What are the best ways to move your leads through the sales funnel?

Funnel stages should have a concrete definition agreed upon by Sales and Marketing. The definition should be based on the profile and level of interest of the leads. Consider creating an ad hoc system by "playing" with the combination of these two criteria. For example, when a decision-maker enters the database, the required engagement to be assigned to Sales should differ from the engagement required for an individual contributor (which should be higher). This type of combination enhances both quality and flexibility.

Funnel stages are what make up the funnel. Ensuring the marketing and sales organizations are aligned on the stage definitions is pivotal in optimizing funnel velocity. When our stages are defined and we know what qualifies a lead for each stage we can start segmenting our prospects. Someone who is further down the funnel and has engaged with your company most likely doesn't need to learn about who you are. They know that. They know what you do, but now want to know why your platform or service is going to be better than your competitors. What piece of content is going to set you apart? Work with your sales team to determine common pain points your prospects are struggling with and nurture you leads based on their stage + engagement level

To move leads through the sales funnel effectively: Nurture leads with personalized content and communication. Provide value, address objections, and build trust. Use lead scoring and timely follow-ups to prioritize and convert high-potential leads into customers.

The outset necessitates a clear demarcation of your funnel stages alongside criteria for propelling leads from one phase to the next. A solid understanding of your buyers' decision-making journey, their pain points, aspirations, and the tailored content and offers needed at each juncture is paramount. Utilising frameworks like BANT (budget, authority, need, timeline) or CHAMP (challenges, authority, money, prioritisation) can be key in categorising leads based on their qualification status and readiness level. Additionally, a tight alignment of your funnel stages with your sales team is essential for a timely and smooth handover of leads, thereby sidestepping any potential confusion or friction.

While most companies only think about moving leads forward, it is important to consider how you will move leads backwards or re-enroll them in the funnel as well. Otherwise, you will end up with leads that are marked as an "Opportunity" that haven't engaged with your sales team in over a year. Or ones marked as a "Customer" that actually churned 3 months ago. Consider adding lead stages that are outside of the funnel, such as "recycled" or "unqualified" that you can use to automate them into an earlier stage or remove them entirely.

I've always loved the idea of Content Stages. Simply put, you would have Stage 1,2 and 3 type content. Stage 1 - Entry-level content like blog posts, infographics, videos and whitepapers. Stage 2 - More detailed and interactive content like case studies, demos, data sheets and calculators. Stage 3 - Sales content like pricing docs, customer reviews and success kits. It's important you send the right content to the right people at the right time which is where the automation comes in. Not all prospects are created equally so you must listen to the buying signals and work out what stage each prospect is in!

Talk and listen to the people who you're hoping to target with your content. Designing buyer personas in a vacuum or even based on some report won't actually help you understand the true motivations and habits of people within your target audience. Figure out: - Who are the people that I'm trying to reach connected to? - Where do they go online? - What types of content do they prefer to interact with? - What content do they tend to share? - What topics are they curious about or resonating with? - Who do they trust? You can only make targeted content when you know what is relevant to your audience.

Talk - like, actually talk - with the people you're wanting to influence - constantly. Why’d they first enter the market for a solution like yours? (What was the problem they wanted to solve? Why? How were they compensating for the problem before you?) What questions did they have when they first entered the market for a solution? (Were they able to find satisfactory answers? If so, where from?) What’s the process for purchasing a solution like yours? (Who’s involved? What questions do they usually have? What do they want to see? What answers did they find satisfactory?) What sort of information do they find most useful when evaluating a solution like yours?

Audience research is really key to be able to create targeted content as this will help you to have a better understanding of their needs, preferences and pain points. Through surveys, interviews, social listening and competitor analysis you can identify the main challenges your ideal customer is experiencing and therefore use this intel to produce content that is focused on problem-solving rather than on solutions/services.

AI can make content feel tailor-made for the audience. Through AI-driven tools, businesses I've partnered with dynamically adjusted content based on audience behavior, from blog post headlines to call-to-action phrases. The result? Enhanced engagement and increased click-through rates, making campaigns more effective.

I'd say you should really think before you automate a workflow, questioning, "is this going to produce more of a return?" Just because you can do something "at scale" doesn't necessarily mean you should.

Word of caution: automation is extremely powerful and should be a tool within your marketing arsenal, but don't fall into the trap of thinking that every marketing activity is a good nail for your automation hammer. As you automate certain activities, every part of your marketing that you keep human matters even more. So truly evaluate: - Which marketing activities can be automated without sacrificing customer / audience experience? - What parts of our marketing have to stay human no matter what? - Where can we mix automation and manual human effort? - How can we make sure that automation serves to enhance our marketing work, not replace it?

AI brings dynamism to lead scoring. In a standout project, we integrated AI into email campaigns to score leads based on evolving patterns, from email engagement to social media activity. The outcome was clear: highly personalized follow-ups leading to substantially higher conversion rates

One of the benefits of automation is the ability to scale. You also can provide consistency, efficiency, and best practices with automation, allowing measurement and insights, as well. But I would recommend that you continue to monitor, iterate, and improve any automations through learnings and wins. The mistake I see organizations making when they automate is that they "set it and forget it". And then the automation quickly becomes irrelevant or obsolete as the business changes.

Automation can really help you move leads through the funnel when it's done properly. Not everything should be automated, but for the things that can be and should be, this can save you time that you can use for other lead generating and lead nurturing activities. Tools like HubSpot make it easy for you to set up automation that delivers the right content at the right time to the right people.

The choice of metrics hinges on your campaign goals. For lead generation, track total leads, CPL, and ROI. For raising awareness, monitor total views and CPM. To boost page followers, keep an eye on the total follower increase and cost per new follower. Understanding the attribution model is crucial. Accurate attribution prevents misallocation of your budget in the future. Additionally, analyze your metrics to uncover campaign issues and areas for improvement.

The fourth step is pivotal and revolves around rigorous data analysis to fine-tune your strategies. Utilising tools like Google Analytics, CRM systems, marketing automation platforms, and HockeyStack (especially if you are B2B) is essential for effective data collection and analysis. Your chosen metrics and KPIs should resonate with your funnel goals, covering critical areas such as conversion rates, revenue, retention, and referrals. Employing dashboards and reports facilitates real-time monitoring, highlighting both your strengths and areas needing attention. Furthermore, delving into A/B testing and other experimental approaches can markedly refine your content, offers, and workflows, thus optimising your funnel performance.

While measurement is always important, you need to understand its limitations and the biases it may bring with it. If you focus too much on what is measured easily you will find yourself only investing in easily measured tactics, to the detriment of longer-term, but just as important tactics such as branding and PR. Don't fall for short-termism!

It's essential to analyze how much attention our sales funnels bring to the brand. Check these metrics for different channels: - Website Visitors ~ Google Analytics - Geographical Category ~ Google Analytics - Gender ~ Google Analytics - Email opens ~ CRM - Email Clicks ~ CRM There are other metrics depending your marketing efforts and the offers.

AI provides proactive insights, not just retrospective analysis. Working with an e-commerce brand, we employed AI to forecast future campaign performances. This allowed for preemptive strategy adjustments and more strategic resource allocation, ensuring maximized returns on every marketing dollar spent.

Marketing Ops is often thought of as "top of funnel" but the reality is that in a recurring revenue model (the world of SaaS!), Marketing - and Marketing Ops - play a critical role post-first sale. That first sale is only the beginning. Nurturing - and leveraging - your existing customer base is a HUGE part of Marketing Ops responsibility as we think about expansion and renewals, but also learnings for better content, messaging, product updates, etc.

The work doesn't cease after someone makes the move from prospect to customer. In fact, I'd say your efforts to "nurture and delight your customers" is even more important than your efforts to convince them to convert. Satisfied customers can be made into brand advocates, propagating (in organic fashion) a positive perception of your brand and, more than this, referring new customers. This is to say, the customers you have, they're a marketing asset. They provide value to you apart from the revenue they generate with their purchases. You can only benefit from this value, though, if you provide them with an experience and relationship worthy of their loyalty.

Your customers can become your best marketing asset. When you truly show your customers that you care about them, value their opinion, and put in efforts to help them and validate their needs – some of your customers might grow to genuinely love your brand. Brand love is a holy grail for so many marketing activities – studies have shown that it's more effective at influencing purchasing decisions than brand loyalty, product quality, or market segment. But as any love, brand love comes from building a reciprocal relationship on a foundation of good communication, care, and trust. So how can you support your customers in a way that feels authentic to your brand and to them?

Don't ghost your customers! They've clearly expressed interest in you by making a purchase, so the worst thing you can do is ignore them — especially since it costs more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain one. Carefully think through what a new customer needs when they make a purchase, and craft a compelling, but not overbearing, welcome communication (or series) that will make them want to become a repeat or highly-engaged customer.

Feedback after purchase is essential to get mouth publicity which is the best way to bring attention to your brand. Make sure your after-sales service is on point and you know how much your customers are enjoying your brand service or product. At this time, you have a higher chance of upselling your higher price products.

Once you have data from the previous funnels, please analyze the following: 1. Which email headlines worked best and had the most users open the emails? 2. Among the users who opened the emails, how many clicked from the email buttons? If possible check which button they clicked on. 3. Based on this data, you can segment your users into hot leads, warm leads, and cold leads. Unopened: Cold Leads Opened but not clicked: Warm Leads Opened, clicked, and not purchased: Hot Leads Generally, hot leads are on edge, some personalization on your end would make them go for it. Warm leads need more convincing, about the use of your product, benefits, etc. For Cold Leads, test your email subject lines and give them some discount motivation.

AI accelerates adaptability in marketing. In one project, an AI system actively identified emerging market trends from real-time customer feedback. This foresight allowed for quicker strategy adjustments, keeping businesses ahead of market shifts and competition.

In an AI-driven digital landscape, ethical considerations are paramount. In one initiative, we emphasized user transparency around AI personalizations, explaining content choices and offering opt-out options. This built trust, deepening user engagement, and ensuring responsible AI use.

Understand what is needed to move users to the next stage of the funnel: Once you define the stages of your funnel, it's easier to see what is needed for a user to move to the next stage. Do they need further information? Do they need social proofing? Are they waiting for the correct offer? Now add in your targeted content which provides the necessary leverage to move users through the funnel.

Identifying & analyzing demographic, socio-cultural behavior of converted & non converted leads. 1.What criteria both converted & non converted leads have in common? 2.Timeline of conversion >7days,>14days as per product. 3.Those set of customers/leads which frequently rotates between sales stages from active to dormant and active again.