For those who have been in the online space for a while, the idea of building a sales funnel may seem like second nature. But if you’re new to this world of online marketing, it can be difficult to wrap your head around how to set up one of these useful tools in order to attract more business. In this article, we’ll explain some steps to take when building a sales funnel specifically for video content creators.
What is a sales funnel?
This is a sales funnel: It’s a sequence of steps that leads a visitor to take a specific action, such as buying something or signing up for your newsletter.
You might have heard of the “buyer’s journey,” which is a similar concept but has different definitions depending on whom you ask. The most common definition is: “The series of steps buyers/leads/users move through when considering and purchasing your product/service." In other words, it's how someone goes from being interested in what you have to offer to making an actual purchase.
As we mentioned before, there are many different types of funnels you can use for content marketing—but they all share one key element: They're designed so the viewer can easily find what they need at each point in their decision-making process.
A typical sales funnel looks like this illustration. The first stage will make viewers aware of your brand/content. The second stage should generate interest in what you’re offering. The third stage should compel them to make decision if they like what they see. And, finally, the last stage drives them to take action through a call-to-action, whether to sign up for a newsletter or to subscribe to your social media account, for example.
Build your list
Building your list is the first step in building your sales funnel. The more people you can get onto your list, the better!
There are many ways to build your list. Here are some examples:
- You can use social media to build an audience and encourage them to opt-in to receive future content or offers from you (this is called "social sharing").
- You can create a free giveaway that encourages people to opt-in in exchange for an entry into the contest (this is called "lead generation").
- You might ask people who have purchased something from you in the past if they'd like updates on other related products or services (this is called "retargeting").
Build an offer
Now, it’s time to build an offer to help you make money from your video content. Here are some tips:
- Offer something that your audience wants. Ideally, you want to give them something for free and then upsell them on a product or service later in the sales process (see “Upselling” below).
- Offer something that is easy for you to deliver. If it takes too much effort for you to deliver, consider outsourcing the work and using affiliate links instead of giving away physical products as part of the package.
- Offer something that helps your audience solve a problem they have or enable them in some way — whether by providing information on how they can improve their craft or teaching them how to apply the knowledge from your video series to real-life situations
Offer an incentive
Incentives are an easy way to engage your audience and turn them into super fans.
To get started, think about what you can offer them that would be relevant to the product or service you’re selling. For example, if you’re a fitness coach, offering 45-minute personal training sessions would be the perfect incentive for people who want to increase their strength and flexibility. Alternatively, maybe providing an email course on how to use kettlebells effectively would be more appropriate for those looking for a workout plan focusing on power training.
Make sure whatever incentive you offer is something people want—and don't make it a one-off deal! You don't want them to feel like they need to take advantage of this offer immediately; instead, create some urgency by saying something like: "You can only buy this now."
It might seem simple, but this is a great first step in getting your audience to buy from you.
So, how do you get started?
- Start with a free offer. Offer something of value to your audience in return for their email address, such as an eBook or checklist that will help them with an issue they have. The more specific, the better! This will help you build a list of people who are interested in what you have to offer and give them something in return for it, which is always valuable if you want to sell products or video content later on down the line.
- Get people to opt-in by giving away something useful or valuable for free (the "carrot"). Think about what's really important to your target audience and provide access to that resource in exchange for their contact info (the "stick"). You can use this list as an opportunity to gauge their interest level and determine if offering certain products or services would be worth their time/money/effort before spending too much time developing them.
Building your list on Quench
Quench offers the perfect video tech infrastructure to start your own video site, but that’s not all.
With Quench, you can directly connect with your audience and get them to sign up for your site to some exclusive content. Once a fan signs up for your content, you’ll have their email address to send them promotional offers or even sell access to your premium content, as we’ve discussed earlier.
The best bit thing about this, you’ll start building a dedicated list for your own audience – helping you to build engagement and a meaningful connection with your fans.
There are many more ways to increase sales, but the basic sales funnel technique listed above is great for starting out. If you're an aspiring video creator or just looking for ways to grow your audience, then building a sales funnel is a must.
