the end of this piece, you will have an indepth understanding of the subject and how to implement the process so stay with us.
Understanding the Sales Funnel
A sales funnel is used in marketing to describe how a lead becomes a loyal customer. This covers many stages as described below:
- Awareness – This is the stage in which a prospect becomes aware of a product or service
- Interest – Here, the prospect shows interest by exploring your product or service or engaging your content.
- Consideration – This is the next stage in which the prospects that have not dropped off start evaluating and comparing your product with that of your competitors.
- Intent – This is the point where the prospect requests for more information about the product or service or indicates interest in a demo. This shows intent to buy.
- Sales/Purchase – This is the stage where the prospect makes the purchase and follows through.
- Retention – This is the after-sales stage where the seller or business engages the customer to ensure that they are satisfied with their purchase and also encourage them to become loyal customers.
Every single stage described above is very important. However, a good number of businesses fail at the point between purchase and retention and this brings up the need for an onboarding funnel.
What is an Onboarding Funnel?
This is a structured process that is created to enlighten new users of a product or customers on how to use a product or service and also engage them with the right support to ensure that they get great value from their purchase. The major objective of this process is to make sure that the customer appreciates the value of what they purchased and are confident in the use thereof. This is expected to ultimately cause the new customer to become a long-term and loyal customer or user.
The Importance of Using an Onboarding Funnel
Based on the above definition or explanation, we can deduce that this process is highly crucial to business success. Find below some points that explains the importance of using this resource:-
- Enhanced Customer Experience – This process provides a stress-free and hitch-free introduction to a product or service, in addition to the necessary support needed. This enhances the overall experience of the customer with the product or service.
- Reduced Churn Rate – When you successfully on-board a customer, the likelihood of them dumping your product because they are frustrated with it or confused about its use is highly reduced.
- Increased Customer Satisfaction – When a customer is well unformed about a product or service they are more satisfied and will most likely leave positive reviews and even give referrals.
- Higher Lifetime Value– Customers that are successfully on-boarded are more prone to becoming repeat customers than those who are not. They are also more likely to engage upsell opportunities with the same company.
Steps to Creating an Effective Onboarding Funnel
The following are the steps to follow in creating an effective on-boarding funnel:-
Define Your On-boarding Goals
Before you create this process, it is very important that you define your goals and they must be clear and measurable. These goals can include the following:-
- Activation
- Engagement
- Retention
Lay Out the Customer Journey
You have to understand the journey that your customers will take from the awareness stage to purchase. Identify the major milestones they will encounter and the pain points that you will need to address during the on-boarding process.
Segment Your Audience
You have different customers who have different needs and are at different levels in their familiarity with the product. Delineate your audience into different categories based on factors such as their job role, industry or the experience they may have had with similar products. Customize the process to fit the specific needs of the different categories of customers.
Create Engaging Content
There are many contents you can develop to help new users navigate the on-boarding process and they include the following:-
- Welcome Emails – These series of emails are used to acquaint new users with the product, spotlight important features and offer useful tips.
- Tutorials and Demos – These are videos tutorials and step by step guides that show the user how to effectively use or engage the product.
- In-App Guidance – These are interactive tutorials, walkthroughs and tooltips in the product that helps users navigate the product.
- Help Centers and FAQs
Implement Automation
Automation is very crucial to the effectiveness of an onboarding funnel. Marketing automation tools are used to send relevant and timely messages based on behaviour of different users.
Monitor and Analyze Performance
Ensure that you monitor the performance of the onboarding funnel regularly to know the areas that need improvement. The parameters for tracking performance include the following:-
- Activation rate
- Engagement rate
- Churn rate
Conclusion
The importance of a properly structured funnel for on-boarding new customers cannot be over emphasized. We have discussed the important basics and steps to engage in this process. Bear these tips in mind as you go about the design of your onboarding funnel so that you can maximize the process.
