How to Optimize Your Sales Funnel and Increase Conversion

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For a business to thrive, it needs a streamlined sales process and a high customer conversion rate. Companies struggle because they use complicated sales funnels with insufficient customer engagement, which hurts their revenue.  

A sales funnel is the customer's journey from the moment they connect with your business. It begins with awareness and interest and ends when a prospect buys from the company. After the first purchase, the business can turn the customer into a long-term buyer.

Conversion refers to turning the prospective lead into a paying customer. The business owner bears the responsibility for convincing the customers to buy.  

Last year, the global online commerce conversion rate was 2.58 percent. Having a high conversion rate brings several advantages:

  • enlarges your paying user base
  • it's easier to market to previous buyers
  • captures email addresses for email marketing
  • gives you data for customer analysis
  • boosts your revenue

The only way to achieve these benefits is through optimization. To 'optimize' means to use the best aspect of something. So, what steps can you take to optimize your sales funnel and increase conversion

Keep reading to find out.

Steps for sales funnel optimization and increasing conversion

Once you generate enough buzz about your business, product, or service, it's time to profit from that user traffic. Become very active on social media and engage with other users as much as possible to push buyers into your sales funnel.

How to Optimize Your Sales Funnel

Share links to your website where these online users can become leads. This is where you'll give them your sales pitch. Ensure your desktop website and mobile design are working seamlessly, as quick website responses will prevent potential customers from leaving your site.

Below are some easy steps for optimizing your sales funnel and increasing conversion:

Create and optimize your landing page

A landing page is a web page used to attract, convince, and capture new leads for your business. It's different from a homepage and is part of a sales and marketing campaign. When an online user or subscriber clicks on an ad or email link, they're redirected to your landing pages. 

How does this benefit you? 

For one, it redirects traffic to specific pages and provides a Call-To-Action (CTA). It gives you a platform to talk about product benefits and create custom marketing messages. It also builds your customer base for subscriptions, email marketing, and sales pitches.

Types of landing pages

There are different types of landing pages. Top examples include click-through, squeeze, sales, and lead generation landing pages. Let's quickly go through them:

1. Click-through landing page

This page quickly outlines the solutions you'll receive if you take up their offer. The offer can be anything from a 30-day free trial to a money-back guarantee.

2. Squeeze landing page

The squeeze page's goal is to get a user’s email address. It may ask the user questions about their pain points and if they are interested in solving them. If their answer is "Yes," they will be asked to provide their email address in return for additional information.

Squeeze landing page

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Other squeeze pages give you a path to protected content in exchange for your email address. For instance, they can provide you with access to a newsletter or webinar.

3. Sales landing page

A sales landing page is usually a long-form page trying to convince the reader to buy immediately. It does this by anticipating the potential customer’s questions and answering them on the page. Doing this removes the obstacles preventing the prospect from buying.

The reader will find a CTA button at the bottom of the page, leading them to the checkout area.

4. Lead generation landing page

Once a prospect shows up on your page, you should capture as much information as you can about them. This gives you an understanding of the buyer personas interested in your products. 

It is more detailed than a squeeze page, and it helps you qualify the leads based on the answers to your forms. With this information, you can better guide them through the sales funnel to the purchase.

Factors to consider when creating a landing page

Here’s what to do when creating a landing page:

  • take the time to write a compelling headline
  • have a short form for your squeeze page but a long-form for the lead capture page
  • remove any distracting words, colors, or images
  • use the content to build trust with the reader and answer their questions
  • make it easy for people to skim through your content
  • add a CTA at the end
  • Add Google Translate to WordPress sites

This will capture your readers’ attention and lead them through the sales funnel seamlessly.

How to optimize your landing page

To optimize your landing page, make sure you match its content to the ad copy or email

Do your best to incorporate all the keywords that drew the prospects’ attention. You only have a few seconds to make an impression, so try to place important information at the beginning. High converting ecommerce landing pages promotes only one call-to-action and targets to specific customer persona, also using customization so each visitor feels like the copy was written just for him.

Additionally, avoid using the homepage as your landing page. 

Instead, get a dedicated landing page to increase conversion. It is a good idea to include videos on your page — research shows that about 70% of B2B buyers watch videos throughout the sales journey.

Don't distract customers. Make sure you keep them focused on taking a particular action. The page should be simple and straightforward, with all the details about the products or services provided. 

How to optimize your landing page

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Learn about your customers to ensure your message is resonating with them.

Also, test the landing pages to find the combination that appeals to prospects. A/B testing showed that removing links boosts conversion rates, so minimize the number of navigation links to prevent people from leaving your page.

To turn customers into long-term buyers, analyze your conversion data, and adjust your strategies accordingly. Moreover, allow testimonials and get reviews to persuade potential customers of your quality and reliability.

Finally, remember to include a CTA button on every landing page.

Capture your prospect's email address

The next step in optimization and conversion is capturing your prospect's email address. This step is crucial because it's how you grow your customer base. 

The best way to get email addresses is through a squeeze landing page.

It's a transactional approach where you offer something free to get the email address. For example, the incentive could be ebooks, newsletters, or access to video content.

Challenges to capturing emails and optimizing the process

You might get some resistance in acquiring a prospect's email because people are wary of receiving unwanted or constant email messages from companies. 

In other cases, your CTA may not be strong enough, or you're not highlighting the product's value convincingly. Sometimes, your promotions just won’t be appealing.

Fortunately, there are ways around this. 

Start by personalizing your content and limiting the number of emails you send per month. 

Also, make sure you give your audience enough information before they opt in to your emails, or reach out only when you have additional information or incentives. 

Social media and blogs can also serve as an alternative to regular emails, so consider using those if you feel more comfortable in that medium. Or find guidance on how to improve your email marketing strategies.

Identify the right keywords and use them in your email campaigns. Listening to how customers describe their problems will help you pinpoint the right phrases. Avoid using CAPS, so readers don't think you are shouting at them.

Have a positive message and persuade prospects by using social proof and reciprocity. Whatever you do, stay away from spam words, or your email will fall victim to the spam filter. 

Remember, you have to provide value to your email subscribers to improve retention rates. 

Create informative educational content that answers questions

It's vital to create educational content that answers your prospect's questions, so craft a message addressing those issues before the prospects ask.  

Create top-quality content (or outsource)

Marketers often neglect to raise awareness and to speak to customers at every phase of the sales funnel. With a great content marketing strategy, you'll attract new leads and educate them. It will position and promote your company online, which will convert more visitors.

Content for each stage of the sales funnel

In the awareness stage, your goal is to write viral content and generate interest in your business. Consider using copywriting techniques, which are useful for drawing attention. Also, share interesting messages on social media and interact with those that respond. 

Your best strategy is to start writing blog posts about the type of products your business is selling. Once people are interested, provide detailed reviews and product comparisons. 

Take amazing photos to display various features and consider making videos as well.

At the decision and action stage, you have to continue promoting the products or services. Highlight the solutions the customer will get and urge the customer to take action.

Another way to keep in touch with the customer is to provide free informational guides. Have a personalized email-marketing schedule to maintain engagement. Retarget the customer using coupons, free memberships, and other offers.

Remember to respond to any questions the customer may have and conduct surveys to make sure their overall experience was positive.

Increase your sales

An optimized sales funnel will quadruple your revenue and deliver significant business growth. Your goal from the beginning should not only be to raise awareness but also to build trust. You can create emotional connections with your prospects by showing them you care about their pain.

Welcome your leads into your sales funnel, and nurture them. Check your messaging and adapt to new situations, interactions, and your competitors' messages. The customers must be able to see the value of buying from you instead of other companies.

Build your authority with a strong content marketing strategy. Include SEO to make it easier for customers to find you on the internet and start educating them once they make contact.

Perform tests to learn how to boost your operations and message. Track your conversion rate and analyze customer behavior to be able to predict their actions. Improving customer experience and response times will ensure consistency and loyalty. 

Finally, don't forget about marketing automation. It keeps the funnel moving and customers engaged. The website experience must also be top-notch. Slow or unresponsive pages on desktop or mobile will push away potential leads.

Make sure every phase of the sales funnel has a strong call to action. If you don't guide the customer, they won't reach the end. But if you do, your conversion rates will be high, and you'll earn a lot of revenue.

About the author 

Heather Redding

Heather Redding is a part-time assistant manager and writer based in Aurora, Illinois. She is also an avid reader and a tech enthusiast. When Heather is not working or writing, she enjoys her Kindle library with a hot cup of coffee. Reach out to her on Twitter.

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