The term “marketing funnel” might sound like a boring, technical concept, but in reality, it’s a way of describing the journey your potential clients take from the first moment they discover your business to the moment they become clients.
You might be thinking, “But I don’t want to play games with my clients.” You’re absolutely right! Authenticity is the cornerstone of building meaningful relationships in business. However, creating content for your marketing funnels isn’t about deception or gimmicks. It’s about creating an experience that allows your potential clients to feel seen, heard, and understood.
Let’s dive deeper into crafting a meaningful funnel that saves you time and gets you clients.
Taking Control of the Experience
In business, many things are out of your control—market fluctuations, unforeseen crises, and even your competitors’ actions. This is why it’s so important to take control of the aspects you can influence. Crafting a marketing funnel allows you to do just that.
By mapping out this journey, you’re not manipulating people; you’re guiding them. You’re providing a clear path for potential clients to follow, where they can explore your offerings, learn about your expertise, and build trust in your brand.
People are already going through a journey before becoming your client, whether you’ve mapped it out or not. Creating a meaningful funnel is a way of optimising that experience so that more people stay on track to becoming your client.
The Authenticity Paradox
Maybe you’re thinking, “But I’ve built my business on authenticity, and that’s why people trust me.” That’s fantastic! Authenticity is a powerful magnet for your ideal clients. But, your authenticity and your marketing funnel can coexist harmoniously.
Your authenticity, your voice, your message should shine through every step of your funnel. It’s not about pretending to be someone you’re not or making promises you can’t keep.
Instead, it’s about showcasing your values, and your expertise at each touchpoint. This authenticity will resonate with your ideal clients and see you as a trust-worthy ally.
Balancing Your Efforts
Are you trying to spin too many plates?
Trying to do too much in your marketing without a funnel can feel overwhelming.
- Too much focus on social media can leave you feeling drained, constantly chasing likes and shares.
- Pouring your heart into emails for your mailing list that don’t get opened or clicked.
- Spending countless hours perfecting your website and sales pages, only to see little to no conversion.
This is where a marketing funnel comes in. It streamlines your efforts and prevents you from spreading yourself too thin or wasting time on random busy work. When you look at your funnel content as a nurturing experience you’re making sure your time and resources are well invested and you’re ensuring that each piece of content has a clear purpose within the funnel.
This is even more important if you work solo. Your time and energy are precious resources!
The Three Stages of a Marketing Funnel
A marketing funnel typically consists of three key stages: attraction, engagement, and conversion:
- Attract: At the top of the funnel, you aim to attract a broad audience. This is where your blog posts, social media content, collaborations and other visibility efforts come into play. You’re casting a wide net to capture the attention of potential clients. But don’t stop there. Your potential clients need a clear next step. Visibility is great, but follower-count is only profitable if your audience actually moves through your funnel. Are you caught up in social posting?
- Engage: In the middle of the funnel, you start nurturing the leads you’ve captured. This is where you provide valuable content, free resources, or webinars that help your audience better understand their challenges and how your services can solve them. It’s all about building trust and rapport. BUT it’s all too easy to just endlessly provide value for free. Are you inviting them to take action?
- Convert: At the bottom of the funnel, your leads are primed and ready to become clients. This is where you ‘invite them’. Make your offer. Because you’ve guided them through the earlier stages, they’re more likely to say “yes.” BUT you have to invite them in a way that makes sense for them. Do you have an offer that people need, want and are willing to pay for?
The Funnel’s Magic: Qualifying Leads
One of the most significant advantages of a well-structured funnel is its ability to qualify leads. Not everyone who is interested in your content will become a client. Some are ready to buy, while others are merely curious. By taking potential clients through the various stages of the funnel, you’re effectively separating the perfect fit clients from the people who will only ever want the free stuff.
This means that by the time a lead reaches the bottom of the funnel, they’re not just random people on the web; they’re a great fit for your service. They’ve already invested time and energy into getting to know your business, and they believe in your ability to solve their problems. This increases the likelihood of a successful conversion and a lovely client relationship.
But… what if I hate selling!
If you started a business to make an impact, to help people, to create things… sales can feel very uncomfortable. But if you’re not making sales, times gonna’ be tough.
Getting a new client, and getting paid feels great. And your funnel can really support your business to do this more consistently and in a way that doesn’t feel icky.
I’ve never been a strong sales person, so I need to make sure that my funnel is doing a lot of the heavy lifting for me. I need my funnel to get people ready to work with me so by the time I get on a call with a potential client:
- they already know how I help
- they already know how valuable my service is and
- they already get a sense of what it’s like to work with me.
“Marketing funnel”s” might not be the sexiest term in the world of business, but a good funnel is an invaluable tool. It’s not about playing games, manipulating or being insincere; your funnel is about creating a clear and enjoyable journey for your potential clients.
Creating a funnel is not about changing who you are either; it’s about amplifying your authenticity, showing the value of what you do and making it easier for your ideal clients to say “yes” to working with you.
Are you ready to make a more meaningful funnel. Check out content that converts!