The Sales Funnel: An Easy-to-Understand Guide for Small Businesses

Greetings, small business champions! Today we’re going to decode a crucial concept that’s essential for your business success – the “sales funnel.” Though it may sound complex at first glance, we’re here to simplify it. Think of it as a journey your customers embark on, from the moment they discover your business until they become loyal patrons.

Stage 1: Awareness

Imagine walking past a bakery, and the aroma of freshly baked cookies wafts out. That enticing scent draws your attention, doesn’t it? That’s what the Awareness stage is all about. It’s when people first notice your business, just like how the smell of those cookies caught your attention. This can happen through an online ad, a billboard, or a friend recommending your business.

Stage 2: Consideration

Now, you’re standing outside the bakery, gazing at the display of mouth-watering cookies. You start contemplating whether to buy a cookie or not. This is the Consideration stage, where potential customers are weighing their options. They might check out your website, read reviews, compare prices, or look at alternatives before making a decision.

Stage 3: Conversion

You’ve made up your mind and decided to buy a cookie. Welcome to the Conversion stage! This is when a prospective customer decides to make a purchase and becomes an actual customer. It’s a significant stage because this is when your business makes a sale.

Stage 4: Retention

Lastly, imagine you enjoyed the cookie so much that you decide to visit the bakery again next week for more. This is the Retention stage, where customers keep coming back to your business. They might also tell their friends about your amazing cookies, bringing more people into the Awareness stage.

And there you have it, the sales funnel simplified using a simple bakery example. Understanding these stages can help you strategize your marketing efforts, communicate effectively with potential customers, and retain your existing customers. Remember, each customer’s journey may vary, but knowing these stages will undoubtedly guide your business strategy.

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The Importance of Maintaining Your Marketing Tech Stack

In today’s digital world, having an effective marketing tech stack is essential for small businesses. The right marketing tech stack will help you automate and optimize your marketing efforts, allowing you to better reach your target customers and grow your business. However, not maintaining and updating the components of your marketing tech stack can have a detrimental effect on your business. Let’s look at why it’s important to stay on top of your marketing tech stack.

What is a Marketing Tech Stack?

A good marketing tech stack is composed of different software tools that work together to help you manage and optimize your marketing efforts. These software tools may include email automation platforms, analytics software, CRM systems, social media management platforms, content management systems (CMS), and more. Using the right combination of these tools ensures that you can track customer behavior and engagement, create personalized experiences for customers, increase brand visibility across multiple channels, and maximize ROI from all of your efforts.

What Happens When You Don’t Keep Up With Your Marketing Tech Stack?

No one likes working with outdated technology, so it should come as no surprise that not staying up-to-date with the components in your tech stack can be detrimental to your business. First off, outdated technology can make it difficult to keep up with industry trends or take advantage of new opportunities as they arise. Additionally, old software may be missing key features or integrations that could be helping you get more out of every customer interaction or increase productivity within the organization overall. And lastly, using outdated technology may even put you at risk for data breaches or other security risks if security measures are not constantly updated alongside new versions of the software.

As a small business owner, maintaining an effective marketing tech stack is essential for growth and success in today’s digital environment. Keeping up with the latest tools and technologies ensures that you are getting maximum ROI from every customer interaction while also protecting yourself from any potential security risks associated with outdated technology. By investing in a reliable tech stack now—and continuing to maintain it—you will set yourself up for success in the long run!

Utilizing Your Digital Marketing Assets to Grow Your Business

There are a lot of digital assets out there that can be used to give your business a competitive edge in the market. From social media profiles to company websites, email themes and blogs, these digital assets can help you reach more potential customers and increase your online presence. Let’s take a look at some of the ways to utilize digital marketing assets to grow your small business.

Managing Social Media Profiles

Social media profiles have become an integral part of many businesses’ digital marketing strategies. With over 3 billion active users on social media platforms, it’s important for companies to have a presence on these sites if they want to reach their target audience. To maximize the impact that social media has on your business, make sure your team is regularly updating your accounts with fresh content and engaging with followers. Also consider advertising on popular platforms such as Meta, Instagram and LinkedIn to further extend your reach and draw new people into the sales funnel.

Creating Content for Your Website

Having a website is essential for businesses looking to stay competitive in today’s digital landscape. Not only does it provide an easy way for potential customers to find information about what you offer, but it also gives them an opportunity to get involved with your brand and interact with you directly. To make sure that visitors come back time again, create useful content that will keep them engaged while also helping them learn more about who you are and what makes you different from other businesses in the same market.

Websites aren’t just static pages anymore; they’re interactive experiences that customers look forward to visiting again and again. By creating engaging content for your website, you can ensure that visitors keep coming back for more!

Optimizing Email Campaigns

Email campaigns are another way for businesses to reach their target audience and build relationships with potential customers through personalized messages sent directly into their inboxes. If done correctly, email campaigns can be extremely effective in drawing people into the sales process by providing helpful tips or discounts that encourage them to purchase products or services from your business. The key is optimizing each message so that it provides value while still being relevant and engaging enough for people to read all the way through it without losing interest or getting distracted by something else in their inboxes. This can be achieved by using creative subject lines, personalizing each message according to the recipient’s interests and incorporating visuals like GIFs or videos whenever possible!

What are the next steps?

Managing digital marketing assets is essential if small businesses want to stay ahead of their competition in today’s market. From optimizing email campaigns and creating content for websites, social media profiles or blogs, there are plenty of opportunities available for small businesses who choose to invest in digital marketing assets as part of their overall strategy. When done correctly, these methods can help bring more traffic to your site which will ultimately lead to increased business! Utilizing all these tools together is the best way to ensure success when managing a company’s digital marketing assets! So get started today – what’s stopping you? .

Why Hire an Advertising Agency?

When starting a new business, entrepreneurs invariably face tough decisions when they realize something needs to be done and they just don’t know how to do it. We let mechanics fix our cars; so why do we expect that when running a small business we can do everything ourselves?

When we discuss things like accounting, and legal issues, it seems simple to hire someone who is educated and even licensed to handle these things for us. When you start thinking about things like marketing, advertising and public relations things tend to get confusing and you begin to wonder if you should try to save some money and wing it. As a new business, you will get calls from everyone from the phone book sales reps, newspapers, magazines, coupon books – all promising you ROI if you would turn over your hard earned revenues. Who’s best interest do they really have in mind?

How do you know which is right for your business? How do you know what you will ultimately need? One of the best places to start is to look at your competitors. If you offer a service like HVAC, landscaping, or plumbing, chances are a strong online presence is needed to compete. If you offer services that are available online, chances are that you will do just as well skipping the ads in phone books, magazines and newspapers.

If you’ve never hired a professional firm before, don’t worry. Ad Agencies aren’t expecting you to have all the answers. They should listen to your point of view, get a feel for your business and its style, understand what colors or themes you have in mind and then be able to put together a professional logo and assorted materials for you to use throughout your business. An approach like that can take the bother out of getting your marketing materials in top form.

Your job as a business owner is to decide what you do best and focus on it. Whenever you spend your valuable time outside of those core tasks ultimately it will cost you business. You need to focus on your core strengths and hire employees or consultants to handle what they specialize in. When you have everyone focused on their core responsibilities and not distracted with other tasks, your business will take off and allow you the freedom to enjoy being an entrepreneur.

Downtown House of Pizza Donates 200 Pizzas to Healthcare Workers

Downtown House of Pizza Donates 200 Pizzas to Healthcare Workers at Southwest Florida Hospitals on the Front Lines of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“Because they’re doing so much for us right now, we felt the need to give something back to them,” said Jason Kohn, owner of Downtown House of Pizza in Downtown Fort Myers, FL.

FORT MYERS, FL, March 29, 2020 – SplashWrench client and local pizzeria owner Jason Kohn of Downtown House of Pizza (DHOP) felt the need to do something to thank those working so hard on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic and the struggle to save lives at area hospitals. On Saturday, March 28, 2020, Mr. Kohn and his team of 15 employees, already hard at work having moved their pickup and curbside service out onto the sidewalk, decided to make 200 pizzas to feed healthcare workers at local area hospitals. DHOP employees wrote notes of thanks and encouragement on the pizza boxes for this special delivery, to let the doctors, nurses and healthcare workers know how much they are appreciated. Then, the DHOP team packed up the pizzas and hit the road.

“We knew the hospital had three different shifts, so we planned our work to make the pizzas and deliveries to coincide with the start of each shift over the next 24 hours,” Kohn said. “We wanted to make sure no one was left out.”

WINK News was on location when the first delivery was made to Lee Health’s Lee Memorial Hospital located near Downtown Fort Myers, interviewing Jason Kohn and Lee Health representatives. Fox4 News covered the delivery at Gulf Coast Hospital later in the day.

“Everyone is afraid of the virus. But sometimes simple acts of kindness can offset any negative emotions people are feeling. DHOP has always tried to recognize areas in the community that need love and try to fill it with pizza,” said Kohn.

Downtown House of Pizza, with the help of their marketing company SplashWrench Design and Marketing, posted images of the deliveries and news coverage, viewed and shared by thousands. On Facebook and Instagram, thousands of followers liked and shared, and posted notes of thanks and encouragement to healthcare workers. Photos and posts of thanks from healthcare workers followed immediately after delivery.

“I am a community minded person in general. I volunteer my time at Edison Park Elementary School every week. I have served for a decade on the Fort Myers RDA board. I would say I did it because these heroes working in healthcare right now need community support. Yes I was hoping that other restaurants, hotels, or whomever would see this story and maybe do something as well, what ever they can right now. I know it’s a difficult time,” said Kohn.

Downtown House of Pizza is a landmark pizzeria and craft beer bar located on Hendry St. in the heart of Downtown Fort Myers. Opening in September 2005, the restaurant is a mainstay in Downtown Fort Myers, loved by locals and visitors to Southwest Florida. In late 2018, DHOP expanded to include a dining area and beer bar featuring beers from some of the area’s finest local breweries. Downtown House of Pizza has social pages on Facebook and Instagram as well as a website, http://www.downtownhouseofpizza.com.

Small businesses needs to look professional

If you are one of those many people in the last few years that decided to start a small business (especially in the Cape Coral, Fort Myers area), the most important aspect is that businesses should look professional.

Epic E-Mail Failure by a DIY Marketer

In the bustle of my pre-Christmas workload, I’ve come across hundreds of E-mails from businesses offering specials

Why Answer Negative Reviews?

If someone has posted something negative about your company, it is visible to that person, people in their social media network or anyone searching for information about your company.

When the Medium Ruins the Message

With today’s workforce spanning three generations, knowing who you’re talking to, and their communications preferences, can make or break a sale.

A little bit of research is necessary when setting out to prospect for new customers. When making first contact with a prospect, the medium by which you choose to communicate could make or break the deal. If you choose to use social media, perhaps a private message, public post or a Tweet to ask for a contact name and email, don’t be surprised if you hear crickets.

Professionals rarely make first contact this way, unless it’s culturally significant to the business at hand, and even then, the practice is questionable.Sending an introductory email or requesting an introduction from a mutual colleague is the right way to introduce yourself to a prospect. Doing so says quite a bit about you as the salesperson and the respect you have for your clients.

Offer Alternatives to your Customers

One of our small business clients in New England has a storefront on a quaint little street. He protects his business with one of those popular alarm services. About a year ago, he was having difficulty with the monitoring portion of his service. The alarm company uses a cell phone signal

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