Digital Marketing Tips

What’s all the fuss about ClickFunnels…

Marketing funnels (also called sales funnels) are all the rage at the moment.

You can hardly read a single article about marketing without reading about funnels. Creating marketing funnels (or funnel hacking as it is popularly known), is currently the most talked about subject in marketing.

What does ClickFunnels do?

ClickFunnels is a unique tool specifically designed to simplify the task of building sales funnels.

For many marketers it has become their new best friend.

In this review, I take a detailed look at ClickFunnels — what it does, how it works, its strengths & weaknesses, and how it compares with the competition.

If you want to learn more about funnels, how to build them, and whether or not ClickFunnels is the right product for you, read on.

But first, a bit of background…

What is a marketing funnel?

Definition: A marketing funnel is a guided path that prospects move through in your sales process. It takes people from their first engagement with your brand (cold prospects), through a number of steps that are intended to result in one or more conversions.

A conversion can be anything — from opting-in to a mailing list, or downloading a document, to attending a webinar, or making a purchase.

A funnel will usually encourage several different conversions along the way.

Often a funnel will incorporate several branches — upsells, downsells, and one-time offers — to maximise the profit from each customer.

Customers may be offered different things at different points, depending upon the actions they take as they move through the funnel.

Funnels may be simple, or incredibly complex and sophisticated, but at the end of the day, they are all about one thing — increasing conversions and profits.

Now you see why they are so popular!

Why do funnels work?

Marketing funnels work by guiding customers through a process that starts with a very low commitment (such as downloading a free report), and then gradually ‘warms them up’ and exposes them to higher-priced offers as they become more familiar with your brand, and develop trust in you.

Imagine walking up to a total stranger (who has never heard of you) in the street, and asking them outright for a large order.

It’s just not going to happen, is it…

The secret funnel formula

However, if you first of all offer them something of value — for little or no cost, they are much more likely to respond.

In fact, if they are your ideal customer, and you are offering them something of value to them for free, they are extremely likely to respond.

And they will think well of you thereafter. Because you’ve helped them.

They have now entered your funnel…

Now you have demonstrated your worth to them, and built some trust and rapport, you can start to offer them some opportunities to buy.

You might start with a low price offer, to get some commitment from them — to get them to buy into you — before you proceed to offer them something higher priced.

If that is too much for them, you might then offer them a cheaper option (downsell).

But if they do buy, you might then go on to offer them a more expensive, premium product at a higher price (upsell).

That’s the basics of a sales funnel.

The value ladder

You start with a micro commitment (such as giving up their email address to receive a free book), demonstrate your value, and then as their trust in you grows you take them up an ascending value ladder.

This method of doing business is not only extremely profitable, it’s also very ethical.

It is the antidote to many of the ills that afflict online marketing.

If you practice this successfully, you won’t just make more money, you’ll create a business that you feel good about, and that your customers love.

In fact I would go so far as to say it is essential that you adopt these principles if your business is to survive in the future.

Because if you don’t, your competitors will…

What is ClickFunnels?

ClickFunnels is a tool specifically designed to help people implement sales funnels in their business. [Read More…]

I’ve used and recommended AWeber for years. It’s been a solid platform, and it’s served me well.

But email marketing has moved on, and unfortunately AWeber hasn’t.

I want to do things now that AWeber simply can’t do, and this led me to look for an alternative email service.

One that offers state-of-the-art marketing automation functions, so I can really tailor my email campaigns to suit my readers’ interests and behaviours.

By doing this, I will serve my readers better by sending them emails that I know will interest them, and that will be relevant and helpful to them…

…instead of hitting them with things that only might interest them, which wastes their time and bores them. And ultimately makes them unsubscribe.

The improved relevance increases open rates, and subscriber retention rates — dramatically.

But most of all, addressing your subscribers’ individual interests and needs more precisely, means they read more, engage more, and ultimately buy more…

After looking at all of the email service providers in great detail (Infusionsoft, Drip, Active Campaign etc.), I eventually settled on ConvertKit as a likely candidate.

I’ve spent the last two months testing it, and most importantly, living with it day-to-day to see how it performs in a real-world situation.

I’m pleased to say it came out very well, and I’m now changing over to it.

It gives me all the advanced facilities I need, it’s easy to use, it’s well supported, and it costs only a little bit more than AWeber.

Why did I need to change from AWeber?

AWeber works very well if you just want to build email lists, setup autoresponder sequences, and send broadcasts. It’s cheap, pretty reliable, and straightforward to use.

But I want more…

It’s not 2010 any more.

I need to be able to tailor my email messages to my readers much more precisely. To be able to talk to them almost one-to-one, taking account of their interests and the actions they have taken.

Just like you would if you were talking to them face-to-face, and you knew their history.

That is the only way to do email marketing now. [Read More…]