What are funnels for marketing? (A guide for creators) |

Want to boost your conversion rate, and also sell more digital products? A marketing funnel can be your best weapon. This is how it works.

You created a digital product which you are confident that your customers will enjoy. It's full of actionable guidance and knowledge, and has the potential to make an impact on the lives of your clients.

Why isn't it flying off shelves (virtual) shelf?

Your marketing strategy may be at fault -- especially if you don't know how to move your customers from the point A (discovering the product) from point A (thinking about purchasing it) to the point of C (becoming loyal and delighted customers).

Marketing funnels are where they are useful.

In this article we'll discuss why marketing funnels are a necessity for all creators. We'll also discuss the top marketing techniques to employ in each step within the funnel.

First, let's be a bit more reflective and address the issue that's to everyone's heart: What exactly is a marketing funnel?

What is a marketing funnel?

Marketing funnels map the journey that a potential buyer (or "lead") is on beginning with the business to when they buy.

How a lead will be placed within the funnel is based on how familiar they are with your company or its products and how close to making a purchase decision.

Different marketers break their marketing funnels into distinct phases. This one will be simple by using a funnel with three stages mapping the buyer's journey from awareness to conclusion.

Awareness:They're just starting to find your brand or products. These leads know they have a pain point, but don't know what options are out there.

Take into consideration:These leads are evaluating the various options available. They're trying to determine whether your solution will address the issue and whether they can trust your brand.

The decision:These leads are ready to purchase and they're just waiting for more push to convert into customers.

You'll also often see the phases of the funnel divided into TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU. These are the top of funnel and middle of funnel and bottom of funnel. The higher up the funnel a lead is further down, the more close they are to converting.

Now that you know what a funnel does What makes it an essential part of your marketing strategy?

Do you really need the funnel for your marketing?

Using a marketing funnel will help increase the effectiveness of your marketing and efficient.

This is what I am referring to When you are a creator, your time is one of the most valuable resources you have.

Most small-scale businesses spend less than five hours each week on marketing. When you have limited budget and time to focus on marketing your online business You can't afford to speculate on what content might be a hit with your customers.

This way, you won't end up pitching a hard sale to someone who recognizes your brand.

Brian Clark, digital marketing expert and founder of Copyblogger, explains :

"We don't dive into directly selling to every audience member that interacts with our material. Instead, we use various strategiesincluding indirect as well as direct that help us make a compelling case for our product whenever the moment is right."

Plus, customers expect relevant content:

91% of consumers tend to purchase from brands that provide relevant offers.

Sixty-three percent of customers will be more positive about a brand if it gave them more valuable informative, engaging, or pertinent information.

If you send your prospects the right messaging at the right time and at the right time, you'll see results: Targeting users with content relevant to where they are in the purchasing process may result in 72% more conversion rates .

Do you want to convert cold leads to paying customers? Let's look into the top methods to market at every stage of your funnel.

How can you promote your digital product at every phase of your funnel

Attract leads through lead magnets, as well as with advertisements on social media.

In the awareness stage it's not yet time to even think about making a purchase. They're looking to find out more about their pain points and what solutions might be available to them.

Give these leads the information they're searching for through sharing high-quality content that addresses their pain issues. These valuable pieces of content help promote your company's image and establish yourself as an authority in your niche.

Take Ryan of Signature Edits  For instance. Signature Edits provides templates, presets and training for their target group of photographers.

Ryan recognizes that photographers face many different issues. That's why Ryan offers two lead magnets for photographers: an candid posing guide and a free sample pack of presets for editing photos .

After someone downloads one of the lead magnets, Ryan forwards follow-up emails to inform them about his brand and products. And offering two different lead magnets helps Ryan make those follow-ups more targeted and relevant.

If, for instance, someone opts to sign up for one of the photo editing presets, Ryan knows that editing is a point of interest and maybe even a problemto that individual. With that info on hand, Ryan can confidently promote his editing products to that person.

The creator Minessa Konecky of Direct to Success makes use of interactive games to attract new leads to her sales funnel and then provide them with a personalized experience for customers.

Utilizing the an online quiz program called Interact , Minessa created an online lead generation game for finding your business blocking factor to help you attract and discover more about prospects for new prospects.

When someone has completed her test, Minessa segments them into the following three categories:

Overwhelmed:Small business owners with many things to accomplish and aren't certain how to spend their time everyday.

Professional midlifeEntrepreneurs who know what they require to know, but haven't figured out how to connect the action things into a strategic.

Perpetual procrastinatorsPeople who understand the things they must do, but can't get started by themselves.

Based on which group the lead belongs to, Minessa moves them through the funnel, sharing one of three free mini-courses.

Then, once they near the bottom of her funnel, she presents leads to her main products and encourages them to purchase her products or sign up for her program, The Squad Academy .

A final thing to remember prior to moving on to the middle of the funnel What is the best way to make sure these lead magnets are placed in front of your prospective clients?

Ads on social media are efficient ways to advertise your lead magnets particularly on Facebook.

Here's why: Facebook ads generally have an lower price and better returns than other channels making it one of the most effective social media channels for small businesses.

Plus, Facebook has some of the most targeted audience-targeting features out there. As an example, Lookalike Audiences allow you to target users similar to your current customers.

Take one of your existing audiences, like your blog subscribers or online course students, and tell Facebook to search for more similar to that audience.

For more information on the ways Facebook advertisements can assist you to improve your marketing efforts Check out these sources:

If you've got the high point of the funnel covered, you're prepared for the next phase: evaluating.

Consideration: Nurture leads with email marketing

At the point of consideration buyers are analyzing and comparing several options. They understand what the issue is and know there are a myriad of solutions there to solve it.

It is your job to help people realize that your product will be the ideal choice. Now is the time to cultivate those leads.

I can't stress enough the importance of lead nurturing. In a world where 80% of new leads do not translate into sales, nurturing your leads could make the difference between soaring revenue and dismal sales numbers.

Still not sure? In the average, leads who have been nurtured are 47% larger purchases and result in a 20% increase in sales opportunities than non-nurtured leads.

and a return on investment of $42 for every one dollar invested  Email is among of the cheapest and flexible marketing tools -- especially when you're a small-business proprietor with a budget to match.

Now that the leads you've enrolled on your mailing list now is the time to put them into a nurture sequence.

Email 1:Introduce yourself, and encourage your readers to think about the challenge you're trying to solve for them.

Email 2:Now you know that your potential client is thinking about the problem and has some ideas, you can share them for them so that they can to take the first step towards getting it solved.

Email 3:It's the time to announce your program. Explain what you offer and why it could be a great solution to their needs.

E-mail 4.You've created your very first proposal, but your prospective buyer may still have doubts. Be prepared to answer some of the most important concerns they may have regarding the course you're offering.

Email 5:Make one final pitch. Tell them why they must act now and invite them to get in touch with us with any concerns.

Each email serves a specific purpose. Once we get into emails four and five, the lead is in the process of making a decision, but the selling process doesn't begin until the final email. Your goal is to gently lead your lead toward converting -rather than shoving them into the deep end.

The middle of the funnel is also an excellent moment to discuss social proof to your prospects.

It was invented by Dr. Robert Cialdini in his well-known publication Influence , the idea of social proof is "we view a behavior as more correct in a given context if there are others who perform the behavior".

Also, if prospects see that those who similar to them are purchasing and seeing results from your products, they'll desire to join in the action.

In the case of marketers, using social proof can mean including reviews and testimonials throughout the marketing funnel, particularly during the decision period. Here's why:

95 percent of consumers review online and read customer testimonials or reviews prior to making a purchase.

88% of people believe in online reviews more than personal advice.

72% of customers affirm that positive reviews and reviews boost their confidence in the business more.

You've made it through the consideration stage, and the sale is just so near that you feel it. Let's cross that finish line.

Choice: Convert leads using the use of retargeting as well as special deals

The final stage of decision-making is the final stretch of your funnel to market. This is the point where your marketing efforts should result in conversion the target market a simple task.

How do you get you to the finish line?

One of the most powerful BOFU marketing techniques is retargeting.

Have you ever been looking at a pair of sneakers at an online store and then hopped over to Facebook, just to see identical shoes being advertised in your newsfeed? That's retargeting.

This particular type of retargeting works via using the Facebook Pixel , "a piece of code on your website that lets you measure, optimize and develop audience for your ad campaigns". It helps you retarget BOFU leads who have seen your site's content and been have been engaged by your posts.

This is how Facebook Pixel works: Facebook Pixel works:

Add the pixel the code of your site.

The pixel monitors which items customers are most interested in.

You use the pixel to retarget and target these users through Facebook advertisements.

If they click on ads, they come back to your site's landing page and make the purchase.

In terms of the content for those advertisements, the decision stage is the time to increase the urgency and emphasize any promotions that you can offer.

Obe Fitness did the second by displaying this retargeted advert in my feed on Facebook:

I've visited Obe Fitness' site before I even began the sign-up process. As I was getting close to making the switch, they targeted me with a special discount promo code as well as a CTA to sign-up.

If you want to create urgency, offers that are limited time could encourage customers to make a purchaseor buy it now. Eighty-nine percent of Americans say that an exclusive offer would encourage them to shop at a specific brand, whereas 48% say they would be more likely to purchase if an exclusive offer made customers buy earlier.

Here are a few ideas to include that urgency in your BOFU marketing

Create a deal that lasts for a specific period of time and then put an countdown timer to the product's page. This could lead to a rise of 147% in the number of conversions .

If you're offering a sale that is limited in time, make that clear to the leads at the bottom the funnel. This could be just that push they require to make the purchase.

You need to prioritize customer retention over acquisition.

It could cost more than seven times greater to attract an entirely new client than keeping an existing customer.

52% of consumers go out of their way to purchase from the brands they trust.

Repeat customers are nine times higher likely purchase than a first-time shopper.

Many marketers consider loyalty and retention as the fourth stage of the marketing funnel. If your customers are pleased with their service, they share their message about your company or product, and those recommendations are incorporated into your marketing funnel and so on.

Include a funnel in your marketing toolkit

Every product, company, and audience is different. There's not a universal strategy for marketing which will make the conversion rate increase, and make your funnel overflow overnight.

But when you keep the marketing funnel top of mind, it will help you gain a better understanding of the buyer's journey starting with awareness and ending with purchase. Once you are aware of this, you will be able to get your message right to your prospects when they need it.

To recap, here are the best marketing techniques to use at each step of the marketing funnel:

awareness:Focus on providing high-quality content that addresses your audience's problems and sets you up as an authority within your field. Lead magnets as well as Facebook ads are great for this point.

Beware:Nurture your leads with the use of an email sequence, as well as social evidence. Help them feel confident that your service is able to meet their needs.

Choice:Go for the hard pitch. Make use of retargeting, special offers and a sense urgency to get your prospects over the finishing line.

The bottom line is: Keep the customer journey at the forefront of your mind all your way and you'll be well on the way to creating a marketing funnel that makes your sales increase.