How to Create a Social Media Sales Funnel That Converts

In our blog, we tell businesses how to increase sales using social networks. A sales funnel is one of the main elements of any strategy. But we have never written specifically about how to build a sales funnel in social networks and what stages this process consists of. We are correcting this in this article.

A good sales funnel in social networks is a complex tool that takes into account all possible points of contact between a business and a client in different scenarios of interaction with him and leads him to a sale.

When developing a sales funnel in social networks, we simultaneously solve several problems:

1. we determine at what stages of the client's journey we can influence him using social networks;
2. we select the optimal marketing tools that will help solve the tasks;
3. we select specific approaches to solving the tasks using these tools.

Another important term that you need to know about when talking about a sales funnel is the AARRR framework.

The sales funnel and the AARRR framework are close, but not identical concepts. The logic of leading the audience through the funnel is based on the AARRR framework. But in fact, the sales funnel is a broader and more complex concept that goes beyond warming up the audience.

To build an effective sales funnel in social networks, it is important to follow a certain sequence of actions:

• Analyze the current situation on the project and the audience;
• Analyze competitors;
• Determine the format of work - promotion channels and traffic sources;
• Determine the feasibility of introducing messenger marketing into the funnel;

The first two points are preliminary analytics, the conclusions of which will form the basis for forming a sales funnel for a specific project. We will dwell on the next two points in more detail and consolidate the understanding of how to act at the start.

Do you think a football team can take to the field without a preliminary game plan? Doubtful. When there is a plan, the chances of success are higher.

A social media promotion strategy is also a game plan that allows you to understand how a brand should act to achieve the desired results. An important part of the strategy is preliminary analytics, including an assessment of the market situation, determining the strengths and weaknesses of the brand, and studying the target audience.

Knowing your audience is the core of any strategy. Without understanding motivations, drivers, and barriers, your hypotheses will be completely useless. That’s why we use two analysis frameworks — JTBD and CJM. The first one is for studying deep motivations, and the second one is for defining the customer journey, which will become the basis of the sales funnel.

Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) is a method for creating value for customers based on their true needs. Using this tool allows you to get answers to two key questions - why and for what. Why do customers choose your product among hundreds of others and what do they need it for: what needs does it cover or what tasks does it solve.

Customer Journey Map (CJM) is a customer journey map, a visual representation of the customer's path of interaction with your brand. The map includes the exact stages that the customer goes through to ultimately choose your company.

It is important to use both methods to analyze the audience. This will give a holistic understanding - to whom, when and how to sell.

Competitor analysis allows you to understand what resonates with the audience on social networks, and what you shouldn’t focus on. All effective mechanics can and should be tested on a project, but not blindly copied, but adapted to your goals and objectives. It is also important to find and use what distinguishes your product from others - a competitive offer for the target audience.

To conduct a competent competitor analysis, find 6-9 live competitor accounts comparable to your project in terms of promotion goals - sales, strengthening the brand position, increasing loyalty to the company, or maybe all at once.

What to look for when choosing competitors:

Currently, some of the most effective channels for attracting an audience to social networks are targeted Facebook advertising, influencer marketing, and Telegram. Focus on the platforms where your target audience is concentrated.

Test standard and universal acquisition tools, such as Offline-to-online marketing, email marketing, or publications on external resources. Multichannel communication is additional contact with an already loyal audience, which means an excellent opportunity to increase sales.

If the goal is direct sales, lead the audience to the website or to an application form for managers within the social network. But keep in mind that it will be more difficult to sell expensive goods/services this way; most likely, additional “warming up” of the audience will be required before purchasing. The optimal solution for warming up and subsequent sales is a subscription to a newsletter. In addition, to get additional coverage, you can offer newsletter subscribers to also subscribe to a community or a Telegram channel.

Launch several sales funnels and evaluate the results, scale the working links based on the output and think about new acquisition channels.

Messenger marketing is the most direct of all existing forms of marketing in social networks. It is an opportunity to clearly show the audience how their problems can be solved. Chatbots and newsletters allow you to build close interaction with subscribers and automate routine processes for the company.

In what cases is messenger marketing suitable for business:

In B2B, chatbots and newsletters can be useful for automating business processes: when you need to provide round-the-clock customer support, promptly answer general questions, collect data or send users a commercial offer.

What messaging marketing mechanics are suitable for different audience segments:

• warm-up email chain - for those who may be interested in the product, but the level of brand awareness is low;
• sales mailing – for those who trust the brand, who are interested in the product, but are not ready to buy right now;
• chatbot and newsletter with promotions - for those who are familiar with the brand and are ready to buy.

As mentioned above, the AARRR funnel consists of 5 stages. We combine two of them into one, because in SMM, audience activation essentially simultaneously retains it: people become interested - they stay with the brand.

When developing a sales funnel, we always rely on the AARRR framework, which clearly shows the nature of the audience's relationship with the brand at various stages of acquaintance.

Our SMM agency uses a comprehensive approach - gradual demand formation, bringing to the sale and repeated contacts with the audience. Advertising will be effective, and the audience loyal, if you lead users "by the hand" to the purchase, gently and unobtrusively.

Let's figure out each stage of the sales funnel - what and how to do.

At this stage of attraction, we work with unformed demand — people who know nothing about the brand. The key task is to attract an audience to the accumulation channel for further interactions. Related tasks are the first touch, informing and capturing attention.

As part of the work at this stage, we determine customer acquisition channels, segment the audience and select offers that will attract users to the account.

We select offers based on key goals. For example, marketing tools such as attracting direct sales work for segments with established demand or if there is a product with a wow effect that can provoke an impulsive purchase.

When working with unformed demand, you cannot do without warming up. The primary goal in this case is a subscription to a community, channel or newsletter. How to choose an offer to achieve the goal, see below.

Your target audience is people with different needs and levels of brand knowledge. Some of them may not even realize that they have a problem that your product solves. For now.

To get the most out of your advertising investments, you need to segment your audience and launch campaigns targeting all key types of traffic: cold, warm, and hot — choosing the right offers for each segment.

You can sell to a hot audience right away, it gives a quick effect, but is smaller in numbers than a cold audience. A warm audience is interested in the brand, but does not perform the target action — use follow-up offers. A cold audience is not very familiar with the brand, it is important to build a long-term relationship with it and gradually warm it up to a purchase.

This stage needs to be worked on comprehensively. In the AARRR funnel itself, activation implies engagement in interaction with the product, but first it is important to reveal the audience's pain points and lead them to the product itself. At the retention stage, we reduce customer churn - we build trust and demonstrate expertise.

We do most of the work through content, and with the help of advertising we promote posts and increase audience reach. Reputation publications, answers to frequently asked questions, materials about product manufacturing or product selections, educational content and unique offers for subscribers - early access to sales, exclusive promotions and discounts - are suitable.

Creative special projects allow a brand to stand out and strengthen its position in the market. Large companies willingly use this marketing tool, but small and medium businesses do not always understand its effectiveness.

At this stage, the audience has a formed demand and a desire to buy. Here, the offer to sell the product itself is important - most often these are promotions and discounts with a limited validity period, it works almost without fail.

After the special offer, it is important to squeeze the audience using triggers - trust, motivational and value squeeze. And a call to action is a must.

With the desire to pay, you can work both with the previously collected "own" audience, and "cold". Users for whom the offer is relevant can use it, even without being previously familiar with the brand.

The most effective tools that must be used:

• targeted advertising by retargeting databases and "hot" segments: for example, search by keywords;
• placement and constant reminder of special promotions and discounts in posts in the community;
• sending informational letters to the mailing list;
• placing seedings with influencers with a direct offer to buy.

The main thing is to work through the audience's frequent objections, show the range of products, convey the value of the offer and motivate to buy. To do this, publish posts with reviews and selections, show customer reviews, inform about new products and special offers in content and newsletters.

At this stage, the formation of strong loyalty of the audience and brand advocates takes place, work on repeat sales and the creation of a recommendation scheme. Making a purchase is not the final action in the sales funnel. It is important to build relationships with the audience so that customers become regulars.

Request feedback from customers, motivate them to generate UGC content, offer new offers for regular customers, remind them about top products and show new products.

Mark Zuckerberg's quote best reflects the essence of referral programs and loyalty systems. Use these mechanics to promote your business, and a constant flow of customers is guaranteed.

Referral programs are discounts on products and services offered to customers in exchange for attracting a referral. For example, a company can offer its referrals a 10% discount on their next purchase after attracting one referral, 25% after two, and so on. This is mutually beneficial for both customers and business.

Loyalty systems are promotions and discounts on products and services offered to customers in exchange for repeat purchases. For example, a company can offer customers to become loyalty card holders, accumulate points, and exchange them for discounts or promotional codes.

So, the sales funnel is a starting point that sets the general vector, it is not a ready-made promotion plan. Based on the funnel, further tactics are formed.

To summarize: