Secrets to the Great Online Course Sales Funnel in 2023
When you've sat on the sidelines of any discussion about online marketing, there's a possibility that you've encountered the term "funnel." It's a lot more and more talk regarding funnels and as well as more companies promise to help you create your perfect funnel.
People are using funnels to promote things like premium coaching , memberships or even coaching. Therefore, it is obvious that funnels are a great idea for selling an online course. And they can be!
This article we'll discuss the subject of funnels in general. What is it that makes a funnel work? What are the most important things to avoid? And we'll give you three possibilities to design your own funnel for your online courses.
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This article...
What exactly is an online course's sales funnel?
What is an online course funnel for sales is NOT
What makes the sales funnel for online courses be effective?
The truth about online course funnels
How to create an online course sales funnel
How to make your course's online funnel
How do you create an online course with
What exactly is an online course's sales funnel?
A sales funnel for online courses is a way of selling that begins with an abundance of prospective customers and moves forward step-by-step towards the final, intended course purchase. The typical customer experience for an online course starts by offering a low-cost or free offering, such as webinars, gifts (opt-in), or an online community membership. Those who are qualified go through the funnel until they finally, they purchase the course!
A course's funnel could contain upsells on the other final stage, but often, course creators will include items like 1:1 coaching, a private community, another course, or even a live-streamed event.
Throughout the process when the prospective customer is convinced (by spending a bit of time or money) that you're the right person to aid them and they get psychologically ready to buy the training course. That's fantastic!
The success of a funnel depends on the successful ratio of leads to sales - and a recognition that not everyone will buy. That's okay. The trick to a viable course business plan is getting enough people into your funnel so they can reach the end of the process It's also important that you tweak your funnel to make it more efficient. Then we'll go over everything!
A value ladder as well as the universal truth of marketing
At Mighty, we really like using the term value ladder for a funnel. Because as your ideal students are willing to spend some time or money (in exchange for a bit of value) and they begin to believe in you. As they trust you will be more willing to invest more time or cash to get greater benefit.
And dang that's great math!
What an online course sales funnel is NOT
- Sales tactics that are high-pressure. Because let's be honest We've all been there. If you're not certain that the product is right or the person can help with your questions, yet you're being urged to purchase - that's THE CRUCIALEST!
- It should have a "Buy it today" button. The entire purpose of a funnel should be nurturing and providing the value. Every funnel must contain at least two steps on its value journey.
- One offer. According to definition it is a funnel that has multiple offers. However, that doesn't mean the offers are all paid. Your funnel could contain 3 free items as well as an invitation to purchase a program. However, there must be several options that offer the same value.
- Universal. There is no single-size fits all funnel. There are certainly most effective practices, and ClickFunnels has developed a solid brand around the repeatable parts of funnels. However, a funnel that works for someone else might not be suitable for your particular audience. You need to experiment.
- The bait-and-switch. Are you looking to construct a successful funnel? You must ensure that you are providing worth at every step. If you ask your audience to download an unreliable, worthless PDF and then expects them to into a $ 215 course sale, needs to think again.
What are the factors that make an online sales funnel be effective?
Trust
The power of the funnel is the trust. Feel it. Feel the power from the channel. (IS it a Yoda quote? That should be!).
The entire purpose of the ladder's value is to earn someone's trust. They need to trust that:
- You understand their problem.
- You're the right person to solve it.
- You're worth their dollars.
Many people work for money. We don't enjoy throwing money around, particularly in these times of economic uncertainty.
What is the best way to earn people's trust?
Easy peasy. Offer value. Before you ever ask for cash. If you're able to give more value to your Ideal Student than is required to acquire it, they'll stick around.
After they've invested a bit of time or money on your product, and realize the value then they'll go on the next level!
Ideal for Students
To get the online course funnel to work, you need an Ideal Student. This is the focused avatar of the person who will pay to attend your class. There should be a need which you could help them resolve... Hence the course.
What are the best way to find your Ideal Student?
First of all, get specific. "People who like dogs" isn't a great description of the Ideal Student. Seriously Who doesn't love dogs?
So, we need to reduce it to. "People who are trying to teach crate training to the puppy of their first year" might be a better Ideal student.
So, as you're designing your course, and the course funnel, go and meet with people that you think might make good Ideal Students! Find out about their problems and challenges, and especially whether they're willing to pay for an answer.
You can then make what is known as a Big Purpose Statement to guide your program. It looks like this:
Offering Value
The topic of the importance of value over. However, once you've found an idea of your Ideal Student The next thing to do is to present them with accurate information - provide them value upfront. If you're planning an awesome dessert to prove that you're absolutely the best person to help your student, consider what they'll need to know?
In the case of those who have just had a puppy, it could be a PDF with an outline of a dog's training program. Maybe it's a webinar with the tips to train your dog.
Value can only be provided only when you understand who is the Ideal student is. And you know what's really cool? If you provide value to your customers the people are more inclined to trust you. Amazing stuff.
Software
And lastly, but definitely not the least, all funnels need some software. What software do you require? It will depend on the type of funnel you design. In general, however, an online course funnel will require software to generate leads, software that nurtures leads and provide the course.
That can get somewhat confusing, but it's an excellent online training system like does all of the above to help users.
But here's the stuff you might need software for:
Attracting New Customers |
Delivering Value |
The Course is Selling |
|---|---|---|
|
Paid Ads |
Webinar Platform |
Point of sale |
|
|
PDF Downloader |
LMS, streaming platform or even a live stream |
|
Social Media |
Community platform |
Chat and messaging |
|
A website (SEO) |
Email software |
Community |
|
A podcast |
Event platform |
Analytics |
The kind of funnel you're building will dictate the program, but we'll get into that.
Truths about online course funnels
- A small percentage of the population will buy - your "conversion" percentage. Nobody creating a funnel ever hopes for 100% of the people to be willing to spend money on the item. The range of potential buyers is anywhere from 1-5 10% maximum.
- Funnels need the time to test. It's possible your first funnel will get you there however it's very unlikely. You'll likely need to come up with a solution. Yet, as the founder of ClickFunnels Russel Brunson has said - you're just one funnel away!
- A good funnel can make millionaires. Have reasonable expectations, however, be aware that course designers often take people through funnels again and again once they find one that works.
- The funnels should be worth more than what they cost. In marketing, the acquisition cost is a crucial number. If you know that each dollar you pay for Facebook ads , you receive $30 back in course sales, then you could continue to feed that funnel!
How do I build an online sales funnel
There's no single method to create a sales funnel for an online class. You must choose what best suits your needs and your target audience. Let's look at a some, and we'll even show you the one we think is the best. But you can mix and match these.
Email Sequences
This online course sales funnel is as old as internet. You've seen it in the past. You came across a website and they offered you an "Cool pdf" as well as "Free Training." You gave out your email address, and then started receiving email from them.
If it is successful, an email sequence builds the trust of users. Imagine your Ideal students waiting eagerly for your next email, waiting for every word you speak. So that when that invitation to sign up for the online course comes around, they'll say "Gee Oh, my God, yeah!" !"
That's the best-case scenario.
But hey, you know what happens when you use email. You can be sure that someone has joined 39 other email lists and your brilliant emails end up being buried in their junk-mail box after a while.
You're now required to decide if an email fits you and the people you're targeting. And psst, it can surely be component of a funnel. If you've got a tiny email list (e.g. 100 individuals) and you can only get an additional 2% of them to purchase will not assist much. If you have 100,000 and 2% of those buying is a lot of revenue!
Webinar
This one is familiar to you. This is where you sign-up for a "Free Training" - usually through advertisements posted on Facebook, Youtube, or LinkedIn. It's a way to view a video either live or pre-recorded. (Or it's recorded but they pretend it's live. Those sneaky sneakers. )
It is a movie that you watch, and they provide some value, and then in the final minutes they offer you the chance to buy or redeem a coupon or some offer to get you to buy.
The thing that makes webinars better than email is that you can often create trust much faster. Video has a certain quality that makes it super effective. So you get to gaze the other person in the eye, have a couple of questions answered (maybe) as well as determine if they're perfect match for you.
If you're so inclined, you'll buy!
Community Funnel
The best selling funnel to sell online classes
So the final value ladder that we'll discuss is one of community. At Mighty, we really love wonderful communities.
A community is able to do all that the traditional sales funnel can do and much more. Your customers can be informed about your group. They can join (either at no cost or with a set fee). It's easy to join and let them get in on the conversation already going on with you and the fellow members.
Your community is populated with amazing content, interactive Q&As webcasts, webinars, live streams, live events, or any other thing you'd like. Your content provides a lot of value at scale.
Then, when the time is to promote your online course You'll have an established group of people who know, like, and trust you. They trust you as the person that can assist them and they'll whip out their purses and pay for the course!
It's true that if you have what you call the Ideal Students and Big Purpose right, it's easy to give value and build trust within a community. It's not even a task at by yourself. Other members can give value - because of the effect of network. This makes it the best online course funnel.
How to make the funnel of your online course
There are lots of different methods to draw people into your funnel. Here are some ideas!
- Paid advertisements
- Social posts on media
- Social media posts groups
- Sharing with Friends
- Posting on your website (SEO)
- Working off of an existing email list
- Creating partnerships with like-minded creators (get the attention of their audience)
- Podcasts appearances
- Guest Posting
How to create an online class using
If you're eager to build your online course funnel, here's an overview of how courses work within Mighty.
Are you ready to begin?
Did this guide get you excited to create your own funnel? In reality, nothing beats an excellent funnel to help ensure that your online course is sold. So if you've got something to teach and you're ready to begin creating that funnel!
And if you want an online community funnel (or webinars - and let's be honest - you can do both), come try out Mighty! It's a platform for cultural content which lets you connect courses, community, content, and commerce. Flexible Spaces let you mix features like Live streaming, an LMS discussions forums Chat and messaging, members' profiles, Q&As and many more!
In addition, it's easy to sell your course to 135 distinct currencies and even make money by token-gating. Students can also access the course on a great app for every device.