Everyone and their mom seems to be talking about funnels these days… While there are plenty of funnel variations but this time, let’s talk about email sales funnel creation! What is an email sales funnel and why do you need one?
A sales funnel on its own is a marketing strategy that leads your audience, step by step, from getting to know you to making a purchase or working with you.
An email sales funnel specifically is focusing on getting people into your mailing list and then – selling your offers via email sequences.
But it’s not all that easy peasy, especially if you’re starting from zero.
So let me bring you in the world of email sales funnel creation for online coaches…
Email sales funnel creation
Creating an effective email sales funnel truly can make or break your online business, especially, if you’re looking forward to making passive digital offer sales along the way as well.
The next 6 steps will guide you through email sales funnel creation, step by step.
PART #1 Attract your audience with your free content: blog, website, videos, Instagram
This is the base of an email sales funnel creation and, most likely, you already have it all set up and running (maybe even without you recognizing its true value). Free content is the key!
This is the part where you invite people into your business and show them around.
It’s your content that gets them interested in you and your offering, your experience, and your knowledge.
First, they see a blog post or an Instagram post, maybe they stumbled on a video on Youtube. They see who you are, learn more about you and get hooked.
The goal of this part of the email sales funnel is to attract your audience.
A few tips to keep in mind:
- The content you’re creating must be relevant to what you’re planning to sell so you can attract the right audience
- You should be prepared to create valuable, attractive content on a regular basis so more and more new people find out about you.
- This content should be connected to your opt-in – learn more in the next part!
Related read: Create passive offer sales with Pinterest
PART #2 Offer a free opt-in to qualify subscribers
The opt-in usually is a free offer that provides a lot of value and gives you a chance to not only help your audience but also to build trust.
For that, you will need to, first, create the offer and then set it up via an email marketing platform. My personal go-to is MailerLite but there really are plenty of different options to choose from!
What to offer?!
- Checklists
- Email or online courses
- E-books
- Workbooks
- Access to private groups or subscription services
- Guides
Keep in mind: it has to be valuable. Don’t create freebies that are built in 5 mins on Canva… Anyone can do that! Think about ways how you can stand out and truly go that extra mile for your audience.
Your free opt-in should be highly relevant to your audience and to your next-step offer. This will help you to get subscribers that will actually be interested in your offer! (If not right away, then eventually!)
Keep in mind:
- The offer must be free
- The opt-in should be relevant to the article. For example, in my article about how I used Pinterest to grow my audience.
- Keep it actionable and easy to use
PART #3 Qualify buyers by giving your mailing list a chance to get a low-priced offer
Your opt-in has helped to grow your mailing list. The biggest mistake people make is stopping here.
This is where the most actionable part of having successful marketing sales funnel starts!
Qualifying your buyers is a crucial step in understanding how to make sales with email sales funnel.
- Create a low-price offer. The value you’re providing can be huge. But the price must be low. It can be $5 per e-book or $20 per course.
- The offer must be relevant to the previous chain we’ve gone through which is your provided content and your free opt-in. So the people you’re offering this to are actually interested in what you have in stock.
- Add the offer email to your online business sales funnel sequence
- Make the offer sound urgent and unique
- Make it limited-time
- Inspire people to ACT NOW
The ones that do are already qualified as your buyers and should be separated in another list.
In most email marketing platforms you can easily track clicks and separate people based on their behavior. You can also do it manually if your list isn’t as big.
But… what about those who don’t purchase?!
Those who don’t buy should be nourished from here on to ensure them for any further purchases. This is a whole different email funnel strategy and this part of the list really should be separated.
How to nourish your non-buyers:
- Basically, list nourishing means sending out emails that’ll eventually let them appreciate the value you’re providing for the price offered
- You can send out emails with your own experience, with “why it’s important“, “how it’ll help your business“, “real life samples“
- There’s no need to overdo it. An email per week could be absolutely fine to keep your readers on track and keep them interested.
- Yes, some of the list members might unsubscribe. And it’s alright. You don’t need people who are not interested in what you’re sharing!
PART #4 Identify buyers in the heat: are there people ready to buy more NOW?!
Now it’s time to work with that part of your list that was qualified as interested in your offer and ready to buy.
Very often we don’t offer them enough options to ACT. Give the opportunity to purchase. ONE-TIME OFFERS. Multiple purchases in a short frame of time. Give them the chance to get what they need!
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Once again, your offer should be relevant to what they’re already interested in
- This should be a higher-priced offer with the additional value offered (bonuses if purchasing right away or within the next 24 hours, discount for the first-time offer, etc).
- This offer should make your list members feel like DAMN, I really need this!!
PART #5 Make sure they stay
Provide VALUE. Product launch. Webinar. Educate. Offer surprises and special deals.
Your email list can be one of the most valuable assets of your online business. And very often there’s a question “What should I send to my email list?!“. The answer is simple. Send them valuable, informational and interesting information and offers!
- Offer them free webinars or Live discussions
- Educate them about your topic
- Give them discounts and first-hand access to your products
- Offer more free content and additional bonuses
- Keep them interested!
PART #6 Upsell your higher price point products
Once your list is completely sure of all the value you’re providing, give them the option to purchase. Again.
The whole point of email sales funnel creation is to ensure that your audience has a chance to learn more about you, grow trust and, ultimately, buy from you.
Let’s say you’ve sent them 5 emails with a great amount of value.
You have informed them about the solutions to their problems. You’ve provided free value. They’re getting bonuses and live interaction from you. Now, it’s time to take that next step and give them the chance to purchase.
Sometimes, it will take more than one round of nourishing emails to get them hooked. And it’s alright!
That’s how mailing lists work. But you have to keep giving them the information and reason to stay and wait for your next offer!
Yes, you can easily upsell your higher price point products more than once. After all, it’s the whole point of the email sales funnel for creative online business – to make sales. To keep your business growing. To keep people interested.
If you’re interested in learning more, in Your Course Creation Membership, you’ll also find the Evergreen Funnel Formula course that will help you to establish effective email sales funnel, from A to Z.
Hope this post gave you inspiration for creating your email marketing funnel as well as it’s definitely an important part of making ongoing offer sales.
Follow @coursecreationlab on Instagram or TikTok to learn more!
