Is the concept of a sales funnel dead or is it just resting?

There have been a fair number of articles (and even ads on Facebook) promoting the idea that the traditional view of a marketing sales funnel no longer applies. The argument goes that the sales process is far more complex and nuanced. It’s fair to say that the sales funnel IS an oversimplification of the sales process but is it invalid as a tool to understand the sales process? Personally, I think it is still useful for most businesses.

I believe the motivation for debunking the sales funnel lays in selling more complex marketing services and products that have marginal value add compared to getting the basics right. The old adage of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) applies. As does the adage that to get the last 10% right requires 90% of the effort! Why would you (potentially) nearly double your marketing spend for the benefit of additional 10% of sales? It does not make business sense especially when there may be other ways you can spend that extra budget reaching more customers in other markets.

So what is the sales funnel? In the context of Google Ads, it’s about where prospects are in the buying cycle. If a prospect is close to purchase they may be using different keywords compared to when they are in the research phase. As a business you need to be promoting your business at every stage of the buying cycle. At the early stages promoting informational pages, but critically and most especially promoting your sales pages at the later stages prior to purchase. If your budget is limited and your web site purely sales, then the focus might be wholly on the later stages of the buying cycle. For example: ”What’s are the best football boots for astro turf?” vs “Best price for Nike Hypervenom X Astros”. The former is research, the later has a strong purchase signal.
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Do you understand your sales funnel and purchase cycle? Have you applied it to you Google Ads campaigns? We can help.