Article Title: How Full is Your Marketing Funnel?
Author: Jan Marie Dore
Category: Entrepreneurship, Lead Generation, Market Research
Word Count: 568
Keywords: small business marketing, marketing strategies, attract clients,
marketing ideas, promote business
Author's Email Address: jan@janmariedore.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
A basic marketing concept that can have a huge impact on your profitability and
the success of your business is 'The Marketing Funnel'.
Many service professionals struggle with converting prospects directly into high
paying clients. They make the mistake of trying to sell their high-end services
without first developing a relationship with potential clients. The second
mistake they make is to offer only a high priced service without any lower
priced options.
Marketing experts suggest that we provide an opportunity for people to
experience our services and expertise at different price points. The theory
behind the marketing and sales funnel - sometimes called a pipeline - is that we
offer something free at the top end of the marketing funnel, then a mid-priced
option, and finally your highest priced services and products at the bottom of
the funnel.
Here's what you do to implement this marketing funnel strategy:
First, get lots of prospects in the funnel.
If you picture your funnel with the wide end at the top and the narrow end at
the bottom, you want lots of prospects at the top of your funnel.
You need to first 'cast a wide net' by spreading your message to as many people
in your target audience as possible. This would include prospects, current
clients and former clients. You want to target your message so that mostly ideal
prospects enter the top end of the funnel.
A great way to do this is by offering something for free or extremely low cost,
such as an article, an ezine, special report, ecourse, audio download, a talk or
a teleclass The purpose is to entice them to allow you to add them to your
database and contact them again. This introduces you to prospects and provides
an opportunity for you to demonstrate your expertise.
Then, guide them through the funnel.
Once prospects have experienced your expertise and start to know, like, and
trust you, they are more likely to open their wallets and spend more money on
your services and products. Each level of the funnel as you guide prospects
through represents increased familiarity and the potential for increased
profits.
You offer your higher priced services and products only after they have sampled
the lower priced option. As you provide several opportunities for prospects to
sample your skills and knowledge at lower price points, the middle of your
funnel starts to fill.
You can make money while earning the trust of clients and prospects by providing
low to medium priced options for them to try your services. Examples of
mid-priced options would be an ebook, information booklet, workbook, audio
program, group coaching program, subscription ecourse, teleclass or in-person
group training, or assessments. Only then do you promote your higher end
services, for example, your 1-1 services, weekend workshops, or home study
program packaged with audio recordings.
What's in your marketing funnel? Take out a sheet of paper, draw a funnel shape,
and list the products and services you currently offer. Do you see any gaps in
your offerings from free to high priced? Determine how to plug the holes by
adding more product and service offerings and a range of pricing options.
Make it easy for prospects to make the decision to buy so your business becomes
more profitable and you don't have to work so hard to make sales.
You absolutely want to put this strategy of The Marketing Funnel into action in
your professional service business!
Jan Marie Dore teaches women business owners secrets to success. Sign up for her
savvy and smart FREE e-zine and receive a 30 page Bonus Workbook 'The 7 Critical
Small Business Marketing Mistakes Women Make. . . and Solutions to Easily
Fix Them' by visiting http://www.femalepreneurs.com
