Finola Howard
I'm Finola Howard, intuitive marketer, your host and founder of How Great Marketing Works. I believe that every business has a story to tell, because that's how the market decides whether to buy or not. And your story has to resonate with who you are and with people you want to serve. And this podcast is about helping you reach the market in a way that feels right to you. So if you're an entrepreneur with a dream you want to make real, then this is the podcast for you. Because great marketing is your truth shared. And in this episode, I simplify the sales and marketing funnel in a way that will make it easier to understand and use as a valuable marketing tool in your business. It'll help you look at your marketing in a more connected way. And you will realise that the funnel is in fact, your marketing strategy and action. So check it out. And don't forget to download my free funnel flowing templates that you can get from www dot fanola howard.com/fun. We're talking about the sales and marketing funnel, and the fact that there's so much fear around the marketing funnel. And it's this is the stuff that I hear all the time from other entrepreneurs. They say things like, Oh, my God, and all of there's so much to take in, it just feels so daunting, how do I start, I get challenged by all the different parts to hold together. And it just causes me to start. And then other people say I feel so orchestrator and mature, I'm better organised, and the whole thing just blocks me. Okay? But here's the thing. The sales and marketing funnel is orchestrated. That's the point. This is you being very deliberate about delivering on your dream, reaching the people you want to reach and making your difference in the world. It's also you being very deliberate about your marketing, and making your marketing deliver results for you. That's a good thing. So let's be very deliberate. Now. Let's simplify the funnel for you. So you can start reaping the rewards of all the work you've been doing with your business so far. So grab a pen and paper or download my funnel flowing template with this episode, because in this episode, I'm guiding you through the step by step approach I use to build sales and marketing funnels in my own business and with all my clients, you can apply to yours today and watch our new customers flow more easily to you and become champions for what you do. So let's get started. Don't forget to download the funnel flowing template to comes with this episode, just go to fanola howard.com forward slash funnel. Okay, let's get stuck in. So what is it? What is a sales marketing funnel? It's called many things actually, it's called a marketing funnel, a sales funnel, a sales and marketing funnel, a conversion funnel and other stuff as well. And just to hear the history of it, it's actually a marketing model that illustrates the theoretical customer journey toward the purchase of a good or service. It's actually been around since 1898. Originally, it was called the AIDA model, that's a Ida, awareness, interest, desire and action. Those are the steps those four steps. And then it evolved into the AI D a model, which added another one and went from awareness, interest, desire, action and advocacy. And the whole thing about sales and marketing funnel is it's a way to look at your marketing in a more connected way. It is in effect your marketing strategy in action. It's the How to the why of your strategy. The problem is it has a tendency to overwhelm. And yet what it seeks to do is connect the dots across all your marketing, so that it guides your customers to key decision points, the most important one being deciding on you. So let's simplify it and make it work for you. Okay, I'm proposing an alternative naming convention for the model to make it more accessible. So instead of awareness, Interest, Desire action advocacy, which frankly doesn't speak to me at all, we have these five stages. Be there be seen, be considered, be chosen, be champions. Be there is the awareness stage, it's be where your customers are, be there, be seen see interest age, how will they notice you're there, be considered. So the consideration stage, how can you activate their interest? Can you make them do something to consider you and enter into your ecosystem? be chosen that's the action stage it's the purchase stage. And don't be fooled this is a critical point or purchase onboarding and service is king. And lastly, he championed. This is the advocacy stage, and only appeared later in the model. As I said, it's where the market advocates for you, and is actually what this podcast is about. Your truth shared, as, as you've heard me say before, great marketing is your truth shared and you can have great marketing with a great funnel. Okay? So be there be seen, be considered, be chosen be champion. Okay. Hopefully that makes sense. Let's dig in a little. Most important thing to remember is that in a funnel is that each stage is actually a conversion point, it's not confined to the purchase point, each stage in your funnel of those five stages is a conversion point for you. And each stage in order for those conversions to happen, must flow naturally into the next just must make sense and flow, okay? You need to focus on one cause for that to happen. You need to focus on one customer and one product for every funnel. Okay? And yep, there's more than one funnel for your business. Think of them as different doorways into your business. And our goal is to optimise each doorway, and invest in the most profitable ones, the doorways that generate the most paying customers for your business. And remember, again, I say, it must make sense. We've got to think of it as a journey, you're taking your customers on, one that they naturally move through, and they'll move through it, if it makes sense for them. Let's talk about the flywheel effect that you might have heard about as well. The flywheel effect that you are aiming for with your funnels, okay. And the flywheel in engineering terms, is the part of the engine that not only rotates the engine, but stores the mechanical energy to balance the engine. So that continues to have good performance. And Jim Collins took that idea and coined this phrase, the flywheel effect, as a way of thinking about building momentum in your business. There's a great quote from him that says, and I really want you to listen to it. There is no single killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, and no miracle moment. Rather, the process resembles relentless see, say it again. There is no single killer innovation. No solitary lucky break, no miracle moment. Rather, the process resembles relentlessly pushing a giant, heavy flywheel turn upon turn, building momentum until a point of breakthrough and beyond. That's what we're looking for. And this is about repeating acts of marketing that yields greater and greater results for comparatively less effort. The trick is to isolate your repeating acts, the ones that work that is, and we can do this with each funnel. So you'll find those repeating acts in things in each stage of that funnel. So for example, if you're figuring out the right customer for you, you'll find that in stage one B there, you'll find the content that resonates in stage two being seen. Your lead magnets, your webinars, your discovery calls, and your conversion points, their stages three and four, which are being considered and chosen. And then how you take care of your customers is stage five being champions.
Finola Howard
So let's dive in. Let's start with naming the funnel. And you do need to name every funnel you have. This way you can differentiate between the ones that work and the ones that don't. Also you get to see how they dovetail into each other because this often happens. And you can then you can coordinate them for the greatest impact that you can make. Remember, marketing is always an iterative process. So take that piece of paper that you put aside earlier, or download the funnel flowing template at fanola howard.com/funnel. And we'll get stuck in I want you to start by thinking about the most obvious doorway into your business. Like is it a podcast like this one? Is it a quiz that you run that's really successful? Short video course a free download a live video that you do on one of your channels each week. What is it? That's your starting point. That's the name of your first funnel, then I like you to set a goal for your funnel. And that's a goal that's a time constraint. Because we want to make sure that your funnel works for you. And setting a goal will make it work for you. Like how many people do you want to sign up for your quiz, your short video course etc. and by when what I do is think about the end game here. I think about which product this funnel is converting for are, what level of sales I want for that product. And typically, if you're using your funnel to grow an email list that you want to sell your product from, then you're looking at a one and a half percent conversion rate. Yeah, those are the figures. But that's typically what you're looking for. So if you want 250 customers for a particular process, or product, then you will need 16,666 people in your email list to have a chance of converting, okay, you've got to have enough of the right people in your email list to get the sales levels you want. So just do the maths on that one. So that when you're setting your goals, they're very tangible goals and their goals towards sales. Okay? Now, choose which customer this funnel is for. We don't choose the right customer, your funnel will not work. And you've got to be specific about that customer like Who are they? Have you profiled them? Do you know their pain points? Do you know the challenges they face? Do you know the dreams they have? If you want to know how to do this, check out episode 54. Get up close and personal with the people you serve. That'll help you build out those customer profiles piece so that you can have a funnel that works for you. Now, as you've got the right customer, choose which product will serve this customer's pain point, that's the next most obvious thing you need to track. Because if your product doesn't fit, or solve their pain, point two, then your funnel will not work. And this is why I always list pain points on every funnel, it acts as a sense check for the process. And it makes you line everything up so that it works. So that it as we said earlier, so that it makes sense, and that it flows. And when you list those pain points, list them in their language and your customers language in the words that they use, not what you would use. And when you do that you connect with a much more deeply as a result. And that will ensure the success of your funnel, and everything else you do from a marketing perspective. Okay, that's your funnel Foundation, named it, you set a funnel goal, you know which customer you're targeting with it, for which product and which pain points that product will solve. And knowing all this helps you focus on the next steps, you actually can't do a reasonable Ernie funnel for that matter without that foundation. Okay. And that I think will demystify a lot of it for you. Okay, so let's get stuck in Okay, step one, in our five step funnel process, the there? So like, where is your marketplace? For this customer with this product? Like? Is it big enough to capture customers get small enough to be seen in, you don't want to be this small fish in this enormous pond that you can access anyone, you want to make sure that you can be seen in in this marketplace, and you can hold a presence and that that you can guide them through that funnel. So where are your customers hanging out? Like what groups like what social media challenges? Sorry? What social media channels? What events? What networks? Where are your customers hanging out? And what hashtags are they following to solve their pain? Or what topics? Are they most interested in reading? What do they read? What do they listen to? What do they keep an eye on? That's your starting point. If you're not where they are, you can't entice them into your ecosystem to solve their pain. So your starting point is knowing your customers well enough and going where they are. Okay? And that's unique to your industry. So just take a moment and write that down. So remember, if you're not where your customers are, you can't convert them. Okay, step two in your funnel be seen. So be there step one be seen. So no point in in lurking got to be seen when you figured out where they are. Now you've got to be seen where they are. And how will they see. So, do you do live videos or podcast episodes on topics they're interested in? Are you helpful in those networks? are you answering questions they ask? Are you prompting meaningful discussion? Are you supportive in the networks? Are you speaking at events they go to? Are you being featured in their preferred publications that they like to read? Or the you getting on their radio show shows or podcasts shows that they'd like to listen to TV shows that they watch? Are you winning awards for what you do that they are aware of? How are you being seen? That's the whole visibility thing, but you've got to be seen. And remember, if they can't see you, you can't convert them. Okay. Next, this is about being considered okay. And it's this idea of How can they take you for a test drive? Like how do they find out more about doing business with you? And is there a way that they can take you for a test drive like a webinar that they can sign up for, or a lead magnet that they can download a roadshow, they can attend a mentoring panel that you are on that they can try you out on an engaging social media channel where you're very interactive. Maybe you're doing an audit of their process as part of a discovery call. What is your discovery call? And how can so your question here is, how can they move from stranger to connection, this is about engagement in some way, that triggers action in your ecosystem, you're wanting to pull them in, that you received their email address, but there's some way that they are that you know them by first name, okay. And remember, if they can't take you for a test run, you also can't convert them, they have to have a way of seeing how you work and what it's like to do like to work with you. So think about ways they can take you for a test run. Okay. Next step for the chosen. This is the most tentative conversion point, it is the moment they buy. And if there's friction in this moment, they will hesitate and they won't buy. This is where your ducks really need to be in a row. Typical tools here are demos, free trials, pricing, specials, bundled packages, price comparison charts, social proof on your checkout page. And the easier this moment is this moment of being chosen, the faster your conversion will be. There's any hesitation here, your customer will sense it and awed by your certainty is your best ally here. And onboarding your customer successfully is also critical here, confirms they made the right decision in their purchase with you. That's particularly important when you offer a free trial of your product or services was not confined to that. It's also important as part of ensuring a successful relationship with you, I repeat, your customers need to know they made the right choice. And you were that right choice. Your goal at every step in an onboarding process is to figure out the shortest path to give them a small win at each point in your relationship, confirming for them that they made the right choice. Here's an interesting stat for you. 40 to 60% of users who sign up for a free trial of a software as a service application will only use it once. How much money has been left on the table here. Without a really strong onboarding process. If you don't pay attention here, you'll never get past the funnel to build a flywheel. Okay. And let's face it, that's our ultimate goal. So one of the most useful things about mapping out each funnel for me is it makes me ask questions at each stage. I ask things like, Well, what do they get? If they subscribe? Why would that be interesting to them? And how to make that really useful? Can I make this part here and easier for them over here? And where do we go from here to here? Does that make sense? Does that make sense? How does this dovetail into my other formats? What could I add here? To make things flow easier? I asked that a lot. What could I add here? Because often you'll find is quite lightweight in different steps, stages in this funnel. So keep asking what could I add here? How
Finola Howard
could this flow easier? Where's the friction here that I can make flow? Every time I do this, I find a little adjustment that makes each funnel work more fluidly. So that page with those five stages on it helps you ask questions about what's working, what's not. Where's the friction? And because you see it in black and white in front of you, you start to go, that doesn't make sense. What opportunity Am I missing here? That's what I use it for. And remember, it's not a destination activity. This is something that you honed over time that you check in you add and you but you invest in the funnels that work, but you've got to start with something and then build on it. Okay, so, big lesson here, you've got to remove the friction to make your funnel flow. And then we can get to the last stage in our funnel because we have to make sure all those other four stages are working before we have any hope of that step five, which is being champions. Your ultimate goal with every customer is to nurture them into advocates are champions and not all champions are the same. Some will give you a testimonial. Some will refer you business some will influence others in their purchase of business some Like and share all your posts, some will do business with you again, all are valid. Your objective is to create champions that turn your funnel into a flywheel and make it fly faster. And service makes champions doesn't have to be extra value that you offer. It can be unique value, what are you doing that makes them feel special, and that your brand is special is unique to you. When the work is done, or the service is complete? Do they feel special when they leave you? Do they leave on a high feeling everything is complete and that they are happy, satisfied and that their pain has gone? Do you ask standardly Do you ask for a testimonial or review as a standard part of your onboarding process. There you have it. Your sales and marketing funnel simplified. Five key things to remember one name every funnel, and set a funnel goal. That way you make it work for you to one customer at a time. That way you know what they need in their own words. And that's one customer type. Not one single customer, one single one customer type at a time and one product at a time. That will make you focus on choosing the right product for this customer. Because if it doesn't fit, your funnel won't work. Number four, look for flow. Want the obvious next step, look for the friction points so you can remove them and try to be a little creative about it if you can, and don't get stuck at the top. This is the most regular challenge with funnels, not taking them a whole way through the champion stage. Again, look to remove friction to get the end. Remove the friction to encourage the flow. When you encourage the flow. Everything converts at every stage. So don't wait. build out your funnels. It'll change how you think about your marketing. Use them see how everything you do connects and when you see that your funnels will convert and you will see greater results in your business. And make sure to download the funnel flowing template at the Nola howard.com/funnel. I hope you enjoyed that episode. Reach out and let me know your thoughts on it. And if you found the following funnel templates useful. You can download that here at Finola howard.com/funnel. If you'd like to support the show, please follow or subscribe on your chosen platform. It makes all the difference to the impact. I'd love this podcast to have on the world. deeper conversations that allow us to grow to celebrate each other's truths. And to know that there are many who are working with a greater purpose in the world. I'll see you next week.
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