Sales Funnel Entry Points
September 28, 2009 by: JHenry
Sales Funnel a la traditional mode
This is the traditinoal sales funnel approach…It’s probably best you can’t read the captions- forget this diagram althogether.
It’s chief problem is that it deals with customers as if all customers were the same. This is a major distinction from organic marketing, where each customer in the niche you are marketing to is different.
Let’s explain, using “Stock Trading Newsletters” as an example. We’d like to actively target people currently trading stocks. The problem is, even though this is a niche, the diversity of the people involved in the niche may range from the school teacher making $35k/yr and trading once or twice a month to the semi-pro day trader, earning $100k/yr, to the retired couple looking for ways to multiply their retirement income of $60,000/yr.
Will each person take away from the “Stock Trading Newsletter” the same relevant information? Can this type of newsletter be made applicable to each group of persons subscribing to it?
How then, can such a newsletter, connect the reader/viewer with relevant advice, tips, information as pertaining to their specific geo/social/financial categories?
It can’t. Unless it diversifies and becomes more specific. Perhaps instead of one newsletter, three or four can be published, each targeting either a)the amount of money each group will spend in stock trades each year, or, b)the current yearly income a subscribing group (think: all those teachers vs. the retired couples) makes. The beauty of this, is you really do not need to know all the particulars of each group that is out there, but rather, take it as a given that a myriad of diverse peoples and groups are reading your newsletter.
Is it really that much more work to create specific newsletters for specific groups? Think of it this way then; what you’ve really done is segregate your buying groups into distinct sales funnels. You have an outlet to distribute appropriately priced products… You can market the $27 ebooks to the sales funnel whose individuals earn $35k/yr, while occasionally upselling them with free trials of more expensive products. You can market $497 e-courses to the sales funnel whose individuals earn $50-$60k/yr… and fianlly, you can offer professional or group coaching for $3000 to the sales funnel whose individuals earn $100k+/yr.
The logic here is that you are only providing pertinent and relevant information to targeted groups of people. While the $3000 coaching may be an excellent, affordable value to the 6 figures/yr. people, it may be out of reach for the $35k/yr, people. When offered to this group, your sales conversions will be atrocious.
Putting this theory to practical use… Ever noticed how Howie Schwartz sells products? This exact method. There are low-end $97 ebooks. There are $2000 online tutoring classes lasting for 12 weeks. There are $10,000 one on one sessions for an entire day with the man himself. Howie’s not targeting specific groups of people, but price ranges people are willing to pay. He already understands that the only ones that could afford the $10,000/day one on one sessions are probably persons that can easily afford it and will invest that money to have Howie show them how to turn a 6 figure a year business into a 7 figure a year business.
When you’re promoting a product, think of how you can subdivide it and market it in parallel with other less expensive and more expensive products. Instead of just an ebook on say, article marketing, for $57… consider finding an affiliate program to an article marketing ecourse… and then consider finding an affiliate program to an article marketing outsourcing service. If those other products or services don’t exist yet, then Congratulations- you’ve found a new business to exploit.
Good Luck to You!
J.Henry
