5 Keys to Using a Marketing Funnel

What are the 5 Keys to Using a Marketing Funnel?

When it comes to marketing on the internet, using a marketing funnel is the key to successfully generating targeted leads.

What is a Marketing Funnel?

In internet marketing, a marketing  funnel is a conceptual system of obtaining customers through initial contact and offerings and retaining them through offers that add value to their lives. The goal of a marketing funnel is to retain lifelong customers and to build your list.

The entire system can be graphed as a “funnel”, with lead generation systems at the mouth or top of the marketing funnel which are designed to be inexpensive or even free offers. Once the customer has entered the top of the marketing funnel they are gradually moved downward (funneled) using value added offers and services.

The lower the customer moves down “marketing funnel”, the more valuable and expensive the offers become. For example, a lead might enter your funnel to obtain free information about your marketing system (MLSP, for example). Through the process as they move through the funnel, they would be offered different affiliate programs from within the MLSP system and/or maybe some of your own products if you’ve created any. Eventually, further along down the marketing funnel, they would be presented with your network marketing opportunity (or another higher-ticket item).

The beauty of this process is that it gives you the opportunity to develop a relationship with this person (who may have started out as a cold lead) as they move through the marketing funnel, and it gives the person a chance to develop a trust for you as you continually provide them with value. Because of this trust, they are much more likely to want to buy from you or join you in your business… much more likely than they would have been if you would have simply approached them with it before entering them into the marketing funnel.

Here’s a diagram to better illustrate the process:

 5 Keys To Using a Marketing Funnel

Key 1: Pick a Specific Target Market

In order to successfully use a marketing funnel, you MUST know who your target market is. The more specific, the better. The reason for this is that we need to know exactly who would be searching for what we’re offering so that we can effectively provide exactly what they’re searching for.

If you are too vague, you will end up attracting nobody. Remember, the internet is based on search. People go to the internet to search for answers and solutions… so behind every search is a person looking for information. Our job is to provide the information that our target market is searching for… which brings us to the next key.

Key 2: Keyword Research

In order for our target market to be able to find us on the internet, it is crucial that we do the necessary keyword research. Keyword research is the way that we determine exactly what our target market is typing into the search engines when they sit down in front of their computers to start searching. Once we know the exact terms that our target market is searching for, we can create content to give them exactly what they’re looking for (and become their hero). 🙂

Key 3: Create Content

Now that we’ve done our keyword research and we know exactly what our target market is searching for, our job is to write blog posts and articles, create videos, etc. using those exact keywords. If we optimize our content properly, it will show up in the search engines so that our target market can find it when they do their searches. Once they click on the link in the search engines to go to our piece of content, our job then becomes to guide them to our marketing funnel.

Key 4: Guide People To Your Marketing Funnel

Once we’ve created our content and attracted our target market to our page to read it, we have to be sure that we effectively guide people to our marketing funnel. You can do this by creating links within your blog post that take viewers to a capture page, adding links to your capture page in the author’s research (bio) box at the bottom of your articles on the article directory, or by having a link to your capture page at the top of the description under any of your videos on YouTube, etc. It’s also wise to have an opt-in box on the sidebar of your blog that remains there at all times so that any traffic that comes to your blog has the opportunity to opt-in for more information and be added to your list.

Key 5: Build Your List/ Follow Up

As people opt-in via your capture pages or your opt-in form on the sidebar of your blog, you will capture their information through your autoresponder service (ex: AWeber or Get Response) and start building your list. From here, your job becomes to stay in close touch with your list so that you can continuously be providing value for them and building a relationship with them, and they can be developing trust for you.

Usually it takes several contacts with a person before they are ready to buy anything… so follow up is the key.

Through your autoresponder service, you can set up follow-up emails that will automatically go out once a person opt-in to your list… and you can set them to go out in whatever intervals you choose (daily, every other day, etc). It’s also good to stay in touch with your list using ‘broadcast’ emails, which are emails that are current and created to announce something that is up to date (like letting your list know that you have a new post on your blog about XYZ, etc). This is a great way to develop trust and allow your list to get to know you better.

Once you have effectively followed up with your leads and the trust has been developed, you will start to develop buyers, new team members, and lifelong customers. This is the power of the “marketing funnel”.

Please leave your questions and comments about the 5 keys to using a marketing funnel below…

Happy Marketing,

Amy Starr Allen
303.506.3660
Amy@AmyStarrAllen.com

p.s. To learn about a powerful marketing funnel system that will help you generate quality leads and income while branding yourself and your business, click here now. (This is the system that I personally use and absolutely swear by).