Sales Funnel
Good idea gone wrong.
I am a fan of the sales funnel. I said it, and I stand by it. Coming from a restaurant background, I completely understand the idea of the ‘give away item’. That’s what we use to call it back in my times.
The concept of the ‘give away item’ was that you gave something at cost that would bring guest to your establishment daily. A good example would be, your fountain drinks were so cheap, it was almost a give away with no profit being made, but the cheap drinks would keep an influx of people walking into the shop, and then they’d realize they were hungry, or would take some fries with that drink. The price point on fries are amazing!
So a sales funnel is this true and tried method of brick and motor establishments, but the digital version of it. It’s a free item of some value that is given away to a potential customer, in the hopes of building
- trust,
- curiosity, and
- a form of connection.
If you create on ongoing funnel, like the soda, you’ll create a system like a restaurant were guest come for the give away item all the time, and buy things every once and a while. But take notice, that a funnel to me is to actually give away a product. The best example of this would be a comic book company uploading pages of a popular title once a week.
If done right this system could be used to build a great sense of brand awareness. The problem with the sales funnel, and why this kind of system is so hated right now, is that the items given away are trash.
You have to give them value. Please take your time, I have downloaded too many trash PDF’s that after the first paragraph I deleted and spammed their email. They broke all the building blocks of a sales funnel.
Do not break their trust, if you say you will add value give them value. If you do they will be curious of the next tier, or product. Lastly, you’ll build a connection, a relationship, that if fostered right will lead to brand awareness, and or, brand loyalty.
If you are not going to take the time to do the sales funnel correctly you are better off not doing it at all. Done wrong, this will cause a distaste to your brand thus hurting you in the long run. If they gave you the chance, they were interested. Keep them interested, if you don’t have anything of value to give away then it’s better to send them to your socials.
A sales funnel can and does work, but only when you are giving away an item of value, with no strings attached. Use it as a way of building brand awareness, of giving away the sample, and as a way to bring traffic daily. Do not use it as another chance to sale them something.
The best sales are from business beings that show value and then let that value speak for its self. So the marketing matters and the product as well. To build a successful business you need both, they go hand in hand.
