A simple truth is that every business needs new customers to grow. What’s less clear is exactly how businesses obtain those new customers. In the digital age, marketing is expected to shoulder more of this responsibility, in order to convert your leads into paying customers and grasp your customers’ attention.
So, what is a sales funnel?
A sales funnel is the marketing term for the journey potential customers goes through on the way to purchase a product. For example, you can attract a customer by:
Email newsletters and alerts.
Online advertisements.
Website pages and free content.
Webinars or events.
Free material or a sample of the products.
Here’s how basic lead generation funnels look like:
With this sort of funnel, you get to convert your web traffic into email list subscribers. When you get people on your email list who are interested in your knowledge, you get the chance to contact them again and educate them on your offering. Eventually, you will build trust, gain credibility, and you will be able to nurture your email list subscribers into buyers.
Let’s break down the basic lead generation funnel into steps.
Step 1: Create your Lead Magnet Opt-In Page
The first stage of growing your business is to attract leads. Send your social media or paid traffic to a landing page with a free downloadable ebook or free mini-course. On the opt-in page, you will ask the web visitors to give their email addresses so they download the free ebook and are added to your email list.
Some lead magnet techniques you might find effective:
1. Add a sign-up form to your page. Since it’s free to register, those who are hesitant to spend money may be willing to sign up, which gives you the opportunity to convert new users into paying customers. You can reach out to them and further nurture them.
2. Add an Email grabber checkbox on your Home/Landing Page for users to opt-in to your mailing list, in order to gain access to your free material after submitting their email. You can set up the Redirect on submit field to redirect to a created free course. You can carefully segment your mailing list and address your audience’s needs at each stage of the subscription process by sending them personalized messages.
3. Gather leads via Popups for users who are ready to exit your website, and offer them a discount!
The most important thing is to monitor all your lead generation efforts and choose the most effective techniques for your business.
Step 2: Set up your Thank you Page
On your After Purchase page, which is the Thank you Page, you can always promote your other products, or even offer a discount to purchase an upgraded product. You can add a Call-to-Action button, in order to attract your customers!
Step 3: Set up an Email Marketing Campaign
Email marketing is a powerful tool that allows you to send emails to your leads, create email campaigns, and drive desired results.
In your email campaign, you can send free material to your leads! Offer a video, a PDF file, a how-to ebook, infographics, free tickets to a special event, coupons, free one-2-one consultation in order to convert your leads to paying customers!
By following these simple, yet effective techniques, you are ready to skyrocket your sales!