What is a Sales Funnel and how does it Work in 4 Stage?

This guide is all about sales funnels — a smart marketing strategy that helps you organize and manage your sales and marketing steps to bring in more sales and grow your revenue. 💸

In simple terms, a sales funnel is like a roadmap that shows the journey your customers take — from first discovering your business to eventually making a purchase. 🛒 It helps you understand what your customers are thinking and doing at each stage, so you can guide them smoothly toward buying from you.

By the end, you’ll know exactly how to build a sales funnel that boosts sales and keeps customers coming back for more! 🌟

Table of contents

• What is a sales funnel?
• How does a sales funnel work?
• What are the 4 sales funnel stages?
• How to expand the sales funnel?
• How to create a sales funnel
• Create your first sales funnel for free

What is a Sales Funnel?

A sales funnel is a simple way to describe the steps your customers take from first hearing about your business to finally making a purchase. 🛒 It helps you understand what customers are doing at each stage of the buying process so you can guide them smoothly from start to finish — creating a better, more enjoyable experience for them.

The sales funnel idea has been around for a long time — it actually started in 1898, when E. St. Elmo Lewis designed a model called the purchase funnel. 🕰️ This model showed the journey customers go through — from noticing a product to deciding to buy it.

Over the years, it’s been given many names — like sales funnel, marketing funnel, conversion funnel, or purchase funnel — but the core idea stays the same:

✅ It works for any business — no matter what you sell or who your audience is.

✅ It stays effective over time — even as marketing strategies and technology evolve, the customer journey still follows this pattern.

In short: a sales funnel helps you turn strangers into loyal customers — and makes sure you’re guiding them every step of the way. 🚀✨

• universal: it can be applied to virtually any business in any industry
• timeless: times change but the idea stays relevant

In e-commerce, the term "conversion funnel" describes the path a customer takes — from first learning about your business to finally making a purchase. 🛒

It starts with the awareness stage — where you attract people to your website, usually through paid ads, social media, or search engines — and ends with the conversion stage, where a visitor becomes a paying customer. 💸

This is also known as a sales funnel because it helps you organize and plan all your sales, marketing, and communication efforts — making it easier to guide customers toward buying from you.

No matter what you’re selling — physical products, eBooks, online courses, or services — a well-designed sales funnel creates a clear, step-by-step path to revenue. 🔥

It keeps you focused on the 4 key areas of e-commerce success:

✅ Lead generation — Attracting potential customers.

✅ Lead nurturing — Building trust and keeping them interested.

✅ Sales — Turning interest into purchases.

✅ Customer satisfaction — Ensuring customers are happy and want to return.

By using a sales funnel, you can plan smarter campaigns, spot weak points, and boost your revenue — all while creating a better experience for your customers. 🚀

To dive deeper into this topic, consider reading our comprehensive guide to funnel marketing.

How does a sales funnel work?

A sales funnel is like a roadmap that helps you plan and improve your sales process — so you can bring in more customers and boost sales. 📈

It breaks down the customer journey into different stages, from the moment they first hear about your business to the final step where they decide to buy. By understanding these stages, you can guide people smoothly through the process and increase your chances of making a sale.

What are the 4 stages of the sales funnel?

The original purchase funnel describes 4 cognitive stages a customer goes through during the process of buying a product or service: Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action. This sales funnel stage model is often referred to as the AIDA model.

The AIDA model by Smart Insights

Step 1: AWARENESS

When you promote your product or service to potential customers.

At this point, your main goal is to reach your target audience. Especially people who haven't heard of your business yet, but can benefit from using your product or service.

The tools that people typically use at this stage are:

landing page

A landing page is a simple website designed to help you achieve a clear goal, like adding new contacts to your email list or selling a product. A landing page should contain the most important information and main benefits of using your product or service. There should be a clear call to action for people who care and want to know more.

A landing page showcasing the Calisthenics School Virtual Classroom Nutrition Course

A landing page designed to invite people to join your contact list is also called a signup page or squeeze page and is one of your most important list building assets.

If you want to learn more about using these types of pages in your lead generation campaigns, here's our beginner's guide to squeeze pages, which also includes great examples and tips.

Signup Form

The basic tool to turn website visitors into email subscribers. There are different registration forms for different needs, e.g. embeds, popups or lightboxes. In sales funnel terms, a signup form is a portal from awareness to interest stage. People can express interest in your offer by subscribing to your email communication.

A pop-up window on the Magic Spoon website inviting visitors to enter the contest

Facebook and Instagram Ads

You can run targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram to reach new people who are likely to be interested in your business. 📲✨

If you already have a well-organized list of customer emails, you can take things to the next level by creating a lookalike audience. This means Facebook will find people who share similar interests, behaviors, and demographics with your existing customers — making it easier to attract the right audience. 🎯

Basically, Facebook’s algorithm does the hard work for you, helping you connect with people who are most likely to become your next customers. 💪

Want to explore more targeting tips and learn how to design high-converting ads? Check out our Facebook advertising tutorial for step-by-step guidance! 🚀

Google Ads

Using Google search ads, you can reach people who are actively looking for a solution that your product or service could help them with.

Identify the terms that your target audience would likely type in when searching on Google and show them your offer. You can also refine targeting by providing negative keywords, i.e. those that are not relevant to what you are offering.

Here's more information on how you can create Google search ads in GetResponse and how to do it effectively.

lead magnet funnel

A magnet lead funnel is an automated way to generate leads for your business. It lets you set up a campaign consisting of paid ads promoting a landing page that offers a relevant sign-up incentive, a series of follow-up emails, and analytics that show you key stats in time. real.

 

Dashboard presenting a lead magnet funnel

While you can create these types of funnels with various tools, this particular visual is from the lead magnet funnel tool available in GetResponse.

Step 2: INTEREST

When certain people actively express an interest in what you have to offer.

At this point, your job is to provide your audience with all the crucial information about your product or service. They need to know if and how they can benefit from your offer.

By observing contact activity, you will see who is and who is not engaged in communication. You'll be able to see what information they find most useful and segment your contact list accordingly. Thanks to segmentation, you will send much more relevant communication.

The tools that people typically use at this stage are:

Engagement rate

The contact card shows all your contact information. One piece of information you find particularly useful is the Engagement Score – a tool that identifies and scores your contacts' activity based on their interactions with your emails.

An example contact card view

After creating engagement-based segments, you can start using them to send more targeted emails. You can decide to win back your contact's interest or just keep their engagement high.

Marketing Automation

You can use marketing automation to set up workflows — these are like step-by-step plans that run automatically. For example, when someone signs up for your list or clicks on a link, the system can:

📧 Send emails to keep them engaged — without you lifting a finger.

🏷️ Add tags based on what they do — like clicking on a product or downloading a guide — to track what they’re most interested in.

This helps you figure out what content your audience loves the most, so you can send them more of what they actually want! 🎯✨

A per-designed workflow template to welcome new contacts available in GetResponse Marketing Automation tool.

Facebook Pixel

The Facebook pixel allows you to track landing page visitors. You can see what people like and create personalized remarketing campaigns based on your landing page visits.

Define Custom Audiences based on the pages they visited or not to get the most out of your social advertising budget.

If you are not completely familiar with this concept, here is our complete guide on how to use the Facebook pixel in your marketing campaigns.

Email Marketing

Set up a series of emails that help introduce your brand to new contacts and clearly explain the benefits of your products or services. These emails should aim to educate your audience and assist them in making an informed buying decision. 📚💡

Take a look at this example from LandCafe.pl, an e-commerce store selling artisan coffee beans. They created a 6-part email campaign that expertly guides customers through each stage of the sales funnel. Here’s what the campaign includes:

1️⃣ Where does LandCafe.pl coffee come from? – Learn about the origins of the coffee beans 🌍

2️⃣ Why choose LandCafe.pl coffee? – Understand what makes their coffee stand out 🎯

3️⃣ Coffee from different parts of the world – Discover the unique flavors of coffee beans from various regions 🌎

4️⃣ Single origin vs. blends – Find out the difference between these two types of coffee 🍂

5️⃣ How to grind coffee and what tools to use – Helpful tips for the perfect grind 🛠️

6️⃣ How to read LandCafe.pl product labels – Understand what the labels mean and how to choose the right product 🏷️

7️⃣ A coupon email – A special offer that encourages customers to make a purchase 🤑

By sending these emails in a sequence, LandCafe.pl builds trust and guides customers toward a purchase while offering value and information along the way. Want to create something similar for your business? Let me know how I can help! 😄

Check out the case study for details on the email marketing campaign that drove 54% sales and check out this guide if you want to learn more about email drip campaigns.

Push notifications

Stay connected with your website visitors using push notifications! 📲 Web push notifications don’t need an email address, so you can send quick, attention-grabbing messages to anyone who signs up after visiting your site.

Want to learn how to create web push notifications in GetResponse? Let’s get started! 🚀

Webinars

Webinars are an excellent way to connect with your audience! 🎥 First, you can reach out to people interested in a certain topic and ask them questions to help you create a webinar they’ll love. 💬

During the webinar, you can use tools like surveys, live chat, and Q&A sessions to engage with attendees and discuss things in real time. ⏱️

After the event, you can follow up with people who joined live and also send helpful info to those who registered but couldn’t attend. 📧

Plus, you can record your webinars and turn them into on-demand sessions that people can watch whenever it’s convenient for them. 🎬 Adding quality on-demand video content to your sales funnel will definitely boost its effectiveness! 🚀

In this article, you'll find more information about how webinars work and the different types of content you can use in them.

Step 3: DESIRE

When Your Audience Knows Your Product Is Exactly What They Need ✅

At this point, your audience has all the details they need about your product or service. They can clearly see if it’s the right fit for their needs. If they think it is, they’re ready to move on to the next step — taking action! 🚀

The tools people usually use at this stage are:

🔑 Segmentation –

Group your contacts based on who already has all the information to make a decision. These are the people who are most likely ready to take action and buy your product or service.

👉 Focus your efforts on this group to encourage them to make their move!

Step 4: ACTION

The time of purchase.

This step is for people who know your product or service is what they need. Now is the time to let them know there is no need to wait - the perfect time to buy is now.

The tools that people typically use at this stage are:

Commercial emails

Send a commercial email to convert your contacts into customers. You can influence sales with early bird campaigns, flash sales, holiday sales and discounts. The main goal is to convince your audience that now is the best time to buy.

Abandoned cart series

Many people treat the shopping cart like a wish list, adding the products they like so they don't forget. They also add products to cart to check total price and shipping details.

Create an abandoned cart workflow to remind them of the products they left behind. For higher conversion, you can schedule a series of 3 emails sent after 1 hour, 1 day, and 3 days.

Remarketing

Track the visitors to your landing page so you can advertise to them later. Create Custom Audiences based on the pages they visited (or didn’t visit) to get the most out of your social ad budget. 💰📊

You may also like:

1. Free sales funnel template that’ll boost your sales

2. Beginner's Guide to Lead Generation

3. How to create a high-converting social media sales funnel

How to widen the sales funnel?

As your business grows and customers make repeat purchases, you can expand your sales funnel by adding more steps. A more detailed funnel might look like this:

1️⃣ Awareness: This is when potential customers first hear about your product or service. (As mentioned earlier!)

2️⃣ Interest: At this stage, they show active interest in what you offer, like visiting your website or engaging with your content. (Also mentioned earlier!)

3️⃣ Evaluation: Here, customers compare your product or service to others. They look at different options to see which one fits their needs best.

👉 Tip: Provide content that compares your product to competitors. This not only helps your audience but also gives you insights into what your competitors offer. You can use this info to figure out what you do better and where you need to improve.

4️⃣ Decision: Now, your product is on their shortlist, and it’s time for some negotiation before they make their final choice.

5️⃣ Purchase: This is the big moment — when the prospect becomes a paying customer! 🎉

6️⃣ Re-evaluation: After customers have been using your product for a while, they might start looking at other options again.

However, if they’re happy with what you’ve provided and their experience with your business, they’re less likely to search for alternatives.

👉 Pro Tip: Stay connected with your customers and ask for feedback after the purchase. Create a post-purchase follow-up plan. After a little time, send them an email asking how they’re doing. This feedback loop will help you keep improving your products and the overall customer experience.

An email from Target asking for a product review

7. REDEMPTION – when a customer repurchases your product or service.

Plan the right time to remind your customers of your business. Analyze how your customers use your products or services and plan follow-up communication accordingly.

For instance. If you sell coffee and you find that your customers usually buy products for a month, you can send a reminder 3 weeks after the purchase. If you run a bakery, you can email more frequently to share your weekly delivery schedule.

A fragment of a newsletter form Proof Bread with their weekly delivery schedule

The Power of Upselling and Cross-selling: Boost Your Sales and Customer Loyalty 💡

When it comes to increasing your sales, two key strategies to try are:

1️⃣ Upselling – This means encouraging customers to buy a more expensive or upgraded version of the product or service they’re interested in. The goal is to make a larger sale and increase your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) — or the total value a customer brings to your business over time. 💰

2️⃣ Cross-selling – This involves suggesting related products or services to customers based on their current interest or purchase. For example, if someone buys a laptop, you could recommend accessories like a laptop case or mouse. 🖱️💻

Why Is This Important for Your Business? 📊

These strategies give you important insights into how well your business is doing. When customers are happy, they’re more likely to return to you instead of looking at competitors. It costs five times less to keep an existing customer than to get a new one! 💸

By adding post-purchase steps to your sales funnel, you can focus on both acquiring new customers and keeping the ones you already have. This way, you get a clear view of your business's health and can track important results.

Using Your Sales Funnel to Optimize Sales 📈

The different stages of your sales funnel are perfect for shaping how you communicate with customers during your marketing and sales process. Keep an eye on your results, and make changes to improve your actions — so you can make more sales, faster! ⏱️

How to create a sales funnel

Creating a sales funnel is simple when you have the right tools! Here’s how to do it using GetResponse.

1. Use the Conversion Funnel 🔄

The easiest way to build a sales funnel is by using the GetResponse Conversion Funnel feature. This tool helps you promote, sell, and deliver your products online, all in one place. 🚀

Here’s how it works:

Create your store (or connect an existing one)

Choose stores and products from the menu. Create your store simply by choosing a name and a motto.

Add Products to Your Store 🛒

First, pick the type of product you want to sell from these options:

• Downloadable file (e.g., an ebook 📚)
• Online course (e.g., video lessons 🎥 or email series 📧)
• Service (e.g., a photoshoot 📸 or website design 🌐)
• Physical product (e.g., a book 📖 or T-shirt 👕

Create a Sales Funnel 🚀

Next, choose a funnel from the menu and click the Create Funnel button. Now, you have two options to sell your product:

1. Full Sales Funnel
   This option gives you all the tools you need:

   • Registration Page (where customers sign up)
   • Email (to stay in touch with your customers)
   • Sales Page (to showcase your product)
   • Upsell Page (to offer more products or services)
   • Confirmation Page (to confirm the purchase)

   You can also add paid ads on Facebook and Instagram 📱 at the top of the funnel to attract the right audience.

The full sales funnel is a template for a sales process

• Quick sales funnel

The Quick Funnel only gives you the essential tools: Sales Page, Upsell Page, and Confirmation Page. However, you can also add paid ads on Facebook and Instagram at the top of the funnel to reach your target audience.

The quick sales funnel is reduced to essential tools only

2. Using Online Marketing Tools Effectively 🌐

Online marketing tools like email marketing, landing pages, webinars, marketing automation, and paid ads can help create an amazing experience for your customers throughout their journey. Here's an example from Ravenol Polska. The company hosts technical webinars for auto mechanics, and we can see how they use these tools in each stage of their sales funnel.

Awareness 🔍

• Email: They send a promotional email to their contact list, with a link to register for the webinar. 📧
• Social Media: Partners share the webinar on their social media to attract a wider audience. 📱

Interest 👀

• Email: They send another email introducing the presenters and giving a sneak peek of what the webinar is about.
• Landing Page: A dedicated landing page with all the webinar details and a registration form to sign up. 💻

Desire 💡

• Survey: To register for the training, attendees need to fill out a quick survey. This helps them qualify for the event and shows their interest.

Action 🎯

• Webinar: Attendees join a live webinar where they can interact with the presenters through chat. 🎤
• On-Demand Webinar: If they miss the live event, registrants can watch the recording at any time. ⏰

A diagram presenting the tools used to run the Ravenol Professionals online training program

Create your first sales funnel for free

Plan your customer journey using the tips in this article, and then bring your ideas to life with the GetResponse Forever Free account! 🎉

Start by creating a landing page where people can sign up for your newsletter 📧. After that, set up a series of emails to guide your contacts with the information they need to buy your product. 🛍️

If you put in the effort and set everything up in the first week, you’ll be able to relax and watch the results roll in after 10, 20, and 30 days! 🚀 Good luck! 🍀

Source:  What is a Sales Funnel and how does it Work?