Sales funnel is a phrase that’s used a lot in the online business world, and often it’s made out to be far more complicated than it actually is, so plenty of new entrepreneurs are coming into this space and hearing about sales funnels and then feeling frustrated and overwhelmed – which is often made worse by people giving conflicting information when talking about sales funnels.
To really simplify it for you, a sales funnel is nothing more than a process that takes someone from never having heard of you or bought from you, to being a customer. That’s it. It doesn’t matter if they spend $1 or $1,000, the process is the same – it’s just that the level and depth of information shared within the funnel will be more reflective of the price, but the steps really are the same.
For example, many people are surprised to know that a supermarket is a sales funnel. Do you ever wonder why stores and supermarkets are laid out the way they are? They’re not just random and there’s definitely a method to the madness – in fact, people are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars just for advising and helping stores maximize their profits through the way they’re laid out because these stores understand the immense value that a good sales funnel has for them.
So, in this post, we’re going to look at how you can create a simple, effective sales funnel for your business so that you can see just how easy it actually is.
Create a free piece of content:
The first part of your sales funnel is simply being able to catch attention. The best way to do this is by creating an engaging and high-value piece of free content that you can share on your blog, or even on social media. The point of this content is to be able to get people into the next stage of your sales funnel because they find so much value in your initial piece of content and that they’re able to get a result from it. This piece of content is completely free and nobody has to opt-in for anything.
Create a lead magnet:
The next part of your sales funnel is designed to deliver value and collect people’s email addresses so that you can share even more value with them. This should be the next step for them to take after consuming your first piece of free content and should complement it in some way – for example, a PDF that helps them implement what’s in the blog post.
Create a 4-6 part email series:
Now that you have people on your list, then you want to keep giving them value and the best way to do this is through sharing a strategic, high-value email series that leads them further down your sales funnel. These should be written in advance and then scheduled out through your email marketing system to go out at specific intervals after someone joins your list.
Make an offer:
Whether you’re selling services such as Managed IT Services or a product, by now you’ve given good value and are able to make a paid offer that makes sense as the next step based on the information you’ve been sharing.
