Funnels. You’ve probably heard the term before, and it might sound intimidating.

In reality, funnels are one of the most basic and powerful ways to get your next client—and Coachbox is here to help you set them up as quickly and painlessly as possible.

So what’s a funnel? In its purest form, it is the pathway you want your potential customers and clients to follow from not knowing who you are to becoming a client. 

It can be like this blog post that you are reading now, a sort of “lead magnet.”  that could lead to you booking a call with us to learn more about CoachBox. Every other piece of content on this website exists for similar reasons. So do our newsletters, emails, and ads. They are all designed to attract new clients to our business. 

So, how do you know if you need a funnel?

If you have any kind of business, you’re going to need one—especially if people have to buy something from you in order to get your service or product (which they almost always do). A funnel is all about getting people taking action so that they actually sign up and become your clients.

Funnels are a critical part of marketing and the sales process. And if you’re not using them… well, you should be.

Here’s why:  funnels help you get your next client. Without funnels, people who come to your site might leave without taking any action that would signal their interest in your products or services. But with funnels, even if they don’t buy something when they first visit your site, you’ll have a way to remind them of that interest, and invite them back to your site for more information.

The thing is, traditional ways of building a funnel are just so labor-intensive. We know because we tried using all different kinds of tools for building and managing our funnels. We looked at landing page builders like Instapage and Leadpages, we tried out email automation tools like ActiveCampaign and Infusionsoft, and we even made an attempt to build some of it out natively inside WordPress as a custom plugin.

Needless to say, none of it worked the way we wanted it to, which is why we created Coachbox.

Coachbox lets you build highly optimized funnels in just minutes. It’s not just the fastest way to build a funnel—it’s also the easiest! 

But remember to keep your target audience in mind so you create the most compelling customer journey possible! 

What's a funnel?

A funnel is a series of pages built to capture leads and sell products, services, or programs. Can be a single landing page, can be a full website with multiple pages, can be a series of emails, can be a single video, or it can be a series of videos strung together.

In a nutshell, a funnel is a process that starts with many potential customers and ends with fewer actual customers. Funnels can be used for everything from understanding which visitors to your website are most likely to convert into customers, to figuring out which users are more likely to purchase a premium version of your product or service.

A good funnel should take into account all the different things that might make someone decide not to buy (like high prices, lack of information, or an inconvenient delivery method). It should also help you understand what kind of marketing works best at each step along the way: Do people respond better when they see a video? Do they click through more often when they see an ad? Are they more likely to buy if there’s an incentive?

“Sales is an outcome, not a goal. It’s a function of doing numerous things right, starting from the moment you target a potential prospect until you finalize the deal.”

Jill Konrath

And what's a "Landing page"?

A Landing Page is the main area where the conversion happens. Where they actually enter their name and email address (and usually other information such as phone number) in order to get some give-away item you created that compliments your selling item (aka “the product”).

A landing page is a single web page that contains relevant information about a product, service, or business. It is designed to attract visitors and convince them to perform an action—usually signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase.

When creating landing pages they should be optimized for conversion, meaning they should contain all of the information people need to understand your company’s offering and sign up for more information.

Landing pages can help you increase your conversion rate by showing users exactly what they are looking for on the first page they see when they visit your site.

FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)

FOMO, or the Fear of Missing Out, is a marketing buzzword that’s been around for a while now. But what does it really mean?

The concept of FOMO was first introduced in 1996 in a marketing research study by Dan Herman and Scott Tindale. The acronym was added to OxfordDictionaries.com in 2013, which defines FOMO as “anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on social media”.

FOMO describes the feeling people have when they see everyone else having fun and doing things they’re not part of—and it’s a real thing.

Studies have found that FOMO can be caused by social media, where users are constantly exposed to experiences they’re not having themselves. They might also experience FOMO as a result of being invited to an event and not being able to go because of their busy schedule or lack of funds, which causes them to feel like others are having more fun than them.

Is FOMO just a bad thing?

No, absolutely not! FOMO can be both positive and negative.

Positive FOMO drives people to want to try new products or events and negative FOMO drives them away from brands or products that don’t fit their image or expectations.

The good news is that companies can use this knowledge to their advantage! If you’re using social media as part of your marketing strategy, make sure you keep it up-to-date with regular posts so your followers always have something interesting and engaging to share with their friends!

You can leverage FOMO, in several different ways, but NEVER and I mean NEVER use FAKE FOMO! That will hurt your business and brand in the long run!

Funnels vs. websites

Let’s first understand that a funnel is not a website. A website is just that. It’s a site. It has all the info on it, and you have to find your way around it and check out the different menus to find what you’re looking for.

A funnel, on the other hand, is just like it sounds. You can only go in one direction (like an upside-down funnel). Everything is set up for you to move from one step to another, or from one page to another in order until you reach your goal.

And that goal could be anything like buying something, signing up for a free offer, or getting more info so they can contact you or call you back at a later date when they are ready to buy. So, how does this work? What makes this better than having everything on one page?

Funnels are more likely to convert because they’re less intimidating. They don’t have all the bells and whistles of a website, so you can’t get lost on them, and they don’t have as many options for you to consider, which makes it easier to make decisions. This can be said of any kind of funnel—even if you’re selling something seemingly complex like software or an appliance in your funnel, it’s still possible to make things simple enough that people will want what you’re offering.

Also, funnels tend to be more specific than websites. They offer less information overall, but they focus on just one thing: what the company does and how it can help its customers achieve their goals. Websites are often designed with a lot of content because it’s seen as important for SEO purposes; however, this can result in people seeing too much information at once and feeling overwhelmed by the options available to them (which leads them away from making purchases). In order for your website or sales funnel to convert well, make sure that everything is clear and concise so that users know exactly what they’ll get.

Think of a website as a brochure and a funnel as an attendant asking “How can” help?”. The chances of someone looking in the brochure are much lower than someone relying on a direct question.

Websites also take a long time to develop and get done, whereas a funnel can be done in less than an hour!

Email marketing software

Email marketing is a powerful tool for your sales funnel. It can help you turn an unknown website visitor into a known prospective customer, and then a paying customer, and finally an advocate for your brand.

It´s a great way to keep in touch with your ideal clients. It’s easy to do and can be automated, which means you don’t have to spend any time doing it yourself. But what if you’re not sure how to write a good email? Or what if you’re just starting out and don’t know where to start?

That’s where CoachBox comes in. It´s a good email marketing tool will help you create personalized emails that are targeted directly at your audience. These types of emails are proven to be more effective than generic ones, so having this type of software will help you grow your business faster than ever before!

The money is in the follow-up, and that’s why you need to create a solid follow-up system. We call it a “Super System” and it should be designed to deliver value in all stages, from top to bottom. Remember you are building a relationship with your email list and your ideal target audience so valuable content is KING!

Building and expanding your email list is crucial, that’s why CoachBox has a built-in CRM (Customer Relationship Management system). It is super important from the very beginning and will get even more important if you decide to get sales teams working for you. 

Sales funnels can be different based on the product you're selling and what industry you're in

Sales funnels can vary in shape and size, depending on the type of product you’re selling. If you sell digital products, like online courses, ebooks, or your coaching business, you might have a more traditional funnel with multiple steps. On the other hand, if you have an annual subscription to a software as a service tool, (Like CoachBox) it could be simpler—most people simply visit your pricing page and sign up for your service.

It’s vital that you understand your ideal client when designing any type of sales funnel. Knowing what brings them to your site is important—do they search for “marriage counseling near me?” or “best relationship coaches?”—but understanding why they need help is even more important. Here are some suggestions:

• What are their struggles?

• What do they want to accomplish?

• What is their most pressing issue?

This information will give you insight into how to create different products and content to address their needs at each stage of their journey.

Furthermore, even if you sell physical products through an e-commerce store, sales funnels are still relevant! You don’t have to rely on retargeting ads or emails that just drive traffic back to specific product pages; instead, think about how people make decisions before buying a physical product.

Social media is a good place to drive people to your funnel from. Just remember that potential clients or customers may want to see different types of content in different stages of the sales cycle. 

That means that your target customer or client might need more information about your coaching business early in the buying process and later on, needs to see more social proof to make the final buying decision. 

So make sure to share and send different email sequences and information depending on where in the buying journey your client is in. 

Awareness, Interest, Decision, Action - AIDA

The AIDA model is one of the best-known funnel models. The acronym stands for awareness, interest, decision, and action. It was developed by Elias St Elmo Lewis in 1898 and has been used consistently since then to explain the four phases a customer goes through when making a purchase.

To use AIDA in your own writing, you need to first identify what it is you want people to pay attention to. This could be something like an offer or a product launch. Then you can craft a headline or introduction that will pique their interest and make them want to learn more about what you’re offering.

Now that they’re interested in what you have to say, it’s time to show them why they should care about the product or service being offered. In this stage of the process, try giving some details about the benefits of using your product/service or any other reason why someone might want it (e.g., “you’ll save money,” “you’ll never have another bad hair day”).

Finally, once they’ve decided that they want what you’re selling, it’s time for them to take action! You can do this by asking them directly for their email address (so they can subscribe) or by providing a link where they buy your products or book a call. It all depends on what your goal with the funnel is.

Source: https://bsscommerce.com/blog/how-to-effectively-use-aida-model-for-your-ecommerce-marketing/

But let´s break AIDA donw even more...

• Awareness: In this first stage of the funnel, people are aware that they have a problem but they don’t know or understand what it is yet. You need to begin to introduce your solution at this point, but many people will not be ready to learn about your solution yet.

• Interest: People who reach this phase will know you have a solution and want to learn more about it. They’re open-minded about your approach but may still be searching for other options or solutions. This stage is where the bulk of your marketing should be focused, with calls-to-action woven into content like blog posts, podcasts, and videos that encourages prospects to move forward in the funnel process by learning more about your approach.

• Decision: At this point in the process you want prospects to make an explicit decision as to whether they are going to buy or not. Make sure you have detailed call-to-actions on every piece of marketing collateral (podcasts, blog posts, etc) that helps them choose their next step based on their commitment level – some may just be looking for more information while others will be ready for a consultation or purchase right away; give them all avenues so that decision time doesn’t stall out because they aren’t sure what their next step should be.

• Action: When people take action at this point in the funnel you want them to buy or sign up! This can also include asking people to share your content on social media where applicable – it may not seem like an action taken on behalf of buying from you but sharing can help boost lead generation overall which ultimately supports sales!

Having a funnel is an easier way to sell products, services, or subscriptions than having a website

If you’ve ever spent any time trying to make a website, you know how much of a hassle it is. It can take weeks or months to find the right theme, get all the graphics and images right, and then do all the copywriting.

Plus, after you’ve gone through all that trouble, it’s not easy to sell your products or services through your website either. You’ll have to go back to the site every week and change what is on there in order for it to be effective at selling. And then you have no way of figuring out whether or not your changes are actually working!

A sales funnel takes care of these problems for you! A funnel creates an automated system for selling your products or services – so you don’t have to do any work once it’s set up.

It also makes split-testing simple so that your funnel is continually converting at its best possible rate.  

But a lot of people think tech is hard and that setting up funnels takes a lot of time and hard work. And sure, that used to be the case… But there is a better way!

Coachbox is an all-in-one funnel builder that makes it super simple to get your next client. You don’t have to know anything about web design, and there’s no need to hire expensive developers. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, the power of funnels cannot be overstated when it comes to growing your business and getting your next client. Our software - Coachbox - is an innovative all-in-one funnel builder, takes the complexity out of the process, making it accessible even for those who are not tech-savvy.

Whether you're just starting out or looking to streamline your current funnel strategy, Coachbox offers a solution that is both quick and user-friendly.

But it doesn't stop there! Joining the Awakened Entrepreneurs Hub not only grants you free access to Coachbox but also provides you with all the coaching you need to understand how to utilize funnels in an easy and fun way. The hub becomes your go-to resource, offering guidance, support, and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs eager to help you succeed.

Don't let the potential of lost clients slip away due to a lack of effective funnels. With the support and resources provided by the Awakened Entrepreneurs Hub, you'll be well-equipped to effortlessly set up highly optimized funnels, ensuring that every potential client is guided seamlessly from awareness to action.

Take the leap, enhance your marketing and enrollment processes, and watch your business thrive!

Join the Awakened Entrepreneurs Hub today and claim your free Coachbox subscription - free of charge! Your journey to acquiring and retaining clients has never been easier, and with the added benefit of coaching, it's bound to be a fun and enlightening experience!