Lead Generation Funnel is a process to get qualified leads for your business and ultimately increase revenue and growth.

You may have heard of a lead generation funnel. If you are new to lead funnels, your entire understanding of marketing will completely change after reading this blog post! Do you wonder why cold calling usually doesn’t work?

Lead Generation Funnel: 4 Stages

Generally speaking, there are four major stages of the lead generation funnel: awareness, consideration, purchase, and loyalty. Depending on a product/service, price point, and brand power, the duration of these stages varies. Let’s say you are out of napkins. Unless you are obsessed with napkins, you would go to a store, see what is available and get one. That is a very short lead generation funnel. However, when you are buying a car, that is a different story. You may want to compare different makes and models, talk with a few friends, dealerships, etc. This process may take months. However, believe it or not, the stages a typical buyer goes through are the same in both examples.

Let’s look at a journey that every buyer goes through and find out how we can increase your chances of conversion!

1. Awareness

At this stage, our job is to inform buyers that we exist, especially if you are a small business. At this stage, we assume buyers do not know what is out there. So, our job is to make them aware. How? Store signs, blog posts, ads, brochures, social media, and referrals. These are all excellent ways to create awareness.

2. Consideration

As buyers move on to this stage, they know what is available. Let’s say you need a plumber. You asked around and narrowed down your options. The next step is to compare your options. Consideration is all about weighing alternatives. Here, highlight the key features, mission, vision, and unique value proposition. In other words, to stand out and convince the buyer. Testimonials, sales assistance, customer representatives, demos, trials, and detailed product/service overviews would be super helpful at this stage!

3. Purchase

Well, it is pretty straightforward! That said, you can think of the purchase as any other desired outcome, such as a sale, event registration, newsletter sign-up, etc.

4. Loyalty

Loyalty is the final stage of the lead generation funnel. Any business could nurture leads through a sale. But that is not true for loyalty. Loyalty cannot forced or accidentally happen. Loyalty takes time. Regardless of a product/service, there is no shortcut. Many things come into play here, such as customer service, value, quality/performance, and convenience. That said, our goal is not just to have return customers. We aim for “fans” who love your company, are passionate about spreading the word about your business, and recommend it to their friends.

Fans will work for your business tirelessly like salespeople, and instead of you paying, they will pay you and help your business grow. But building that kind of relationship is not easy. Some tips would be conducting primary and secondary market research, offering loyalty programs, digital apps, a seamless sales process, and social listening to understand your customers’ needs. If you need some inspiration, check out this list to see the brands that have the most loyal customers.

Lead Nurturing

One thing to remember is that a one-size-fits-all approach will not work. That is why usually cold-calling does not work. Because typically, people know nothing about that business. They are not ready to buy and are forced to make a decision before the awareness and consideration stage. Regardless of the marketing channel, whether digital marketing or direct mail, you should nurture your leads through these four stages of the lead generation funnel to increase your chances of converting!