Digital Sales Grow: The Sales Funnel Begins in the Social Feed

It’s time to rethink the digital marketing funnel if you want your digital sales grow to reach its full potential.

The old playbook – of static landing pages, gated whitepapers, and endless email campaigns – is rapidly becoming outdated. Modern buyers are no longer passively consuming promotional materials or blindly signing up to receive brochures. Instead, they are scrolling, watching, engaging, and connecting before ever clicking a single link.

Digital strategies may have become mainstream, but not everyone has caught up with how dramatically the buyer journey has evolved. Treating social media as a secondary asset, or merely a channel for brand promotion, overlooks a far more potent opportunity: social is now the beginning of the buyer’s decision-making journey.

The Funnel Is No Longer a Destination – It’s an Ecosystem: Digital Sales Grow

One of the most revealing insights emerging from recent marketing conferences, particularly in the fintech sector, is this: “the funnel isn’t a landing page – it’s your entire content ecosystem.” That ecosystem includes the social content you publish, the conversations you join, and the communities you cultivate.

Social media is not just a vehicle for awareness or outreach. It’s where research begins, impressions are formed, and trust is either built or broken. And the platforms most marketers tend to undervalue – LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, even TikTok – are quickly becoming the default research engines for buyers across industries.

According to recent research, over 76% of enterprise fintech buyers turn to Instagram for product discovery, and more than 70% use Facebook in their research process. These aren’t just lifestyle platforms anymore; they are critical components of a buyer’s early evaluation phase.

Behaviour Has Changed – And So Must Marketing

The conventional wisdom that a click signals intent is rapidly becoming obsolete. In truth, intent begins long before someone lands on a product page. It starts in the feed – with a scroll, a pause, a like, or a share. Buyers are taking in brand messaging, tone of voice, and perceived authenticity well before they ever enter a formal sales pipeline.

Rather than pursuing gated content or relying heavily on lead magnets, brands today need to focus on showing up consistently and meaningfully in social spaces. That means replacing polished corporate jargon with genuine conversations, surface-level posts with deeper insights, and faceless logos with human voices.

Rethinking the Funnel: From Transaction to Trust – Digital Sales Grow

Embrace the Feed as the New Funnel

In today’s marketing landscape, the traditional funnel has flattened and widened. Brands need to consider their social feeds as more than broadcasting platforms – they are now the primary touchpoints in the buyer’s journey.

Each post, reel, comment, or reply contributes to a broader narrative about who your company is, what it stands for, and how it engages with its audience. Social media feeds are no longer simply marketing megaphones; they are dynamic, evolving stories that your audience watches over time.

Prioritise Authentic, Human Content

A sterile, overly-polished social feed no longer resonates. Audiences want to connect with real people, not marketing departments. If your content doesn’t feel like it could come from a colleague, a peer, or a customer – it will likely be ignored.

Showcasing customer success stories, employee experiences, behind-the-scenes moments, and industry insights from your team humanises your brand. It offers your audience a glimpse into the people behind the product, making your company more relatable and trustworthy.

The Rise of Video: Visibility Through Value

Video is one of the most valuable formats on social today, helping digital sales grow through increased engagement and trust. For example, product walkthroughs, short leadership clips, or simple Q&As with team members consistently boost engagement and build trust.

On platforms like LinkedIn, video content receives up to three times more engagement than standard posts. But it’s not just about visuals. Video allows for tone, personality, and emotion to shine through – qualities that text-based content often struggles to convey.

Consistency, however, is key. A single successful video will not build a followinPractical Steps for a More Engaged Strategyg. It’s about showing up week after week with helpful, insightful, and occasionally entertaining content that earns your audience’s attention over time.

Today’s Buyer: Observant, Informed, and Always Online

In the past, potential customers made decisions after reading a whitepaper or webinar, but now digital sales grow through ongoing engagement. Today, they’re absorbing brand information in real time through multiple formats. Research shows that modern B2B buyers consume up to ten pieces of content before engaging in a sales conversation.

What does that mean for marketers? Presence matters. If your brand only appears sporadically, or speaks in a generic tone, it may be forgotten in a sea of more engaging competitors.

To stay top of mind, businesses must adopt a multi-touch approach. This means joining discussions, sharing videos, and offering real-time insights.

Forget Vanity Metrics – Focus on Relationships

It’s tempting to judge social success through likes, shares, and follower counts. But in B2B and enterprise contexts, the true value lies in influence and relationships.

Are key decision-makers following your team members? Is your brand being tagged in relevant industry discussions? Are prospects reaching out with genuine questions after seeing your content?

These are the indicators that matter. True social impact is seen when your content sparks dialogue, builds communities, and positions your brand as a reliable resource rather than just a product vendor.

Making the Shift: From Vendor to Valuable Partner

If social media is still being treated as a “nice to have,” there’s a critical shift that needs to occur. Today’s digital landscape demands that businesses use these platforms not merely to push their offerings, but to demonstrate relevance, share expertise, and offer genuine support.

The companies thriving today are those that have transformed their marketing mindset. They no longer see social media as a channel for shouting louder – they view it as a space for listening more closely, and for contributing meaningfully to their audience’s journey.

Practical Steps for a More Engaged Strategy: Digital Sales Grow

Here are a few foundational shifts businesses should consider when building their social-first funnel:

• Empower employees to share content: Your team can be your greatest amplifiers. Encourage them to share their insights and experiences in their own voice.
• Make video a core part of your strategy: Whether through product walkthroughs, customer Q&As, or industry explainers, video boosts both reach and relatability.
• Post with purpose and consistency: Sporadic updates won’t build momentum. Plan out a content cadence that focuses on value, not volume.
• Engage beyond the post: The comment section is often where trust is built. Be present, be helpful, and be human.
• Track relationship signals, not just reach: Look for indicators of trust – mentions, inbound messages, questions, and ongoing dialogue.

The Verdict: Social Is No Longer Optional

The modern funnel starts not with a click, but with a scroll that helps digital sales grow steadily. Businesses that acknowledge this shift – and adapt their strategy accordingly – are more likely to thrive in the evolving digital marketplace.

It’s not about abandoning traditional marketing altogether. But it is about putting social at the core of your engagement strategy. This is where first impressions are made, where trust is built, and where long-term relationships begin.

To succeed in this new landscape, brands must stop broadcasting and start connecting. Show up. Be real. And most importantly, understand that today’s audience isn’t just watching – they’re evaluating, comparing, and deciding long before they ever click.