Many of us have heard of the term “sales funnel,” but how many people know how to create a high converting sales funnel? The answer is not many, and that’s too bad because it’s easy! In this blog post, we will go over how to create a high-converting sales funnel. You’ll learn how to set up your website for success and how to get the most out of every conversion. Let’s get started!
What are sales funnels?
A sales funnel is a marketing strategy that makes turning cold prospects into long-term customers easier by getting them through five different stages.
The “funnel” metaphor means you will start with many people who want to buy your product, but only the ones who are more interested will stay in the end.
The goal is not to make a sale. The goal is to get customers so they will come back and keep buying from you.
Breaking the process of buying something into smaller steps can help you be more specific. If you are starting, then it might only be one or two products. If you are a big company, there may be many offers to get potential customers through the sales cycle.
For example, you order a hamburger. Should you have cheese? Order chicken nuggets, and should you have fries with that? Order a burger, and should you make it a large or supersize? This is a sales funnel.
Every offer is a series of suggestions to make the purchase bigger, so people will buy more things.
The big picture funnel
At the top of the funnel, many people are your target audience. These are people who might buy things from you. At the bottom of the funnel, these are new and existing customers.
You might want to take a funnel-like approach to your business. This way, you can try and sell things at different times. Growth is easier if you have a template for your business that will help it grow more quickly than otherwise.
You need to give your prospects more and more value throughout the sales funnel.
No matter how basic or complicated, sales funnels work when they are built according to certain principles.
For example, 87% of consumers will choose vendors who provide valuable content at every stage of the buying process.
63% of people need to hear about a company’s value proposition(s) 3-5 times before trusting these claims.
People who are nurtured make 47% larger purchases than people who are not nurtured.
AIDA
The AIDA model was developed by an advertising and sales pioneer, Elias St. Elmo Lewis. It has become the backbone of every successful advertising and marketing campaign since it came out. It takes potential customers through the emotional journey of making a purchase. It guides them from initial attraction to taking action.
Awareness
The first stage in the sales funnel is when a person becomes aware of your product or service. Of course, they might find out about it while doing other things, like reading an ad, looking at social media, or hearing about it from friends and family.
The person might buy your product if they click on a link. But it’s more likely that you will need to contact the person by phone, email, or in-person to get them to buy your product.
Interest
The second stage of the sales funnel when people are interested in what you have to offer. They have learned about your company, your products or services, and they want to know more.
At this stage, you should make content that is informative and teaches people. If you become too pushy or aggressive with your sales approach, the person might leave. So instead, create content that shows how smart you are and helps the person make a decision.
Decision
In the third stage of the sales funnel, people are now ready to buy. They may be considering several options before they decide. This is when they will compare pricing and other factors to find what is best for them.
When looking for a product, you should offer them something to make the deal seem even better. For example, if you want to sell your product and someone is interested in buying it, offer them a discount code or free shipping.
The person might choose your offer and buy your product because it seems like they are getting something extra. You can also use the content on the internet or phone conversations to help convince the person to buy.
Action
The last step of the sales funnel is action. If a person buys your product or service, they become part of your company’s community.
The sale isn’t finished after you sell your item. You need to focus on keeping the customer. Your goal is to make sure they come back or buy more stuff. For example, thank them for buying, ask them for feedback, offer help after buying it, invite them to sign up for your newsletter, or enroll in a rewards program.
AIDA is a great sales funnel that I’ve used for many years. But, there is a better way to create a high converting sales funnel.
How to create a high converting sales funnel
The key to a high converting sales funnel is being engaged with the buyer at all stages.
AIDA’s business model has the company giving, giving, and then getting a conversion.
AIDA is what I’ve been using for years. But, found out about Clickfunnels, and it’s a game-changer for me.
I still use the principles of AIDA to this day. However, the Clickfunnels strategy is what makes bank.
Russel Brunson’s Clickfunnels version has both parties in a give-and-take process.
The first thing you need to know is your offer or offers in this high converting sales funnel.
Step 0. Offers
You must know what you have in store for your customers. This step is critical. If you do not know what to offer your customers, they will leave and not return.
You need to figure out how you will get customers to buy your product. The idea is that after they buy the lower-priced products, they will want to purchase another product or service.
It is like this: you have been successful with Product A. Now, let’s make it even more successful by adding Product B.
You need a blueprint for your sales funnel. If you do not have a product that builds on the first one, your customers may not have much reason to move on.
Step 1. Traffic
Some traffic is better than others. Think about how people come to your sales funnel.
One important thing to do during this stage of the process is to advertise. You should advertise on places your high-value prospects are likely to visit, like social networks and content they interact with.
You need to think about where you can find your high-value prospects. You also need to think about the networks and content they use. And if they are willing to take a step with a new brand, give them a free or lower-cost offer.
If you don’t know how to get new customers interested in your low-cost items, it will be hard to buy the high-priced goods and services. If you interact with customers where they are and feel safe, they might buy your low-cost items. They will move up the sales funnel.
Step 2. Teaser
A teaser is like a lead magnet is a low-risk offer to get people interested in your product. It is usually given for free or at a low cost.
For example, if you’re selling supplements, you can give someone a massive discount as an incentive with the hope that they will come back and buy more later.
A teaser can be something free or less expensive. For example, you might give away content, webinars, or an email course.
This might work for people who are not wealthy. If they use the teaser product/service and then buy more things from you, it is worth it.
If you give away something for free now, you’ll have a person who is more likely to purchase in the future. You can also sell at a loss because later stages in your funnel will make up for it with profits.
This way, people who are not interested in your offer will leave, and those who remain are more likely to buy from you.
If someone does not want your low-risk offers, they are not interested in buying anything you have.
Step 3.First offer
A low-price and low-risk offer that provides value to new customers. It allows them to solve surface-level issues with minimal investment.
When they take you up on your bait offer, you can send them directly to a landing page or sales page showcasing your “leveled” premium offer.
You can also–and should–follow up with email offers simultaneously, which is known as ‘funnel stacking.’
Here’s where your business can make more money and grow its customer base. People who see this sales-focused content have already been pre-qualified.
That means they should be interested in the product or service you are offering them at this point. You can keep their attention and communicate that message by optimizing various elements of your sales copy.
Sales Copy
Copy is important. The words should quickly tell people about the offer you are making and how they can take action.
You want to have a personality that your audience will like.
You want to write at or below a 6th-grade reading level with short sentences which are easy to read.
There should be an image every 200-300 words and a subheader or bullet list every 400-500 words.
Videos and images
Words are the backbone of your sales page. But, content can take many forms. For example, you might do a video that tells about your brand. Or, show people how your product works by doing an explainer video.
You might also talk to one of your customers and ask them about their experience with you or the product or service they got from you to give other people information on how it will work for them too.
Different people want different things. The approach you go with depends on the value ladder level. For example, if you want someone to commit to an introductory offer, you would introduce them to your brand and tell them what they can expect from it.
The length of your video depends on the price of your offer. The lower-priced items may only need a minute or two short testimonial videos. Higher-priced items may need longer videos.
People who are thinking about buying a more expensive home will want to know as much about it as they can. They will stay around and be convinced to buy it if you answer their questions.
Social proof
Social proof can make your claims seem stronger. Therefore, it is vital to use social evidence related to the offer you are selling. This means using testimonials and logos that match the offer you are selling for this audience.
Adding direct endorsements along with posts from social media is a good idea. You can do this later.
Social proof can help people think that your brand is good. You’ll need to use specific stories from customers who are successful to show this.
CTA (Call To Action)
No matter what you are offering on your sales page, make sure people know what to do. Tell them exactly what to do by using a clear CTA. Make it stand out from the rest of your page so that people will not miss it.
You might want to put a button first at the top, middle, and bottom of your page. The last thing you want is for your engaged audience not to engage more with your brand just because they don’t know how to do so.
Step 4. The Second Offer
A more valuable and intensive solution that helps customers solve a deeper problem. And it is better to prepare them for the next most expensive thing.
As your prospects reach the bottom of the ‘mini funnel,’ you will need to provide an offer impossible to refuse that allows them to accomplish a particular task and prepares them for the next tier of the ladder.
If you already know about your second offering, the next thing to ask is, is it an upsell or a downsell.
Upsell? Downsell?
An upsell is when you want to offer something that costs more than the first offer. A downsell is when you want to offer something that costs less. This is important for sales funnels.
You can upsell after someone confirms their order or before they confirm their order, but it’s best if it’s before so they have time to think about the decision.
Upsells usually come in the following:
- Discount on bulk orders
- Personalized version or a variation of the initial product or service
- An offer to increase subscription length at a discounted price
- Supplemental products (cross-sells)
If you have a customer who doesn’t want the higher-priced offer, give them a lower-risk offer that they will be more likely to buy.
For example, maybe you can make it as a payment plan for the upsell. Or give them a smaller version of the upsell.
You might also want to let them try it for free for some time first before buying it. In all cases, your goal is to find out what your customers want and then give that to them while still getting money from their purchase!
Step 5. Final Offer
Your most valuable product or service is the one that helps customers solve an issue they have. It’s a product or service that people use a lot.
Your goal is to make each of your “mini funnels” into one giant funnel. It means making sure that new people can become high-value customers.
Most people do not want to buy the most expensive thing initially, but they might like it later.
The thing is, there’s no guarantee that people will move on to the next level once they have used everything you have to offer at their current level. So sometimes, customers stick with what they know.
The buyer on the next level of your ladder needs to be convinced that they will get a lot of value. To do this, you need to show them that they have already gotten a lot of value from the previous level and that there is more value on the way.
So, instead of pushing for your offer to be the best one, you’ll want to provide value. You can do this by continuing to provide value after someone has bought something from you.
This means you can help people by giving them personalized content in their preferred format or by providing high-quality customer service.
You may also want to talk to them about the added value that your higher-tiered service provides to their needs. For example, you could have a community on Facebook where people can live and grow.
It is basic. For customers to trust your company, you need to show that you value their best interest more than your bottom line.
Once they have given it to you, do not waste it. Instead, provide them with a lot of value.
Conclusion
And that’s how you create a high converting sales funnel. It’s easy to make your own with Clickfunnels 2.0 that is coming soon.
The key is knowing your offers, targetted traffic, upsells, and down sells.
It’s not rocket science. But, it can be overwhelming when implementing it to your business.
That’s what Clickfunnels is for and whye Clickfunnels is worth the money. Clickfunnels has done everything for you.
You might want to know vital things to consider before buying Clickfunnels. There is also the Clickfunnels review to give you some insight.
And, when you’re ready to boost your sales, get the Clickfunnels 14 day trial.
As a dedicated SEO professional, I help businesses improve their online visibility and attract more customers through search engine optimization. Whether you’re a small local business or a large corporation, I can help improve your search rankings, drive more traffic to your website, and ultimately grow your business.
Christian Tanobey