Digital Sales Funnel Explained — how to shape the customer journey
Think of your favorite work tools like Asana, Slack, Notion, or Airtable.
What sparked your interest in them? Was it a captivating visual on social media or an intriguing story you bookmarked in Pocket? Whatever it was — it worked.
For some, this initial interest blossoms into genuine brand advocacy. For others, it’s just not enough to seal the deal.
Here’s the reality:
First-time visitors to your site embark on a journey before becoming paying customers. You should implement a digital sales funnel to keep them engaged along the way.
To represent a brand that resonates with people, you need to understand that purchase decisions rarely happen overnight.
While awareness is just one stage, the entire digital sales funnel supports users at every touchpoint of their customer journey. Consistent nurturing through various marketing and sales tactics ensures smooth and seamless lead generation.
How does this work? By enhancing the customer experience during every interaction.
In this article, I’ll explain what a digital sales funnel is and why this framework is crucial for your business.
What Is a Digital Sales Funnel?
This is how I like to think about digital sales funnels:
Digital sales funnels shape people's entire journey, from the first interaction to the actual purchase. ✨
Take a look at the linear progression of the journey. The diagram shows how emotions evolve while users flow down the funnel.
For B2B companies, you’ll typically encounter two customer journey scenarios:
- Company A puts considerable effort into user engagement 👏
However, this team employs various disconnected tactics. These tactics don’t align with each other, resulting in an inconsistent customer journey.
It’s worth noting that a messy, unorganized approach is common in early-stage and rapidly growing businesses. These businesses are in a trial-and-error phase, naturally exploring different strategies before finding their way to do things.
2. Company B implements cohesive marketing tactics
These strategies work harmoniously to inform, excite, and inspire people — guiding them through the sales funnel.
Which company do you think generates more leads? ☝️ It’s Company B — the one that uses funnels and aligns marketing with sales into a seamless process.
The more expensive your product, the longer the sales cycle becomes. Sales funnels work best for companies with long sales cycles, such as software houses, SaaS companies, and agencies. Think Hubspot CRM, Segment, Netguru, or perhaps your own company.
Typically, the digital sales funnel model follows this structure:
The digital sales funnel takes the shape of an inverted triangle. As people flow down the funnel, they transform from prospects into leads. While some eventually convert into paying customers, most drop off along the way.
This sales funnel framework consists of three main levels:
- TOFU — Top of the funnel
- MOFU — Middle of the funnel
- BOFU — Bottom of the funnel
These levels represent the evolving relationship between the customer and the product and the shift in the user’s intent.
To better grasp this concept, take a look at the diagram below.
Digital sales funnels address users’ needs at every stage of their journey — from those who’ve never heard of a product to those on the verge of making a purchase.
Sales Funnel Breakdown
You’ve likely heard terms like “top of the funnel,” “middle of the funnel,” and “bottom of the funnel” tossed around frequently.
But what do these actually mean? Are we all on the same page when we use these terms?
Top of the Funnel
Purpose:
- Grow traffic
- Generate backlinks
- Drive awareness
- Enhance topical authority
- Boost organic visibility
- Educate users
- Solve problems
TOFU tactics shouldn’t directly relate to your product. Website visitors are in the research phase at this stage, moving towards awareness. They’re searching for answers to questions and may not intend to buy your product. Your goal is to build trust in your brand through educational content that doesn’t explicitly address your offering.
Focus on problem-solving and earning backlinks rather than commercial intent. Let the middle and bottom of the funnel handle customer conversion. By providing valuable, non-promotional information, you’ll establish credibility and guide visitors naturally through the awareness stage.
Remember, your audience is “googling stuff,” seeking solutions to their queries. Addressing these needs without a hard sell makes you more likely to capture their attention and interest. The key is to provide genuine value, positioning your brand as a trusted resource in your field.
Forget commercial intent at this point. Focus on problem-solving, earning new links instead. Let your middle and bottom of the funnel convert readers into customers.
Middle of the Funnel
Purpose
nurture leads
build commercial intent
Mid-funnel acquisition tactics bridge the gap between awareness and decision-making. They introduce people to the idea of your product or service.
At this stage, people are one step closer to conversion. They are already interested in your product, so you should nurture them down the funnel with lead magnets.
Examples of middle funnel lead magnets:
- emails
- reports
- checklists
- e-books
- white papers
Bottom of the Funnel
Purpose
generate leads close leads already in the pipeline
The bottom of the funnel is all about pushing interested leads to the decision-making phase. It involves acquisition tactics optimized for buyers, not search engines.
It serves prospects who have already moved way past the awareness stage and have moved onto interest, desire, and action.
At this stage, you can manifest your product’s value through the following tactics:
- case studies
- demos
- drip campaigns
- webinars
- branded search queries
- product updates
How to make sales funnel work for you
You should avoid spending too much time on a single stage.
- If you focus too much on TOFU strategies, you won’t drive conversions and won’t help the business grow.
- If you focus too much on the funnel’s bottom, you won’t grow your traffic, and again, you won’t help the business grow.
So, think holistically, and build a customer journey from start to finish that flows consistently.
Wrapping up
The digital sales funnel framework originates from human psychology and a simple AIDA model representing your customer’s mindset. AIDA stands for emotions that are necessary for users to complete the journey:
- attraction
- interest
- desire
- action
They represent the experience you want to build within your sales funnel. Every emotion translates to a specific level of attachment to your product.
Before you can sell the product, you must first build a long-lasting relationship with the user.
A smooth and easy sales funnel creates an attachment to your brand. When you bring value without asking for anything in return, people start to like and trust you.
Reciprocity, commitment, and consistency, build trust and engagement over time. Eventually, your product will be seen as a top-of-mind solution and an industry leader. ✨
