Sales Funnels
By Siân Morgan-Owen, The Admin Genie UK
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links for which I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase. I only recommend products I love.
Funnel up buttercup!
As an online business instead of sales funnels wouldn’t it be great if we could add a product or service to our sites, have a ‘BUY NOW’ button underneath and hey presto it sells like hot cakes?
Erm, unfortunately, it’s not going to happen.
So, we need to create sales funnels, and take our ‘potential dream customers’ on a journey.
This all starts at the top of the sales funnels with…
Stage 1: Awareness
Exactly what it says. It’s about raising awareness of you and what you do…what pain point you fix.
Before you can do any of this (I know I say it a lot) you really need to pin down who your dream client is. Build your ICA (Ideal Customer Avatar) and then (I know, I’m like a broken record)…WRITE DOWN YOUR MISSION!
When you know who your ICA is and what problem you solve you can start building content to raise awareness across all of your digital platforms.
You can do this organically or with paid ads.
Stage 2: Interest
The next section of your sales funnel is to make sure your ICA is aware of you and is now a visitor to your site…now what?
This is where you want to get your ICA/visitor onto your email list.
This is the point you need to have an affective carrot for your visitor… a ‘lead magnet’ or, also known as an ‘opt-in freebie’.
By sending your visitor to a ‘landing page or ‘squeeze page’ you offer them something for free, for instance a workbook, ebook, how to video, top 5 ways to help solve their problem etc in exchange for an email address.
Your lead magnet doesn’t have to be war and peace; it just needs to instantly fix a problem. A ‘quick win’.
If you were thinking about paid ads it’s your lead magnet that you would advertise, not necessarily your end service / product / course / membership etc.
Getting your ICA to sign up to your email list converts them from a visitor into a subscriber. By building an email list of subscribers you are building a pool of warm leads who are interested in what you are doing.
This section of the funnel is also known as a lead or SLO funnel.
Elements required to create this section are:
🌟 Lead magnet / opt-in freebie – opportunity to fix a problem, tell them why you’re the expert in your field and tell them a bit about you.
🌟 Landing page / squeeze page – keep it simple and distraction free. Don’t forget to include GDPR required info.
🌟 Succession page / thank you page – good place to say thank you and remind your new subscriber to check their junk folder.
🌟 Lead Magnet delivery – automate the email so it automatically gets sent to your new subscriber.
🌟 Email Nurture Sequence – automated set of emails that get sent to your new subscriber telling them about you, what you do, why you’re the expert and how you can help them. Always building your ‘know’ ‘like’ and ‘trust’.
Stage 3: Decision
Previously I mentioned thank you / succession pages. This page is not just a great way to say thank you but it’s also a good opportunity to send your new subscriber somewhere else like:
🌟 Your free or paid group (community)
🌟 A free webinar, youtube channel where your new subscriber can find out more about your service / course / membership / product etc.
🌟 Free trial
🌟 You could also put a link to a low or high ticket offer
🌟 Or a link to book a discovery call if you’re offering a 1:1 service.
This isn’t going to be the only time you’ll tell your subscribers about your offers so don’t get dishearten if they don’t buy from your succession page.
You’ll get the opportunity again with your email nurture sequence.
An email nurture sequence is a series of emails designed to engage your subscriber and build your ‘know,’ ‘like’ and ‘trust’.
- See – Email or emither list?
- Reminder to download your freebie and welcome them to your community. Call to action – download
- Key takeaways from your freebie. Call to action – ask a question for them to respond to.
- About you, tell your subscriber a little about who you are and your journey. Call to action – link / like / follow across your socials.
- Your WHY…tell your subscriber why you do what you do and why you’re the expert. Call to action – link to your blog.
- Share a client success story – Call to action – review page, testimonials, discovery call booking or just your website.
- Answer a frequently asked question or bust an industry myth – Call to action – book a discovery call with you or email you a question.
- Share your offer – Call to action – buy now, get on the waitlist, sign up, join the masterclass etc.
Make this sequence as evergreen (so it stays relevant) as possible and automate it, but make sure you do a systems check often.
Stage 4: Action
This is a really important section. Your subscriber may have decided to become a customer but until that money is in your ‘proverbial hand’ they’re not a customer yet.
Make sure your online payment system is on point, because if there is a problem with the payment your subscriber will bounce away and you may not get them back.
Final Thoughts!
Every online business needs a sales funnel.
Creating a sales funnel is about a journey, a process. Learn the sections you need to or outsource them.
Automate what you can but check your automations often.
Make sure you analyse and check metrics at the different stages of your funnels. That way you can quickly change anything that isn’t working.
You will need:
🌟 To be visible
🌟 Create a lead magnet
🌟 A platform for landing pages, thank you pages and sales pages – website or a marketing platform (Kartra, Mailerlite etc)
🌟 An email marketing platform – Kartra, Mailerlite, ActiveCampaign etc.
🌟 Payment system – Stripe, Paypal etc.
Still don't know where to start? 😨😵😰😱
So, I’m sure it’s stages 2 and 3 that are filling you with dread, right?
The Admin Genie offers a full fabulous funnels ‘done for you’ package. We’ll take care of the whole process from lead magnet to email nurture sequence…we can even take care of the copy if writing lead magnets, landing pages and email sequences are just not your thing.
If you’re feeling brave and want to tackle it yourself but would like to talk it through in more detail then why not book my ‘Digitally Dazzling’ power hour.
If you think you’d like support with stage 1 then get in touch about my ‘done for you’ social media management packages.
Can you afford to NOT be thinking about you sales funnels?
