How to Build Your Online Marketing System (aka "Funnel")

You keep hearing about "funnels" and you think .... hmmm do I need one of those?

Ever heard the phrases "the fortune is in the follow up" or "the money is in your list"? If you've never created an fully-functional digital marketing system, you feel a little like this:

All the parts and pieces seem so overwhelming! With Covid-19 hitting our in-person-sales economy, many business owners are scrambling to figure out how to market their businesses online and well... sell their stuff.

In this article, I'm going to break down all the steps you need to tackle in order to get your funnel up and running.

There is no time to waste getting your business online, so let's dive in.

First, let's define what a funnel is (in my words).

A funnel is a marketing system designed to find leads and turn them into buyers through a series of steps.

awareness 🡪 interest 🡪 consideration 🡪 intent 🡪 evaluation 🡪 purchase

Hint: you're probably already doing this, just maybe not digitally!

So you can do this MANUALLY:

Ad 🡪 Call for Info 🡪 Manual Follow-up 🡪 Phone Meeting(s) 🡪 More Manual Follow-up 🡪 In-Person Meeting(s) with 1 on 1 selling 🡪 Buy High Ticket Offer

OR DIGITALLY: (the preferred way)

Ad 🡪 Landing Page 🡪 Automated Follow-up 🡪 Upsell Purchase 🡪 More Auto Follow-up 🡪 Automatic Phone/Zoom Appt Booked for 1 on 1 selling 🡪 Buy High Ticket Offer

So why use a digital funnel vs. word-of-mouth or networking?

Simple: because it works better in 2020!

This is Russell Brunson. He's the founder of Clickfunnels, and he's sort of my marketing hero. He wrote this book, DotCom Secrets, as a playbook to show hundreds of thousands of companies how to quickly grow their companies and he gives it away for FREE (plus shipping). I have 2 copies of it plus the audio version. It's so good!

This book will give you access to all the processes, funnels, frameworks, and scripts that I use and Russell uses to scale our companies, so you can create your own funnel and turn it into the most profitable member of your team! Plus you can get a 14-day free trial of Clickfunnels (the funnel builder I LOVE) along with tons of valuable training.

Now. You can absolutely get sales the old-fashioned way through in-person networking, cold-calling, ads in the paper with discounts, and even posts on social media. I've done that a TON to grow my business to where it is today.

But after you've exhausted your local area contacts, you've attended all the coffees and luncheons and asked for your friends' support, you realize that it can be hard to scale. And, the amount of leads it takes to turn into buyers can be literally that... exhausting.

And admit it... you forget to follow up.

Or you're unorganized.

Or you get busy.

Or lazy.

Just kidding, you're never too tired of following up with people for the 10th time! 😉

So the difference in traditional selling and online marketing is that you can cast a wider net, further your reach, and amplify your impact. With an online marketing system, you can make certain that you don't forget anyone who showed interest in your products because your funnel will continuously follow up with them to convert them into buyers.

Next, let's talk about the difference between a website and an online marketing system:

A website has full functionality, multiple pages (about, blog, contact, gallery, etc) and provides many points of action

You certainly need a website to host your blog, ways for people to find you, your menu, etc. But to set up your funnel, you'll need to make it easy for leads to take action. That is when you set up a landing page to collect those leads.

A landing page is the beginning to an online marketing system... the TOP of your funnel. It offers a single function, one page (no header or menu) and ONLY ONE action is requested of viewers.

Check out the difference between these two examples. This is the first website I ever built using Wix.com and have since neglected. Not too terrible.

Both websites are for the same business (my consulting business for interview coaching), but they serve different purposes:

• The one on the left (the website) gives visitors tons of options. They can read my services, log in if they are a client, purchase a product, read my blog, and click on my social links.

• The one on the right (the funnel landing page) is specifically designed to collect leads in exchange for my first ever ebook called "5 Secrets to Win the Job You Want" ... when visitors fill out that form, they get the free ebook sent to them, along with an email sequence educating them with interviewing tips and selling them on my paid packages.

So you need both!

Now let's look at how your funnel should go:

1. Prospect finds the top of your funnel a multitude of starting points - Instagram bio, Facebook personal profile cover photo and links, Facebook Business page cover photo and pinned post, Facebook/Instagram ad, personalized DM or email you send out. After they click that link it goes to...

2. Your Freebie Landing Page! (Could be a checklist, free training, a challenge, a guide, a template, etc - something that saves them time and helps them solve a problem)

3. Once they opt-in, that triggers a 5-7 day email sequence and redirects them to...

4. An Upsell Page to sell them a lower ticket offer ($7-$97) ... After they make a purchase, it stops the initial email sequence and starts a new, different email sequence... then redirects them to...

5. The higher ticket Product Sales Page ($97+) or to book a 1:1 call with you so you can sell them your high-ticket offer on the phone or on Zoom.

I could go on and on (in fact it's 11pm and I've been writing this for hours)...

... but I really think you'll learn so much from the DotCom Secrets book I recommended up above. If anything, just go get the book and learn from how Russell sets up his funnel. It's free right now, plus shipping of I think $9.95. (I do make $1 if you buy it, in case you wondered.)

So here is your homework to get your funnel up and running:

1. If you really want to get down to business online in only 30 days, you should sign up for the One Funnel Away Challenge to build and launch your online funnel, while having Russell Brunson, Julie Stoian, and Stephen Larsen as your coaches, You'll nail down your offers, audience, story, understanding of the buyer journey, and get your butt kicked to get it done. It's a 30 day challenge for only $100! It will save you a lot of time and headache trying to figure it all out by yourself.

2. Write out your story/a client's story

• Hook - strong statement/yes question

• Low point - use emotion, pain points

• High point - end result, emotional high/status

• Bridge that explains how you transitioned them from low to high

• Build trust and cover objections - Ex: "I know you have a camera in your pocket... but did you know that homes sell X times faster with professional photos" (differentiate yourself from others)

• Present Solution - describe your offer using language selling the end result/emotional transition (not features, but benefits)

• Call to Action - click here to learn more

3. Build Out Your Funnel (I recommend Clickfunnels to make it easy!) Grab your free 14-day trial here.

• Freebie with opt-in box ... after submit, goes to...

• Upsell page for low-ticket offer with checkout form and purchase buttons (this is also the thank you page for the freebie) ... after submit, goes to...

• High Ticket/Book a Call Sales Page

4. You'll need a service like Zapier to pull email subscribers' data over to your email software and trigger your automations.

5. Create your freebie! (have clickable links in there to sell your upsells)

6. Write 5 or 7-day email sequence (soap opera sequence "indoctrination" - helps them believe you, trust you, and want to throw their credit cards in your face). These emails will also retarget them back to your thank you/upsell pages.

• Set up your email automation software and input your email sequences. I use ActiveCampaign.

7. Test your offers! Before you run any paid ads, start by selling it to your social media following, call prospects and offer it, send private DMs, etc. Ultimately you have to SELL something before you can MARKET it.

Please remember - you're not just providing a service or selling a product. You are solving a problem. 😉 And your funnel just makes it easier for you to solve that problem!

To your Victory,

💜 Tracey Matney