Latest / Imperfect Marketing / 173: Ready, Set, Launch! Planning an Effective Email Funnel with Host Kendra Corman

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173: Ready, Set, Launch! Planning an Effective Email Funnel with Host Kendra Corman · Imperfect Marketing

• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome back to the Imperfect Marketing Podcast.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, kendra Corman.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: We've covered email list building, copywriting and automation tools all in my Imperfect Marketing Briefs that release every Tuesday.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Now it's time to put it all together into a complete, money-making email funnel.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: An effective funnel moves cold traffic into warm leads, then to hot buyers through a series of targeted messages and offers.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: So in this episode, I'm going to reveal my proven blueprint for launching and optimizing email funnels that drive revenue.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Let's do this so I like to break funnel creation down into three phases right, initiation, ascension and optimization.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: The initiation stage is all about attracting potential subscribers with irresistible freebies like guides, trainings, templates, checklists that provide immediate value Once you capture their emails.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: The ascension phase nurtures the relationship.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: So they're ascending right.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: They're getting more closely related to you in your relationship, and you do this through an automated sequence.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Build blending, helpful education with maybe some promotional offers for your products or services.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Not always right, but you do want to take a look at where messaging is or isn't resonating.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Continually refine and optimize your calls to action and the incentives based on response data, because that's important and one of the cool things about email marketing is all of the data that you get.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: Optimization comes last.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: After running initial campaigns, you want to look at your click through, your conversion metrics.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: You want to take a look and see where your funnel is leaking right.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: Where are the people coming out of that funnel if they're not going down into the sales process and buying?
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: So you can take a look at see if there's any confusing copy tech glitches.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Oh my God, those are my favorite right.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: I would say nine times out of 10.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: There's some sort of tech glitch or there could be payment friction that causes them to bounce on out of your list.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Now, meticulous, thoughtful audience understanding and that's paired with savvy technical execution.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Take it step by step by step to gain momentum.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: I want to underscore that, while I'm referencing a ton of direct selling tools and terminology here, email sales funnels are very versatile.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: They're applicable even if you don't have an online product for purchase per se.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: The concepts translate to driving appointments, consulting, signups, event registrations, preorder campaigns you name it.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: A sales funnel can work for you.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: We've called it the marketing funnel for years.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: It moves people from awareness to purchase intent and then actual purchase and conversion.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: Whether you're a coach or consultant, insurance agent, managed service provider, a strategically designed email funnel moves your cold traffic for the people that weren't aware of you, or maybe just a little bit aware of you, into engaged, paying clients and customers.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: It's about guiding your best fit audience through a path tailored to their needs that they understand a little bit about what it's like to work with you.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: Again, I don't want you to make assumptions that funnels are only for internet marketers and online course creators.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: This core framework can elevate any business model or industry when done intentionally.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: Start envisioning how a funnel could apply to your specific offerings for revenue growth.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: Let's walk through a couple of examples.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Let's imagine John is an IT consultant.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: He helps companies manage their technology infrastructure and systems.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about how an email funnel could allow him to convert new prospects.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: Let's say his initiation offer is a guide to reducing security risks for company using Cloud Data Storage.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: In exchange for this guide, tech decision makers share their work emails to get it.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Then he nurtures those leads by sharing cybersecurity success stories, case studies of clients who prevented data breach after working with him in a value-added way.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: Nada, look at me.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: I'm John.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: I'm awesome.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: This is going to establish credibility when you do it right.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Further in the funnel, john is going to offer a 30-minute security analysis consultation for anyone, evaluating their current IT policies and procedures Could be paid, could be free.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: This gives a preview of working with John.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Then, for prospects not ready to commit, he has mid-funnel lead nurturing offers, like maybe a three-part video training series on essential cybersecurity awareness for employees.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Ultimately, the goal at the end of the funnel is that John provides his full IT and security packages, from network auditing to vulnerability testing or whatever it happens to be.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: By warming up his leads, he's better positioned to convert contacts into high-value clients and spend time with the right people, not with the right now people.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Again, let's gradually showcase John's expertise attracting and persuading prospects.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: Let's do another one.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: Her name is Sarah.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: She's a property and casualty insurance agent.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: Her franchise of the insurance company she works for has high targets for life insurance.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: She's looking to help her clients really understand the value of life insurance.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: An email funnel could really help Sarah automatically and methodologically nurture cold leads.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: I really need to work on some of these words in the script when I'm writing these, but Sarah's initiation offer is a checklist of taking stock of your current insurance coverage and any potential gaps for your family.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: In exchange for the checklist, prospects share their email, or maybe it's a checklist on things that you need to have ready and prepared in case something happens to you.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: Whatever it happens, she's going to nurture those leads by sharing claims, success stories, maybe testimonials from some grateful families who had proper policies in place, maybe some examples that have kept her up at night with people that didn't have enough or any coverage.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: Done right, sarah can showcase her value, and again, it's about providing value.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: With those claims stories and testimonials.
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: Right Doesn't have to be the whole email okay.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: It's really about nurturing and sharing value.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Further down the funnel, she offers a custom life insurance analysis consultation for prospects to review their specific assets and situation.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: This can give them a preview of working with her one-on-one.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: For those not ready to commit, she continues her engagement with a five-part email series breaking down myths and facts about the types of policies, like whole life versus term life, which sometimes I still don't understand.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: Ultimately, though, the final funnel offer is scheduling an in-depth discovery session to determine the ideal customized life insurance solution for each contact's needs and budgets.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: Another way Sarah could do this is if she has a meeting with a life insurance prospect, she could add them into a funnel that follows up from her meetings right.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: She talks about life insurance with them and then walks them through the process throughout the emails maybe the myths and facts, things like that to try and move them towards a sale.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: This automation and these funnels can do a lot of the follow-up for you, for these prospects that you have.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: As you can see, it's not just about a by now situation.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Sometimes it can be scheduling a consultation, a free review, or or or.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: The possibilities are endless.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: So think about what could be your key to unlocking email funnel success.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: I'd love to know more and if you have any questions, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: Now, that's a wrap on today's episode for planning effective email funnels.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: I will see you in the next episode of Imperfect Marketing.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much and have a great rest of your day.