Why Copied Sales Funnels Don't Work: A Simple Breakdown
Many wonder why sales funnels, created based on expert advice, often fail to deliver results. The buzz around this marketing tool is huge, but in practice, it often seems completely ineffective. The reason for these failures often lies in a fundamental misunderstanding of its core concept.
What Is a Sales Funnel in Simple Terms?
| Point | Description |
|---|---|
| Point A | The customer doesn't know you and doesn't need anything from you. |
| Point B | The customer is ready to give you their money and becomes a loyal customer. |
Many wonder why sales funnels, created based on expert advice, often fail to deliver results. The buzz around this marketing tool is huge, but in practice, it often seems completely ineffective. The reason for these failures often lies in a fundamental misunderstanding of its core concept.
At its core, a sales funnel is the path a customer takes from their first interaction with you to making a purchase. This journey can be described as moving from one point to another.
The main mistake is that entrepreneurs take a ready-made funnel template, for instance, from a producer of online courses on how to make money, and try to apply it to a completely different niche, such as selling nutrition consultations. These products have different customers and, consequently, a completely different path to purchase.
The Foundation of Any Funnel: The Customer Journey (CJM)
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| CJM (Customer Journey Map) | A map of the customer's path, describing their journey from the emergence of a need to purchase and further interaction. |
| Ben Hunt's Ladder | A model describing the 5 levels of consumer awareness about a problem and a product. |
For a funnel to work, it must be built not on someone else's templates, but on a deep understanding of your customer's journey. A special tool is used in marketing for this purpose: the Customer Journey Map (CJM).
The CJM, or Customer Journey Map, is a detailed description of the entire route a person takes before making a purchase. This tool allows you to visualize all stages of the customer's interaction with your product or service.
There are different approaches to creating a CJM. Some marketers start with 'Ben Hunt's Ladder,' beginning at the stage where the person is not even aware of their problem yet. Others start from the moment of first contact with the product. It's important to choose the model that suits your specific business and work it through in practice.
Key Elements of a CJM: Stages
The customer journey map consists of several key elements, and the first of these is stages. Stages represent the main phases a customer goes through. They can vary depending on the business specifics, but the general logic remains.
Let's consider an example for a marketing agency that works with experts. Here, the stages can be divided as follows:
- No problem. At this stage, the customer doesn't realize their difficulties are related to marketing. The goal is to teach them to see the problem, for example, by showing that increasing revenue directly depends on attracting new clients.
- Aware of the problem, but does nothing. The customer understands the root of the issue but isn't ready to act yet. The goal is to push them towards a solution by convincing them that marketing isn't as complicated as it seems.
- Searching for and choosing a solution. The customer is actively looking for ways to solve their problem and comparing different options on the market.
This list can be continued, detailing each step up to the point of purchase and subsequent interaction. It's important to understand that for a B2B product and for a mass-market consumer good with delivery and logistics, these stages will be different. They are determined based on an analysis of the target audience and actual customer experience.
Understanding the Customer: Actions, Thoughts, and Emotions
To effectively guide a customer through all the stages, you need to understand what they are doing, thinking, and feeling at each step. These are the next important layers of the customer journey map.
- Consumes content in their professional field.
- Looks at competitors and sees that their results are better.
- Looks for ways to earn more, seeing secondary benefits in it.
The customer's thoughts and expectations reveal their inner motivation. At the initial stage, they think: 'Why are they succeeding, and I'm not? What are they doing? I want that too!'. This forms a 'desire map' for them and helps them see growth points.
The emotional map is another key element. Understanding the customer's emotions (for example, frustration that the market doesn't work the way they thought) allows you to create content that resonates and helps build a trusting relationship.
Drivers, Barriers, and Touchpoints
| Factor | Description |
|---|---|
| Drivers | Motivators that push the customer to the next step. For example, simple tips, case study breakdowns, painting a picture of a bright future. |
| Barriers | Demotivators that repel the customer. For example, overly complex language, promising difficulties, comparison with unattainable competitors. |
In addition to stages, actions, and emotions, the customer journey map includes three more important components: touchpoints, drivers, and barriers. They help understand where and how to interact with the audience.
- Social media (Instagram, YouTube, VK, Pinterest).
- Professional chats (Telegram, WhatsApp).
- Contextual and banner advertising (Yandex Advertising Network).
- Offline events and conferences.
Drivers and barriers are factors that either motivate or hinder a customer from moving further down the funnel. Understanding these elements allows for building the right communication.
By using drivers and avoiding barriers at the right touchpoints, you can effectively guide a customer through the funnel.
Creating a Funnel Prototype Based on the CJM
Only after all the information about the customer's journey has been collected and analyzed—stages, actions, thoughts, emotions, touchpoints, drivers, and barriers—can you begin to create a funnel prototype. This prototype will not be a random template, but a logical sequence of steps based on the real behavior of your target audience.
This is where the answer to the main question lies. Your funnels didn't work because you were throwing away all this data and taking someone else's template, designed for a different customer, a different product, and a different market. A sales funnel is the result of deep analysis, not blind copying.
