Create an Effective Sales Funnel
If you want to grow your business, you need a sales funnel. But lets take the mystery out of this phrase. Here’s an overview of what each element is, how to create it and a quick and easy check list to make sure you’re on track.
These tools aren’t just about selling, they are about creating a journey that nurtures your potential clients from when they first encounter you to the final sale.
Understanding these steps means you can have clear communication with your customers and they’ll know exactly what to do and how to work with you or buy from you.
The market place is busy, and people take different amounts of time to make a decision about working with someone or buying from someone. What you can do here is be aware of this and consistently build stronger, more meaningful relationships with your audience that creates trust and loyalty until they’re ready to move forward.
An 8 Step Guide to Creating Your Sales Funnel
Step 1: Clarify Your Offer
Begin by contemplating your value proposition. Write the details of the problems it solves, and incorporate client success stories or case studies that highlight real life results. This makes the benefits more tangible and relatable.
Step 2: Target Your Audience
Collect and analyse demographic and psychographic data of your target audience. Who are they, how do they think, what do they yearn for, what problems do they have etc… You might also conduct surveys or interviews with current customers to refine the customer profile. Check that your messaging is highly targeted.
Step 3: Choose the Right Platforms
Look at the effectiveness of different platforms specific to your industry. Where are your customers? Use ChatGPT to give you suggestions here by telling it about your business and what your goals are. And there’s nothing better than to try various strategies out to get first hand feedback about what’s working and what’s not.
Step 4: Develop a Content Strategy
To help with the overwhelm of creating content you might like to make a calendar of the types of content you want to share, and templates to make it easier to create. Map the different stages of the buyer's journey and check that you’ve scheduled content that directly talks to each of these states. Be YOU! Personalise your content and be authentic.
We have a monthly Content Creation session to help with this if you’d like to join us for inspiration, tips, and resources. Find the details and RSVP here.
Step 5: Craft Effective Calls to Action
Use Subject Line to help you write punchy CTAs and discuss the psychology behind why they work. You could also offer A/B testing strategies for CTAs to demonstrate how small tweaks can significantly impact conversion rates.
Step 6: Highlight the Benefits
To deepen this step, suggest using visual aids such as infographics or charts to illustrate the benefits and outcomes of your service or product. Visuals can be particularly persuasive and memorable for your audience.
Step 7: Differentiate Your Offer
Encourage the reader to use storytelling to convey their unique selling proposition (USP). Provide tips on how to weave narrative elements into marketing materials to create an emotional connection with the audience.
Step 8: Monitor and Optimise
Finally, propose a structured schedule for reviewing analytics and adjusting strategies. Introduce advanced tools for deeper analytics insights and examples of iterative changes that have led to improved performance in real scenarios.
AND….. some quick tips
Ask for feedback from your customers so that you can keep refining your funnel.
Use automation tools as much as you can, to keep consistent and avoid burn out!
Don’t be afraid of testing out new ideas, with different types of content or new social platforms.
Checklist
A quick reference to make sure you’re on track.
Step 1: Clarify Your Offer
⬜️ Define the core features of your product or service.
⬜️ Identify the specific problems you solve.
⬜️ Detail the tangible benefits for the customer.
⬜️ Incorporate success stories or case studies.
Step 2: Target Your Audience
⬜️ Define demographic details (age, gender, location).
⬜️ Outline psychographic traits (interests, values, lifestyle).
⬜️ Utilise tools for audience research (surveys, analytics).
⬜️ Refine customer profiles based on feedback.
Step 3: Choose the Right Platforms
⬜️ Identify where your target audience spends their time.
⬜️ Evaluate the effectiveness of potential platforms.
⬜️ Select a mix of digital and offline channels as needed.
⬜️ Tailor strategies for each chosen platform.
Step 4: Develop a Content Strategy
⬜️ Plan different types of content (blogs, videos, testimonials).
⬜️ Create a content calendar.
⬜️ Map content to different stages of the buyer’s journey.
⬜️ Set a sustainable publishing frequency.
Step 5: Craft Effective Calls to Action
⬜️ Develop clear and compelling CTAs for each content piece.
⬜️ Incorporate CTAs that align with user intent and funnel stage.
⬜️ Test and refine CTAs using A/B testing.
⬜️ Use analytics to monitor CTA performance.
Step 6: Highlight the Benefits
⬜️ List key benefits and outcomes of your offer.
⬜️ Use real-life examples and testimonials.
⬜️ Employ visual aids to illustrate benefits.
⬜️ Ensure benefits are clearly communicated in all marketing materials.
Step 7: Differentiate Your Offer
⬜️ Identify what makes your offer unique.
⬜️ Communicate your unique selling proposition clearly.
⬜️ Use storytelling to enhance connection with the audience.
⬜️ Highlight innovations, superior service, or unique product features.
Step 8: Monitor and Optimise
⬜️ Set up key performance indicators (KPIs).
⬜️ Regularly review analytics and gather customer feedback.
⬜️ Adjust strategies based on performance data.
⬜️ Implement changes and monitor their impact.
You’re Not Alone
We’ll be going through these steps in more details in our up coming Business Health Check session on Zoom on 8th April. We’ll be reviewing Q1 and making any adjustments to our strategies and messaging for Q2.
See the session details and sign up to the group to attend here