Marketing Funnel Vs. Sales Funnel: What’s the Difference?
The funnel model is crucial in offline and online marketing, providing a clear outline of user behavior from initial contact to conversion.
It encompasses both marketing and sales funnels, which have distinct differences.
Understanding these differences optimizes your marketing and sales efforts. Let's learn more about them in this article.
Marketing Funnel Vs. Sales Funnel
There are two funnel models in marketing: the marketing funnel and the sales funnel.
The stages of the marketing funnel begin when a customer first learns about a product or service and end with their interest in completing the conversion action.
In contrast, the sales funnel begins where the marketing funnel ends. The sales funnel focuses on how to convert a customer's expressed interest in a product or service into an actual sale.
Key Differences Between a Sales Funnel and a Marketing Funnel
When it comes to online marketing, two key funnels are frequently confused: the marketing funnel and the sales funnel.
Because these terms are so similar, they are frequently used interchangeably, with no clear distinction between them.
However, each funnel type serves a distinct purpose and, when used correctly, can provide a well-rounded approach to the customer acquisition and conversion journey.
Here are their key differences:
A marketing funnel is primarily concerned with user engagement and relationship building.
A sales funnel, on the other hand, is concerned with closing deals and converting leads into customers.
In layman's terms, the marketing funnel is concerned with brand awareness and user interest, whereas the sales funnel is concerned with the actual sale or conversion.
The marketing and sales funnels should not be considered separate. These two should be considered as a single customer journey.
The overall design of these two stages starts with the marketing funnel at the top.
A marketing funnel focuses on acquiring leads and generating enough interest in your brand's products and services.
Once the user is sufficiently interested in your brand, this is where the sales funnel comes in.
The sales funnel guides the user through the stages to help them make the actual purchase, which completes the customer journey.
Exploring Effective Marketing Funnels and Sales Funnels in Specific Industries
In some industries, the marketing funnel and sales funnel may look different depending on how customers are acquired and converted.
To help better explain the difference between a marketing funnel and a sales funnel, let's look at some industry-specific examples:
1. eCommerce
In an eCommerce setting, the marketing funnel is used to raise awareness about the store and create interest in its products.
This is typically done through social media ads and campaigns, SEO, or paid search engine ads.
For example, TikTok and Instagram are great platforms for eCommerce businesses because of how easy it is for users to find their products.
The transition from marketing funnel to sales funnel in eCommerce:
For example, a company that sells skincare products chooses to advertise its products on TikTok Shop and Instagram Shopping with engaging and eye-catching visual content.
The infinite scroll design of these platforms makes it easy for advertisers to put their products directly in front of their target audience (Awareness).
When users encounter these ads, their interests are immediately piqued, especially when the ad highlights the product's benefits. (Consideration)
Once they visit the company’s website with the intent to learn more about its products, they have successfully completed the marketing funnel journey (Conversion).
This then brings the customer to the top of the sales funnel.
The customer is now aware of the company’s products and has arrived at their social media pages or website (Awareness).
A good eCommerce business knows to provide more information on their pages that helps potential customers learn more about their products (Interest).
In this case, informational content like blogs that talk about the beneficial ingredients and long-term effects of using the products helps develop potential customers’ interest in them.
Using highlighted customer reviews, engaging product photos, and compelling offers like a first-time customer discount, customers are pushed to want to make the final purchase (Desire).
If the progress of the previous stages of the funnel is successful, then the customer proceeds to add the product to their cart to purchase it, ending the customer journey (Action).
2. B2B
For B2B businesses, the marketing funnel focuses on creating brand awareness and developing relationships with potential customers.
This is what the marketing-to-sales funnel looks like in the B2B industry:
In this example, we’re going to use Slack, one of the most popular team communication tools used by businesses worldwide.
A business identifies the need for communication within its team and does its research. They see Slack recommended on a list of team communication tools (Awareness).
They shortlist it and do a little more research about Slack, including how it compares to other similar communication tools.
There are plenty of blogs and articles online that show comparisons between popular communication tools that users can refer to (Consideration).
Finally, they make their way to Slack’s website with the intent to learn more about its features, pricing, and other specifics (Conversion).
From here, the sales funnel begins:
The user is now at the Slack website and wants to learn more about Slack’s features (Awareness).
Users take the time to go through the primary features of the product on Slack’s website, including its security, integrations, team size accommodations, etc., which pushes them further into the customer journey (Interest).
By this point, the user is now fully interested in Slack as a tool for their needs.
Slack provides customer testimonials and stories directly on its website, which further encourages users to use Slack for team communications (Desire).
When a user chooses to contact sales via their website for their enterprise plans or download Slack, the user has been successfully converted (Action).
3. SaaS
In the SaaS industry, the marketing funnel is used to create awareness about a software product or service.
The SaaS customer journey and funnels can look very similar to those in the B2B industry because plenty of businesses run on a B2B SaaS model.
Slack is one example of a company that is both B2B and SaaS at the same time.
The free download of Slack is a great example of the "freemium" model of SaaS, where companies offer a free version of their software with additional features available for purchase or subscription.
But for this example, we’ll be using Adobe, which is one of the most popular SaaS companies used by both businesses and consumers:
A user recognizes the need for image editing tools, so they take the time to do their research.
Adobe Photoshop is one of the most popular tools for this and is often recommended by professionals and casual users (Awareness).Like the B2B company customer journey, they shortlist the option and begin looking deeper into it.
There are plenty of tutorials and user reviews that they can refer to in order to learn more about its features and integrations (Consideration).
Finally, they make their way to Adobe’s website, where they have successfully completed the marketing funnel stage of the customer journey (Conversion).
From here, the sales funnel begins:
When the user arrives at Adobe’s website, they are now fully aware of Adobe Photoshop and are interested in its full range of features (Awareness).
Adobe clearly lists the key features of Photoshop on its website, including how it can be used to edit social media photos and bring images to life. All of these great features generate a lot of interest in the user (Interest).
Adobe takes their sales funnel further than Slack’s by offering a few deals on their website, which can be very attractive to casual users.
For example, right underneath every key feature that they showcase on their website, the Free Trial option is readily available.
Not only that, but they offer four months free for certain credit card holders, which is a great deal for anybody looking to try it out. (Desire).
When a user chooses to Buy the software or demo it through their Free Trial option, they have successfully completed the sales funnel (Action).
Wrapping Up: Marketing Funnel Vs. Sales Funnel
While often used interchangeably, the marketing funnel and the sales funnel serve two different key purposes:
A marketing funnel is focused on user engagement and building relationships.
A sales funnel focuses on closing deals.
By understanding the different stages of each funnel, you can create better strategies tailored to each part of the customer acquisition journey.
More importantly, it’s important to remember that both funnels are needed in order to maximize conversions.
The marketing funnel helps acquire new customers.
The sales funnel is what turns those leads into actual customers.
Together, they form an effective customer acquisition and conversion machine.
For different industries, the process from marketing funnel to sales funnel can look different, but the overall goal remains the same.
