The 5 Most Important Sales Funnel Metrics To Consider
As an online teacher who has interacted with countless amazing students from all over the world, I have acquired a wealth of knowledge simply by listening to the questions that students ask.
I honestly believe, that a teacher can learn so much from the questions of their students.
One common question that students ask, is how their miscellaneous marketing pages are going to convert.
Maybe they ask about a lead capture page, a squeeze page, a sales funnel, a webinar registration page, or their sales page.
The truth is that, the only way to ever know how your marketing funnel is going to perform, is by actually testing the funnel and then analyzing the sales funnel metrics.
Once you begin experimenting and testing your sales funnel creatives, it’s going to be much easier for you to see what works, and what doesn’t.
In fact, I often reveal to my students that my humble two cents mean almost nothing! The only thing that matters, is the actual results that your sales funnel earns when they’re tested and measured in the real world.
So, in this blog post, I’d like to showcase what I believe to be the top 5 most important statistical data points that you can track.
Sales Funnel Metrics Component # 1 – Your Lead Capture Page Opt-In Rate
One of the most important thing that I always look at is my lead capture page opt-in rate. Not all sales funnels or marketing funnels have any type of opt-in page, which is totally true, however, if your marketing funnel contains some type of subscription or opt-in, then this conversion rate in my opinion is easily one of the most fundamental metrics to track.
I always like to tell my colleagues that there’s a massive difference between having a lead capture page that converts at 75%, and having a lead capture page that converts at only 12%.
Also remember that, your lead capture page conversion rate can tell you a lot, but it never tells the whole story.
Because what happens if the lead capture page that converts at 12% ultimately results in more sales? That would be a fascinating metric to analyze, right?
In any event, I honestly believe that your lead capture page conversion rates are definitely worth tracking and analyzing.
Sales Funnel Metrics Component # 2 – Your Initial Sales Page Conversion Rate
Another huge statistic is your initial offer. What is your traditional sales page converting at?
One of my courses consistently converts at around 5%. Meaning, if around 100 students land on my course landing page, roughly 5 of them will enroll.
That’s a massively important statistic. That way, I can begin to calculate what my average visitor is worth. This way, I can then begin to calculate how much I can afford on advertising, which is a huge insight that many novice entrepreneurs and marketers overlook.
Sales Funnel Metrics Component # 3 – Your One Time Offer Conversion Rate
In any event, the beauty of a sales funnel, is that you can have upsells and one time offers that can help to increase the overall average amount of your purchase.
This is another tremendously important sales funnel metric to track, because having a one time offer or an upsell that converts well can help to dramatically increase the statistical average of your order.
For example, if you make 100 sales of your product WITHOUT a sales funnel in place, you’re guaranteed not to make any upsells. However, if you make 100 sales of a product with a competent and relevant upsell in place, you have a statistically sound chance to sell more products, and thereby increase the value of your average order.
Knowing the conversion rates of your upsells or one time offers is tremendously important, because this can help you to develop a better understanding of your overall average amount per transaction.
Sales Funnel Metrics Component # 4 – Your Overall Average Amount Per Transaction
Your overall average amount per transaction is essentially the “mother metric” of your sales funnel and is basically the average amount of dollars that your average transaction is worth.
This is hugely important, because this is the exact value that will allow you to determine how much you can afford to spend on advertising.
And why is that idea important? Well, if you wish to grow and scale your business using paid advertising, then it’s essential that you know these two important statistics; how much money does your average customer typically spend during their first transaction with you, and how much does it cost for you to generate that sale?
For example, if you know for a fact that your average transaction is roughly $197, then you can figure out how much you can afford on advertising.
Sales Funnel Metrics Component # 5 – Your Overall Cost Of Generating A Customer
In my humble opinion, the number one reason why advertising campaigns often end in disaster, is because the one buying the advertising has no clue about their own metrics.
They have no clue how much it costs to generate a customer. They have no clue about how much their average customer is worth to them.
That’s why being aware of these sales funnel metrics can give you the statistical insight required to determine feasibility.
The good news is that this often flies over the heads of starry eyed entrepreneurs who don’t understand advertising science. The bad news is that, even if you know these numbers, there’s no guarantee of success because all advertising campaigns, marketing components, and sales funnels have lots of variables that are still hard to quantify even with the utmost diligence. In short, there are never guarantees in advertising!
The good news, is that even if your marketing endeavors totally and dismally fail, at the very least, you have the data of your failed campaign that you can hopefully learn something from.
That being said, all of these sales funnel metric components have been leading up to the cost of acquiring a customer.
Getting these numbers to work out isn’t easy, of course, it requires a massive abundance of scientific analysis, split testing, ingenuity, luck, and grit!
This is probably one of the areas that many small business owners overlook, so being cognizant of these sales funnel metrics can put you in a better position when trying to determine what works, and what doesn’t.
Thank You So Much For Reading This Blog Post, You Rock!
I want to let you know that I love it when my students ask for my personal opinion regarding their email copy, their sales funnels, and their lead capture pages.
I love to offer you my humble two cents.
However, please always remember that my humble two cents never mean much!
The only thing that really matters, is when you scientifically test your marketing creatives in the real world, in front of your ideal audience.
Your real customers, students, readers and clients decide and determine marketplace feasibility, not me, nor anyone else!
Thank you so much for reading this humble blog post, and I truly hope that you have an amazing day.
Cordially and humbly yours…
Your nerdy marketing pal…
Mike “Core Metrics” DeVincent
MrComputerScience.com