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How to move a prospect through the sales funnel?

by BluesPlayer
23 replies
Hi all, it seems to me that the name of the game in ecommerce marketing is being able to successfully move the prospect through the sales funnel. The key is to turn cold traffic into hot traffic. Cold traffic doesn't buy, but hot traffic buys.

Can you please tell me how to do this?

A course that I took told me that I need to create multiple touchpoints along the customer journey in order to move the prospect from the Awareness phase of the sales funnel to to Purchase phase..

In each of these touchpoints, I must deliver value in the form of: education, entertainment, or price relative to value.

Education:

webinars
blog posts
product demonstration
product feature comparison
podcasts
ebooks
whitepapers

Entertainment:
storyselling (eg seinfeld method emails, soap opera sequences)

Price relative to value:

discounts (eg 50% off)
free shipping
bogo (eg buy one, get one 50% off)
product giveaways

Another course that I took, by Ben Heath, suggested that I simply show the same ad over and over again for 6 months to people who clicked on my ad in the first place. The theory is that, eventually, some of them will buy.




What are your thoughts?


Thanks
#funnel #move #prospect #sales
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  • Profile picture of the author GordonJ
    It appears you have set up your ecom which REQUIRES all the steps, from education/awareness all the way to ready to buy. I suggest you find a course which starts with ready to buy and eliminate all that slop and mess and effort these guys are telling you is necessary. It may be the name of their game in ecom, but there are lots of games being played. If it is true that HOT traffic buys, and that is what you want, why not start with HOT ready to buy people?

    GordonJ

    Originally Posted by BluesPlayer View Post

    Hi all, it seems to me that the name of the game in ecommerce marketing is being able to successfully move the prospect through the sales funnel. The key is to turn cold traffic into hot traffic. Cold traffic doesn't buy, but hot traffic buys.

    Can you please tell me how to do this?

    A course that I took told me that I need to create multiple touchpoints along the customer journey in order to move the prospect from the Awareness phase of the sales funnel to to Purchase phase..

    In each of these touchpoints, I must deliver value in the form of: education, entertainment, or price relative to value.

    Education:

    webinars
    blog posts
    product demonstration
    product feature comparison
    podcasts
    ebooks
    whitepapers

    Entertainment:
    storyselling (eg seinfeld method emails, soap opera sequences)

    Price relative to value:

    discounts (eg 50% off)
    free shipping
    bogo (eg buy one, get one 50% off)
    product giveaways

    Another course that I took, by Ben Heath, suggested that I simply show the same ad over and over again for 6 months to people who clicked on my ad in the first place. The theory is that, eventually, some of them will buy.




    What are your thoughts?


    Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
    Originally Posted by BluesPlayer View Post

    The key is to turn cold traffic into hot traffic. Cold traffic doesn't buy, but hot traffic buys.

    I think this is a flaw in thinking.

    You don't turn cold traffic into hot traffic. All a funnel does is select out the buyers from the non-buyers. And a good funnel ads upsells to make the initial buy more profitable (usually to offset the cost of acquisition)

    The flaw is in attracting cold traffic. If they are not already in buying mode, why would they be interested in the subject (which your offer solves) in the first place?

    Far better to spend your time looking for the very small number that are already looking to buy, or are at least in information gathering mode...preparing to buy.

    Attract the buyers. And the best way to do that is to find others that have already sold these buyers, something in the same wheelhouse as your offer.

    Cold traffic doesn't buy. But they are also not looking to buy, or considering buying.

    You want buyers. And the buyers are people who have already bought something that indicates they would also buy from you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Princess Balestra
    *princess*

    **what?**

    *don't wanna wakeya, but you bein' MOVED THROUGH A SALES FUNNEL*

    **i ain't even dressed!**

    *no, for sure -- this is pure filth bcs yanno FUNNEL*

    **yeah but I nevah ASKED**

    *yeah but you MOVIN' ... downhome sweet along that FUNNEL ...*

    Thing is, who would evah wish to be "funneled"?*

    * Ha!
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  • Profile picture of the author Monetize
    Originally Posted by BluesPlayer View Post

    Can you please tell me how to do this?

    What Gordon and Claude have already said.

    Everything does NOT require a sales funnel.

    If your product or service actually needs all those steps,
    then you need to automate as much of that as possible.

    People selling/teaching the funnel courses are trying to
    make money from selling their funnel courses.

    That does not mean that what they say is gospel.

    I can have a course that teaches people whatever I want.

    Let's say, for example, that you are selling cars.

    When the customer enters your showroom or website

    he is ready to buy.

    He wants to drive that car today, not tomorrow.

    He doesn't need a sales funnel.
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  • Profile picture of the author AceHigh74
    Probably depends on what your offer is.

    A high-ticket offer most likely requires multiple touchpoints, yes. Maybe.

    But all these touchpoints seem like A LOT if you're selling t-shirts.
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  • Profile picture of the author Julius Preloznik
    There's no such thing as hot and cold traffic. The traditional funnel is archaic at best, completely inaccurate at best. The buyer journey isn't linear, attributable or predictable. Some people will buy a product on the first visit. Some people will take 6 months of seeing your ads before even CONSIDERING buying. People buy/don't buy for a million reasons. Some people just straight up don't have money. Some people just like to window shop. Some people buy a competitors product. Focus on having great creative and an amazing product. It's all about the product.
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    • Profile picture of the author Monetize
      Originally Posted by Julius Preloznik View Post

      There's no such thing as hot and cold traffic. The traditional funnel is archaic at best, completely inaccurate at best. The buyer journey isn't linear, attributable or predictable. Some people will buy a product on the first visit. Some people will take 6 months of seeing your ads before even CONSIDERING buying. People buy/don't buy for a million reasons. Some people just straight up don't have money. Some people just like to window shop. Some people buy a competitors product. Focus on having great creative and an amazing product. It's all about the product

      I don't usually critique people's posts, but there is such a
      thing as hot and cold traffic, and there is a major difference
      between the two. And if you intend on being in the internet
      marketing business, then you should probably learn what
      those are.

      People who straight up have no money/window shoppers,
      who even cares about them. We are in business to make
      money, not to cater to broke people.

      You newbies can do whatever you want, but I would advise
      you to shift your thinking, target people who have money to
      spend, and that's just for starters.
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    • Profile picture of the author GordonJ
      Originally Posted by Julius Preloznik View Post

      There's no such thing as hot and cold traffic. The traditional funnel is archaic at best, completely inaccurate at best. The buyer journey isn't linear, attributable or predictable. Some people will buy a product on the first visit. Some people will take 6 months of seeing your ads before even CONSIDERING buying. People buy/don't buy for a million reasons. Some people just straight up don't have money. Some people just like to window shop. Some people buy a competitors product. Focus on having great creative and an amazing product. It's all about the product.

      Agree with all about the product.
      Disagree with a buyer having a journey. And well, lets take a look with OP in mind (original post for newbies). And the OP:

      Hi all, it seems to me that the name of the game in ecommerce marketing is being able to successfully move the prospect through the sales funnel. The key is to turn cold traffic into hot traffic. Cold traffic doesn't buy, but hot traffic buys
      Can you please tell me how to do this?
      A course that I took told me that I need to create multiple touchpoints along the customer journey in order to move the prospect from the Awareness phase of the sales funnel to to Purchase phase..
      In each of these touchpoints, I must deliver value in the form of: education, entertainment, or price relative to value.
      Education: webinars blog posts product demonstration product feature comparison podcasts ebooks whitepapers Entertainment:
      storyselling (eg seinfeld method emails, soap opera sequences)
      Price relative to value:
      discounts (eg 50% off) free shipping bogo (eg buy one, get one 50% off)
      product giveaways
      Another course that I took, by Ben Heath, suggested that I simply show the same ad over and over again for 6 months to people who clicked on my ad in the first place. The theory is that, eventually, some of them will buy.
      What are your thoughts?
      Thanks


      And this: Once upon a time, our customers DID make a journey and movement was required, to go to the store, or to put a stamp on an envelope and put it in your mailbox for pick-up...some MOVEMENT was actually required, even when pizza delivery started, one had to move to the phone.

      With IM, there is NOT a journey, there isn't "MOVEMENT", we don't have to get them out of their chairs, the movement is metaphorical, and takes place in the mind.

      Once we went to a place to buy a winter hat. Today we simply search. So, what sort of a 'funnel' is needed for this hat buyer? I can choose a $4.48 knit from Walmart or a $195 Classica Cashmere. So what sort of persuasion or influence moves me from synthetic knit to cashmere? Here the product, both doing the same job, has different markets.

      So, when I agree that the Product is the most important thing, I will add, along with the correct target prospect. I might have 100,000 Walmart buyers on my list, or only 100 on the cashmere buyers list. So the product I offer to either lists helps me choose which, right?

      Also, what is a TRADITIONAL FUNNEL? When you use this term you assume the rest of us know of and agree on a defined thing, I don't know what a traditional funnel is.

      As some of us have already pointed out, we don't think the OP is going about this in a way which is in his best interest...I see a lot of slop and mess with all those touchpoints...as a marketer I want to find the path of least resistance...those already on the slide, not ones I have to push or pull (move) on to it, that is if a slide is like a funnel.

      Not knowing what a traditional funnel is, I may be off base on this one.

      The NAME of the GAME, in eCommerce is the same name in any commerce; PROFITS.

      The whole idea of eCom is NOT to move the prospect through any maze or dance or whatever...it is to find buyers with the money who are ready, willing, and able to buy the products. There are tons of free how to guides, even many Warriors offer free ecom stuff, so paying for how to information feels like someone has been sucked into an IMer's funnel, no?

      GordonJ

      P.S. Overcomplicate your eCom as much as you want, you do so at the expense of your time...better to take the time in the beginning to make better choices which can eliminate so much of the hassle presented in the OP.
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      • Profile picture of the author savidge4
        Originally Posted by GordonJ View Post

        Agree with all about the product.
        Disagree with a buyer having a journey. And well, lets take a look with OP in mind (original post for newbies). And the OP: .
        Hmm hmm hmm I kinda sorta disagree with this. There would be a case where this is true; and that case being directed traffic to an offer IE an AD or a Social Media post etc. So no you dont have to do this.

        This disagreement part is capitalizing on long term search engine traffic. A buyers journey, being Discovery, closing in on a specific ( model, type, color etc ), Comparison, Seeking the best price, buying, and after sales support.

        The "Old" adage goes "It takes 7 touches to make a sale" and is it 7 no, not really... for some its 1 and others its 10... 7 might be an average. That being said, along the buyers journey the more information you can provide through each step of the buying process - builds TRUST. Enough Trust and you can overcome pricing ( meaning you can be more than the competition )

        I find, and have for years and years thet you can have your cake and eat it to. Yes you can have pages dedicated to direct traffic, and Yes you can have pages that get into specifics of a product.

        An example... selling hard wood flooring.... People decide they want a hardwood floor... then they figure out there is click laminate, Vinyl, engineered, and of course actual hard wood. Once they understand that and make a decision, they then are looking at widths and color and finsih and warranty etc etc. Its at the point that they know what they want they then start looking at pricing - and then ultimately buy.

        For a moment think about a "Buyer" going through that process and hitting site after site, and we can hope OUR site time after time through the process, and then they do the specific "Maple hardwood floor with a matte finish" search to get pricing... all things being equal... some link they find on a site, vs a link to a site they have used to guide thier decision... who wins?

        Its time consuming, its labor intensive, its half a skill, and you REALLY need to know the ins and outs of what you are selling - BUT, its damn effective

        Actually do they work and focus on both methods and its to some a no brainer strategy.
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        • Profile picture of the author max5ty
          Originally Posted by savidge4 View Post

          Hmm hmm hmm I kinda sorta disagree with this. There would be a case where this is true; and that case being directed traffic to an offer IE an AD or a Social Media post etc. So no you dont have to do this.

          This disagreement part is capitalizing on long term search engine traffic. A buyers journey, being Discovery, closing in on a specific ( model, type, color etc ), Comparison, Seeking the best price, buying, and after sales support.

          The "Old" adage goes "It takes 7 touches to make a sale" and is it 7 no, not really... for some its 1 and others its 10... 7 might be an average. That being said, along the buyers journey the more information you can provide through each step of the buying process - builds TRUST. Enough Trust and you can overcome pricing ( meaning you can be more than the competition )

          I find, and have for years and years thet you can have your cake and eat it to. Yes you can have pages dedicated to direct traffic, and Yes you can have pages that get into specifics of a product.

          An example... selling hard wood flooring.... People decide they want a hardwood floor... then they figure out there is click laminate, Vinyl, engineered, and of course actual hard wood. Once they understand that and make a decision, they then are looking at widths and color and finsih and warranty etc etc. Its at the point that they know what they want they then start looking at pricing - and then ultimately buy.

          For a moment think about a "Buyer" going through that process and hitting site after site, and we can hope OUR site time after time through the process, and then they do the specific "Maple hardwood floor with a matte finish" search to get pricing... all things being equal... some link they find on a site, vs a link to a site they have used to guide thier decision... who wins?

          Its time consuming, its labor intensive, its half a skill, and you REALLY need to know the ins and outs of what you are selling - BUT, its damn effective

          Actually do they work and focus on both methods and its to some a no brainer strategy.
          I understand the point you're making...

          but I also think it depends on the business.

          If you have a long-term business...you do need to focus on different stages of the buyers's awareness and what triggers them to buy.

          Short-term businesses...I don't think need the funnel approach as much. Ebook, or whatever.

          If I'm online trying to make some money, I agree with Gordon. I don't care about taking you through a funnel process. I have a product, do you want it or not? I'm looking for those ready to buy. I'm not going to waste my time convincing you.

          If I'm strictly focused on products..and not long-term stuff like roofs, flooring, remodels, etc...

          I want to get in and get out and make what I can when I can.

          So, I think it depends on the business you have.

          So, I agree with both points, and I can see where Gordon is coming from because that's the way I see things...

          I also understand your point when you have a long-term business.

          Hopefully, I made some sense without going into a long post and boring everyone
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          • Profile picture of the author savidge4
            [QUOTE=max5ty;11778535]I understand the point you're making...

            but I also think it depends on the business.

            If you have a long-term business...you do need to focus on different stages of the buyers's awareness and what triggers them to buy.

            Short-term businesses...I don't think need the funnel approach as much. Ebook, or whatever./QUOTE]

            I in now way disagree with this. However, what I am looking at based apon the OP is the sale of a product as in a physical product requiring shipping.

            Information based products vs physical products are 2 separate ends of a spectrum. Granted there are caveats in all of this. I personally bulk buy a single product every year to sell during The Holiday ( Christmas ). In the past it has been Drones, and Electric Scooters, Flat screen TV;s etc. These are indeed slam bam thank you ma'am type funnels - BUT these are driven by ads AND they are single products.

            Things shift when you have 10 products, 20 products, 100's of products. The likes of Walmart, and Home Depot ( as examples ) run ads and Google shopping placement on probably just about any term you can think of - spending without doubt millions. The little guy simply can not do that.

            A great example here is TEMU... Basically a Chinese version of Amazon or eBay of sorts. TEMU itself can in no way be running in a positive cash flow - on paper probably just not possible. Amazon for how many years ran without making a profit?

            I would argue and have made the point more than once... the moment you take selling product off of pre existing platforms ( eBay, Amazon, Etsy, etc ) and decide it cheaper to start my own ecommerce website - you had better be in for the long haul. ecommerce and "Long Haul" are synonymous - again unless you are targeting a single product.

            Im all in for the get it and go crowd... i get it, I do it. BUT There is without question a time and place for "Traditional" ecommerce site building to include focusing on the broader buyer cycle, vs the single BUY aspect.

            I would suggest the #1 failure in ecommerce is filling a site with products and then trying to run around and get traffic... and that traffic is usually aimed at the home page of the store "Hey check out these bracelets" and blam you get dropped off on the home page of a store that sells 1000's of items.

            I again can only suggest approaching content creation around each and every product ( or family of products with the buyers cycle in mind. Look at the pretty much standard amazon affiliate site.. "Top 10 whatevers" THIS is the Comparison stage of the buying process at its finest - but often falls to the discovery aspect .. The sites that actually have clickable content to each item on the list vs just the straight link to buy are F A R more successful ( I can personally attest to this )

            Allowing for the buyer to maybe take a step back in the buying process, or to proceed forward along the path is critical - EVERY major retailor does this "Related Items" is throwing in the comparison element. Hey these come in red blue and green Small medium and Large - refining the buyer choice and decision - when we shop online we see these things everywhere we turn, and to simply say "hey buy this now or get lost" I personally don't see as a winning strategy within a more complex product ecommerce business

            When the game changes so does the psychology and the rules... You simply have to look to see what the psychologic patterns are, and what the rules are depending on what level of ecommerce you are functioning at.
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    • Profile picture of the author BluesPlayer
      Originally Posted by Julius Preloznik View Post

      There's no such thing as hot and cold traffic.

      Jim Edwards, author of the book Copywriting Secrets, would disagree. He recommends that noobs (such as myself) target warm and hot traffic when they're first starting their IM journey.
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      • Profile picture of the author GordonJ
        Originally Posted by BluesPlayer View Post

        He recommends that noobs (such as myself) target warm and hot traffic when they're first starting their IM journey.
        Noob? Agree with Kay on this.

        Suggestion: Write a little specialty report on CPA offers, it seems to have been your focus these last 13 years at the Warrior Forum. You wrote:

        Hi all, I've been consistently making money doing affiliate marketing (CPA Lead Gen). I use paid traffic. I'm not making thousands of dollars a day though.
        Other than that, I just don't get what you are doing.

        It appears to be a lot of bouncing around, and looking, seeking, why have you not scaled up those CPA offers you spent money testing?

        Now, after affiliate, coupon and now ecom...you want to be considered a noob. It just doesn't wash, what is the deal?

        Anyhow, I guarantee you know more about CPA than most of these real noob Warriors do, why not mine the gold you already have in your mind?

        GordonJ
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    In the OP you references two courses you've taken - above you quote a classic Jim Daniels book.


    Can you please tell me how to do this?

    How are you a 'noob' when you've been posting here for 13 years? Give yourself some credit - apply what you have learned. Take the answers in this thread and run with them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Moodesburn1977
    The first thing to do is not to think that they are leads, or cold or hot traffic, just take things slow it is all about the process, and not to even focus on sales, but treat your subscriber as a friend.

    I assume they are on your email list, and that you have an optin page, i take it they are if you have a funnel, the first point of contact that you are glad they are with you, and then just start to provide value and you got were u are, and that they are not just another number but you are there to help them, when we focus on others in the end they will buy anything from you when you give value to them and you can prove that your product is the best thing ever, well this is how i do it, and it always works, i hope this helps
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    In my experience, CASE STUDIES produce the most sales.

    Why?

    People don't want to be baffled by BS or get all jangled up by jargon or confused by cleverly obscure language....

    Instead, they want RESULTS

    The more money a client has, the more important RESULTS are to him/her.

    Not a surprise, that's how they got succesful in the first place
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  • Profile picture of the author YoichiSpeaks
    You need to learn Direct Response marketing and nlp copywriting.

    Sales funnel provides too many barriers in this ever decreasing attention span viewer.

    If you have a high ticket offer then sales funnel would be good but if your selling cheap products (less than $100) then you just need good copywriting and social proof.
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  • Profile picture of the author Moodesburn1977
    I thought of sales funnels the other day it reminds me of christmas when we get a gift that we really want its great because its free, the sales funnel should be something that the subscriber really wants its free and when they are in our funnel maybe a good idea to have 9 ote, which is the next offer, and at the point they pay to get these great offers always at a discounted price, they will buy into our funnel when we give a great valuable gift for free just like christmas, i hope this helps
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  • Profile picture of the author max5ty
    @Savidge4-

    Interesting comment.

    I would argue though that Walmart and retailers like them do not use a funnel.

    The related items are either an attempt to get the customer to buy a similar product (who is already planning on buying) or an attempt at an upsell.

    I don't see how Walmart would need to use a 'funnel'. Either people want to buy there or they don't.

    Now, there are those who price check...but a funnel doesn't solve that problem.

    Just my thoughts
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      Originally Posted by max5ty View Post

      I don't see how Walmart would need to use a 'funnel'. Either people want to buy there or they don't.

      Now, there are those who price check...but a funnel doesn't solve that problem.
      I was implying because of the vast resources with the likes of Walmart and Home Depot etc they simply do not need funnels and the little guy simply can not compete on that level. They are basically running ads for any and every product they have in the store - and with Walmart in particular, probably at a scale unlike any other in retail over all.

      A one single item and i think most could one way or another develop a series of ads and make a go of it ( would probably take an amount of time and financial resources ) its when you have a store with 10+ let alone hundreds of items that the ability to follow Corporate retail ad models is going to fall way short. You simply cant play a champagne level game with a bottle water budget.

      I would say that the only chance the little guy has is to be damn proficient at social media... OR to develop the content based funnel around the idea of the buyers cycle, and at the very least start in at the comparison level - a clear strategy that is effective for say Amazon affiliate as an example.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jayson76
    I wouldn't want to annoy people on your list with the same ads over and over. In fact, a good variety would be a better idea. Well, they could be on the same message, but just making it unique.
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  • Profile picture of the author FLTH
    To save time, what I would do is spy on the competition and look at the strategies that work.
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    After you attract eyeballs with your case studies, "bribe" them to get on your mailing list

    This is the platform that actually CONVERTS your visitors

    If you don't have any conversion platforms (like a mailing list), you're just giving yourself ONE SHOT to get a sale.

    Very inefficient

    Build more trust and credibility over time by using a LIST
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