Did you read the blog I wrote last week all about your business wealth consciousness?– you can find it HERE.
For the fifth week of my 12-week Business Planning Blog series, it’s all about your Business Funnels, how to bring a consistent stream of ideal prospects into your community and turn them into clients.
When I mention marketing funnels to my clients you can see them looking uncomfortable and as if they need a degree in technical marketing!
NEWSFLASH! Funnels don’t have to be difficult or super technical. Let me explain.
A marketing funnel is a way to bring a steady stream of ideal clients into your community. In a way that feels AUTHENTIC to you. Not gimmicky or icky or pushy – but through relationship marketing.
Marketing is stressful when it’s not targeted, marketing doesn’t work when its ‘spray and pray’ – so in order to create a sustainable business your marketing efforts need to be in alignment with who you are – but they also need to be achievable, realistic and work! Otherwise its empty effort. So, visualise a pyramid, then turn it upside down so the point is at the bottom, divide it into 3 parts … you will then have …
THE TOP OF THE FUNNEL
THE MIDDLE OF THE FUNNEL
THE BOTTOM OF THE FUNNEL
You would have heard me say A LOT, ‘People do business with you if they like, know and trust you …’
THE TOP OF THE FUNNEL – is where people get to KNOW YOU
THE MIDDLE OF THE FUNNEL – is where people get to LIKE YOU – and to be honest, its not enough to be liked any more to stand out in a saturated market place you need to be loved.
THE BOTTOM OF THE FUNNEL – is where people get to TRUST YOU – and this is where the sale is made.
The funnel is therefore the platform where we bring people in at the top to get to know us, we can share our wisdom with them through value-based content marketing and then make invitations for them to work with us through the various products and services that we offer.
Yes, you will get a churn rate, and this is OK as people will fall off at the different stages – and let them go with love as if they do not want to stay, they are not an energetic fit – if they come back its their choice 😊
Importantly, it is NOT about the numbers – BUT it IS about bringing in quality leads into the funnel to extend our reach and leverage.
Every page of your website, every blog post, every social media post, every network group you attend, and every piece of content that you share – you need to be clear about:
The message you want to convey…
How you want your ideal client to feel after they have read your message. What value you will give them. What action you want them to take as a result of the content you have shared.
Let’s dive deeper into this and take your journal and write down the answers to the below …
Online Marketing
* Which social platforms do you currently use in your marketing?
* Do you have a plan to share your content on a consistent and persistent basis or is it ad-hoc?
* What results do you get from sharing on social? Do you track? Do you adjust and test your activity?
* What kind of content are you sharing to add value to your community? Does organic, curated, inspirational or live content work best?
* How are you using ads? If at all?
* What would a social media strategy that supports your business goals look like?
Lead Generation
* How are you currently sourcing your leads?
* What marketing do you feel works for you? What marketing do you feel is not working for you?
Specific activity
* Where are you being featured in the media through PR? And where would you like to be featured?
* What speaking gigs are you getting? Where would you like to speak?
* What affiliate marketing do you want to embark on? And who would you love to collaborate with?
* What face to face networking do you attend? And/or what in person events are you meeting your tribe at?
* How often are you blogging and what about?
* How often do you send newsletters, invitations and offers to your list?
* How are you repurposing your content?
* Do you do any advertising? Online or offline? And does this work?
* What webinars will you host – about what subjects?
* What marketing collateral do you have– flyers, business cards, pull up banners?
Etc. etc.
This connects back to Week 2 of this 12-week Business Planning blog series – how you want to leverage your reach.
Have in mind by the end of 2019 …
How big will your mailing list be? How many followers will you have on Facebook? How many members will you have in your Facebook group? How many followers will you have on Twitter? How many followers will you have on Insta? How many connections will you have on LinkedIn? Etc.
Again, these numbers are about growth not vanity, as we need to consistently bring in a steady flow of prospects into our orbit.
Share below on the comments of the blog – (not the actual figures but the fact you have a handle on these figures) any AHA’s, your main take aways from the blog and any questions. Encourage each other too on their journey – as it’s amazing what you do when someone is watching!
See you next week when we will be looking at business creation, what you need to create, design and launch in your business to bring in the financial goals that you say you want in your business and how to achieve it.
To your success.
Jo x
