When you create a product, your goal is to get it in the hands of customers as quickly as possible. However, in a world that’s saturated with goods and services, that can be easier said than done.
To get your product in front of your target market, you’ll need to design a solid sales funnel.
Each step in your sales funnel should be crafted to guide potential customers exactly where they need to be–in front of your product.
A sales funnel isn’t as complex as it sounds, but creating a solid one will take some work. It’s simply the path from Point A, when the customer sees your product, to Point D, when the customer makes their final purchase.
The easiest way to remember it is through the acronym AIDA, which stands for:
- Awareness
- Interest
- Decision
- Action
To create an effective sales funnel, you’ll need to examine and craft each of these steps with precision. Here are a few tips to get you started.
Awareness
If you picture your sales funnel as an inverted triangle, Awareness would be the top section. This is the point where you’ve just started your business and need to introduce it to your target market. As the world becomes more digital, you’ll need to solidify your presence online as well as in your community.
Whether you’re an indie author or own a brick-and-mortar retail shop, social media is the quickest and easiest place to build that presence. If you know how to wield the power of the major social platforms, you’ll be able to gain visibility quickly.
That said, you’ll need to know more than the basics of social media to be effective. Specifically, you’ll need to gain an audience. You want people to see you, your products, and, most importantly, the unique nature of your company.
A great way to do this is by creating and promoting your YouTube channel. Videos are an excellent way to showcase your products and put a face behind your company’s name. Start with shorter videos that give consumers a taste of your brand, then start to sprinkle in longer videos with more content. Eventually, you can work on paid content, too.
Interest
Once you’ve got the ball rolling on building awareness, you’ll need to hold viewers’ attention long enough to generate enough interest in your product to make a purchase. This is the Interest, or lead generation process, which requires a bit more legwork. However, it goes hand in hand with Awareness and is a critical step in the sales process.
While you’re working at gaining awareness with witty social media posts, make sure you pique your customers’ interests in other ways. This is your opportunity to show them why your products fill a hole in their lives. You might even make them aware of a problem they didn’t know they had. Social media comes in handy here since it allows you to interact directly with your market.
If your product is functional in some way, a demonstration video will be a great way to boost interest. Catchy advertisements that show a snippet of what your product can do or an ad that features a user review are good ways to draw customers in. You could also do a live question-and-answer spot on YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram to offer more information.
Decision
The third step in the sales funnel is Decision. This is when the customer chooses to pass on or purchase your product or service. If they’ve been waffling between a few different options, you want to make sure they see why yours is the superior choice above competitors.
It’s important to remember that all businesses will have a competitor. No matter how unique your product may be, budget shoppers or those looking for a deal will find something to compare yours to. You need to find those comparisons and highlight why your product stands out. If you do this effectively, the customer will see that yours is the clear winner.
For example, say you’ve decided to sell online courses. When done correctly, online courses can be incredibly lucrative. However, a consumer could have hundreds of courses to choose from on any given topic. So how do you show a consumer yours is the best course?
It’s simple. You choose the right topic and give it an attention-grabbing title.
For example, don’t just offer “5 Ways To Make Money On Social Media.” Instead, offer a course with a niche title: “Gaining Followers and Generating Leads Using Instagram Reels.” This highlights both a platform and a specific feature that many content creators and businesses wield effectively to generate revenue.
Action
The final step in the sales funnel is the point of the pyramid–Action. This is the point where your potential customer becomes a paying customer. You’ve pitched your product, given your “elevator speech,” and now, it’s in the customer’s hands.
However, there are ways to improve your chances of a sale. One option is to offer a webinar that’s a “crash course” on your product or service. This is an exceptionally effective tactic for business owners who provide a service, such as marketing or content creation.
For example, if you sell online courses, webinars are a good alternative for customers who can’t commit to a full course. A one-hour webinar in the evening will probably be easier to find time for busy customers than an entire course.
Webinars are an excellent marketing method because they’re pretty rare. Unlike advertisements and online videos, you won’t necessarily have hundreds of other businesses or creators offering webinars on the same topic. Do a bit of research on the best webinar platforms and choose the one that works best for your purposes.
Final Thoughts
As you read over these steps, it might seem like crafting your sales funnel will be a long, arduous process. However, it doesn’t have to be. Will it take work? Absolutely. But with the proper dedication, you’ll be able to put your sales funnel to work in no time.