Congratulations! You clicked on this article, which means you are ready to get your sales engine in the next gear. Now that we know you have the ambition and desire to improve your business and get results, we will help you with the know-how. Leads, conversion and the resulting customers and profit, every entrepreneur and freelancer wants more of each, but they can sometimes be elusive. By clicking here you’re already off to a great start. To be a brand you have to create something which is valuable to persons external to your business or organisation. Everyone wants more customers to use/purchase their product or service, but many omit a pivotal step. You must first identify and attract them in order to hook their interest and support, which is what this post is really about.
It’s a no-brainer, then, that you will need to do some marketing to increase your likelihood of making money. People must know who you are and where to find you in order to pay you and try what you have to offer. Therefore, it’s essential that you have a strategic system in place to make this happen – that plan, my friends, is your sales funnel. Luckily, it’s a lot easier than it sounds to create one, and we’re here to show you how to do it yourself.
What is it that your business does? Do you sell shoes? Repair cellphones? Build houses? Teach online workshops? Deliver lunch on weekends? Whatever it is, your sales funnel should be designed with that in mind – always. If it isn’t, you’re wasting time, passing up on potential leads (customers) and by extension, losing business. Of course you don’t want to do that, so it makes sense to first (a) decide on your overall end goal and what it is that you’re selling and then (b) figure out exactly the kind of people who need it. Once you do that, you can come up with a way to put your product in front of the people who are most likely to need it… and already be searching for it. This guarantees you a higher chance of success.
How do you do this? We thought you’d never ask – you will essentially need to ‘bait’ them with a lead magnet, which is the thing you’ll use to attract them to the step you want them to take next. This can take many forms. Let’s say you’re a personal trainer – we’ll work with this concept through to the end. For instance, if you want people to take your new fitness course, you could write a blog post about three things to implement in their lives to shape up right now, then at the end of the post, give them the option to download a free daily workout video with a score sheet to help them monitor their success.
Who are your customers? Where will your customers come from? To implement the step above, you will need a good idea of who they are and where to find them so you can meet them on their own turf and communicate your product/service value to them effectively. The more you understand your ideal customer persona and where their attention is the more effective your sales funnel will be. A good way to do this is to look at your website traffic with Google Analytics or even view your site’s built-in site-tracking system to know how they usually end up finding you. Once you know that, you can carefully design something specific to that area and invest some money it in so they are more likely to see it. For example, if most of your views come from Jamaicans on Facebook, create a Facebook post which contains a link to your site (in this case, the blog post with the video), then advertise it to Jamaicans interested in fitness. If you’ve never created a Facebook.
So you got them to your website, now what? If you don’t think about this, they will simply read the blog post, close the window and get on with their day. If you went through all the trouble to create that lead magnet, you have to ensure that they will stick around to get it. How? Simple. Tell them what it is upfront, then give it to them at the end. Remember, in a sales funnel everything has to connect, so think ahead and make sure everything leads them to the next step you want them to take until they get to the main point, which is your overall end goal. Now let’s backtrack. You’ve identified your value item, figured out who wants it and where to find them, you even created something especially for them to see, leading them right to you. What you need to do next is cement the relationship.
If you met these people in person, you’d probably exchange business cards, right? Well, online, you do the next best thing – ask them for their contact information and add them to your e-mail list. Once they get to your site, the first thing they should see is a way to sign up for your e-mail to get the reward at the end of your blog post. Once they submit that, you get to give them the teaser (the post) and then send them the video after reading so they now have your information too. Now on to step four.
Very important! You want them to sign up for your fitness coaching, remember? A call-to-action is crucial so you have to make sure in your FREE workout video clip, you give them a great, time-sensitive offer they can’t refuse. Ensure the offer is truly valuable, no one likes being let down. Let’s say they download a video from the page that says – Sign up now for 75% off my new fitness course, offer ends tomorrow! The sense of urgency will make them more likely to act on it, especially because if they’re already on step four, they’re clearly very interested in fitness and like what you’re showing them so far, which makes them much more likely to buy it.
In short, do what you say you will. Like any new relationship, your efforts must be aligned with building trust. Ensure the offer ends when you say it will, so if they miss out on the deal the first time, they can keep it in mind so they’re more likely to opt in for the next offer. Plus, if they miss out, you get a chance to keep them interested with follow-up messages about health and fitness so you can keep adding value to your lives and they, in turn, take the time they need to trust you even more.
That wasn’t so hard, was it? This is a foolproof model that can be applied to any industry and it doesn’t even have to be a sale, your end goal could be to have a face-to-face consultation. Just remember to always think five steps ahead of your lead so they end up right where you want them – as new customers of your business. Go ahead and give it a try! If you need further guidance, feel free to reach out to us for a one-on-consultation.
In our next sales-related blog, we will share a few tools to help make your funnel fool-proof. We hope you enjoyed this one!
The DGM Team is a group of digital innovators, marketers, and strategists dedicated to transforming brands through cutting-edge digital solutions. With a passion for technology and creativity, we empower businesses to thrive in the digital age through expert marketing, web development, and strategic growth initiatives.
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We’re more than a solutions agency; we’re your growth partner. Let’s shape the future together!
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