If you have an online business, there is a good chance that you’re selling products that you created. It’s a great way to make money and be able to live your life the way that you want to. But unfortunately, just having these products doesn’t automatically give you massive sales or a successful business. You’ll need to do more to help assure your success.
As you no doubt already know, it takes a lot of hard work and effort to find customers and make sales. That’s why it’s so frustrating when you’re working hard and putting in a lot of time into promoting your products, and don’t see the kinds of results that you’re looking for.
It’s not enough to inundate your audience with messaging and links to your offer in the hopes that they’ll click and buy. You have to use a proven method to help you get sales and not only make it easier, but more automated.
That’s why successful online businesses rely on the power of sales funnels to sell their products and services. Want to know why? Because they work. They know that good sales funnels are made of valuable, targeted, and well-timed offers. Having a sales funnel will automate the sales process for you, and put you in control of what your potential customer sees, and when. If you create a sales funnel with multiple offers in it, you’ll soon start to see more revenue coming in.
What Is a Sales Funnel?
You’ve no doubt heard the term “sales funnel” before, but what exactly is a sales funnel? A sales funnel is the journey your target customer takes from the initial awareness of you and your company to the point where they purchase from you. It is the process prospects go through to become a customer.
It’s called a funnel because it’s wide at the top (the sales funnel entry point) and gradually narrows as the customer moves toward your main offer. The idea is to cast a wide net at first, attracting casual and serious people alike. You then present them with offers that will either move people down the funnel towards a purchase or, eventually, remove them.
The types of offers you present, and where you place them, is key to your funnel’s success. Most funnels start off with something free, what they call a lead magnet. Once someone is in the funnel, other offer types that they might encounter are a low-ticket offer, a one time-offer, an order bump, upsell, or downsell. This isn’t everything that you can put in a funnel, but provides a great foundation for a successful funnel.
The point of these offers is to qualify leads for your main offer. Through your prospects’ reaction to these offers, you can learn who will buy from you and who will not. You can then weed out those who are not interested in buying anything.
What Types of Offers Should Be in Your Funnel?
I wish there was a simple answer to this, but there isn’t. Everyone’s audience is different, and therefore you’ll have to do some testing in order to figure this out. You’ll try out a funnel, and see what works and what doesn’t. From there you can make changes until your funnel works well for you.
To help you get started, here are some of the offers that are most commonly found in a sales funnel.
Lead Magnet
This is what leads someone to join the funnel, so it’s not technically part of the funnel. But your funnel would stay empty without it. A lead magnet is what attracts someone to the entry point of your funnel. In this part, you give something away for free in exchange for a person’s email address (and sometimes their name). The email address is the important part, as once you have this information, you can start marketing to them directly via email, which is the entire point of the funnel.
The Main Offer
Your main offer is what you built your funnel around. It’s usually near the bottom of the funnel. It’s often the second most expensive product in the funnel, but that isn’t always the case. This is what will have prompted you to create the funnel in the first place – to sell your main offer.
Low-Ticket Offer
A low-ticket offer is usually found at the front end of your sales funnel, usually soon after the person signs up for your lead magnet. It’s low risk since the price isn’t very high, and won’t scare your prospective customers away. It primes your audience to purchase your main offer. Most importantly, it separates serious possible customers from casual ones who just want what’s free.
One-Time Offer
A one-time-offer (also called an OTO) is a powerful way to qualify your customers early in the sales funnel. It can be any price. What makes it different than any other offer is that it’s exclusive and time-sensitive. If the person doesn’t take the offer right then and there, they won’t see the same great offer again. It can be used before your main offer, or right after someone buys your main offer.
Order Bump
An order bump is located on the checkout page for your main offer. It’s a small box with a checkmark. With a single click, customers can add a lower-ticket item to their cart before they click to pay for their main offer. Order bumps have a high conversion rate, and increase the value of your main offer and point of sale revenue.
Upsell
An upsell is offered after the person takes you up on your main offer. It’s a higher priced item that usualy enhances their initial purchase.
Downsell
A downsell comes after a prospective customer turns down your upsell, or sometimes even if they turn down your main offer. The downsell is a lower-ticket item. The hope is that someone might have turned down the higher priced offer, but will be happy with a less expensive alternative.
Why You Need a Variety of Offers
Having a variety of offers in your sales funnel allows you to better segment and target your audience. By having all of these different types of offers, you’ll be able to make everyone happy, while making sales in the process.
The different types of offers and their placement in the funnel will direct audience members to the right offer at the right time. And it will eventually show them the door if none of the offers are right for them.
You’ll also be able to make more sales using different offer types. If you just had a main offer, you’d be missing out on all of the people who would have still purchased your lower-ticket items, your upsells, or your downsells.
This process helps you build a relationship with your audience. As you present your audience with different offers, you will be communicating with them regularly. You will build trust and establish yourself as an expert, increasing the odds that people will purchase your main offer and future offers.
The most important thing to remember is that the customer’s movement through the sales funnel isn’t necessarily in a straight line. It shouldn’t be viewed as a direct, ultrafast chute that drops them into your main offer. Instead, look at it as flexible, as different people will do different things inside the funnel.
They may take you up on your downsell, but not your upsell. Or they may go directly to your main offer. Or they may purchase your low-ticket offer, but will need more information and content from your before they purchase a higher-ticket item. A fluid, flexible offer funnel will speak to all these people and lead them to the offer that’s right for them, resulting in more conversions and sales.
Why You Need a Sales Funnel of Offers
It may seem complicated when you first think about a sales funnel. You’ll need to understand your audience, clearly define your main offer, and create (or find) offers that are related to your main offer before you can create your funnel.
But let me tell you something. It’s worth it.
A sales funnel of offers makes the process more efficient.
You won’t have to constantly change your main offer to appeal to different members in your audience. You won’t be bothering your audience with emails that they aren’t interested in, causing them to unsubscribe.
Let’s face it. Some of your audience members just want free stuff. They’ll enjoy your free content and offers, but they won’t buy – not even a low-ticket offer. By weeding out those who won’t buy, or automating the process, you won’t waste time engaging with them during the sales process.
This is the primary benefit, but there are many others.
Through your offers funnel, you can build a relationship with your audience instead of spamming them with unwanted content. The communications related to your offers will genuinely help prospects with their problems and they’ll come to see you as a trusted expert who provides value. This will increase the chances that they will eventually purchase your core offer and future offers.
Finally, a sales funnel with multiple offers helps you learn even more about your target audience. By choosing or rejecting offers, your prospects are giving you valuable information about their preferences and tastes.
Their decisions also provide valuable input on the offer itself. If nobody takes you up on the offer, it may need to be adjusted. On the other hand, if you have great success with an offer, you can figure out why and replicate it.
The Keys to Success with Your Sales Funnel of Offers
Know Your Audience. The key to a successful sales funnel is to know your audience. Conduct research and create an ideal customer profile. This will allow you to identify the unique challenges and problems your audience faces and solve them through you offers. If you create tangible results and quick wins for your audience, the more likely they are to buy your main offer and future offers.
Focus on Your Free Lead Magnet. Your lead magnet is what drives people to the entry point of your sales funnel. It is your most important offer, so make it good. It should provide value and solve a specific problem your audience has identified. Pay special attention to creating content that will support this lead magnet and driving traffic to it. Nobody will opt-in to your lead magnet if they can’t find it.
Know the Stages of Your Offer Funnel. Prospects move through different stages of awareness and openness to purchase as they progress through your funnel. It is critical to present them with the right offer at the right time. For example, the chances of convincing them to purchase a high-ticket item the second they enter your funnel are very low. You first need to cultivate a relationship. They need to get to know, like, and trust you.
The first stages of the journey are awareness (before they enter the funnel) and then interest (after they’ve opted in). Prospects are just starting learn about you and your offerings. The offer at the interest stage should be low-risk. It should either be something for free, or an offer that will gain their trust and move them further down the funnel.
In the middle of the funnel, prospects are at the evaluation and engagement stages. They’re consuming your content and starting to seriously consider what you have to offer. You can present them with a low-ticket offer or even a subscription.
Later in the funnel, in the commitment stage, prospects have been convinced of your value and are ready to buy. Present them with your main offer, and later an upsell or downsell offer.
Learn these stages so you’re making the right offer, at the right time. And remember, the stages aren’t necessarily linear. Some prospects may get all the way down to the engagement stage and then decide they need more information, returning to the evaluation stage.
Don’t Think You Need to Do Everything. Don’t think that now you need to not only create a main offer, but half of a dozen others. The great thing is that you don’t. You can offer affiliate products, or get Private Label Rights (PLR) content that you can use and sell as your own. You do not need to be the person creating all of these offers.
Longer Doesn’t Mean Better. Your offer funnel doesn’t need to be long and complex. You only need enough offers to qualify your prospects and lead them to your main offer. Assess your customers’ needs and the types of offers you’re capable of making.
Don’t Despair When People Leave. Don’t feel disappointed when people leave your offer funnel. That’s supposed to happen! They’re sending you valuable feedback that your offers aren’t for them.
Your Main Offer Isn’t the End. If you really want to make the most of your offer funnel, keep engaging with people long after they buy your main offer. Lead them to other offers and funnels. You’ve done a great deal of work to capture and nurture them, and they’ve shown that they like you, so don’t let them go.
How to Get Started
You’ll learn the most about building a sales funnel of offers by actually doing it, so get started today. The first step is to identify your main offer, think about your customers and what you can offer them along the way, and start mapping it out. The sooner your offer funnel is up and running, the sooner you’ll start seeing results.
Enjoy,
