Generating Leads With Your Online Sales Funnel

I recently posted on LinkedIn asking for your biggest challenges when it comes to creating an online sales funnel.  You asked and in this week's episode of the 2nd Act Entrepreneur Show, I answer your questions and concerns.

Before diving into the questions, if you're struggling with connecting the dots of all your marketing tactics and goals, grab my free 5-Step Marketing Strategy Guide to map out an easy-to-follow plan.  This guide will help you clarify your marketing message, align your marketing activities with your goals and metrics and most importantly track sales to ensure your efforts are actually converting into cash.  Grab your copy here. 

If you're ready, let's dive into the questions:

#1 - Should you use a different sales funnel or approach to reach different audiences?

In this week's episode, I refer to our good old friend ice cream to answer this question.

Tune in to the show to discover that analogy.

The short answer is yes.  In order to avoid audience confusion, a separate funnel should be set up for each lead magnet, audience, problem, and solution in your business.

But as a busy business owner, if you want to keep it simple - stick to one sales funnel, test it, and then when it is reaping results and you know it can stand on its own you can create another sales funnel option to bring new people into the fold.

Discover more about creating for a specific audience, as well as standing out in the crowd during this week's show.

#2 - How should you nurture your list?

During the live broadcast, I give a few specific examples of nurturing your list.  Tune in to the show to listen for all the details.

List nurturing mistakes usually fall into two categories:

1. Someone signs up for your lead magnet and they get one email with the freebie and then nothing else until you are ready to sell them on your next product launch or offer.

2. An initial email is sent and then the subsequent emails are pushing a sale that your new subscriber isn't ready for.

Neither of these scenarios is ideal.  A nurture sequence is meant to do just that, nurture the relationship so that your lead is enticed to learn more, trusts you, and ultimately buy from you.

In most cases, if the relationship building is rushed, the sale is jeopardized.

Just as if a prospect is ignored until the next product launch, the likelihood of converting them into a client is slim to none.

Each sales funnel needs a separate email sequence.  As does each marketing goal.

When a one-size-fits-all marketing approach is adopted, the results won't' be there.

For example, you wouldn't send someone a bunch of emails promoting Mother's Day in October.  The same is true for marketing your products and services.

Your marketing must be adapted to your audience, their specific problem, and the solution that solves that problem in order to be successful.

#3 - How do you move someone from social media to your email list?

This is definitely a question that comes up a lot in marketing conversations and is addressed at length in this week's show.

The biggest mistakes I see around the move from social to your email list are these:

• The lead magnet isn't solving a problem or helping people get some sort of result.
• The lead magnet created is too general and tries to help everyone but ends up helping no one.
• No promotion is being done around the lead magnet, so no one is signing up, hence not joining your list.
• A lead magnet and funnel haven't been created.
• You're giving away all your content for free to compete.

For more details on each of these problems and how to circumvent them tune into this week's show.

 #4 -  Is your website or your email list a more important asset to your business?

Yes, your website is an important asset to your business.  But, it is far more important to grow your email list for one simple reason.  You can't control when or if someone shows up on your website.

You can control when and how often you show up in someone's inbox.

The most important thing you can have on your website is a way to capture leads.  This gives you back the power of your marketing.

It empowers you to keep your audience captive on your terms and your timeframe.

No other marketing tactic will give you this power.  On every other platform, you are at the mercy of someone else, including your possible lead.

At the end of the episode, I dive into the #1 reason you should be building your email list now even if you haven't before.  Be sure to tune into the entire show to catch this important information.

If you need help establishing a strategy for your marketing, be sure to grab my free 5-step Marketing Strategy Guide here.

Until next week, be well, stay safe and take care!

~Alisa