Welcome to ReferralHero, the wildest and wettest water park in the world! With a wide array of waterslides to test out, everyone’s marketing journey will be different. But everyone ends up the same - making a huge splash in the wave pool of referrals!
The reason I’ve been in marketing as long as I have is the sheer excitement. Every campaign requires something new and fresh, and there’s never a dull moment.
However, with the crazy amount of different ways to do online marketing, having one or two constants is a plus. It helps me get my footing and keep track of the success of a launch.
The biggest constant for my time in marketing has been conversion funnels. They allow me to visualize the entire customer journey, and optimize every step.
So step on up to the slide and allow me to bring you down the funnel. I promise you’ll leave with some killer strategies and a smile on your face.
What In The World Is a Conversion Funnel?
Conversion funnels are all about getting customers to take a specific action, like buying a product or signing up for a newsletter.
Basically, the funnel is a visual representation of how people move through the different steps involved in a process - from the initial awareness of a product to finally making a purchase.
It's a great way to track and optimize your marketing efforts, as it helps you identify tweaks that can be made at each step to make more of your customers reach the end of the funnel.
I can wax poetic all day about the role a conversion funnel can play in your business, but the simplest way for you to understand it is to lay out the stages and how they flow into one another. So let’s jump on it!
Stage One: Acquisition
Before any fun happens, you need to attract some people to your business. They can come from lots of different places but don’t cast your net too wide.
Quality leads are harder to get, but a handful of good prospects are far more valuable than a swath of vaguely interested people who won’t actually make a sale happen.
There are several ways to improve the quality of your leads that will give you far more bang for your advertising buck.
- Find Your Target Audience - As much as we’d like to say it is, no product or service is for everyone. Knowing exactly who you’re targeting, as well as their values, interests, goals, and preferred buying process will let you target your efforts appropriately.
- Craft Calls To Action - How you hook your audience is going to change depending on the time of year, economic factors, and more. Consider discounts, referral programs, and endorsements to attract attention.
There’s nothing wrong with trying out multiple methods of acquisition until you find the one that works for your team.
Stage Two: Activation
First impressions are essential. Chances are, the first time someone comes to your website, they aren’t 100% on board with making a purchase. How your team activates them is going to make all the difference.
Depending on your product and target market, you have lots of activation methods to choose from.
- A Stellar Landing Page - Your landing page is the first thing people see when they visit your site. Make sure it is attention-grabbing, has clear and exciting calls to action, and lets them know exactly who you are and what you offer.
- Free Trials - Offering customers a taste of your service before they commit is a great way to get them started on the path toward full buy-in. Studies show this method can have a conversion rate close to 50%!
- Video Content - Videos are engaging and let people know about your product or service while showing them your brand identity. Make sure any content you use is engaging and targets your core audience.
No matter what, you want people to leave the activation stage wanting more from your company.
Stage Three: Retention
You’ve done all the work to get a customer to your site and engage with your brand. The last thing you want is to lose them and have to do it all over again.
Boosting your retention by even 5% can lead to a 25% increase in profit. That’s how powerful this stage of the funnel is!
You can test out several ways to keep customers coming back.
- Keep Your Value Central - As the newness of your product wears off, so does the customer’s perception of its value. Make sure you’re keeping customers engaged, taking their feedback, and letting them know about updates.
- Reward Loyalty - Any time you offer a reward like a discount, gift, or special offer, you’re giving your customers a boost to keep them around.
Testing different methods of retention takes time, but when you figure out what works for your user base, you’ll unlock a whole new level of revenue.
Stage Four: Referral
Turning customers into advocates for your brand can kick your marketing into high gear. If there was a way to get every single customer to refer a friend, your company would grow exponentially.
Setting up a referral program is going to give you quite a few benefits.
- Increased Traffic - Mark Zuckerberg said it best, “Nothing influences people more than a recommendation from a trusted friend.” If your product is recommended to them, you may have customers skipping the first two stages of this funnel.
- Loyalty - If they’re convincing their friends to check out your company, your customers are going to have to focus on its benefits. This increases brand loyalty and creates a culture of excitement around your business.
If you’re having trouble getting started with referrals, you’ll want to check out our blog, where we explain every step of the process.
How Referrals Bring Everything Together
As I mentioned, a strong referral program can jumpstart the conversion process and move people through the funnel at a break-neck pace. If you can master this stage, you’ll have a self-perpetuating marketing plan in no time at all.
- Acquisition - As people reach out to their networks, you’re going to bring in leads that you didn’t have access to before. What’s more, they’ll be top-quality leads because they come in trusting you more than the average consumer.
- Activation - Setting up a two-pronged reward system for your referral program helps give context to a free trial or discount that hooks new customers. They’ll be far easier to impress because they are coming in with an idea of your brand already.
- Retention - As customers engage more and more with the referral program, they’ll be more and more invested in your company. It also helps to tie this program to rewards for loyalty.
At every stage in the funnel, a referral program can act as the water pushing your customers down the slide.
Optimizing the Conversion Funnel
Once you understand the conversion funnel and how its phases work together, you can start to pinpoint any weak points and improve upon them. The goal is to bolster conversion rates and get as many people as possible from the top to the bottom.
Acquisition
The number one way to improve your acquisition stage is to gather data about where people are dropping off. For example, if people click a link to your site and immediately leave, you know you have an issue with searcher intent.
Identifying and targeting keywords and topics that people are looking for is crucial not just for acquisition, but for conversion down the line.
The next step after identifying keywords and topics is to optimize your content, whether it’s classified as blog posts, landing pages, social media, emails, etc.
People expect to find what they’re looking for on the web right away. Do your best to ensure they do.
Activation
Once found, people need a clear path toward success to convert. Too much difficulty at this stage is a huge roadblock; removing this can drastically improve activation.
An effective way to activate customers is by providing them with tools that they can use as a way to learn more about your product. Whether it’s a free trial or an e-book, providing people with the opportunity to learn more can help with creating engagement and product knowledge.
Retention
Sending out regular emails or notifications every time you have something new out is a great way to keep customers in the loop, and hopefully entice them to keep up with the latest information.
Don’t be afraid to run discounts and promotions as well, since it gives people an extra reason to come back. Blogs that contain tips, tricks, and updates about your product regularly can also be helpful, in addition to spotlighting customers’ successes.
Having an effective customer service process in place can go a long way as well. Making sure people can get their questions answered not only encourages them to come back to you, but will also foster loyalty.
Referrals
The most challenging part of a referral program is keeping everything organized. Having tons of customers and advocates at every stage of the conversion funnel gets overwhelming quickly.
That’s where referral software like ReferralHero becomes so imperative. It makes the onboarding process simple with custom links for every customer and allows you to keep track of each and every referral.
It also makes the entire referral system automated. You no longer risk missing out on potential conversions due to a misfiring system or disconnect.
The last thing you want when trying to foster loyalty and excitement is to miss a reward or let someone slip through the cracks.
The Bottom Line
Conversion funnels provide a sturdy backbone for any marketing campaign. They provide a framework for optimization at every step of the customer journey.
With the amount of variety and complexity when it comes to marketing, having a constant path like a conversion funnel makes success a breeze.
If you don't know where to start, try designing a killer referral program and watch everything else slip and slide into place.
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