Summary: In this podcast we chat about funnels that will help with your marketing lead generation. We help you define and understand what a lead generating funnel is and reveal the three key components of setting one up for yourself. If you’re worried that things might get a little too ‘techy’, don’t be; we hate that too! We discuss funnels in a way that keeps it simple so that anyone can follow along and not be bored by a whole lot of ‘tech’ talk. Marketing Lead Generation Using funnels is recommended by all of the best websites; so, why is a funnel useful for you? It is one of the best ways to generate leads on your website. Put simply, a lead-generating funnel provides a place for visitors to your site to leave their contact details in return for something, perhaps a free eBook or audio. This allows your ‘shop’ to be open 24 hours a day. The lead generating funnel has three key components; 1) An opt-in form. 2) A great free offer or bonus. 3) Follow up – autoresponder emails. A funnel is a powerful tool as it allows you to gather ‘warm’ leads and gives you the opportunity to contact people as they have expressed an interest in you or your product. The free offer should allow people to have something that they really want, that shows off your capabilities without giving away the ‘kitchen sink’. Give them something they can tangibly action in their life; often people are giving away eBooks, but we have found great success with giving away more succinct products such as ‘cheat sheets’ or snap shots of very useful information. The great thing with these is you can create a ‘teaser’ where people will want to know more information, possibly leading to purchase of more product from you. The key for your free product is giving away small amounts of valuable information that subscribers can consume quickly. Some more examples include; • White papers • Reports • Action programs; e.g. ’30 day program for…’ • Videos • Software Opt-In Form for Marketing Lead Generation The opt-in form is of course very important to get right. There are several programs available to help you generate a great opt-in form, and you can outsource this to someone else if you choose. Some that we use include; • Mailchimp • AWeber • iContact • Get Response When creating your opt-in, less is more. Don’t ask for too much information as this can put potential subscribers off. Ask for just an email address or first name and email address. Remember to include an eye-catching headline and three key benefits beneath it so that people know what they are getting. Make the ‘submit’ button a call to action, such as ‘get report now’ rather than a more passive word such as ‘submit’. If you would like to know more about successful opt-in forms and landing pages, check out Landing Page Autopilot for more useful tips. Autoresponders for Keeping Warm Leads! Using autoresponders to follow-up is the last key component of an effective funnel. This means that when someone fills out your opt-in form, an email program automatically sends them a ‘thank you’ email, then sends out other programmed emails at set intervals. Remember when you are setting these up that you are likely to capture the attention of people more if you keep emails short and include clickable links if they would like to know more. You should use your follow-up emails to build trust with your subscribers, not to sell product. For example you might include videos that go more in depth into one of your key points, or other give-aways along the way. We recommend that your first 8 emails follow this format before sending anything promoting products, services or events for sale. All the best for creating an awesome, lead-generating funnel and check out this latest podcast for more information! MORE from the Autopilot Your Business Internet Marketing, Business and Social Media Podcast... See our directory of episodes at a glance HERE. Get access to the resources we discuss HERE.
