What is a sales funnel? Guide on how to build one + templates

Lead nurturing campaigns are typically delivered through email, although other channels, such as direct mail and social media, can also be used. The goal of lead nurturing is to build trust and credibility, establish yourself as a credible resource, and position your company as a trusted solution for their needs. A CTA could be something as simple as “Learn More” or “Sign Up Now.” By including a CTA, you’re giving recipients a specific action to take that will help move them further down the funnel. Your email should always include a CTA, even if you’re not promoting a specific product or service.

The goal is to capture their attention and create a positive impression that encourages further engagement. This Chicago-based online store company offers millions of online shopping deals and coupons. There aren’t many people who haven’t heard of HelloFresh, thanks to an $880 million growth strategy to drive awareness. They carefully explain who they are, what they do, and how people use them. Basecamp attracts leads through organic website traffic (blogs, mostly) referrals and PR. Well-defined phases offer a structure for establishing goals, gauging performance and pinpointing opportunities for improvement.

In the intent stage, the funnel narrows considerably, and the likelihood of converting the remaining MQLs increases significantly when sales-qualified leads interact with the business, looking for more information or expressing intent to purchase. A lead begins considering your product or service and comparing it to that of the competition. Understanding this enables marketers to devise and implement custom-designed strategies for each stage of the marketing funnel — making messaging feel more personal to customers and resulting in more effective communication. Read on to explore the marketing funnel, discover powerful marketing metrics to track, and consider a few actionable strategies to improve marketing performance. Great marketing communicates how a product or service meets customers’ needs to build perceived value. Sounds obvious, but clear calls to action are more important than you’d think.

Middle of Funnel (MOFU): Converting Visitors Into Leads

With their interest piqued, these people will spend some time getting to know more about your company and your offerings. At the very top of the sales funnel is the awareness stage, which Upper end of the sales funnel is populated by the largest number of people. Depending on their contact details, they can be engaged through various channels such as email, text, and phone.

Because the majority of global web traffic now originates from smartphones and tablets, an interface that only works on a desktop computer will reflect poorly on your brand and result in less traffic. Removing unnecessary external links from landing pages and consolidating secondary pages into a hidden footer menu forces the visitor's attention directly toward the primary conversion goal. Armed with this exact baseline metric, the company can confidently set realistic goals for future optimization cycles. After multiplying that figure by 100, the team determines that the landing page operates at a 3.4% conversion rate. To illustrate this calculation, consider a hypothetical B2B software provider launching a new product.

Trying to appeal to everyone results in low conversions and wasted marketing efforts. Your sales funnel is only as strong as your understanding of your target audience. Let's review the key sales funnel steps to build a high-converting funnel that turns visitors into paying customers. The customer journey isn't the end, but the real growth comes from retention and repeat business. Additionally, a sales rep reaches out to high-intent leads to address any final concerns.

Upper-funnel and lower-funnel marketing serve the same ultimate purpose—driving sustainable business growth—but they operate at very different stages of the customer journey. Like at the top of the funnel, you can use content and video marketing at this stage as well. Instead of offering an overview of your company, a good bottom-of-funnel campaign will specifically focus on your product or service, answering customers’ questions and guiding them toward a purchase. Bottom-of-funnel marketing, sometimes referred to as the conversion funnel, is the part of your interaction with a potential customer in which you (hopefully) close the sale. Research from Outbrain’s 2025 full-funnel report shows that almost 96% of visitors arriving on a website are not ready to make a purchase. Someone at the top of the funnel is in the early stages, meaning they’ve realized they have a problem and need a solution, but they aren’t yet aware of your brand or how it can benefit them.

If their dedicated landing page attracts 25,000 unique visitors over the course of a month, and 850 of those visitors complete the form to request a software demonstration, the math becomes straightforward. If a company spends thousands of dollars driving paid search traffic to a confusing landing page, that financial investment goes to waste – or gets more expensive. When a landing page converts at a higher rate, the exact same amount of inbound traffic generates significantly more leads and sales. By increasing the percentage of visitors who take action, teams directly improve their marketing ROI without permanently increasing their advertising budgets. Because very few visitors arrive at a website ready to buy on their first visit, marketers must optimize for micro-conversions to keep prospects engaged over time.

From their first interaction with your brand to making a purchase. If you’re launching a new product or service into the market, you’re going to NEED to implement this core funnel into your business… Acquiring leads is the most important part of your business yet a lot of digital marketers out there tend to miss out on this part… Then, it is time to rethink how you connect with your target audience, starting with better lead magnet ideas and examples.

Lastly, but very importantly, landing pages should have a clear call-to-action that takes the prospect further down the sales funnel. An analysis of your customers should include their pain points, needs, goals, aspirations, and past solutions. These personas should include specific information such as job titles, challenges, goals, and preferred communication channels. The goal here is to provide a wide range of content so that customers can learn about your brand in a way that suits them. After providing valuable content that answers their question, you could link to a video or whitepaper that provides more information on the subject. The first interactions will hook some newly aware people and draw them slightly deeper into the funnel.

Understanding and optimizing each stage of the sales funnel unlocks the full potential of your marketing efforts, leading to higher conversion rates, increased sales efficiency, and sustainable growth. HubSpot uses the information you provide to us to contact you about our relevant content, products, and services. When built intentionally, a lead generation funnel creates a predictable, scalable engine for long-term growth. Behavioral signals include form submissions, email clicks, and website engagement.

• For the best results, select a variety of metrics regarding traffic and awareness, engagement, lead generation, conversion, and retention and loyalty that align with your business’s individual marketing goals.
• Send a satisfaction survey, or make yourself available for tech support, follow-up questions, and more.
• By tracking behavioral cues and demographic data, brands can dynamically alter website copy, product recommendations, and promotional offers to match the specific needs of individual visitors.
• If a high-traffic site implements a radical structural redesign, marketers might secure conclusive data within a few days.
• Prospects in the interest stage are actively evaluating solutions, which means they're consuming content from you and your competitors.

With this data, you can refine your SEO strategy and create more targeted content that guides visitors toward conversion. It can help you see which sources, pages, and social media platforms bring in quality leads. Use Funnelytics to track, report, and visualize customer journeys.

At the top of the funnel, prospects become aware that your product or service exists. It helps sales leaders understand where revenue may come from, where deals are stalling, and what actions are needed to support growth. Teams should customize stages based on their sales process and buyer journey.