This guide will show you how to automate your sales and marketing by creating an automated sales funnel.

It takes time to generate, nurture, qualify, and convert leads into sales.

Manually completing this task can take longer.

Research has shown that turning sales processes into funnels is one of the ways industry-leading companies dominate their competition.

What are you waiting for?

An automated sales funnel is one of the easiest and most effective ways to nurture leads.

It’s worth thinking about:

The marketing team has control over the messaging and the sales team receives qualified leads at the point they are ready to buy.

What’s an Automated Sales Funnel?

Imagine a funnel that you would use to pour something into a glass.

The funnel’s top is where you pour your liquid. It passes through smaller portions, and finally reaches the bottom. This fills the bottle.

The bottle is your business. Your goal is to build loyal customers. Prospects start at the top of a funnel before they move down the funnel to become customers.

A sales funnel does not guarantee that everything at the top will come out of the bottom.

An automated sales funnel is a sales funnel that includes automation. This helps keep things running smoothly. To create automation, however, you will need to use some automation software.

There are many funnel-building software tools, but sign-up forms and autoResponders will usually be the most useful, depending on your business and funnel.

The great thing about automation? It allows you to generate more revenue with less effort from your sales staff while filtering out unqualified leads.

It makes sense: less prospecting equals more closing. 64% of e-commerce marketers believe that email marketing and automation lead to more sales.

Stages of the Sales Funnel

A funnel is a literal way to pull things together using gravity. Sales funnels take a little more effort.

Prospects go through several stages before they become customers. It is your responsibility to provide the information they need to make that decision.

It is important to keep the individual in your mind throughout the sales process.

Each stage of the funnel has its own unique emotional and logical mindset. Prospects can be guided to the next stage by specific types of information before making a final decision.

Awareness

The awareness stage is at the top of the funnel. This is where leads start their journey. This is also the highest volume stage in the funnel.

They may not be aware they have a problem.

Your goal in the awareness stage is to show that you are aware of what your prospects are going through and that there’s a solution.

You must communicate with your prospects personally in addition to that.

Yes, it can be difficult to communicate the right message, but it is essential. Prospects react more to emotions and gut feelings than logic or data during this stage.

Consideration

Once prospects become aware of the problem you are trying to solve, they will begin to look for solutions.

It’s very possible that your brand is not the only one trying to make sales in your industry.

Communicate clearly what sets you apart from your competition.

Although there is still emotion at this stage of the process, logic begins to enter the picture.

Imagine a brand that doesn’t meet their criteria or appeal to their needs. You don’t want this brand to be you.

Decision

The decision phase is where customers make the final move to exit the funnel’s bottom.

They have all the information they need to make the purchase, but they are still weighing the logistics.

They will most likely need the facts and distinguishing information to help them make a rational decision.

To convert leads into customers, information such as discounts, warranty offers and exceptional service is crucial.

Retention – Where Your Brand is Made

Now you have customers pouring through your funnel’s bottom. Are you satisfied with your efforts?

It is far from it.

Customers shouldn’t leave after making a single purchase. These customers must be retained by you through engaging content and exceptional service.

Loyal customers are more than just a source of recurring revenue. Through customer loyalty, they help to introduce new leads and establish your brand’s authority in your industry.

What is an Automated Sales Funnel?

Automated sales funnels match users with content that answers their questions through various stages.

These messages are automatically delivered through the technologies and platforms you choose.

Automated funnels are either time- or behavior-based.

A time-based funnel sends messages at predetermined intervals throughout the sales process.

The user completes an initial opt-in act, which could be filling out a form and providing an email address.

Sign up and you will receive a series of messages every time you set a period.

The process of a behavior-based funnel is the same as a time-based one: users sign up, and then they get a message. This type of automation considers specific behaviors. If someone clicks through to a message they are moved to a different set of messages than those who did not click through.

Because they consider the user’s current interests at any given moment, behavior-based funnels produce better results.

These sequences automate traffic until they make a purchase decision.

Why should you create automated sales funnels?

Sales can make or break a business. Therefore, it is important to be able to increase sales.

You need to make time for your business growth. Automating a system that generates more sales automatically is the best way to make your time free.

This is not all. Let’s look at other benefits of automating sales funnels:

• Reduce labor and expenses: This hidden benefit that automated sales funnels provide can help you increase your ROI. A higher ROI will translate into a greater profit margin over the long term.

• Increase data points: Automation of your sales funnel gives you more time to analyze and identify what is working in your sales and marketing data. It’s much easier to fix the weak points in your sales funnel.

Increase conversions and find better leads: Having a better sales funnel will ultimately help you to find more qualified leads.

How To Create An Automated Sales Funnel

Although the funnel can be set up automatically, it requires some manpower to properly install it.

There are some key steps you can follow when creating an automated campaign. This will make the process easy and maximize the results.

We will also discuss how to build a sales funnel.

Do Some Market Research

You must first understand your audience to create an automated marketing funnel.

Ask your customers, top salespeople, and key stakeholders about the needs of your audience. This data is extremely valuable in understanding what motivates people to work for your brand.

You should consider creating buyer personas. These will help you to understand your market segments based on specific needs, demographic information, and any questions they might have along the way.

Market research is more than just that. You can’t just focus on your audience.

Also, you’ll want to do a competitive analysis of the other businesses in your space. You should not only look at their pricing and products but also at how they position them.

You can identify your unique position by looking at the brand voice and what they claim makes them different. You can then highlight your unique qualities in your content.

Choose an Automation Software

You will need a solid CRM to automate your funnel.

A CRM is more than a contact database. It can track lead behavior, track engagement and create segments of users with similar characteristics.

You will also need a marketing automation tool that allows you to create automated sales funnels. You want to automatically send messages to your users, usually via email.

Many CRMs that are all-in-one will perform both of these tasks within a single system.

These terms are used in different ways by every tool. You might hear “drips”, “workflows” or other similar terms. These terms can all be used interchangeably for our purposes as long as they can be created without any manual input.

Your CRM and email marketing tool should work seamlessly together in an ideal world. Or, even better, they could exist within the same ecosystem. This is more cost-effective and helps you run your campaigns better.

The right CRM and marketing automation software will offer reporting functionality. This allows you to monitor progress toward goals, better understand lead behavior and create stronger campaigns.

Develop a Content Strategy

Automating your sales funnel involves building a relationship with your audience. The best way to achieve this is through valuable, relevant content.

Supporting content will also be needed for each stage in the funnel. You should have a variety of content, including blogs, videos, and emails, that addresses user questions and address their pain points.

This is a way to assist users in taking the next step toward purchasing.

You shouldn’t only think about a campaign when developing your content strategy. Prospects shouldn’t be irritated by a single message or set.

If your automated funnel works, people will be able to find your website and read the content.

They will continue clicking around in an ideal scenario, looking for more useful information.

Your content strategy should have one goal.

They are your priority.

A well-crafted content strategy will increase your digital presence and improve your digital footprint.

Regular blogs, videos, and publications are all important components of your content strategy. They will keep your audience interested and give them the information they need to make informed purchasing decisions.

Create a Tempting Lead Gen Magnet — Some Ideas that Work

You will need anchor content to prompt users to sign up for your campaign.

You can capture leads’ information if the content is secured (which means they will need to opt-in for your exclusive content). You must make it appealing enough to users that they are willing to share their information.

A downloadable piece or guide of premium content is a common choice for brands. You might also find a scripted video, which gives users an in-depth look at a solution to a problem they are having.

Although this route requires a lot of upfront research and production work, it is very cost-effective.

It might be worth starting your campaign with something interactive. A webinar engages people directly and requires an RSVP. A quiz might be created that encourages people to solve a problem or learn more about their business. The results can only be accessed via email.

No matter what your choice, you want your lead magnet to have super (superior) value.

Consider a product or service that your industry users cannot refuse to use.

Create a Campaign

Once you have the anchor content to help you generate leads for your campaign you are ready to create an automated campaign.

Your content strategy has helped you create supporting content that addresses specific user pain points and user needs. This helps to fill the rest of the funnel.

It’s now time to combine these two in a way that anticipates users’ feelings and needs, and builds towards a compelling call to action.

The ultimate CTA may not involve a purchase. Conversion-inducing CTAs include scheduling a meeting, asking for a demo, or comparing solutions.

Your business and industry will determine the CTA.

If your product is more expensive or requires higher consideration, an automated funnel may not work until the lead has been brought in for a call. You will decide.

You should ensure that every message in a time-based email drip campaign or funnel automation tells the next section of the story before it ends with the final call to action.

Create the CTA at each branch for more behavior-based automation. This allows you to create unique journeys and branching logic based on user behavior.

This can be handled in two different ways, depending on who you are.

1. If a lead does not engage with any message, it is safe to call them “cold” as well as add them to a segment of the list that receives fewer messages over time.
2. However, if leads engage in multiple messages during their journey, it is a good idea to get them to the end CTA sooner than later.

User Behavior

Many things can go wrong on the way to purchasing.

Few emails rank higher than tone-deaf sales emails from brands you don’t know.

You should be able to map user journeys based on actions if you use an advanced marketing automation platform.

As we mentioned earlier, behavior-based automation is more likely to succeed.

Do you remember reading the “Choose Your Own Adventure” book when you were a child?

If you are anything like me, nothing can compare to feeling in control. This feeling also applies to marketing automation funnels.

Get the Wheels in Motion

After you have mapped out everything, it is time to get started!    

Publishing your content is easy. You can switch on your funnel and start getting leads.

You should be aware that your automated sales funnel will likely require you to market your lead generation piece.

Inbound marketing is the best way to automate your sales funnel. YouTube channels and blogs are great places for starting.

As with all things in sales, there is no “if you create it, they will follow.” Therefore, once your content has been published, make sure to promote it via various channels.

Do you Want an Automated Sales Funnel That Works? These are 3 marketing automation tips

When creating your funnel, you can’t think like a marketer or salesperson.

It is important to be analytical about your campaigns and realistic about the results they can achieve.

There are some things you should keep in mind to make the most out of your automated funnels.

1. Do not “Set it and Forget It”

Automating your campaign does not mean you have to let “robots do all the work.”

You should monitor the performance of your campaign and check in on it regularly.

It takes time and energy to create an automated sales funnel. You need to monitor it regularly to ensure it is performing as you expected.

What if your automated campaign doesn’t perform well?

Next, it’s time to optimize and make adjustments. After the campaign is live, it’s OK to make adjustments. To get the best performance, A/B tests your email sequences when you first start.

Your content strategy should be current, relevant, and timely. If you are gaining leads via SEO, then keep blogging. If you receive most of your email options via your Youtube channel, keep posting videos.

2. Measure, Optimize, and Repeat

How do you make sure everything goes according to plan?

Measurement.

Without data, how can you know if your efforts are paying off?

You will want to track a few key performance indicators (KPIs) throughout your automated sales campaign.

• Open Rate: The majority of automated sales funnels are focused on email. To know if your message is getting read, you need to know how many people are opening the emails.

• Click-through rate (CTR), These rates are the best way to track engagement for a particular message. To see how many people are engaging with a message, not just clicks, but unique clicks should also be considered.

• Bounce Rate: This is the number of messages returned undeliverable. You need to clean up your database if you have a high bounce ratio.

• Unsubscribes and spam flags: If you have a lot of users opting out or flagging your messages as spam, it is time to act.

• Conversion rate This is the percentage of users that take the desired action at each stage in the funnel, and then convert to closed sales.

You can make adjustments to your campaign as you measure it. To get the best out of your efforts, keep massaging.

Your campaign will eventually reach its full potential in lead generation and conversions. You can then use the knowledge you have to create a new campaign with a similar structure.

You should run a new nurture and lead generation campaign at least once per quarter. This will allow you to keep your content relevant, including your lead generation piece based on industry trends or product updates.

3. Re-Engage Prospects

It’s impossible to win them all.

There will be prospects who don’t convert and drop off your list. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that your efforts were in vain.

You should not lose touch with a prospect if they go cold. You can add them to a mailing list to receive semi-regular updates, but not as often.

Once some time passes, you can create a new automated funnel to target these contacts.

It’s Important to Choose the Right Sales Funnel-Building Software

A sales funnel that is automated can be a powerful tool for lead generation and nurturing. This can boost your sales while freeing your team from the manual work earlier in your funnel.

The right sales funnel software will make a big difference in your sales and marketing campaigns.

FAQ Automated sales funnel

What are the five stages of a sales funnel?

Although the specific phases of a sales funnel might vary from one business to another, the process is generally the same: awareness and interest, evaluation, engagement, and purchase.

What is an AI-powered funnel, you ask?

A funnel powered by AI can optimize your strategy and reduce the time it takes to convert leads to customers.

What does an online sales funnel look like?

A sales funnel is a series of steps that attract prospects, lead them to make a purchase, and try to upsell them.