We know you don’t want to hear it…
But free marketing strategies don’t always produce the kind of results you want.
At least not very quickly.
You’ve got to spend money to make money.
And if you want to grow your list FAST, you’ll probably want to consider a paid advertising campaign.
But, how do you create a high-converting sales funnel that’s ready for paid advertising?
As with any marketing strategy, the first thing to consider is what you are going to offer.
Yes, you can advertise paid products directly…
But that typically leads to low conversion rates.
A better choice would be to create paid ads for a high-quality free offer that gives exceptional value to your ideal customer.
This freebie doesn’t need to be some over-the-top, 20,000 word PDF with an extra seven day’s worth of video training.
It can be as simple as a single-page checklist or 5-minute video that speaks directly to your ideal customers’ current problem or need.
Remember, this is only the first step!
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Once you’ve decided on your offer, the next step is to monetize.
You could use a basic sales funnel that includes the freebie offer, a thank you page, a download page, and the email follow up…
If you are happy with simply collecting email addresses.
But, if you stop there, you could be leaving a lot of money on the table.
The best funnels are fully monetized before you begin filling them.
Monetising before you begin marketing will allow you to start seeing a positive return on your investment quickly.
Just because your initial offer is free doesn’t mean you can’t make money!
The best marketers know that passive income is where the money’s at.
Your free offer is simply a way to open the door to additional products or services that will provide that for you.
You can monetize your sales funnel in all sorts of ways:
- Affiliate Links
- One Time Offers
- Discounts, etc.
For instance, let’s pretend your free offer was targeted to people who want to learn how to build their email list.
You created a detailed checklist of the steps your audience should take in order to do so and used it as the freebie on your opt-in page.
One way to monetize that freebie would be to include affiliate links to tools, products, and services that would give them the ability to complete the steps within the checklist.
This could potentially give you long-term residual income on purchases they make on things as autoresponder subscriptions or website hosting.
Or, perhaps your initial free offer is a lite version of a WordPress plugin designed to help build their email list.
In this case, you could offer the full version of the plugin at a discount as a One Time Offer.
To keep your high converting sales funnel flowing smoothly, you must also anticipate your subscriber’s future needs.
A good way to do that is to fully map out your entire funnel before you begin advertising it.
Think of your sales funnel like a roadmap.
You want to take your potential customer from point A (your lead capture page) to point B (your buyers list).
There may be several twists and turns along the way based on their actions within your funnel, but the end-point should be the same.
Going back to your freebie on building an email list…
Let’s assume your new opt-in has gone through their checklist, purchased their domain name and signed up for their autoresponder.
They’re probably wondering what to do next.
They’ve probably never set up a lead capture page before and don’t have anything to give away as an incentive for someone to join their list.
Based on what you know are the steps someone needs to take to build a list, you should now start recommending products or services that will help them take the next step.
You could offer them training on how to create a highly converting lead capture page or recommend some quality PLR that has a lead capture page included.
But, don’t stop there!
Once your subscriber knows how to build their lead capture page and has something to offer, they will also need traffic.
At this point, you could recommend new products and services geared towards getting their lead capture page in front of the eyes of the people who want or need their incentive.
You may also decide to connect several different funnels depending on the actions a person takes as they move through your high converting sales funnel.
Now that your high converting sales funnel is fully prepared, it is time to write your email follow-up series.
One of the most important emails you will ever send is your Welcome Email – the email sent to your new subscriber immediately after they opt-in.
We all know how important it is to make a good impression, right?
Well, this is no exception.
Use your Welcome Email to make a good impression on your new subscriber by:
- Introducing yourself
- Showing your appreciation for their decision to opt-in to your list
- Letting them know what to expect in future emails
- Remind them to download the freebie they signed up for.
- Point them to other places they can find you online: your website, social media profiles, etc.
- Offering another freebie (optional)
- Offering a coupon or discount on future purchases (optional)
When you craft your Welcome Email in this way, you provide Value right off the bat and get your relationship started off on the right foot.
Now, you want to establish your Authority.
In your second email, consider telling a story about how you or one of your clients overcame the same problem your new subscriber is struggling with.
“But, I’m just beginning! I don’t have a case study or a success story yet!”
Don’t worry!
A lot of people have found themselves in the same situation.
So, here’s what you do…
Use other peoples’ stories!
Look for other people or companies who are doing something similar to what you’re doing and share how it has been successful for them!
Of course, you MUST be completely transparent when you share a story like this and never claim it had anything to do with you if it didn’t.
If you’re selling affiliate products, this part can be made even easier if the Seller has provided email swipes that include information about how they or someone else used their product.
All you need to do is re-write the email in a style that fits your tone.
Of course, we always recommend that you have first-hand experience with the products you promote, but hey…
In a pinch, use the swipes!
That’s what they’re there for.
JVZoo Pro Tip: You can find out if the affiliate product you’re promoting has email swipes or other promo tools by logging into your JVZoo account and viewing your approved products’ info page.
If the Seller has a JV page, it is usually listed in the ‘Additional Affiliate Information’ box.
OK, so now you’ve delivered value in your first email and you’ve established your Authority in your second.
Now it’s time to ask for the sale!
Your third email should be all about getting those new ‘freebie seekers’ back into your high converting sales funnel…
This time, as buyers!
You don’t have to be too long-winded here. But, you do want to…
- Highlight your subscriber’s problem
- Offer a way to fix it
- Give social proof, such as legitimate testimonials &/or reviews
- Include a strong call to action
- Pepper your email with the link to your sales page so they can click through & make the purchase
With these three emails written, uploaded to your autoresponder and scheduled to be sent automatically, you have created your Welcome Sequence!
Now, it’s time to Test Everything!
Before you begin to advertise, test every part of your high converting sales funnel.
Make sure that everything works correctly.
Check the links, formatting, redirections, etc.
And don’t forget to make sure everything works perfectly on both mobile and pc!
Once everything has been tested & proven to work exactly how you want it to, you’ll be ready to decide on what type of paid advertising you are going to use.
There are many options to choose from and we’ll discuss them in a future blog post, but the main thing to consider is…
Where does your target market hang out the most?
The answer to that question is probably where you’ve been focusing your free marketing efforts anyway.
So, why not kick it up a notch by adding a paid advertising campaign there with your newly created, high-converting sales-funnel?
Need more help building your high converting sales funnel? Join the JVZoo Academy HERE, and check out these premium sellers on JVZoo:
