The conversion funnel is one of the most important concepts to understand in digital marketing. Your business cannot function if you do not set up one or more conversion tunnels.
The objective is simple: you no longer seek prospects and no longer spend on advertising. Instead, you’ll see where your sales process is failing the most and take action where it will have the most impact.
In this way, the funnel can improve your business performance. This can apply to all organizations: a website, a cloud solution, a restaurant, a shop, etc.
Sarah Choualhi explains how this funnel works on the Social Media Pro blog. It turns your visitors into:
- prospect
- clients
- loyal clients
- and finally as ambassadors
And that completely automatically.
A conversion tunnel takes a long time to set up. But, once created, it will work completely automatically.
The conversion tunnel — 3 steps
- Discovery
- Assessment
- Decision
The conversion tunnet in 3 steps
Step 1 — Discovery
Your targets identify that they have a problem to solve. They do research and document themselves. You can offer them simple content to “educate” them.
Step 2 — Evaluation
Your targets are evaluating different possible approaches to solving the problem. They are looking for more “advanced” information.
Step 3 — The Decision
Your targets evaluate your solution. They are interested in product comparisons and demonstrations. In the end, they will decide which solution to choose.
Targets that reach the end of the tunnel are very “hot” prospects. They can be supported by your sales representatives.
57% of the buying process is done before even talking to a salesperson
The AARRR Conversion Tunnel — 5 Steps
The AARRR funnel is part of Growth Hacking . Growth Hacking is a systematic procedure that maximizes conversion and growth in the short to medium term.
The AARRR tunnel appeared in 2007. Dave McClure — the American Business Angel who founded the investment company 500 Startups — then gave the presentation: “Startup Metrics for Pirates: AARRR!” He gave the 5 steps to analyze the market response to your product. The 5 AARRR metrics mean:
- Acquisition
- Activation
- Retention
- Recommendation
- Revenue
AARRR – The Growth Hackers Conversion Funnel
These metrics are universal. They can be used by the CEO, the marketing director, the COO, … They will be useful to you in your decision-making and in improving your marketing performance.
Acquisition
Attract the prospect’s attention
Acquisition is the number of people who will arrive on the site and leave their details.
Activation
The product crash test
Activation is a first use of the product. Your visitors will register for your solution and use it for the first time.
Retention
Customer, stay with me
Retention is regular use. Your customers will use your product many times and frequently.
Recommendation
To try it is to recommend it
Recommendation of users’ product to their networks.
Word of mouth has the highest conversion rate.
Word of mouth has the highest conversion rate
Use your most loyal customers as ambassadors. They will perform the same function as your sales teams and will cost you (almost) nothing.
Income
Checkout
Don’t throw a price chart in your customer’s face. You must offer him pricing that matches the product he wants and his portfolio. Rates must be presented at the end of the 4 previous steps.
A clear and defined strategy — 6 steps
But Growth Hacking is not “tips and tricks.” A clear and defined strategy must be put in place:
1. Know where you can have maximum impact
Analyze the sales funnel and current conversion.
2. List hypotheses to improve conversion
List what you can do, improve, etc. For example, you can work on the landing pages, the offer or the images via a list of about ten criteria (about fifteen maximum.)
3. Estimate what will have the most impact
Start from the initial ratios and indicators. They will show the effectiveness of the actions. First, define an initial indicator (the current conversion.) Then, estimate a target at random. Finally, measure it using the different assumptions.
4. Select 1 to 3 most effective and fastest actions to implement
5. Set up the hypotheses one after the other
And not at the same time, otherwise your results will be skewed.
6. Wait for your results
Then move on to another criterion as part of continuous improvement.
So, your conversion funnel will help you:
1. Contextualize your messages
What content, for what targets and at what times in their journey?
2. Nurture your prospects
3. Detect qualified prospects by building an efficient model with your salespeople
You will know your conversion rates more precisely and refine your forecasts in terms of traffic. You can also test different content. You will see if they have a positive impact on your conversion rates.
You will then begin to decide your actions on facts, and no longer on intuitions.
