Customer funnel, conversion funnel, acquisition funnel. Terms that are part of the language that revolves around the best advanced marketing strategies adopted by companies that operate in the digital sector and beyond. The discussion of B2B and B2C marketing funnels is often mistakenly introduced by incorporating the two concepts into a single customer journey. In this article we will try to understand what a marketing funnel is and why it would be appropriate to talk about B2B customer funnels and B2C marketing funnels.
Customer Funnel: phases and user channeling
In simple terms, the Marketing Funnel is the process that leads the user to become a customer of a company.
The four phases of the classic Marketing Funnel model – which we will simplify from now on with Customer Funnel – are:
awareness (awareness);
interest (interest);
decision (decision);
action (action).
Conversion Funnel
The user who is online looking for a product or service has a need, but does not yet know how to solve it: it is at this moment that he becomes aware of and interacts with your brand for the first time (awareness phase).
When the user arrives on the company’s website and begins to analyze it, he is interested in understanding whether this is the right offer for his needs (interest phase). It is easy to understand how this is a very delicate phase because if the information is not well organized, clear and fast, the user will abandon browsing.
The third phase concerns the choice
The user has all the cards on the table, is ready to make his choice (decision phase) and is really close to the last phase, the one in which he could decide to contact us or buy one of our products (action phase). These two phases are closely connected to each other and the final success of our marketing actions will depend precisely on how we present ourselves at this moment and what we offer the user.
We are not just talking about products or services but also about the navigation experience. Only in this way will it be possible for us to really help a B2B or B2C company that wants to be contacted by new potential customers.Read also Retail and Online when the goal is also Drive to Store.
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B2B and B2C Customer Funnel: similarities and differences
In the preamble of this article we talked about strategy. Knowing the acquisition funnel of our digital reality and therefore analyzing the user’s behavior from the initial phase to the final action is essential to be able to create a digital marketing strategy that allows us to:
know our users;
improve the customer journey;
increase conversions.
Here is the first affinity between B2B or B2C marketers: the objectives can be the same.
When talking about B2B or B2C customer funnel, it is essential to understand the customer journey and how to create a positive experience for customers. A successful customer funnel must be designed to engage customers and make them come back. It must be adapted to their needs and provide a seamless experience. By understanding this, companies can create a customer funnel that is tailored to their customers and provide a positive customer experience. This will help increase customer engagement and loyalty, resulting in higher sales and customer satisfaction.
For B2B customers, the customer journey is often longer
But there are also differences. It involves luxembourg business powder more decision makers and requires a more personalized approach to customer segmentation. B2B funnels are more complex because the sales cycle in this sector is longer. This means that there are more stages during the sales process where buyers need to evaluate whether the product is a good fit for their company.
The length of a sales cycle depends mainly on the cost of the product or service. Typically, expensive offers require more time to evaluate before making a purchase.
In the context of business-to-business (B2B) business, products and services are generally more expensive than in business-to-consumer (B2C) business, which leads to much longer sales cycles. The difference can vary from one day in the case of B2C to six months in the case of B2B.
Another reason for this difference is the fact that the purchasing process in the B2B context is often much more structured and controlled.
For B2C customers, the customer journey is often shorter and simpler, but still requires particular attention. It involves a smaller number of decision makers and requires a more general approach to segmentation.
Digital objectives
Can companies in the B2B bh lists and B2C market have common objectives? Absolutely, or rather, there can be affinity but also contrast. Let’s think about signing up for the newsletter, lead generation more generally or downloading a catalog. These are all conversions, or rather measurable objectives that can sometimes adapt to both realities.
Audience segments
When we talk about B2B and B2C we must remember that the reference market involves audience segments that are completely different from each other. Even if the customer journey – and therefore the 4 phases mentioned above – are potentially the same, the difference lies in the behavior.
Let’s think about a B2C fashion e-commerce: in order to proceed with the purchase of the red zip-up t-shirt chosen in the appropriate category, the user will presumably not need to go through any decision-making phases or – except in certain circumstances – ask for further information or assistance on the product before proceeding with the purchase. The channeling and purchase phase is quite quick.
On the contrary, if we think about the website of a company that sells B2B wood cutting machines, the user will not access the site ready for conversion or with the intention of completing it. The decision-making phase that precedes the action phase in this case will be quite long and elaborate. Let’s also not forget that often, behind the B2B consumer there is actually a group of consumers, which makes the timing longer and more complex.
Motivation behind the conversion
What is the motivation that pushes a B2B user and a B2C user into the marketing funnel? The B2C user makes a purchase to satisfy a completely personal need as in the example in the previous paragraph. On the contrary, the B2B audience bases its evaluation on a business need. This is perhaps the main difference or in any case the one that helps us better understand the behavior along the funnel process.
Relationship with the potential customer
Let’s end our article with one last important difference, the one concerning the relationship with the potential customer. When we talk about B2C marketing funnel, the user between the decision and purchase phase will not, in most cases, need to ask for assistance from customer care and therefore extend the times too much. Let’s think about the fashion e-commerce that we mentioned before: they could ask for additional information on the product regarding material, shipping or perhaps the size. We know the B2C customer well, he loves to solve his needs quickly. If instead we return to the discussion of the B2B public here it will almost be necessary to have a discussion with a company collaborator or a representative before making a purchase. The times consequently lengthen considerably.
How can I analyze my Customer Funnel?
To explain how to perform an analysis based on the marketing funnel would require at least a new article. However, we can mention that there is no standard formula applicable to all situations, each case has its own peculiarities. What does it mean?
To understand the behavior of users who browse your website, depending on the objectives you have set out to achieve, we can say that there are 2 macro analyses that can be activated:user experience analysis;
Web analytics analysis.
The first takes into consideration all those dynamics that concern the user’s behavior during navigation. For example heat maps, qualitative data on behavior and study of calls to action. But not only that. This phase also includes the analysis of the performance of our website. Or e-commerce: is the site fast? Is there room for improvement?
The second one instead examines all the navigational data of the site, both quantitative and qualitative, leaving nothing to chance. This category also includes the analysis of abandoned carts or statistics related to advertising campaigns or sending DEMs.
Clearly the outcome of the macro analyses will bring with it potential technical, graphic or commercial changes. That can help us increase the number of contacts or turnover.