5 Digital Marketing Funnels That Serve & Sell

Do you know how, with certain people, you instantly associate words with them every time you hear their names? One of those for me is Cindy Bidar. That name immediately brings up: simple brilliance, stress-free funnels, tech made easy.

I think, after you read this article from her, you’ll agree that she just has a way about her that enables her to break down complex topics into easy-to-understand steps anyone can follow. Like this articles about making funnels work for you.

Enjoy!

To a lot of people, the word “funnel” is complex and scary.

You might picture a multi-step process with every action triggering additional emails or text messages or retargeting ads. If you’re overwhelmed just thinking about it, you’re not alone.

Maybe you’re put off by the cryptic-sounding acronyms though. AIDA? TOFU? ICP? What the heck do those even mean and how do they apply to your business?

Or maybe you’re a creative, relationship-focused entrepreneur and you worry that funnels will make you appear automated and distant or even manipulative. That’s definitely not in keeping with your brand!

Here’s the thing.

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Funnels are nothing but a tool to
help you better serve your clients.
You can make them anything you want them to be.
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You can easily use simple funnels to turn visitors into subscribers, and subscribers into raving fans… no dishonesty or costly, difficult-to-use software required.

Here are five useful lead-generation funnels you can use starting right now.

1. Webinar Funnels Encourage your Community to Show Up Live

Live webinars are a tried-and-true technique for selling everything from courses to software to coaching programs. You can find a multitude of strategies online for how to structure your webinar for maximum impact, but one thing everyone agrees on is that if attendees don’t show up live, they probably won’t watch your presentation at all.

That’s where a well-planned webinar funnel can make a big difference. Here’s how it works.

First, welcome everyone who registers for your event. Tell them a little about yourself, and what they can expect to learn on your webinar. Give them the link to attend, and ask them to add a reminder to their calendar.

In the following days, offer a sneak peek at what’s coming up. For example, if your webinar is about writing blog posts that attract search traffic, then you might provide some enticing SEO stats along with a promise to reveal a simple search strategy on the webinar.

If you have testimonials about your webinar, be sure to share them in your emails as well. Social proof is a powerful motivator, and can mean the difference between someone deciding to show up live or simply watch the replay.

Finally, send multiple reminders. No matter how badly they want to attend, your subscribers are facing dozens of distractions that threaten to pull them away. Make it easy for them to attend live by sending a three-email reminder sequence. One email each on the day before, the morning of, and one hour prior to your webinar will help boost attendance.

2. Content Upgrade Funnels Invite Visitors to Dig Deeper

You’ve written an epic blog post. It offers a solution your readers are desperate to have, or it gives them a new way of thinking about old problems. You’ve dialed up your SEO skills and are looking forward to a healthy traffic spike when you hit publish.

But then what? What will you ask your readers—many of whom are brand new to you—to do once they’ve read it? If they simply read your post and then hit the back button, the likelihood of them ever returning is slim. There’s too much competition for our increasingly limited time and attention span.

Offer them the next step through a content upgrade though, and you’ll earn a new subscriber and potential fan rather than a single blip in your Google Analytics.

All you need is a short checklist, a worksheet, or a resource guide to offer, and an opt-in form at the end of your post. The welcome email provides the download link to your freebie, and three to five follow-up emails provide additional tips and information about the topic.

This simple email funnel lets you build stronger relationships with your blog readers. Rather than hoping they’ll return “someday,” you can reliably reach out to them through your regular email newsletter to keep the conversation going.

3. Discovery Call Funnels Can Fill Your Coaching Programs

Every coach knows the frustration and disappointment of a discovery call no show. In some niches, no shows and last-minute cancelations can run as high as 30% or even 40%. Talk about a waste of your time and energy.

What if you used your email funnel to engage with and encourage potential clients to not only come to the call, but to arrive prepared and eager to speak to you? A simple follow-up sequence can do the trick.

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To start, you’ll need to change your discovery call workflow a bit. Ask potential clients to opt-in to your mailing list before you give them the link to your calendar for booking. Then schedule two or three “get to know you” emails to help them prepare.

Ask yourself what your most successful calls have had in common. Did your clients arrive with specific questions to ask? Did they have stats to share with you? Did they have clearly defined goals they wanted to achieve?

In your email funnel, encourage potential clients to gather information or consider questions that will help them make the most of your time together.

Be sure to include encouraging words from successful clients as well. What have they achieved with your help? Showing potential clients what’s possible for them can boost your show-up rate and help fill your coaching programs.

4. Quiz Funnels Offer Personalized Insights to Every Subscriber

Interactive quizzes make a big impression on your site visitors by helping them solve a problem or achieve a goal thanks to personalized suggestions.

There are loads of tools to help you build a quiz, such as Thrive Quiz Builder, but the real magic happens in the email follow up. That’s where you get to speak directly to your subscriber. Based on the answers they provide to your quiz questions, you can tailor your messaging and even your product offers to suit each subscribers’ unique needs.

This kind of targeted messaging serves your community by offering the right support and resources at the right time. You’re not flooding their inboxes with offers that might—or might not—be a fit and hoping something clicks. You know exactly what they need, and that makes you the hero.

5. Free Trial Funnels Invite Visitors to Try Out Your Membership or Software for Free

Membership site owners and software developers face a unique challenge. Even when you know your offer is amazing, it can be difficult to entice buyers to commit to a recurring charge.

Enter the free trial funnel.

For nothing more than an email address, skeptical buyers can enjoy your membership for a few days, or even an entire month or more. Of course, during that time, your job is to show them the biggest benefits of being a member. That’s where your email funnel comes in.

Schedule frequent (I recommend daily) emails that highlight all of the features of your offer. Give trial members a tour, so they don’t get lost or overwhelmed. Point out your most popular resources. Remind them to introduce themselves to your community and to share their wins.

In other words, make them feel at home.

You can see that none of these funnels are overly complex. They don’t require you to learn a whole new language to create them, and they definitely aren’t in any way manipulating your community.

They do all have one thing in common though: They all start with an opt-in page connected to your email marketing platform. This simple set up is at the heart of every lead-generating funnel, but for many of us, even this feels intimidating to build. If you’re a self-identified technophobe you’ll get no judgement from me, but I will offer you a helping hand.

For less than the cost of a couple of Mocha Frappuccinos at your favorite coffee spot, you can quickly learn this foundational system that every single online business owner must master. From there, you’ll be able to build any kind of email funnel you need or want to grow your business.

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