7 Ways To Increase Your Sales Funnel Conversion Rate

Transcription

1 7 Ways To Increase Your Sales Funnel Conversion Rate Quick Summary I m going to cover these 7 engagement techniques to increase your sales funnel conversion rate. Have a look and see if you re interested or not. 1) Click-To-Continue CTA 2) Frequency Selector 3) Gmail-Zapier Hack 4) Activation Hook 5) (Automated) Welcome Video 6) Open Loops & Cliffhanger 7) 3 Question Interview A sales funnel is the core engine behind your online business or startup. That s for sure. But the three main problems people like you always face are.. 1. I don t have an automated a sales funnel for my business. But I need one 2. I don t have enough traffic. I need more 3. My sales funnel conversion rate is super low. I need more of my people to buy my stuff Today we talk about problem #3. When people tell me their conversion rate is low, one of the first things I ask is about engagement. My people (aka subscribers) usually have these problems: Not enough people open my s Not enough people click my links Not enough people respond to my questions Not enough people visit my sale page Not enough people hit the buy button My people are not engaged enough How low is a low sales funnel conversion rate for online businesses?

2 (from subscriber to customer..) I won t answer this question. Because I don t have the data to back my answer up. But what I have seen from my limited experience with businesses I work with (businesses that sell online courses, SaaS software, coaching, done for you services, digital products, ecommerce products or books..) and other entrepreneurs is that they run a 1% sales funnel conversion from subscriber to customer. So out of 100 people added to your list, only one person becomes a paying customer. Again, I don t have the data to back this up. So please take this with a salt of grain. Now, check this screenshot out.. It s the analytics dashboard of one of my clients. A sales funnel conversion rate of 8.66% from subscriber to paying customer. (they sell German language courses..)

3 Almost 9%. That s pretty epic, huh..? (that s from 100% organic Google traffic. No ads..) That s 8X the conversion rate of any average sales funnel. What kind of sales funnel they have and how they achieve these results.. That s what I will discuss in this article. I will demonstrate 7 ways how my customers and myself get great conversion rates & extremely high engagement rates. We all use a sales funnel called Relationship Funnel. That s how the Relationship Funnel looks like..

4 In this article I won t discuss the entire Relationship Funnel. Only one part of it, which is the RBS. RBS = Relationship Builder Sequence The RBS has the following characteristics.. Permission-based Behavior-based Story-based It s an automation. Based on your subscriber s behavior, you customize & personalize your message to send them down different paths in your sales relationship funnel. The RBS is an sequence that utilises advanced mechanics to establish a relationship and create trust with subscribers. What these mechanics are and how they will increase your sales funnel conversion rate is what we will discuss now.. 1) Click-To-Continue CTA CTA stands for Call-To-Action.. (for the newbies out here..) :-) The Click-To-Continue CTA is probably one of my favorite engagement techniques to get people hooked.. And when I say hooked, I mean hooked ;-) (I seriously recommend to click this link. You will love this..)

5 Here are 52 more of these screenshots. Have a look. (at the time I write this..) Goal: Get people to click a specific link ( The Continue Link ) in your series (for example in your third ) in order to progress in your sequence. #1 #2 #3 - Call To Action: Click this link to get #4 #4... Tell your subscribers that if they want to get the next lesson in your sequence, they must click this specific continue link. Template: Have a look at this screenshot of the PS section of my third in my sequence.

6 See what I m doing here? It s powerful stuff.

7 I have only seen one other marketer using this technique as well. Why should you use this?: People who click the link will love the continue link as this is something literally nobody does. It s very unique People who click, will deepen the relationship with you and your content. You pull them closer to you. They invest more into your content. ( Hint: Micro Investment) The link can forward your subscriber to a social proof page to build further authority People that click are more likely to buy your product as they are So how well does this work for me..? I looked into my ESP ( ActiveCampaign ) to see how many people who sign up here actually click the continue link in #3. I got these numbers %. Not too bad considering that the average click-through rate is 2-3% according to MailChimp s Benchmark Report. That s more than 10X the average click-through rate. Just saying ;-) Difficulty to implement: => Easy

8 What are the steps to implement this?: 1. Open your third in your sequence 2. Place a link at the end of your 3. Link the link to a simple landing page. Here s an example.. 4. Done!

9 2) Frequency Selector The next engagement strategy is something I just implemented recently (as I write this). I didn t plan to include it in this article. But the numbers are so promising that I had to share it. The previous chapter was about thet Click-To-Continue CTA. This time, we take it to the next level. Goal: At the end of each in your sequence, you place two different links. The first link says Get Next Lesson Now. The second one says Get Next Lesson In 2 Days. Each link goes to a specific landing page with more information. Here s an example. Template: Here s a screenshot of the frequency selector in action (that is the end of the first in my Relationship Builder Sequence (RBS))..

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11 Why should you use this?: The answer is engagement. This gets people really engaged.. Have a look at this screenshot of my Tagging Dashboard.. (because this is so recent, not many leads have been through yet. But I like what I see so far..) In my sequence (7 s), I get a big majority of people to click the Get Next Lesson Now link (these are the orange boxes in the screenshot above..). Around 4 times as many people prefer to have the next delivered now (compared to in two days..). Or in other words, 79% of the people that click the link, prefer to get the next now instead of in two days.

12 But how many people actually click a link? My ESP gives me these numbers.. I m pretty happy.. (to say the least..) Again, compare my numbers to an average 2-3 percent click-through-rate. I guess, this works.. Difficulty to implement: => A little bit more advanced What are the steps to implement this?: 1. Add your two links into each 2. After each gets send in your automation, put a wait block. The wait block waits until the Get Next Lesson Now link gets clicked for a maximum of 2 days. If the link doesn t get clicked within two days, the next gets sent automatically.

13 3. Done! 3) Gmail-Zapier Hack Now it gets fun. What is a Gmail-Zapier Hack? It s a personal but automated send via your Gmail account. (I suggest to read this again..) The main reason why the Gmail-Zapier Hack rocks is that the gets sent out automatically but it does not have an unsubscribe link at the bottom. The s comes across as hyper personal. And it is.. Goal: I recommend to implement lead scoring throughout your funnel. It means that leads collect points for demographic characteristics and behaviour as they go through your funnel. As leads collect points, there will be a moment when they hit your lead score threshold.

14 This threshold defines when a lead is ready to become a customer. And that is where the Gmail-Zapier Hack comes into place. Here are some examples for a lead score threshold.. Lead score reaches 200 points Visits sales page two times Has been on two webinars Once they hit the threshold, the Gmail-Zapier Hack gets triggered. The goal of the is to add the lead into a sales conversion event. This could be.. 20 minute free strategy call (that s what I do) $1 trial Frontend product (triwire or low cost offer) Invitation to a webinar (could be evergreen) An with a question Do you have any questions about X? Coupon code or discount Extra resources (some people call this bonus) if they buy now Link to your FAQs or any other resources Customer testimonials. Have a look at this epic customer testimonial page. Template: Here s the Gmail-Zapier Hack in action..

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16 Why should you use this?: The comes across as super personal. There is no unsubscribe link at the bottom of your People that hit your lead score threshold (for example: visited your sales page two times) are clearly interested in what you have to offer. This is the perfect time to attempt the sale The lead score threshold defines a lead as super hot. There is no better time to sell than now. Personally, I use a strategy call. It works really well. Your first solve the lead s most important problem (add value) and then you move on to qualifying the lead and closing the deal. A strategy call allows you to add value before any money has changed hands (aka the strategy of preeminence ). You deepen the relationship by helping, supporting and guiding your leads. You pull them closer to you. And then influence their behavior into your indented direction. You sell your product as the solution to their problem. Difficulty to implement: => A little more advanced What are the steps to implement this?: 1) Implement lead scoring in your ESP (advanced ESPs can do that..) 2) Track if a lead visits your sales page two times or reaches your lead scoring threshold 3) If they do, trigger an automation that sends them an (see template above) via Gmail. You need to use webhooks and connect your ESP through Zapier with Gmail. This is my automation in ActiveCampaign..

17 And this is how the Zapier implementation looks like..

18 4) Your lead has now a personal in her inbox and thinks that you sent it manually to her/him. Pretty awesome! 5) Done! 4) Activation Hook You (as a business owner) probably tried to use the Activation Hook before without really knowing and understanding its impact.. So what s the Activation Hook?

19 Goal: Your goal is to get your subscribers to respond to your first of your RBS ( automation). It doesn t matter much what they respond. Just get them to respond. That being said, there are two ways you can get them to respond: 1. Ask a real question to get a quality response. This one is great to learn more about your users but the response rate will be lower as it s more work for the subscriber. I don t use this one. 2. Tell them exactly how to respond. I tell my people to respond with ready. Simple. Response rate will be higher than option #1. Template: This is a screenshot of the middle part of my first that people get when they sign up here. See how I write HIT REPLY and write ready.

20 And once someone replies they get an (automated) response back.. Why I put automated in brackets is what I discuss in chapter E of this article..

21 Why Should You Use This?: I went into my ESP ( ActiveCampaign ) to see what my response rate was.. And this is what I found.. A response rate of 17.68%. If the average click rate is around 1-3 percent, then the average response rate is probably below 1% (I have no data for that). But what s even more impressive in my opinion is that out of my entire customer base 94% replied with ready. The graphic below is in percent.

22 Alternatively, instead of getting them to respond you could also get them to click a Ready link. One of my customers gets a 76% click through rate on that..

23 That s pretty awesome :-) So why should you care about all of this? And why should use the Activation Hook? Two reasons.. Reason #1: By responding with ready, an subscriber invests in you, your content and your business. Once a person makes an initial investment in something (or someone), they feel more compelled to continue.

24 They will open your next . Click on your next link. Check out your sales page. Become a customer.. That s the power of micro investments. To respond to your first is a micro investment. The response doesn t have to be a ready. It can be anything. Just make them reply. That s all. Reason #2: You tell your subscriber s client that your s are important. It works because your subscriber responds to your first . By doing that, it increases your deliverability for all future s. And thus your chance that your s actually arrive in your subscriber s inbox. Simple. Difficulty to implement: => Easy What are the steps to implement this?: 1. Go to your ESP and open your first Copy my template above 3. Add it to your first 4. Done! 5) (Automated) Welcome Video So what is happening once someone replies to your first ? They get a response, of course. Depending on how big of a fish you are, there are two ways for you to respond. Big Fish Response: If you get a ton of new subscribers every day, you won t be able to respond personally as this would take too much time. Here s the automated but still personal approach.. Goal: As soon as they reply with ready, your ESP triggers an automated with a link to a welcome video and if you want an educational resource (like an ebook). This is the time to show your face & personality. Move & attract them closer to you.

25 That s the & welcome video I send to my people.. Why should you use this?: The video is a personal welcome message to your new subscriber. If you want to see an example, feel free to have a look at mine: Difficulty to implement: => Medium What are the steps to implement this?: 1. Record a quick welcome video (1 minute) 2. Upload it to Wistia/YouTube/Vimeo/Facebook 3. Create a quick landing page and add your video. Here s an example. 4. Go to your ESP and set up reply tracking for your first in your automation. Every advanced system can do that (ActiveCampaign, InfusionSoft, ConvertKit, Drip etc)

26 5. Create a new automation. Every time someone replies to this first , trigger an automated with the link to your welcome video 6. Done! Small Fish Response: Goal: When I first started out, I personally responded to every single new subscriber who replied with ready. People LOVED it. Here s what I did..

27 I recorded a personal video for each subscriber that responded with ready.. This is the I sent.. And here s the video I recorded (1min).. Depending on what information I had available, I opened the lead s.. Twitter/LinkedIn profile Website

28 Why should you use this?: They will be incredibly impressed by your effort. No one does that. Do this at the beginning once you still can. It pays off big time - especially at the beginning. Difficulty to implement: => Easy What are the steps to implement this?: 1. Here are two free chrome extensions you can use to quickly record videos of yourself + your screen. The video can be uploaded to YouTube and/or Google Drive. a. Loom (here s their website for more information) b. Screencastify (here s their website for more information) 2. Record your video response 3. Paste the link to your video into your 4. Done! And here s another small but powerful relationship hack.. Response Relationship Hack: Goal: If you get an from an subscriber or a long question, record a quick video of yourself and send them a link to your video instead of typing a long answer. I shared an example of myself answering one of my subscribers questions (he s not a customer yet) into the Wild Audience Facebook Group. Have a look..

29 And here s the video I recorded for Marc.. Notice that he can see his own website in the screenshare. It shows that I care. That simple. This technique is even more powerful if potential customers send you an with some objections about your product/service. Instead of replying with text, record a video and answer

30 their questions and objections. That often moved the needle for me and I won them over as a customer (because my video response blew them away). Why should you use this?: You save a ton of time by not needing to type the entire (especially if your answer requires a long reply) You come across as super personal (personalized attention) as you take the time to record a specific video just for her/him You pull people closer into your sphere of influence by showing your face and personality. Show them that you care. If they feel that you care about them, they will care back. Difficulty to implement: => Easy What are the steps to implement this?: 5. Use the two free chrome extensions I already shared. Here they are again.. a. Loom (here s their website for more information) b. Screencastify (here s their website for more information) 6. Record your video response 7. Paste the link to your video into your 8. Done! 6) Openloops & Cliffhangers Think about your favorite TV show. You got it in your mind?

31 House of Cards, Gilmore Girls, Breaking Bad.. Hack, even Gossip Girl.. Each TV series exists of a few episodes. Now, think about how each episode ends.. Yap, exactly. That s what a cliffhanger is. Think about the last paragraph of a chapter in your favorite book. That s a cliffhanger too. A cliffhanger is a story element with a strong element of suspense. It s when you leave your audience hanging. Goal: Your goal is simple but not easy. You want your subscribers to wait for your next . That s what you want. Have a look at this screenshot..

32 That s the result of a cliffhanger well executed. I ll show you how you do that in a second.. Template: Here s a screenshot of the end section of one of my RBS s to demonstrate how to use cliffhangers.

33 Why should you use this?: 1) A cliffhanger employed at the end of your can tease the next by revealing just enough information to get strong emotional reactions from your subscribers.

34 2) A cliffhanger is a story element that appeals to something so deeply seated in the human mind that we can not resist it. 3) Whenever the human brain is presented with an open loop (an unfinished idea, thought, or story).. our brains seek closure. 4) Authors use it all the time to tease the next chapter or book. 5) TV Show creators and Hollywood movie directors use it all the time. 6) The concept of the cliffhanger is borrowed from Hollywood and implemented in my s. You should do that too. Difficulty to implement: => This is more art than science. There is no technical difficulty to implement cliffhangers in your sequence. But a cliffhanger done wrong is a problem. Be warned. What are the steps to implement this?: 1. Write your s main body content

35 2. At the end of your place a cliffhanger. See screenshot above. 3. Continue your next with where you left your reader hanging in the previous Done! 7) The 5 Question Interview Let s start out with something not so sexy. But it s (or should be) the foundation of every funnel. So what is a 5 Question Interview? The goal of this interview is to ask a bunch of questions in order to collect a bunch of data. Why? You want to get to know your leads.. You want to understand.. 1. Who they are 2. What they do 3. What their problems are 4. What they want to learn from you (how you can help them) This is how this works.. 1. People sign up with their address (for example from your blog post) 2. They get an to confirm their address (double opt-in) 3. They click the link. Link goes to the 3 Question Interview 4. They answer the questions (3 to 5 questions) 5. After they re done, they get access to whatever they signed up for 6. Done And here s a gif to show you how such a 3 Question Interview could look like..

36 Here s an example of a 5 Question Interview, in case you re interested. (no signup required..) These are the questions you could ask your subscribers.. 1. How did you first hear about [INSERT YOUR COMPANY]? 2. What do you do? 3. What are your problems? 4. What is your website? 5. What do you want to learn/improve/work on in the next 30 days? The 5 Question Interview doesn t have to have 5 questions. I usually recommend 3-5 questions. Keep it short. Keep relevant. I use dynamic questions. So based on what subscribers answer to my question, I show them a different next question. Relevance is key my friend. I use Typeform to implement all of this.

37 Remember this client of mine? How do they use the 5 Question Interview to achieve a sales funnel conversion rate of 8%? Well, they sell German language courses for different levels.. Beginners Intermediate Advanced It doesn t make sense to sell an advanced product to a beginner. Right? That is why they use the 5 Question Interview to.. 1. Figure out their German level 2. What part of their German they want to improve (speaking, reading etc..) 3. How they would like to study German (online course, 1:1 calls, local language school)

38 4. So that they can subscribe them to right and most relevant funnel to teach them some stuff 5. And then sell them the right product down the line The 5 Question Interview allows you to be relevant. And relevance is key in nowadays time. If you re not relevant, you lose your subscriber's attention. And once attention is gone, it is gone for good. Always remember that. And voila.. That s it :-) These are my 7 favorite ways to increase engagement in my sales funnel to ultimately increase sales funnel conversion rate. I hope you enjoyed it. Over to you now.