The Sales Funnel is the process that a prospect goes through from initial contact to final conversion. The “location” in the funnel corresponds to the stage of the sales process of the prospect. As a sales opportunity moves down the funnel, time to close decreases and the probability of the sale occurring increases.
In the process of pursuing a sales opportunity though, it is wise to measure the effectiveness of every step in the process. This is known as sales funnel analysis. Analyzing the sales funnel at each stage will help spot and remove barriers to the visitor converting to a customer. Sales funnel analysis can be managed by developing metrics and analysis methods appropriate for the campaign model.
Here are three metrics that can help the evaluation process to measure the effectiveness of the sales process within the funnel.
- Traffic Sourcing & Engagement Statistics from Content
First, measure the effectiveness of the materials used to attract leads to the website. Every business must attract enough visitors to start the flow into the top of the funnel. Businesses produce all sorts of content, from blog posts to articles to PPC ads, to attract leads. Each of these methods should be assigned a specific URL or marker of some sort that will identify it. These markers can be tracked as the viewers respond and go to the specified landing page. Over time, content that has the best effect can be identified and repeated.
Explore both traffic (visits and views) and engagement from various sources of content to see where potential business is coming from and whether they are taking the next step to becoming a customer.
- Landing Pages Response Rates
The next step in measuring sales funnel effectiveness is to analyze the results of the dedicated landing pages. The desired results of a landing page are dependent on the objective of the campaign. These desired results could be document downloads, a form filled out, or a move to the next page in a series. Metrics should be set up so that the desired response is measured and the quantity of desired results (i.e. conversion rate) attained should be compared to the number of visitors landing on the page. Very low conversion rates should prompt study and testing of every element on the page from copy to call-to-action to determine how to maximize conversions on that page.
This step in the process can be used to identify new opportunities. If the landing page offers several different pieces of content, level of interest and desire can be measured depending on the literature that is downloaded. Any document downloaded more frequently than others could point to an exploitable opportunity or even an upcoming change in technology that has not been identified.
- Click-Path and Drop-Off
Some landing pages are meant to lead the visitor through a series of pages to help them make a decision (this is popular with large-dollar sales that have a longer sales cycle, such as enterprise-wide IT systems). Whether or not the visitor travels through the entire series of pages and performs the desired actions should be measured and analyzed. Analysis should be performed on whether the visitor clicks through the desired sequence, but also where they drop out of the sequence. A large difference in quantity-of-visitors between two sequential pages indicates non-compelling content or a weak call-to-action on the previous page.
Most websites have a data-logging function that can provide click-path reports. Google Analytics, if used, also has a function that can track the click path. In addition to measuring drop-off, whether or not the visitor leaves the site or just goes to another part of the website should be measured. Statistically significant movement to another part of the site could indicate interest in other products/services and could, again, point to exploitable opportunities.
As you gain experience tracking and measuring the effectiveness of the sales funnel, you can create your own version of the funnel, complete with specific steps and actions to move prospects from stage to stage. What we have described here can act as a starting point. As a leading inbound marketing agency, KEO Marketing can assist you with all aspects of sales funnel analysis, as well as help your organization improve response rates and conversion rates. Contact us today.
