Conversion Funnel Leaks: How to Identify and Fix Them

Conversion funnel leaks can disrupt your product and marketing efforts. In this article, we’ll reveal the biggest causes of funnel leaks at each stage of the customer journey and how to fix them. By the end of the article, you’ll understand more about effective strategies to help you deliver exceptional product experiences that drive engagement and long-term retention.

Conversion funnel leak – what is it?

If it were a perfect world, 100% of potential customers would convert. Sadly, we know this isn’t the case, and every business, whether big or small, loses prospects between stages of the conversion funnel.

Think of a conversion funnel leak as a specific point in the customer journey where potential customers drop out of the process before they take the required action. It’s like a leak in a pipe, causing your potential customers to flow away.

Conversion funnels usually begin with marketing efforts that focus on awareness and expand to building loyalty. Remember that leaks can occur in different stages for many reasons, and we’ll help you understand the reasons behind these leaks to help you fix them.

Leaks at the top of the funnel

The top of the conversion funnel focuses on creating awareness and exposure of your brand and product. This means prospects visit your website for the first time after seeing it on an online ad, social media, reading your blogs, etc. This is the stage where visitors only explore and aren’t ready to purchase.

You’re not what they are looking for

Before you experiment with your content, advertising channels, etc., Look at the bigger picture and determine if you’re targeting the right market. Check out your buyer personas and ask if you’ve attracted the right customers to your product.

Your message isn’t relevant or is confusing

Relevance is “the most commonly underrated aspect of conversion,” according to content marketer Dale Cudmore. To fix a leak caused by irrelevance, you must match the message to the buyer persona, source, and more. When users come to your website, they have specific expectations, and the more you match that, the better your conversion rate will be. Remember to eliminate clutter and keep your message simple.

Call to action (CTA) issues

You’ll need to try different CTA copies to determine which will work best and drive your product’s conversion. Try A/B testing your CTA copy and experiment with button placement and colors. Your CTA is where all your effort in creating your site’s copy, design, and branding will either get potential customers to take a desired action or make them disappear completely.

Minor changes to CTA buttons, such as changing the green button to an orange button, can increase conversions by up to 81%. If conversions increase this much, it’s easy to understand why testing your CTA is important! 

Now, let’s move on to the next stage of the funnel.

Leaks at the middle of the funnel

After identifying your target traffic with clear messaging, you’ll need to examine the quality of leads moving through the funnel and how they are engaged. These leads will determine whether your solutions fit their needs.

Leads aren’t qualified

A study by IDG revealed that over 60% of marketers report problems that generate high-quality leads for their company. So, you aren’t the only one having these problems.

You’ll find some shared characteristics when looking at the data related to paying customers. A B2B business may include business size, industry, ARR, etc. These common factors of previously converted customers can help determine guidelines for higher-quality leads.

Friction during the signup

Test the different types of signup flows. A more common signup flow is to ask for an email and follow up with an email confirmation before the account setup that allows users to access the tool or app. Slack is one of the many companies that use this flow.

Depending on your product’s complexity, you’ll need to come up with a signup flow that is as flawless as possible. 

Leaks at the bottom of the funnel

Now, you’ve come to the bottom of the funnel. It’s the place for conversions! This is where leads decide to do business with you. If you have a free trial or demo, it may be worth trying on your product, or they may convert into a paying customer directly. Either way, this stage of the funnel focuses on conversions and ensures new users receive the best value from your product.

Leads get lost during the handoff process 

Make a seamless customer handoff. One of the most common places where leads get lost in a funnel is during the transfer of ownership within an organization. Discuss with your team and ensure they’ll talk to you about the process of transferring ownership of the prospect and the ownership of their knowledge to other team members.

Onboarding issues

First, understand that any issues during the onboarding process may indicate that it isn’t easy for a user to start using your product or that they don’t realize its value. You can start by fixing the onboarding process. 

Other issues during onboarding may be related to making it hard for users to upgrade their accounts and begin as paying customers. You must minimize friction and create a seamless process to fix the problem.

Testing 

Various tests can be run during every stage of the conversion funnel to identify leaks in the funnel. Besides the CTA button testing we’ve mentioned, some of the elements to test for maximizing conversions include:

• The website design
• Copy
• Forms (number of fields, placement, etc.)
• Site navigation
• Try out various advertising channels

Learn more about conversion rate optimization (CRO) to help determine the elements and pages that could use some optimization.

Wrapping it up

Changing a single factor won’t completely change your business and conversion funnel. You must identify leaks and plug them accordingly to move the needle in the right direction.

So, where have you discovered the biggest leaks in your company’s conversion funnel? Tell us more about them and the solution you’ve come up with.