Updated: September 10, 2021
Sales And Lead Funnels Built For Coaching And Membership Sites With WordPress
A funnel is a way of describing and visualizing the techniques used to lead your prospect through a process, taking them from possibly not knowing who you are to not only recognizing you but trusting you enough to buy one of your products. Ideally, this will ultimately be a high-ticket item, like a course or even one on one coaching sessions for a period of time.
Because, let’s face it, the chances of a stranger coming along and buying a thousand-dollar product without first knowing you are slim to none.
Only a fool or a very wealthy person desperately seeking a solution would even consider it.
First you have to take them through the process of getting to know, like and trust you. Along the way through to the bottom of the funnel, you will use things like the testimonials discussed earlier to assist them with progressing through this process.
Ultimately, the stages of the funnel align with the buyer’s journey.
Stages of the funnel and the buyer’s journey
The sales funnel model is named as such because at the top of the funnel is a wide opening where you may get lots of traffic coming into your funnel. By the end of it, there will likely only be a small percentage of those people left to consider buying your main offer.
At the top of the funnel, which is named the awareness stage. Which is when they’re discovering you. Then learning about who you are and what you offer or what your products are. It’s likely you have attracted them with marketing a free offer at this point. You can still sometimes make sales at this stage, on items that are priced lower and fulfil a very specific need. People are much more likely to take you up on a free yet valuable offer that will help them achieve some results.
Often, it’s preferable to save the low ticket offers for the middle of the funnel, when people are aware of who you are and what you offer.
Buying a smaller item helps to ready your audience for the next stage and next product offered in your funnel. After they have become familiar with you, and they know the issues they’re facing can be remedied with your next offer, they’ve moved on to the interest stage.
This is where they want to learn more. Some of the people who entered the funnel will have dropped off and decided they aren’t interested in your offerings. But some will be. That is a normal part of this process and the reason why it is named a funnel because of the shape and how it corresponds to the number of prospects you have at each stage of the buyer’s journey, which correlates with the stages of the funnel, from top to bottom. At the top, there is likely many people who enter the funnel possibilities by taking you up on a free offer. This is where they join your email list, and you get to educate them and ready them for the next offer you will give them when they progress through this process.
Interest and Evaluation
Your first offering can help to bring them to this point by providing enough information to spark interest.
Alongside the interest stage, is the evaluation phase. This is where they will be looking to you, to see if you have the answer to their problems. They’ll want to see if they can trust you. They’ll be looking to see if you have the answer to their problems.
If they decide you do, and they get past this stage, they’re getting towards the bottom of the funnel. Along the way, you can make other offers to them that build upon the previous offer. Or you might strategically have some products on offer with an up-sell option that’s more expensive or a down-sell option if they pass on the up-sell, you offer them a lower priced item instead. Both offers ideally are heavily discounted to encourage them to make the purchase at that time when you have their attention, and you know they are interested.
Desire
The next phase of a funnel is desire. This is when they know what you are offering. At least they know the problem they want solved, and they are starting to believe you have the answers they need. They now want what you have to offer.
Action
Lastly, right at the bottom of the funnel where only a few people will drip through to, is the action phase. This is where they take you up on your offer, they take action and purchase your more in-depth product that is often priced as a high-ticket item. This is due to the benefits it offers and the transformation it promises. It’s a more valuable product for them than the initial offers.
Follow Up
After they make a purchase, it is ideal if they take action and complete your product. Not just that, but they’ve taken action on the suggestions you made to bring about the desired results.
Then they often help by promoting your products to their network, just by telling their friends. They may even provide you with a testimonial as I suggested easier, you should request one, to help move others through the funnel more easily.
This group of people who trickled through the funnel are more likely to become repeat customers. Which is excellent for you.
This is the best outcome you should be aiming for with your customers, and with that goal in mind, you can put some thought into how you help at each stage of their journey through the funnel. It can help you decide what offers to create for them, too. So you can offer just the right thing for them at the right time.
The Sales Part of the Funnel
An online funnel includes a well-planned sequence of well-designed pages that are designed to sell. Also, the funnel will include email sequences and social media marketing, possibly live events or webinars and even podcasts, all designed to lead your prospective client through the buyer’s journey. If it is designed well, it will provide a series of points where you have the chance to make sales. The sales range from low-priced items to the more top of the range products that may cost a substantial amount.
While being led through the funnel, your prospects will be given the chance to learn more about you and what you do. If the funnel is doing its job, it will help them to get to know you and your area of expertise. They’ll begin to trust that you can deliver on your promises and help them solve their problems. Ideally, in the end they will feel compelled to buy from you. It takes a well optimized funnel to do all this.
There are many parts that make up the entire funnel and marketing strategy. This is why there are experts who specialize in creating funnels. There is also products available that help you design the process, and others that help implement it.
Setting Up Your Online Sales Funnel
There is different sales points throughout the funnel, because it takes time to prove yourself to your audience. Some things that help with creating a working sales funnel online, are a well-designed and attractive set of pages. You can use a special software program to create a funnel or just host it on your own website. It needs to be designed to promote sales and include several integral elements. You can learn what makes a good funnel by observing what other people are doing online to sell their products. The successful ones often do similar things to get their results.
There is lots of information available about creating high converting funnels. Don’t feel overwhelmed with it all. It will take time to learn and even longer to implement an amazing sales funnel. You don’t have to do it overnight. And help is available.
The buyer’s journey is a process you help facilitate
It is a process from first contact to getting the final big-ticket sale. Only a small percentage of your audience is likely to convert, even with a fully optimized funnel. The buyer’s journey will help you understand each stage of the funnel and what offerings you should have in place for your ideal audience, based on your avatars initially.
Aside from the visual design aspects, well written copy is also an important part of an online sales funnel. It is not easy to create a high conversion funnel. It takes time, skill and practice. Learn all you can about the process. And about the stages of your ideal buyer’s journey specifically, so you can best serve them. That will give you the best chance of success.
Key Elements of an Optimized Sales Funnel
Video
These days video is an integral part of any marketing campaign. Funnels are no different. Videos can be used to supplement the copy, but the words on the page will be the main star of the show, and they need to entice your audience to read on or to press play on the video you embed in the page.
Sales copy
Well written copy will help guide your customer through the sales funnel and help convince them to buy your products. Copy will help address any concerns and convey the benefits of buying your products.
Headlines
Your headlines are so important to getting the reader’s attention and drawing them in. Then you need to hook them in and keep their attention in a time when attention spans are short, this is no easy task. But it can be done.
Ongoing testing of element
Testing what works and what doesn’t is a good idea when working with a sales funnel. Do A/B testing to see what copy gets the best results.
CTA
Experiment with calls to action, which need to always be clear and easy to follow. Calls to action need to also draw the eye in, so buttons are usually used with a contrasting color to bring your attention to them. Short paragraphs and sentences can help keep their attention.
Quality photos and images
Beautifully designed images are a must. Strongly consider using your own real photos instead of stock photos. You want the sales funnel pages to look great, but also tell the story to your potential buyer about what benefits are in store for them if they purchase. Use screenshots of what people have said about you and your products as a form of testimonial and social proof. This social proof is a powerful persuasion method that is used in most funnels.
Outlining, writing and setting up a successful sales funnel takes time, patience, practice and lots of data-driven changes until you reach your highest conversion rates. Once you reach that peak of sheer ultimate efficiency, you’ll crave to repeat the process again and again.
You may also want to glance over my recent article that teaches coaches how to set up a passive income stream for consistent and dependable cashflow.
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