4 pieces of a sales funnel that makes big money
Here’s something most Facebook marketers won’t tell you…
Facebook ads don’t make you money.
(At least not on their own.)
Back in my early marketing days, I had a few clients who were spending thousands per month on Facebook ads but didn’t bring in a dollar of additional revenue.
When I dug deeper to diagnose the problem, to figure out why they weren’t making any money, I discovered one common denominator that explained the lack of income.
It wasn’t a problem with the ads themselves. They were getting high click-through rates, so I knew they were working wonderfully and getting people to engage.
The problem came after leads clicked the ad.
…Because nothing else happened.
I created ads that led to my clients’ websites. And my clients were just hoping those leads would call them up to work together.
Here’s the flaw with that thinking:
People don’t go from strangers to customers overnight. That’s like going on a first date with someone and expecting them to propose the next day.
It takes time to get comfortable enough to take the next step.
And if you want to make money with Facebook ads, you need a solid back-end system for what happens after the ad, to turn those strangers into friends.
That’s where a sales funnel comes into play.
Now, I won’t run ads for a client unless they have a sales funnel in place — not because I’m a jerk, but because I know they won’t make any money without one.
When most people hear “sales funnel”, they get overwhelmed and think it’s a complicated process. But in reality, all an effective sales funnel needs is 4 simple pieces.
Huh? What’s a sales funnel?
A sales funnel is a marketing tool that strategically moves someone through a sequence of building trust, providing education, and motivating them to take action with you.
In plain English? It’s basically your virtual salesperson. It takes strangers by the hand and leads them up The Buyer’s Pyramid — from your Facebook ad to eventually becoming a paying customer.
The best part is this can all be done automatically.
You create a funnel once and have your virtual salesperson working in the background to warm up every single person who clicks on your ad going forward. Talk about a worthwhile sales tool, right?
And it’s so much simpler than you think to create.
Here are the 4 pieces your money-making funnel needs…
1. A way for people to meet you
The first piece inside your sales funnel is a way to get in front of a new audience — to introduce yourself to strangers, essentially.
You can have strangers “meet” you in many different ways: at a networking event, buying a billboard, putting an ad in your local newspaper, etc. But the easiest, most effective, and most affordable way is to use Facebook ads.
Facebook advertising is awesome because it allows you to target your ad very carefully. You can choose the exact type of person who will be seeing your ad (down to their interests, behaviour, marital status, education level, etc.) which is why Facebook ads are so cost-effective.
(This is why it’s so important to deeply understand your ideal customer.)
Unlike networking, billboards, or newspaper ads, you won’t waste time or money showing your Facebook ad to someone who isn’t a good fit for your business!
After “meeting” you with your Facebook ad, strangers will move on to the next step of the sales funnel…
2. A way (and reason!) for strangers to give you their information
Once someone’s clicked your ad, you want to be very strategic in what happens next. They likely won’t be ready to work with you right away…so how can you continue the conversation until they are ready?
You want your Facebook ad to lead to a landing page where you share a free gift of some kind. That free gift is called your lead magnet, because it’s an appealing offer that acts like a magnet to attract leads to you.
My favourite kind of lead magnet is a free report — a checklist, a short e-book, a workbook — that helps readers solve a problem they’re having. Free reports are easy to create and can be incredibly effective. (No need to film a fancy video series when a simple PDF works just as well!)
You’ll offer your lead magnet for free because you need a way to follow up with strangers. Our sales funnel is our virtual salesperson, remember? And that salesperson can’t do their job unless they have a way to continue the conversation with a new lead.
In exchange for the free gift, you ask a stranger to share his/her email address. That’s their “payment” to receive your lead magnet. There needs to be a clear exchange of value.
After strangers have signed up for your lead magnet, your virtual salesperson really gets to work…
3. A way for strangers to know, like, and trust you
Even after downloading your lead magnet, most people still aren’t ready to become a customer. They need to be warmed up in a natural way before they’ll feel comfortable saying “yes” to working with you.
That’s what this third piece of your sales funnel does.
You want to create a follow-up system (we love using an automated email sequence for this!) that strategically does four things:
- Provide education
- Build trust and authority
- Overcome objections
- Motivate strangers to take action
If you do those four things, strangers won’t be strangers anymore — they’ll be friends. After you give tips, address pain points, share your story, and knock out objections, people will be warmed up and ready to take the next step with you.
4. A way to take the next step
After you’ve warmed up strangers…and they’re no longer strangers but friends…you need to ask them to take action.
Don’t just cross your fingers and hope they’ll call you up. Make it easy and tell them exactly what you want them to do.
But we’re not going to ask them to become a customer just yet…
Instead, we’re going to offer something else of value for free, to really stack the odds in your favour.
Most of your competitors probably offer a consultation call, right? Where they get someone on the phone and talk their ear off, telling them about me, me, me?
These kind of consult calls are problematic for two reasons:
- They only appeal to people who know they’re ready to buy right now
- They turn a lot of people off because they’re so sales-focused
A much more effective route is to dress up your consult and offer a free high-value call instead.
This is where you get on the phone with someone and provide something of value, while connecting on a personal level. At the end of that call, once you’ve wowed them with your expertise and generosity, then you can transition to talking about your services.
For example, a dog trainer might offer a Mutt Master Call to help dog owners learn training strategies that will work best for their pet’s temperament. Or a podiatrist might offer an Arch Pain Strategy Session, where she learns more about a patient’s lifestyle and goals before sharing custom treatment solutions.
It’s a more natural sales process. It feels much better to the lead. And you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to close people after that call!
You can (and should) strategically script your free high-value calls to build trust, connect on a personal level, and persuade leads to become a customer.
So there you have it, the 4 pieces of an effective sales funnel.
You simply need a system to:
- Introduce yourself to strangers
- Give those strangers something of value so they share their email address
- Follow up to educate, build trust, and show your expertise
- Invite them to a free call, where you’ll share more value then pitch in a feel-good way
…and you’ve got a virtual salesperson who will automatically warm up strangers and lead them to work with you.
Did you know you can get a FREE Marketing & Sales Action Plan created by us to map out your next 12-months?
We’ll hop on the phone, talk about your business, and create your personalised Marketing Blueprint outlining exactly what you’ll need at every stage of your funnel. All you’ll need to do is follow the bouncing ball to get your funnel up and running!
Click here to learn more and book your free, no obligation, Marketing & Sales Strategy Call.