Sales Funnel Analytics Understanding and Optimizing Customer Conversions

Sales funnel analysis is a crucial process that helps businesses understand and optimize the customer journey towards conversion. By analyzing the series of actions users take before completing a specific goal, known as a conversion, businesses can identify areas of friction and drop-off in the conversion path. In this article, we will explore the concept of sales funnel analysis, its benefits, and how to effectively analyze and optimize your sales funnel for increased conversions.

What is Sales Funnel Analysis?

Sales funnel analysis involves analyzing the sequence of steps a user takes before reaching a conversion. It is like mapping out the milestones along a user’s journey towards a specific goal. The purpose of sales funnel analysis is to identify any obstacles or friction points in the conversion process, and to improve the overall customer experience.

There are several ways to use sales funnel analysis, including:

1. Conversion Analysis: This involves tracking the number of users who have converted at each stage of the funnel. It helps businesses understand the conversion rates at different stages and identify areas for improvement.

2. Conversion Over Time: By analyzing conversion rates for users who enter the funnel at different times, businesses can gain insights into how the sales funnel operates at different periods of the year. This information can be used to make seasonal adjustments to marketing strategies.

3. Time to Conversion: This analysis focuses on how long it takes for users to convert at each stage of the funnel. By understanding the time it takes for users to move through the funnel, businesses can identify bottlenecks and take steps to streamline the conversion process.

4. Frequency Analysis: This involves analyzing how many times a user performs a specific milestone event before converting. This information can help businesses understand the level of engagement required for users to convert and optimize their marketing strategies accordingly.

The Most Common Sales Funnel Stages

The most common sales funnel stages for websites and products are often represented by the AIDA funnel, which stands for Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action. However, it is important to note that the specific sales funnel stages can vary depending on the type of website or product.

Let’s take a look at four sales funnel examples for different industries:

Ecommerce Sales Funnel

For ecommerce companies selling products or services, the sales funnel stages may include:

1. Viewing an ad about the product
2. Visiting the website
3. Performing a search for the product
4. Adding the product to the cart
5. Making a purchase

B2B SaaS Sales Funnel

For B2B SaaS companies operating on a subscription model, the sales funnel stages may include:

1. Visiting the website
2. Signing up for a free trial
3. Creating an account and using the free trial
4. Purchasing the paid version

Consumer Tech Sales Funnel

For consumer tech companies offering websites and products for consumer engagement, such as mobile games and productivity apps, the sales funnel stages may include:

1. Viewing an ad about the product
2. Signing up for the freemium version of the game or app
3. Engaging with the app
4. Making in-app purchases or upgrading to the paid version of the product

Media Sales Funnel

For media companies, such as news websites, the sales funnel stages may include:

1. Reading free blog content on the site
2. Engaging with free content through likes, shares, and comments
3. Creating a user account
4. Subscribing to the paid version of the website to unlock premium content

It is important to tailor the sales funnel stages to your specific industry and customer journey. Having too few stages may result in a lack of specific information about user behavior, while having too many stages may make it difficult to distinguish between them or make them too nuanced to be useful.

Visualizing a Sales Funnel

A sales funnel can be visualized in different ways, such as a funnel or a bar chart. Each visualization provides insights into the sales funnel analysis at various levels of detail.

Funnel Visualization

A funnel visualization represents the stages users go through along the conversion path, starting with a broad top and narrowing down to a narrow bottom. It visually shows the number of users converting at each stage of the funnel, with the percentage of users making subsequent actions gradually narrowing as they move down the funnel.

Bar Chart Visualization

A bar chart is another effective way to visualize a sales funnel. It helps identify friction points and drop-off in the customer journey. The chart displays the conversion rates at each stage of the funnel, allowing businesses to pinpoint areas where improvements can be made.

You can also use subsets of your funnels based on different segments or cohorts to drill down further into the sales funnel analysis. Cohort analysis breaks down user behaviors or demographics at each stage of the conversion path, providing valuable insights for optimization.

Sales Funnel Analysis Software

To perform sales funnel analysis, businesses can utilize various sales funnel analysis software. Here are some popular options:

1. Amplitude: Amplitude offers sales funnel analysis tools, including Funnel Analysis and Conversion Drivers, to help businesses track and optimize their sales funnels. It provides visualizations and insights into user behavior at each stage of the funnel.

2. Google Analytics: Google Analytics offers funnel visualization reports that allow businesses to analyze user behavior and conversions at different stages of the sales funnel.

3. Mixpanel: Mixpanel provides funnel analysis capabilities that help businesses track user behavior and conversions at each stage of the funnel. It offers visualizations and insights to optimize the conversion process.

4. Kissmetrics: Kissmetrics offers sales funnel analysis tools that track user behavior and conversions at each stage of the funnel. It provides visualizations and insights to improve the customer journey.

These are just a few examples of sales funnel analysis software available in the market. It is important to choose a tool that best fits your business needs and provides the necessary features for effective sales funnel analysis.

Sales Funnel Analysis Examples

Let’s explore three real-world examples where sales funnel analysis led to increased conversions and business success:

Example 1: Jitsi

Jitsi, a video conferencing tool owned by 8×8, experienced stagnant growth and wanted to identify the reasons behind it. Using Amplitude’s Funnel Analysis and Conversion Drivers, they discovered that very few users were using their Chrome extension, which significantly increased the likelihood of conversion.

Based on this insight, Jitsi revamped their product roadmap to prioritize updates that made spontaneous meetings easier and improved the discoverability of their Chrome extension. These changes led to a doubling of their retention rate and ultimately boosted their overall business growth.

Example 2: Rappi

Rappi, a Latin American delivery app, used sales funnel analysis to track conversions and optimize their subscription-based business model. They conducted experiments to determine whether a free trial or a low-cost paid trial led to more subscriptions. The analysis revealed that users who paid for a low-cost trial were more likely to convert at the end of the trial period.

Additionally, Rappi observed a drop in conversion rates when they added “shipping costs” to their orders. To address this, they offered free shipping costs for orders above a specific dollar amount. This simple change increased the average order size by 15% and improved their overall conversion rates.

Example 3: Blue Apron

Blue Apron, a meal box service, used sales funnel analysis to identify a critical part of their user’s digital experience: the recipe page. Using Amplitude’s Funnel Analysis, they discovered that visitors to the recipes page were more likely to sign up for an account and convert.

Armed with this insight, Blue Apron refreshed their recipes page by adding a stronger call-to-action and providing more information about upcoming recipes. This effort resulted in a 5.5% increase in their conversion rate and ultimately contributed to their business growth.

These examples demonstrate the power of sales funnel analysis in identifying areas for improvement and optimizing the customer journey for increased conversions.

Conclusion

Sales funnel analysis is a vital process for businesses looking to optimize their customer conversions. By understanding the sequence of actions users take before reaching a conversion and analyzing the conversion rates at each stage, businesses can identify areas of friction and make targeted improvements to enhance the customer experience.

With the help of sales funnel analysis software like Amplitude, Google Analytics, Mixpanel, or Kissmetrics, businesses can gain valuable insights into user behavior and optimize their sales funnels for increased conversions. By visualizing the sales funnel and drilling down into specific segments or cohorts, businesses can identify bottlenecks and take strategic actions to improve the conversion process.

By leveraging the power of sales funnel analytics, businesses can enhance their conversion rates, increase customer retention, and ultimately drive business growth. So start analyzing and optimizing your sales funnel today to unlock the full potential of your business.