Okay, I build funnels for a living, and have helped people scale to 1M and beyond using them. I also teach other people how to build funnels through my course. So that's my background.I keep hearing over & over how a business needs to have a sales funnel. I've tried in the past without luck but maybe my execution was poor. Here's how I understand a sales funnel:
- 97% of customers are not ready to buy right now (sounds about right. I get 2.5% conversion from my website.)
- So you offer visitors something of value (e.g. free guide) that they give you their email address for.
- You drip feed them useful content via email.
- This keeps you top of mind when they eventually are ready to buy.
- My hope is that this could double my overall conversion rate to 5%.
The first issue here is that you have a bit of a mistaken understanding on some points, which is causing you to take the wrong actions.
The reason why you go lead magnet first is because it typically takes more than just one touch to sell someone something. You could pay for ads to reach that person 8 times, but that is 8x as expensive as paying for ads once and getting their email to be able to reach out for free for the next 7 touches.
That is point number one. You use a lead magnet in order to NOT have to pay ads to get your message to reach to your target audience. You reach out for FREE via emails. Otherwise, believe me, there is ZERO difference between ADS and EMAIL. Both are just two VEHICLES that carry your message to some people. One is a paid vehicle, the other one is free. You want to use free. Please write this down so that you remember it.
Now, second point. If you're just starting out, your goal is not to "drip feed them useful content", but to get sales. This is called "direct response" in marketing. So the second rule you MUST follow is that each email MUST have a sales message. Yes, you can put in useful stuff in there too, but each email MUST have a sales message as well, and MULTIPLE CTAs - generally I aim for 3-4 links per email.
The idea of staying top of mind till they're ready to buy is mistaken in your case. If they grab this lead magnet about a wedding, they're either planning one, or about to have their wedding. In either case, there is a small timing window that they would be interested in. Say at most 1 year and a bit. After that, you must throw them out of your list, because they will be useless sitting there and you'll be paying for them (that is unless you plan to sell other stuff to them).
Now, the third point, but perhaps the most important.
Nobody cares about an audio guide. Nobody thinks about audio systems when they have or plan a wedding. Most people think the audio is just going to be there, and the DJ will take care of it.
Your chance of getting a mass market to take this guide is almost 0, even if you give it free.
You must identify an actual pain-point that your target market actually cares about. Then you must relate your audio equipment as the solution to that pain-point.
A much better lead magnet: "7 Steps to Make Your Wedding The Best Day of Your Life" OR "How To Be 100% Sure That EVERYONE Remembers Your Wedding" OR "5 Easy Steps To Having The Most Memorable Wedding"
Now this is something people care about. They dig this shit. They're going to want it (especially women who tend to also be the biggest consumers/spenders). And they're going to get it.
Among the other useful stuff that you teach them in there, you open their eyes about having a quality sound system in place.
"One of the biggest mistakes people make at their wedding is failing to create a memorable experience with their music & lightning. Especially in an outdoor environment, you need to make sure that the sound is evenly distributed, there are no reverberances, and the music can animate participants to create the right partaaaaaaay atmosphere. No one likes a dead wedding, where poor sound quality prevents people from getting into the mood of the celebration. And this is the biggest day of your life - you want to make it the best. The number one thing you have to do, is make sure that your DJ gets the BEST sound equipment. You want to look for the one and only Lee Wright's Brand of Sound Speakers - they will rock you to heaven, and create the perfect atmosphere for your wedding"
Get it?
Ok. Good.
Fourth point, if your conversion rate (and by that I mean people who buy off your website) is 2.5%, that is already good enough. Most sellers online have 1.6% conversion rates on average, so you're doing good. Yes, you could get to 4-5%, but I think your effort is better spent elsewhere first. Your best bet isn't on increasing conversion rates, but rather on tampering with the other factors.
Jay Abraham right? 3 ways to grow your biz: more customers, higher average order value, more repeat buyers. You've already worked on more customers. That is the conversion rates bit. Now work on the other two.
Higher average order value -> use funnels. After they buy a speaker, what UPSELLS & CROSS-SELLS are you hitting them with? Do you have 1-click upsells and cross-sells?
Repeat buyers... is there any repeat sale that you can make? Some item that they may need on an ongoing basis that is relevant?
Do you have a REFERRAL program? Maybe hand them a discount coupon when they purchase, that they can gift to another couple. That makes them look good, gets them to be able to make a free favor to another couple and get them indebted to them (so they have an interest in your success), and gets them bringing more customers through your door.
You have to think through these questions.
Some people like @BizyDad (and my other haters) here complain that I'm promoting my funnel course, but the fact is that most of you guys are having problems because you're jumping from tactic to tactic without a global, strategic understanding of what you need to do in order to grow your business. That's where learning from an expert is actually useful.
Hopefully the above gives you sufficient pointers to move ahead.
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