Differences Between a Marketing Funnel and a Sales Funnel

Formerly, many organizations had separate marketing and sales departments. This is because most management used to think both operations were separate functions. In recent times, organizations now understand how related these operations are.

As a result, some organizations have merged marketing and sales departments. Those that still have separate departments emphasize cooperation between both departments. As a result, there is better cooperation and cohesion between both operations, even when they exist as separate departments in some organizations. This age long rivalry is discussed in some detail here: https://hbr.org/.

Yet, despite the similarities between marketing and sales, the objectives of both operations are different. Your marketing department is saddled with the responsibility of creating awareness and solidifying your company’s brand image in potential customers’ minds. This brand awareness makes the customer take the step to purchase the product or service you’re selling. It’s at this point that the sales department becomes involved to ensure the sale is completed.

The marketing and sales funnels help to illustrate the different stages in both operations’ processes. Understanding these stages can aid you in creating targeted sales and ad campaigns. You can check out this article to learn how to create effective advertising that will make people remember your brand name. Therefore, in this article, we’ll reveal the differences between the marketing funnel and the sales funnel.

Marketing Funnel

The first difference you need to know is that it occurs before sales. It involves all the activities conducted to build brand awareness and capture the interest of potential buyers. That means it helps to build interest, build brand reputation, and promote the brand.

There are four stages of this funnel, which are:

• Awareness: This involves the use of targeted ads and marketing campaigns to capture the interest of customers and build brand awareness.
• Consideration: This stage is where the organization actively builds relationships and creates a positive image with customers who showed interest in your brand in the first stage.
• Conversion: This is where a potential client may be regarded as a lead. At this point, they can be directed to the company’s website, where they’ll purchase a product. Alternatively, they can be handed to the sales department to wrap up the sale.
• Loyalty: You’ll find this in the sales funnel as well, and this stage aims to build customer loyalty that will ensure they keep returning.

Activities

The customer’s location in the funnel determines the kind of activities the company will carry out. In the first stage, the aim is to be unique among competitors and also create an irresistible appeal. To achieve this, you’ll need to understand your target audience and create relatable ads.

Potential customers in the first phase are not familiar with your brand. They might have an idea about who you are or no idea at all. Therefore, you need to conduct market research and create ads that will showcase your product’s benefits. In the awareness and consideration phases, you need to do more search engine optimization, social media engagement, pay-per-click advertising, etc.

The conversion and loyalty phases require more customer engagement. Therefore, you need to create more content that addresses their needs. You can focus on targeted ads, nurturing campaigns, and content marketing. These will ensure that you’re constantly in the minds of customers.

Sales Funnel

In this case, the diagram represents the buying journey of your customer. You can check out this best sales funnel to get an idea of how to design yours. A customer who enters the funnel is familiar with and has done some research on your business brand. Individuals at this point are seriously evaluating their service or product options to satisfy their current needs.

There are five stages of this funnel, which are:

• Awareness: This awareness is different from the awareness gained during marketing. Awareness here involves making potential buyers familiar with the benefits they stand to get when they patronize your brand and how your services or products can address their current needs.
• Interest: The potential customer’s interest is now piqued, and they are studying more about the brand’s benefits and how it can fix their problems. You can expect them to research your competitors to determine the better deal.
• Decision: At this point, you’ve got them, and they’re on the verge of deciding whether to take the final action. However, they’ll still need to find out other important information, such as pricing, specifications, etc.
• Action: Once a prospect gets to this stage, they are willing and ready to buy the product. This is where conversion happens. If they fail to purchase the item, it’s easier to get them to act later as they’re already invested in what you’re offering.
• Loyalty: After a purchase is made, the customer becomes loyal if you play your cards right. They become recurrent buyers and will readily refer your products and brand to family, friends, colleagues, etc.

Activities

At the awareness level, your focus should be on developing brand awareness that goes beyond marketing familiarity. You need to establish a relationship by providing the prospect with relevant information and answering the questions they have. You aim to showcase how your services and products can solve their problems better than what your competitors offer. Be ready to share content that invites them to webinars where their questions will be answered.

The interest and decision stages are where you create nurture campaigns to capture their interest and cause them to think about making a purchase. You can even set up a product demonstration. Bear in mind that the prospect is considering other options at these stages; therefore, you need to be unique and stand out.

At the action stage, you’ll need to provide detailed information on why your service or product is more valuable. You need to show the customer that your product will meet their needs. This is also where price negotiation takes place.

After the sales, you need to stay connected to them, which is the loyalty stage. You can use email newsletters, social media, loyalty programs, etc., to maintain the relationship. This will ensure they keep coming back to do business.

Conclusion

The end goal is the key difference between the marketing funnel and the sales funnel. The former is aimed at getting likely customers to identify with your brand. The sales funnel, on the other hand, is focused on turning prospects into paying customers.