The sales funnel is a marketing tool used to help companies increase the number of people who will buy their products or services. It is composed of 9 stages. The first stage is the awareness stage, which includes activities such as search engine optimization and social media marketing. The second stage is the consideration stage, which includes activities such as content marketing and email campaigns. The third stage is the research phase, which includes activities such as lead generation and website analytics. The fourth stage is the trial phase, which includes activities such as landing pages and webinars. The fifth phase is the purchase phase, which includes activities like promotional offers and discounts for customers who have already bought products or services from a company in previous stages of the sales funnel.