Running a Software as a Service (SaaS) company requires excellent advertising to attract the right leads. These leads also need to be nurtured, so they convert from potential customers to buying customers. You can set your business up for success with a solid marketing funnel that carefully guides customers through these stages.
So what exactly is a marketing funnel, and how do you create one? Read on for all the details to create a kick-SaaS marketing funnel.
What is a marketing funnel?
A marketing funnel is essentially a map that guides users through their interactions with your brand or business. They go through a series of actions or events that take them from becoming aware of your brand, to converting them into paying customers.
It can consist of different marketing channels, including paid advertising, social media posts and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Marketers can use the funnel to track the user’s actions to find what works and what doesn’t. They can then use these results to optimise the funnel in the future.
Why do you need a marketing funnel?
Creating a marketing funnel increases your business’s potential for success. With so many other businesses and brands flooding the internet, having a solid funnel is an effective way to ensure that yours is noticed by qualified leads. It then helps guide these leads into purchasing customers smoothly.
A marketing funnel is important because it helps you:
- Discover which strategies work best for your audience. Do they respond better to content marketing vs social media? For example, you’re more likely to be successful with social media if your audience is between 18-34 years old. Statistics show that 95% of them follow brands on social media compared to only 35% of 55-64 year olds.
- Understand what drives them to make purchases. It could be incentives like discounts or coupons. 27% of B2B buyers say they make a purchase decision based on price.
- Discover which strategies work best at which stage. For example, SEO is more likely to work when targeting millennials at the discovery stage, since they frequently use search engines to find information that will influence their purchase decisions.
- Understand how and when it’s best to nurture your leads. If you’re targeting Entrepreneurs with B2B emails, the best time to send them would be over the weekend. Nearly 45% of emails sent on a Saturday are opened, compared to only 20% sent on a Tuesday.
- Learn how to increase the rate of repeat purchases. Sometimes marketers spend so much time on generating conversions, but forget about the users once they become customers. A funnel can help you form a loyal customer base by maintaining a relationship with them.
How do you create a solid marketing funnel?
The most important thing to remember when building a funnel is to think like a potential customer. This will help you realise how to move them from one stage of the funnel to the next, getting you closer to conversions.
Another important note is to know your target audiences well. A generic approach will not work because you will struggle to sell your products to them. If you know what their specific needs and problems are, you can use your marketing to emphasise the solutions your products will provide for them.
A good way to create a marketing funnel is to follow the AIDA model.
4 stages of a marketing funnel (AIDA model)
There are 4 stages that make up a marketing funnel and they are known as the AIDA model. The stages are:
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Awareness
The goal here is to make sure that potential customers know your business or products exist. The biggest mistake that you can make is to assume that they already do. Examples of creating awareness include targeted advertising or messaging that grab the audience’s attention. They should be left wanting to learn more about your business or products.
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Interest
It’s essential to create interest in your products. A good way to do this is to identify a problem and explain how it is affecting the audience’s lives. This will make them want to seek a solution. Creating interest gives the audience a reason to stay engaged with your business.
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Desire
This is where potential customers realise that they need your products or services. You can convey this by showing them how the products or services solve the problems that you identified in the previous step. Demonstrating the benefits will keep them engaged and effectively foster a desire to take action like making a purchase.
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Action
The final step is to urge potential customers to take action. This could include signing up for a service or making a purchase. When marketing strategies are done well, they create urgency and motivate the audience to take action. Providing a clear prompt to take action such as a digital button to click on or a phone number to call lets customers know what step they should take next.
Case study: Example of the great marketing funnel of Netflix
Not all funnels have to be the same for every business. But it’s good to take notes on what some do right to convert potential customers into paying customers. You can then optimise it to fit your business’s needs.
Awareness and Interest
Netflix has a great marketing funnel. It’s simple, clear and easy to use. They generously use social media to create buzz around their product, creating awareness and interest.
Desire
The social media posts direct potential customers to the Netflix website, where the landing page does the job of creating desire. It highlights their top benefits and also lets people know that they can cancel their subscription at any time. This is a major draw-in because they know people don’t want to be locked into a contract.
Action
The landing page also has a call to action that encourages the user to sign up. The copy suggests that it’s super easy to create a membership, all you need is an email. Clicking on the Get Started button takes the user to the next page where they can choose your pricing plan and be on the way to watching unlimited TV.
The takeaway
Creating a solid marketing funnel will help your SaaS company attract and convert customers. Think you don’t have enough time to create one? Let us do the funnelling for you. We’ll help you develop and grow your online presence and generate the right buzz around your business.
