Understanding the Marketing Funnel

Part 1- The Bait

As a marketing consultant, I meet all kinds of business owners. They come in all different shapes and sizes and with all kinds of different attitudes. For the most part, they are objective and results driven. They are bottom line type of people who want to see their marketing dollars work effectively. The motivation of this document is to explain how a marketing funnel works and how a business can see results based on the use of an LMS marketing funnel. As you read, keep in mind that this isn’t something we happened upon, but it is the personal life experience for myself in dozens of small businesses I’ve either consulted for or owned personally.

With that said, sadly over 90% of businesses or organizations do not have a completed marketing funnel. Typically, most businesses have pieces of a funnel, or parts, but they lack a true funnel. Over the next few minutes we’ll discuss the five critical pieces that make a marketing funnel and why every business should have one. As you read over the next few minutes, you’ll quickly be able to see if you have a funnel or are letting your prospects slip through your fingertips!

This is where it gets very exciting!

The first step in any marketing funnel is the bait!

We’ll talk more about this in a minute, but before we do, I’ll cut right to the point! Most of you reading this document are asking people to contact you because you’re nice, family owned, or priced right!??? If you were to look at your ads next to your competitors, you’re probably saying the exact same thing! How good you are! How fast you are! How cheap you are! My response to this is that people don’t care about YOU or your business! They care only about themselves and their best interest. I heard a quote one time that says, “everyone is tuned into WIFM radio!” Meaning – What’s In It For Me? So for the most part, business owners who talk about their business and NOT about what the customer really wants, are wasting their breath!

The problem is, we are asking people to “call us” or “order” right away based solely on an ad! But it doesn’t work! Why? PEOPLE are skeptical! There are so many rip offs, bad deals, and scams these days! People don’t trust anyone anymore! From the government to preachers, to used car salesman, they are all NOT to be trusted. So, people for the most part are not willing to just come and buy right away without learning more! We are in the information age, and people want to Google what you are saying to see if it is accurate or not.

So, when you ask them to “make a decision now” you are actually putting up a BIG RED STOP SIGN in their minds, as the prospect thinks that they are getting taken advantage of and quickly leaves your store, showroom, office, or website. This brings me to the point of having bait! Bait is simply a low risk offer for them to find out more about your business. It might be an audio CD, MP3, englishcollege learning class, white paper, report, or even a gift package! It could be a free gift card, coupon, or anything that would make the person desire your bait offer. Bait offers must have perceived value! If no value, then you won’t get any opt-ins!

For example, about 5 years ago, we were sponsoring a college baseball game for a company I was helping to promote. There were about 2500 people in attendance. To capture leads, the client had a new, small flat screen TV to give away. Probably worth about $400 at the time. The goal was to get people to register for a FREE TV and then we would take their details and follow up and try to sell the client’s product. This wasn’t my idea, but he asked so I suggested that he get a lead generator rather than just do a “brand” promotion.

At the game, there were tables out front with the company brand, and information all about the company. Flyers, pens, key chains, and even temporary tattoos! People had no problem picking them up after all, they were free. The sales team was dressed with team colors and, all the company did was to nicely ask people if they want to register for a FREE TV to be given away in the 7th inning.

The results were interesting… out of 2500 people we ended up with about 450 registrations. However, so many people wouldn’t register because they assumed right away there was a catch. The “bait” however was too good for many to refuse, even though many were very skeptical, we did get 450 names, numbers, and email addresses! The company ended up following up with those leads and gaining new business! So, by providing good bait, you can overcome skepticism and gain leads. But the bait has to be good enough to overcome objections.

So, think about your business! What is the bait? What is the reason for them to make a call or fill out a form? Why should they type in their email address on your website or call you after seeing your ad? Chances are good, you have no bait anywhere. Your only bait is “please contact us”. And for the most part, businesses make it on gaining these last-minute customers.

If you are only marketing to last minute buyers, then what about all the people who might buy down the road? You see, you can’t just focus on today’s buyers, but you must focus on future buyers as well. That is why, as part of the KMC marketing funnel, we suggest that you build lead generation into everything. Your website, your ads, your commercials, your telemarketing, yes, everything you do! WHY? Because sometimes people are not ready to buy today! They are planning on buying, but not until next week. So, if you capture the lead, you’ll be able to follow up with them when they are ready to make the buying decision.

If you never capture the lead, you will never be able to follow up! Imagine THIS!

Someone comes to a church but isn’t ready to join… however 3 months later they join the church after receiving emails and letters from the church pastor! They only join the church because the church was able to capture the lead and were diligent to follow up!

Someone comes to a car dealership but isn’t ready to buy… however, 3 months later they come back and buy from “John” the salesman because he followed up each week with emails and phone calls to the prospective buyer.

Someone uses a real estate agent to see a house, but doesn’t like that house… however, 3 months later they close on a deal with Susan Realtor because she used email marketing and phone calls to follow up with the prospect.

You see, the first step is capturing the lead. You can only learn how to capture the lead by doing testing, researching your client, and understanding what bait works with the prospect. The secret is testing, research, and eventually you will build what is called a “control” offer. The control piece consistently performs at a certain rate. For example, about a year ago I built a landing page on a website and used 3 different versions of an offer. Ultimately, I received a 20% conversion on one offer and only a 3% conversion on the other offers! So, by testing and using a good offer, I was able to capture one out of five visitor emails!

When I consult with a client, my company will research your business to find out what bait might make your prospects move forward. During this stage, we’ll also discuss where your “bait” might be placed. For example, perhaps you might have a business where customers come in, or they might only go to your website.

OK Matt, so how will this work to grow my sales? I hear your question ringing in my ears! Here is an example… Let’s suppose, right now you are generating 10 new leads per week. Imagine if we tested, reworked, and found additional places for your bait. You would see an increase in leads. What if you generated 20 leads per week because of these changes? The truth is, most businesses could see increased sales without adding marketing if they would just say the right things with the prospects they have right now.

It is really easy to do! On a website project, I worked on last year, a client added offers to his main site and received only a 2% opt in. However, that was enough to generate 20 new deals per month! Another client added offers to 20 mini websites or micro sites. They ended up making dozens more websites because they found that for every website they had they would generate even more leads.

Again, step one is finding what works and what makes people raise their hands and say, “I’m new and I’m interested in buying”! It could be a free book, free report, free CD, or free consultation. The key is having an offer that is good bait! Once you get some bait, you can start using it to capture leads. You can use it in your call center, website, and showroom! The key is you must have something.

So, what is your bait? What do you give people when they come into your showroom or doors to give up their information? If you don’t have a FREE offer, gift, or something, then you’re missing it. I know, you’re saying it is unprofessional to offer something!

WRONG! Imagine that every client who called in as a prospect to ask about a price, you ask them if you can send them over Report all about the secrets of your product and a 100% free gift voucher? My guess is 50% of them would say yes, and you would then have a bait offer! You have to think outside the box! If you think tracking is hard, then you need to keep reading. All your sales people have to do is open up a web page and add the client details to a simple form and push enter! POOF! The lead is taken care of and all the marketing is scheduled!

Understanding the Marketing Funnel

Part 2 – Identity Touch Points

Ok, so what is a touch point? We’ll get to that…. but first, let’s continue where we left off. You might understand capturing leads with your bait. Now, we have to do something with them. We have to figure out how we would treat these people as if it were a close personal relationship. We have to “indentify” our prospect and identify the form of communication that will “touch” them.

So, an identity touch point is simply who you are speaking to and what you are saying! Saying the right things will cause them to buy! Saying the wrong things will cause them to RUN!

Identifying touch points should be fairly easy for you as a business owner. You probably know your clients and prospects. So now you just need to segregate them into groups. For example, if you were selling widgets, you might have a couple different identities to market to. Many businesses only have one. It really depends on your products or services.

For example, let’s suppose you sell Widgets and you have 3 widgets in 3 different price points. Widget one costs $100, Widget two costs $1,000, and widget three costs $10,000.
You might have 3 identities to market to.

1. El Cheapo Widget Buyer
2. Middle Class Widget Buyer
3. Affluent Widget Buyer

El Cheapo might only care about price, while Middle Class might care about how long the widget will last. Of course, the Affluent Widget Buyer will only care how he will look with one and who else has one. So, you see each widget buyer is going to have different motives and they are a totally unique identity! Once you understand the identity of the buyer, you have the unique selling point and ideal client profile and you’ll know what to say.

I love this quote… “Marketing isn’t rocket science! It is simply knowing what every ‘John Doe’ wants to hear and then saying it every time you open your mouth!” Buyers will buy no matter what, if they want what you’re selling! They will find a way to purchase! It is simply how you word your marketing. As you can see from the example above you have to word your marketing based upon the identity of the prospect.

Next, let’s talk about touch points! A touch point is simply a “delivery” of information about your company with a warm and trustworthy tone. It could be a phone call, email, direct mail, or a post card! So, you might have 3 prospect post cards, one for each identity. Here are the key things with your touch points.

1. You must be genuine, trustworthy and warm!

You must say and market to their identity!
3. You must invite them into a deeper customer relationship or to buy!For example, it might be a message on the answering machine!”Hi Jim, this is Mel from Quigly Honda. I saw you filled out a request on our website. I tell you what, I’m going to add you to our system so you’ll receive email updates about our new Honda Civics that are on the market. Remember at Quigly Honda, you’ll never receive high pressure from us, and all of our cars come with free tires and oil changes for life! Again, my name is Mel from Quiqly Honda, give me a call if you can and we’ll discuss.”

Notice a couple of things …

Genuine – Warm and conversational message – NOT SALES
2. Information prospect wants to hear – Free tires, oil changes, no pressure!
3. Invitation – Give me a call and mentions that emails are coming.

So, your identity touch points would document all the pieces that would be going out on a systemized schedule. These are broken into campaigns! A campaign is a series of touch points that go to a specific group or identity. In a marketing funnel, you will have different campaigns based on your relationship with the prospect or buyer.

Here might be an example of a schedule.

Day 1 – Email – Welcome to our business
Day 3 – Phone Call – Thanks for visiting – call from manager/salesman

Day 4 – Direct Mail – Introduction Package with coupons, offers, etc.
Day 7 – Email (inviting to a special offer) – Email from salesman
Day 13 – Post Card – Reminder of special offer

Day 14 – Phone Call – Just checking in phone call
Day 30 – Email – Informational email
Day 45 – Email – Informational email
Day 61 – Prospect buys, joins, or signs and is now a CLIENT!
Day 62 – Start New Client Campaign – Email – Thanks for buying

Your touch points again, will be broken down into campaigns. You’ll have prospect campaigns, client campaigns, and special promotion campaigns. Again, campaigns contain touch points based on identity of the prospect. Touch Points say exactly what the client needs to hear to buy the product based on their identity.

In review, once you have the bait, you then need to have a solid message based on the identity of your prospects and buyers! Once you have that in place, the next step is automating the process!

Understanding the Marketing Funnel

Part 3 – Automated Systemization

Now that you have the bait, and you know exactly what you’re going to say to these prospects! We have to have a system or technology in place to automate it all! Otherwise, you’re going to be very confused about what is happening. Here is the good news. There are technologies and systems that will allow you to automate 100% of your marketing follow up.

Including:

1. SMS messages
2. Postcard Mailings

Direct Mail

4. Scheduled Phone Calls
5. Emails (both scheduled & broadcast)
6. Voice Broadcast

These systems will even allow you to capture leads from your website and distribute them to your sales people. Yes, 100% automatically! So imagine going to work on Monday and receiving an email that you have 15 new prospects! You don’t worry, as you know the system will automatically be emailing, sending SMS messages, and sending out these postcards!

Yes, it really is that easy! But what about the cost to build a system like this? Don’t worry, these systems already exist today! The costs for systems like these is fairly affordable in today’s marketplace. On average, our clients spend only about $300 per month for the technology and see a very big return on investment compared to cost for services.

You might be thinking that this seems like a big undertaking… Bait, Identity Touch Points, and Automated Systems… Yes, it is a big undertaking for any business. Systemizing the marketing takes time, research, and capital resources. There is creating a good bait or free offer, writing emails scripts, and of course setting up the system. On top of that, it takes keen marketing to research the message you’ll be saying to your prospects. However, once it is done, you’ll find that it will pay a huge reward to your organization’s growth and revenues. HUGE!!! We’re talking triple your revenues and sales! Yes, I’ve seen it happen more than once!

Let me just say that, “NO” you shouldn’t do this on your own without an Automated System! Unless, that is, you want to go crazy! It is nearly impossible to keep up with every client or prospect in your business once you turn on a marketing funnel and open up marketing. Thus you have to have systemization and check points when a client buys, when a client signs, or when a client refers. An automated system will help you make checkpoints in your business. By using a system and automating the process, you’ll be able to market to each identity with a unique conversation making them feel as if they are critically important to your business.