Different Types of Funnels and the Businesses That Should Be Using Them

Different Types of Funnels and the Businesses That Should Be Using Them

There's so much to know and understand about sales funnels and it can be hard to keep track of it all! You might be wondering should I be using funnels? What type of funnel? Which funnel is best for my business? We have all the information needed to get you started with your sales funnels!                                                                         Let’s get one thing straight; funnels are not for anyone specific type of business. Whether you have a brick and mortar or an online business, you should be using sales funnels. 

Starting The Process

Ask yourself, “What type of business do I have?” and, “Which funnel would be the most beneficial for my business?” The best answer is research!  You want to model what other people in the industry are doing that is working well for them.  When we say modeling what others in the industry are doing, it means you want to model, but not copy them. Copying and modeling are very different things. Modeling is being inspired by what they are doing, not copying word for word.  Look at your competitors and others who have been successful in the industry and make what they are doing even better by putting your own spin on it.

All Businesses Have Funnels 

A sales funnel is simply the process of getting customers in the door and selling to them. Even if it's not automated, all businesses have some type of sales funnel. Identify the way the most successful businesses are getting customers to purchase from them. Think about what funnel type that would be. 

Types of Funnels 

Here are some of the different types of funnels that you can use: 

•  Free funnel with a nurture sequence ending
  • These are used to get customers to feel the value of your brand 
  • You can create the funnel as an evergreen model 
    • This is something like a video series that is pre-recorded or that is available all the time 
  • You can also have a free funnel with a nurture sequence where the promotion at the end is time-sensitive. This is typically done around the holidays or with a big launch. 
    • If you are brand new, it is recommended that you do not do a live event or a time-sensitive one! You might miss the prime window to sell because creating a funnel may take you longer than anticipated! 

• Application Funnel
  • The application funnel is where customers can select if they wish to join your group or program. 
  • Think about scaling this funnel. It is possible that once you start automating this funnel there could be more people than you can help!
  • You will need them to apply and reach out to you before being automatically accepted! 

• Product Funnel 
  • There are a lot of different options that you can do when looking at product funnels! Here are just a few examples of things that you can offer in a product funnel:
    • Email 
    • PDF
    • Quizzes 
    • Free trials 
    • Free templates 
    • Free swipe files
    • Make sure it is something that you can scale with time! 
  •  You can do a free product with paid shipping
    • Sometimes it's an amazing way to just get your name out there! Get people excited! 

Tips For Creating A Successful Funnel For Any Business

How do you know how much time to commit to a sales funnel? When is it time to give up on a funnel? It all comes down to testing.  It's going to take some time to test your funnel and understand if it is working properly or not.

You need a minimum of 100 people to opt into the sales funnel! If you are worried a funnel is not working, analyze if you've had enough traffic to the funnel. You might just need more volume! Often it is a traffic problem, not a conversion problem.  If you have had enough people opt into the funnel and it still isn't performing as well as you'd like, you can always tweak things before completely scrapping the whole funnel! What could you change to make the funnel even more appealing? Is there some wording that could be better? Maybe a better graphic? Don't give up too soon! 

Another big question is do you want to go directly to a bite-size product or have your best-selling product be top of the funnel?  Whatever is at the top of your funnel needs to be a no-brainer offer! Bite-size is always better! There is a lot of trust involved when customers spend a lot of money. So what can you do to allow people to try you out or get a sample of what you offer? Bite-size products warm-up leads so that you are easily able to go for the bigger ask. They will jump in and purchase with no hesitation!

If you want to see The Content Machine™ funnel in action, you can click the button below and see how this funnel is working for us! The Content Machine™ is designed to help you, the Powerhouse business owner, maximize and scale your social media content for effective promotions and funnels.