What is a Business Sales Funnel?
Funnels, this. Funnels, that. It seems like everyone says the magic road to passive income is having the right funnel but no one says what a funnel actually is or how to get one. I feel safe saying that most entrepreneurs, no matter how many years they’ve been in business, couldn’t really speak to what a funnel is or how a funnel works.
That being said, a sales funnel for a service business or a small business sales funnel is vital for success. If you don’t understand how to get a sales funnel working for your business than that means fewer sales, messy marketing metrics, zero profits, and an out-of-whack business.
This blog post includes affiliate links for tools that I know and use. If you purchase using any of these links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
The Basic Sales Funnel, Explained
The simplest small business sales funnel is going to start with content, which is why I’m always preaching about content marketing (message me here if you’re ready to start your content marketing journey). Your content is what’s going to initially attract your audience. Let’s look at this from different content types.
Social Media Posts
This is any post you share on Facebook or Instagram or any social media platform. It can be fun, witty, or informational but what it must do is grab attention. At this stage you want your audience to think of you and keep you front of mind for when they need you or your products. Social media posts are a great way to get casual attention but a deeper level of customer engagement is blogging.
Blogging
Uh, oh. I said the word: blog. Most people run in fear, terrorized that I said THE four-letter word. Typically, this conjures up images of long hours writing and stringing words together until you get something readable. Then you worry about if anyone even wants to read it. It’s not like people will just automatically know you have a blog, right?
Well, yes, they could. It’s called SEO- Search Engine Optimization.
I like blogging because, when used correctly, you attract a more engaged audience that is closer to converting into a customer. The way SEO works is you write about a subject related to your business. When people Goggle that subject, your blog pops up. It sounds simple and that’s because it is. The hard part is you’re not the only person writing about that subject, so you have to beat all the other people writing about your subject. When you’re already the content creator, writer, CEO and bookkeeper for your business it can be really hard to add in SEO strategist too. That’s why you should either look up places like Moz or Hubspot to teach it to you or hire digital marketing companies that can do it for you.
YouTube
YouTube videos are content gold. A video makes a great first impression and it gets people familiar with you and your brand. Video can also be repurposed across platforms so that you can get more use out of your content. If you create it for YouTube, make small edits and share it on Facebook, your blog, and Instagram. Video is instantly engaging and when used in a sales funnel, is a great way to make you memorable.
All the examples I’ve given so far are what’s called “Top of Funnel”. Content that is top of funnel is normally engaging and free for the audience. It gives them what they need and if it’s useful, they will either save it or take the next action with you. Taking the next action could be singing up for your email list or making a purchase. You decide what that action is and encourage your audience to do it.
You’ve seen examples of this around the internet and in real life, even if you didn’t know it at the time. Online, it typically looks like a free workbook, e-guide or video series in exchange for your email address. In real life, it looks like free samples in Sam’s Club or coupons to try new restaurants. The business owner invests money by giving away free product or creating free guides but the investment is made in good faith so that they can 1. help the customer, 2. contact them later, with permission of course, and 3. Stay relevant with the customer should the customer need them at a later date.
Down the Funnel
There can be a few steps once people are inside the funnel. Those steps depend on the whatever the ultimate goal of the entrepreneur happens to be. Whatever the steps might be, the customer is in the nurture phase of the funnel. People in this part already know a little bit about you and your products/services. They know they need what you offer but they don’t know if you’re the right person. In this phase, you’re showing them you are. I like to do that with email marketing. People who have engaged with you in these ways move further down the funnel, and are ready to buy higher priced items with you when the time is right. are presented with more, higher priced products. As they continue to buy, they move closer and closer to your top-end offers, which make up the bottom of your funnel.
Email Marketing
Did you know for every $ you invest in email marketing you could potentially earn up to $44? That’s a big deal. People like to say that email is dead and that’s simply not true.
Random emails from strangers is dead, but I’ve never seen someone not look for an email they wanted to get. If you use email marketing, make sure you write engaging emails that people want to read. Use slang, use inside jokes with you audience, tell stories- just don’t send terrible emails.
The nurture stage is a good place to start your low-priced offers. There’s not a lot to lose here and if your low-priced content is good, people will go further down the funnel to your ultimate goal- your high-priced offer.
Bottom of Funnel
At the bottom of the funnel are your premium offers. These offers are higher priced and is where you want your customers to ultimately get to. Everyone doesn’t get to this level and that’s normal. Your job is to make sure that the journey from the top of the funnel to the bottom of the funnel is as smooth as possible with no leaks. The more buyers you can keep in your funnel, the more money you will make. We’ll talk more about leaky funnels in the next blog.
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Additional Reading
Everyone likes to know the next step but most people don't read instructions. Tell your reader how to buy your product with these 4 pages in your funnel.