What is a funnel?

On each website, you have an imaginary funnel. The literal translation of this is funnel. A funnel starts wide at the top and gets progressively narrower. At the very top of the funnel you have the entry point at which the visitor enters your website or web shop and at the very bottom of the funnel the customer finally makes a conversion. This can be in the form of a purchase, but someone can also sign up for the newsletter, make an appointment or request a quote. Of course, the first contact moment can also be seeing an advertisement or reading a blog post.

Multiple touch points

Between the widest and narrowest parts of the funnel is a "walking path" for customers to follow. It starts at the first moment of contact. Someone comes to your website, sees something nice but doesn't buy it right away. The following week they visit your website several more times and maybe they subscribe to your newsletter or like your Facebook page. After receiving the first newsletter, the person goes to your website again. You offer him a great deal and in no time he has the product in his shopping cart. Ready to checkout. Did you know that on average a customer has 5 to 8 contact moments before buying something? This whole process, from beginning to end, is the funnel.

From broad to narrow

The fact that the funnel is getting narrower is because there will always be some visitors who will drop out. For example, they don't find the right information they are looking for, the product is sold out or the competitor has a better deal. Of course, you hope the funnel at the bottom is still as wide as possible.

Why do you need a funnel?

A customer requires multiple contact moments. During those moments, it enters different phases. In phase 1, it comes into contact with your web shop or website. From that moment, the customer is interested in your product and has the desire to buy something. In the final phase, the customer buys something. In the beginning you will communicate very broadly but at phase 3, for example, the communication looks very different. Has the customer had the product in the shopping cart for 2 days? Sending an email that a product is waiting for him can then certainly be effective. By doing this, you are attracting attention again.

Different funnels

Depending on what you sell, your funnel will look different. Do you want to achieve a lot of sales? Then you guide the customer toward a sale. You name the benefits of a product, you write content to convince someone and, finally, you try to get someone to buy as much as possible. On the other hand, when you want someone to sign up for a newsletter, your funnel may look different. Someone has to leave their e-mail address, but why? Offer that person a benefit in the form of a free product or a discount. Also depending on your target audience, a funnel looks different again.