Chances are, you’re probably dealing with at least one problem with your sales funnel. Maybe your CPA (cost per acquisition) is high and shows no signs of coming down. Or the leads that seem promising still just won’t close. Figuring out your sales funnel isn’t converting isn’t exactly fun. So what do you do about […]
Chances are, you’re probably dealing with at least one problem with your sales funnel. Maybe your CPA (cost per acquisition) is high and shows no signs of coming down. Or the leads that seem promising still just won’t close. Figuring out your sales funnel isn’t converting isn’t exactly fun.
So what do you do about it? Well, don’t worry – we have some tips on how to improve funnel performance at every stage so you can increase your revenue and put the “fun” back in your “sales funnel.”
Bringing in the right leads at the awareness stage of the funnel
At this point of the funnel, your customers are only just starting to realize they’ve got a problem. They might know a potential solution to it, but they’re definitely not tied down to any specific answer. And they almost certainly don’t know you exist yet. This is where you pop in and capture their interest while they’re researching. Often, this happens through an inbound marketing strategy that feeds warm leads to the sales team.
The goal here is to attract as many leads as possible into your funnel, but there is a bit of a catch. You still want them to be the right kind of leads, otherwise you’re wasting your time (and likely a good part of your budget).
Here are some things you need to do to make sure the awareness stage of your funnel is attracting – and converting– the right leads at the right price:
- Define your target audience and make sure your personas are a good fit.
- Create content that targets the pain points of that audience.
- Optimize your landing pages and CTAs.
So you know your problems, and you have some ideas how to fix them. But what does that actually look like? We’ve got a couple suggestions for using buyer intelligence (like Lusha’s Intent) to do it right.
Define and confirm your target audience with Intent
Double check your buyer personas. If you’re not targeting the right people, then you’re not going to bring in quality leads. You probably have an idea of your ICP based on position, location, industry, etc. But are the companies you’re targeting actually looking to purchase from you?
Compare the qualities of your ICP with intent data to see what topics your targeted personas are actually searching for. On Lusha’s platform, you can see this by going to the Intent tab and adding filters like location, company size, and industry to narrow the results down to your ICP. Are those companies showing a decent Intent score for the kind of solution you offer? Then you’re on the right track.
You can also use this to consider whether you might want to expand your targeting to other company types as well. If you look at Intent scores for topics related to your product without filtering out your ICP, is there a certain type of company consistently showing interest that you maybe haven’t explored?
Create content that speaks to your audience
You don’t have to guess what kind of content your prospects want to see. You can know for sure with Intent. And that way, you’re basing your next moves off of facts instead of just instincts.
What Intent topics are companies that fit your ICP surging for? When you filter for your ICP on the platform, which of your relevant topics is most popular among your ideal customers? That’s your focus! Create engaging content based on those interests to draw them in and encourage them to keep coming back to your company for answers.
You can apply this to ads as well. Are companies in your market showing interest around a specific kind of solution you offer or problem you solve? Then target them with a campaign based on that insight from Intent.
Optimize your landing pages and CTAs
Your landing pages need to be relevant to what your prospects are interested in if you want them to convert. If they’re searching for a particular topic – say, a pain point or the solution to it – they’re going to want to see more information about it when they click to your landing page. Try testing out different copy on your landing pages to see what sticks. A good rule of thumb is to include those Intent topics you see surging for your ICP. If that’s what they’re searching for, then that’s the kind of thing you should talk about to get (and keep) their attention.
And don’t forget your CTAs. If you want your leads to click through, make sure your CTAs stand out and include actionable language.
Nurturing leads at the interest stage
All right, now your prospect doesn’t just know about you, they’re thinking about you. You’ve got their attention, so what are you going to do with it?
At this point, your goal should be to figure out their pain points and motivations and capture their information so you can keep talking to them. Seems simple enough, but like all parts of the sales funnel, this takes more finesse than you’d first guess.
Funneling your prospects from the awareness to interest means getting them to interact with you a little. So make sure your signup forms are as frictionless as possible.
Personalize based on pain points
At this point, you can optimize the funnel by coming up with different kinds of content that cover major pain points (and, of course, point to you as the solution). This means more blog posts of course, but you can also step into email nurturing here.
Like we mentioned with blog posts at the awareness stage, you can use intent signals to figure out the topics your ICP companies are interested in. But now, focus specifically on those pain points.
This is also the time to butter up those prospects with a nice, personalized email nurture campaign. Intent data shows you what exactly the companies your leads work for are searching for online, so your sales team can reach out with messaging that speaks to their specific needs.
Plus, Intent can show you which leads in the interest stage of the funnel are most likely to convert. Those are the ones you prioritize. The companies that have been actively searching for a solution like yours can be the first on your list, since they’re showing an active interest in purchasing.
Showcase your value in the decision/desire stage
Depending on who you ask, the third stage of the funnel is called either desire or decision. But the meaning is the same – your leads are interested in your product and know it’s a viable solution for them, but they’re still considering other options. At this point they’re likely comparing prices, reading case studies, and looking at testimonials.
This is your chance to really win them over. So…how do you do that? This is your chance to build trust and handle objections. Your leads are looking for reassurance that you’re the right choice.
- Social proof (case studies and customer testimonials)
- One-on-one demos
- Answers to frequently asked questions
Where does Intent fit in here? Well, you don’t want to give every prospect the same demo or provide case studies focused on the same issues. So use intent data to bring in that personal touch during your interactions with leads at this stage. Depending on what they show intent for, you can personalize the focus of your demos and the collateral you send along for their consideration.
It’s not just about showing your value overall – it’s showing how you can be valuable for their specific use case. Then you’ll have them hooked.
Close the deal in the action stage with high-value offerings
The moment we’ve all been waiting for. It’s all coming together now – your prospect is ready to convert. But handle them with care, because the deal isn’t closed yet. They can still fall out of the funnel.
This is where you can give your prospect everything they need to make sure this purchase is as valuable as possible for them. Remember, they’re not just going over your solution with a fine-toothed comb…they’re going over your competitors’ offerings, too. No pressure.
Use Intent to uncover hidden demand
This is a great time to remind your prospects of everything they can get from your solution – including upsells and cross-sells. You can identify opportunities for this with Intent.
Is your lead’s company showing intent for a topic related to something you offer… but it’s not what they’re currently talking to you about? Often, two teams at the same company might need the same product, but are too siloed to know it. Or your lead didn’t know that your product could solve another pain point they’re having. So take that opportunity to let them know just how much value you can bring to the table. They’ll be impressed with your mind-reading abilities.
Track the companies that are closest to making a decision and prioritize them
You should keep an eye on the intent scores for your leads all throughout the funnel – their whole buyer’s journey could be revealed. Jo Reyes, the VP of Segment Marketing at Bombora, suggests with intent data. “Normally the first surge comes from someone that’s doing the research…the second one is normally where more decision-makers are coming in. Now they’re doing the research and perhaps aligning it to the overall company goal.”
If you’ve watched your lead’s company go through those first two surges in interest, then keep an eye out for the third one. “That last piece of surge happens with all of the departments that need to cross the t’s and c’s – the legal, the finance.” So the companies showing a peak in interest for the third time are likely close to finalizing the deal. Be sure to focus on those leads and make sure they have everything they need to bring the deal home.
Keep your data in check at every stage of the sales funnel
To keep conversions high at every stage of the sales funnel, you’ve got to make sure that you’re constantly taking good data into account. You can’t just set your funnel once and expect it to run perfectly forever.
Create measurable goals and KPIs and track important metrics like cost per lead and cost per acquisition. Use this information to keep track of where you can improve in your funnel. Keep optimizing, especially as your business grows and changes.
And don’t forget that nurturing leads through the funnel is only possible if you have good data. You can use a tool (like Lusha) to automatically enrich your CRM records to make sure everything is squeaky clean. So if you have an incomplete lead form, you can get extra data like industry and company size to help you make predictions about a particular lead (and figure out the best way to handle them throughout the funnel based on those details). Or you can use that automatic Salesforce data enrichment to make sure that the contact data you have on hand for decision-makers at their company is up-to-date.
Key Takeaways
- Intent data can help you make important personalizations at every stage of the sales funnel for better lead nurturing.
- Prioritize the leads who are closest to converting based on buyer intelligence.
- Your sales efforts are only as good as the quality of your data – use an automatic data enrichment tool like Lusha’s Salesforce Data Enrichment to clean up (and expand on) the data you already have.
