Most people have a love/hate relationship with opt-in forms.

As a visitor to a website, they can be incredibly annoying … especially when they keep popping over what you're trying to read.

But, as the site owner, we know those pop-up opt-in forms tend to work. So, we keep showing them.

This creates an interesting dichotomy, but that's beyond the scope of this particular article.

In this article we'll talk about opt-in form tools, triggers, and types.

Related Course: How To Build Opt-in Forms And Landing Pages That Convert

Opt-in Form Tools

You really only need one opt-in form tool and the one you use is determined by your platform.

WordPress | Thrive Leads

If your website is powered by WordPress, the best opt-in form plugin you can grab is Thrive Leads.

Why? It's incredibly powerful.

It allows you to build any type of opt-in form you can imagine, conduct split tests, page targeting, and beyond.

Click here to check out their sales page and to learn more about their features.

Any Other Platform | OptinMonster

If your website is powered by anything other than WordPress (ie. Shopify, Big Commerce, custom coded, etc.), the best opt-in form tool you can grab is OptinMonster.

It's essentially just like ThriveLeads; however, it can work anywhere … which is great for sites that aren't powered by WordPress!

Click here to check out their sales page and to learn more about their features.

Note: Since OptinMonster works anywhere, it will work on WordPress too. If you run sites on multiple platforms, it would be best to just get OptinMonster.

Display Triggers

Both, Thrive Leads and OptinMonster have very similar triggers. While the particular name of the trigger may change – SmartExit+ vs. Exit Intent Technology – the general function of the trigger remains the same (ie. display upon exit).

Below are the four triggers functions both opt-in tools offer.

Timed Triggers

From immediately to 30 seconds or more, you can choose when your opt-in form shows itself.

If you don't have a reason to have your opt-in form display immediately, a good rule of thumb is to give the visitor about 10 seconds to get into your material before greeting them with the opt-in form.

Exit Triggers

An exit trigger can only occur on desktop and it's when a visitor's cursor leaves the browser window.

Typically, the only reason the cursor would leave the browser window is because they're about to hit the “back” button or navigate off your site.

As a last-ditch effort, you can display an opt-in form to try and collect the visitor's contact information.

Click Triggers

Click triggers are really popular because they show intent, which typically leads to much higher conversion rates.

Instead of blindly displaying an opt-in form after 10 seconds, a click triggered opt-in form is displayed after an individual clicks a link, button, or image.

Scroll Triggers

Scroll triggers are used to display opt-in forms after an individual has scrolled down a percentage of a page or past a certain point.

For example, you could have an opt-in form display after the visitor has scrolled down 75% of the page. Ideally, this means they've read 75% of the page, are therefore highly interested in what you're talking about, and more apt to opt-in.

Types Of Opt-In Forms

Pop-up LightBox

The “classic” opt-in form.

Although they're kind of annoying, you see this type of opt-in form everywhere … because they work!

A sales funnel is a complex beast with lots of moving parts. Strategy, tactics, and technical expertise are required in order to “make it work” well.

1. You have to get the right people into your sales funnel, at the lowest possible cost, through advertising and copious amounts of split tests.
2. You have to convert those leads into paying customers by forming some kind of relationship or making offers in a way that really “connects” with them.
3. You then have to focus on keeping your customers coming back again, and again, and again.

Obviously, a lot goes into all three of those areas …

However, don't let the complexity scare you because there are things you can do TODAY to dramatically improve your revenue.

Imagine making a few tweaks to your checkout process that could 2X, 3X, 4X+ your customers' order size!

That would be nice, wouldn't it?

So, what are these tweaks?

Well, that's what this article is all about!

1) Pricing Tiers, Packages, & Bundles

Pricing tiers, packages, and bundles are great ways to increase a customers' order size.

By using a bit of pricing psychology, you're able to present offers in a way that appear “too good to be true” while simultaneously increasing the amount of money a customer is about to hand you.

Take a look at this example from a2Hosting:

The “Swift” package is a no-brainer … for less than a $1/mo more you get unlimited everything.

Why would anyone turn that down? No one would.

How about the “Turbo” package? It's nearly twice as much as the “Swift” package; however, it offers 20X faster speeds and the A2 Site Accelerator!

We all know speed is important and it's still less than $10/mo … so, I might as well swing it, right?

Here's an example of a bundle of physical products:

If you're doing laundry, you typically need detergent, dryer sheets, and maybe a little fabric softener every now and then!

Plus, if you purchased these items individually, it would cost roughly 30% more which makes the bundle a no-brainer!

2) 1-Click Up-Sells

A 1-click up-sell is an offer presented immediately AFTER the customer has purchased something.

This makes the 1-click up-sell incredibly powerful because the individual has already inserted their payment information and all it takes is “1 click” to add another product/service to their order.

Here's an example:

This is the page and offer an individual is presented with immediately after purchasing a survival folding knife.

The individual is already in the mindset of “I need survival gear” and has already purchased one item, so when they're presented with another item that's discounted no-less, it's a no-brainer!

• Related Course: The Ultimate ClickFunnels Course

3) Order Bump

The infamous “order bump” has risen in popularity over the last year or so due to the fact it works!

It's so simple too, which makes it a no-brainer to implement.

Here's an example of an order bump:

It's simply an additional, complementary offer made at checkout.

That's it!

The customer only has to tick a little box to add the product or service to their order.

It's actually quite similar to the 1-click up-sell; however, it's made right before the purchase as opposed to immediately after … but, they're both 1-click!

The Order Bump is typically easier to implement than the 1-click up-sell. If you're having a hard time figuring out a way to do the 1-click up-sell, try searching for a way to add an order bump to your checkout process!

4) Subscriptions

If you offer a product or service that needs to be replenished – offering a subscription can be a great way to increase order size because it will automatically keep the customer coming back for more!

Here's an example of a subscription from the Youpreneur membership site:

In order to stay a member of the community, you're charged $59/mo or $599/yr (a bundle!).

Also note that the yearly subscription is incentivized by offering the equivalent of 3 months free, a free t-shirt, and discounted rates to live events!

Here's another subscription example:

Each container of the supplement contains 30 servings, which makes the “Repeat Delivery Every 30 Days” option incredibly tempting because I won't have to remember to go order more and by offering an extra 5% off, it becomes a no-brainer.

5) Order Bonuses & Rewards

Ever been shopping online and seen a message like this:

“Spend just $5.91 more and get free shipping!”

Or …

These are order bonuses/rewards used to entice customers to increase their order size in order to receive the incentive!

These are typically super simple to implement and freakin' work!

How To Implement

Implementing these various tweaks is not as hard as you might think.

For example, offering a package/bundle is as simple as bundling products/services you already offer.

Other options, like the 1-click up-sell, will depend on your platform. A quick Google search will likely yield some answers.

Conduct searches like

This is the most epic post I've ever written.

It's designed to hand you a full blown marketing strategy for your Ecommerce business that you can implement in less than 7 days.

It's highly actionable, which means you will have to do some work. Work yields results.

You want results.

To help assist you, I've put together a fill-in-the-blank document that can be downloaded by clicking the link below.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

If this post fails to help you, it's because you didn't try.

The results you receive are 100% in your hands.

Let's get started.

The Master Plan

This is the master blueprint we'll be following to build your Ecommerce marketing strategy.

I urge you not to skip ahead to the “cool” stuff that involves automation, tracking, and other nifty tools. Yes, that stuff is fun; however, if you don't have the groundwork laid, you'll wind up spinning in circles and produce minimal results.

So, please, take the 60 minutes to define your customer and your business before moving forward!

Scenarios

I'll be using a couple model businesses in order to provide examples.

• Ecommerce Store #1 – sells cordless power tools like drills, circular saws, blowers, etc. [example site]
• Ecommerce Store #2 – sells women's clothing and accessories [example site]

Note: I have not worked for the example sites, they're simply to give you a visual.

Define Your Customer

There are many ways to define your customer. You can spend days developing the “perfect” customer avatar by conducting research, interviews, and brainstorm sessions, all while filling out a “map”.

Taking the time to do all this stuff is incredibly valuable; however, I know you … and you're not going to do it, so here are a few questions you NEED to answer before moving on:

• What's your ideal customer's name? You need to give them a name!
  • James
  • Meghan
• Where do they hangout? / How can you get in front of them? Online, offline, certain websites, forums, Facebook groups, etc.
  • Google, news websites (CNN, Fox News), direct mail
  • Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook
• Where are they in the journey that is life? Baseline demographics, thoughts, desires, fears, etc.
  • Middle aged, established career (mid-level), has a house to maintain, a couple of kids, spends free-time with family and playing tennis.
  • Just graduated college, attempting to land dream job, single, wants to contribute to society, loves hanging out with friends on the weekends, enjoys adventure.
• How do they see themselves? / How do they present themselves?
  • The provider and protector for his family. Dedicated family man. Knows what's going on in the world and has ideas how to fix it. Well read, smartest person in the room.
  • One cool, motivated, and forward thinking gal. Self disciplined, hardworking, and able to handle herself. Stylish and on trend. Successful.
• How well do they know your products and industry? Do they “live” it, are they “new” to this world, etc.?
  • Knows about tools and which does what; however, doesn't know what makes one model “better” than the other.
  • This is her innate style. She knows the products like the back of her hand because she's shopped here many times.

That was easy, right?

All I'm looking for is a simple stream of thought about your ideal customer, that's it!

Customer FAQ:

Q: I have more than one ideal customer, how should I handle this?

A: Yes, you likely do have more than one ideal customer which is great, you'll ask yourself the same questions. I have two recommendations:

1) Make sure they're uniquely different. Make sure where they hangout is different, where they are in the journey of life is different, and how they see themselves is different.

2) Start with your top 1 or 2 ideal customers. The ones that are 80% of your business. You can always add more “ideal customers” later on, and I recommend getting the low hanging, obvious fruit first.

To Do

Answer the questions above.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Define Your Business

While we're about to talk extensively about the products and services your business offers, there's more to your business than what you sell.

You likely have a reason for being, a “why”, a mission, a purpose … something that made you launch your business.

Even if you originally started your business for the sole purpose of making money, after having customers and serving people, you've likely started to develop a purpose or mission – and that's OK.

Examples:

• We make tool buying simpler. Our customers don't have to worry if X battery fits with Y tool, they'll be able to easily identify what goes with what.
• We offer women unique, fashionable, and fun clothing that can't be found anywhere else.

Your Business's Personality

Unless you're a massive, global brand that's openly traded on the stock market and has hundreds of thousands of people to keep happy, you have the opportunity to stand out by injecting personality into your business.

In fact, in this day and age with competitors like Amazon, you're going to need personality to stand out from the crowd.

You can't simply be a generic Ecommerce business; you'll eventually starve.

Tips For Figuring Out Your Business's Personality

• You be the personality. This one is pretty simple and obvious, especially if you're operating as a solopreneur. Let your personality shine!

That first one was a “gimme” as it's the easiest; however, if you have multiple people creating content for your business, you really need to take the time to figure out your business's personality so it stays consistent. Here are a few ways:

• 1 or 2 steps ahead. Remember when you defined, “How your ideal customer sees themselves”? Be that person, but one or two levels ahead so you're positioned as the authority.
  • For example, I'm a dedicated family man and provider for my family, just like you; however, I'm also an independent contractor so I know these tools like the back of my hand
  • Another example, I'm a cool, motivated, and forward thinking gal that's self-disciplined, just like you; however, I've moved up the career path and am now a manager that's responsible for hiring, so I know what employers want to see.
• Be just like your ideal customer. It's a fact, people like people like themselves. Be like your ideal customer on every level, “where they are in the journey that is life” and “how they see themselves”.

Your Products And Services

This step is important.

With Ecommerce businesses, there are two ways to think about your products and services:

1. At the point of sale
2. As a whole

Every Ecommerce business NEEDS to have the point of sale “stuff” figured out because it's the fastest and easiest way to increase order size.

The “as a whole” concept may or may not apply to your business in its current form. It's the holistic, high level strategy that encompasses your entire business.

At The Point Of Sale

You're going to have to map out your products, services, and how they're interconnected sooner or later and if you don't take the time to map them out now, you'll likely do a half-assed job later while you're piecing your funnel together.

So, for your sake, take the 30 minutes to get these pieces down!

Steps:

1. Write down your top selling product across 3 different categories
   • Example, the “Journeyman Drill” in drills, the “Apprentice Saw” in circular saws, and the “Master Blower” in blowers
   • Example, the “Blue Dress” in dresses, the “Black Yoga Pants” in active wear, and the “Floral Print” in tops
2. Write down the next level product up and/or down from the top selling product (up-sells and down-sells)
   • Example, for the drills, there's also the “Apprentice Drill” (cheaper than the “Journeyman Drill”) and the “Master Drill” (more expensive than the “Journeyman Drill”)
   • Example, for the active wear, there's also “Black Yoga Pants With A Stripe Down The Leg” (more expensive than regular ol' yoga pants)

Note: Sometimes it's hard to identify a “clear” up-sell and/or down-sell for a particular product, and that's okay. Sometimes the product is what the product is – there aren't higher or lower quality versions of it, it happens. Don't fret over not having up-sells and/or down-sells, as there will still likely be cross-sells!

Idea: Sometimes, more or less of a product can be the up-sell/down-sell.

3. Write down all the products that complement the 3 product categories (cross-sells)
   • Example, drills (category) – drill bits, extra batteries, eye protection, hearing protection, stud finder
     • circular saws – saw blades, extra batteries, eye protection, level, ruler, etc.
   • Example, active wear (category) – shoes, watches, hair bands, sports bras
     • dresses – shoes, watches, purses, belts, sunglasses

WARNING: You can get too into the weeds here, especially if you offer a lot of products. I highly recommend keeping complementary products at the category level unless it makes absolute sense to go down to the product level. For example, let's say there's a magical drill bit that only works with one specific drill, and you really want to sell those drill bits, then OK. Otherwise, keep it at the category level or you'll drive yourself insane.

At this point, you should have 3 to 9 products written down from 3 different categories as well as a handful of complementary products for the 3 categories.

As A Whole

As I alluded to earlier, the Value Ladder concept I'm about to explain may not align with your business in its current form.

If your business doesn't “fit” this concept right now, it's fine. You should still take the time to develop a vague idea of what you “think” you want. You'll still have some direction this way.

Other businesses may already embody this concept, which is awesome! However, I still want you to read this section and write down what you have in place.

The concept of a Value Ladder, is simply your products and services mapped in ascending order of value and price that is normally delivered over the customer's lifetime with you.

Think of it like this:

I'll address Lead Magnets in greater detail later in this post; however, for the time being, think of them as a “freebie” (like a coupon) you give to prospective leads and customers in exchange for their contact information.

Initial Offers are lower priced products that are supposed to be irresistible and “get people in the door” and give people a “taste” of what's to come. Normally, the goal is to break even on initial offer products.

1st Tier Offers are the first set of products that will net you a profit. They're probably less than $200 and likely bring in 80% of the sales.

2nd Tier Offers are the “next” level products to the 1st Tier. They're normally “what people need” after the 1st tier has been completed.

Top Tier Offers are the “end all, be all” of what you have to offer. They're the kitchen sink and the best you've got.

Examples:

Cordless Power Tools Store

• Lead Magnet: 20% off coupon
• Initial Offer(s): House Maintenance For Dummies book, simple project kits to build with kids (like a birdhouse kit)
• 1st Tier Offer(s): Cordless power tools (drills, circular saws, blowers, etc)
• 2nd Tier Offer(s): High end toolboxes, work benches, etc.
• Top Tier Offer(s): Custom built workshop sheds

Women's Clothing And Accessories Store

• Lead Magnet: 20% off coupon
• Initial Offer(s): Sunglasses, T-Shirts
• 1st Tier Offer(s): Sun dresses, swim suits
• 2nd Tier Offer(s): Business attire (suits, dresses)
• Top Tier Offer(s): Formal wear, wedding dresses, etc

I want to clarify something, people do not have to ascend in this fashion. Some people will show up and want the Top Tier product right away – that's awesome, sell it to them! Other people will only buy 1st Tier Offers, while others will only buy the Initial Offer and then vanish. It happens.

However, in an ideal situation, you'll want to be able to provide value to your customers at every level you possibly can. If there's going to be something else they need from your type of business, you might as well be the one to give it to them, or they'll wind up going elsewhere!

To Do

• Write down your business's “why” (why do you exist?).
• Write down, “who” your business is going to be (its persona).
• Write down your Point Of Sale products (you should have 3 to 9 products [top seller + up-sell/down-sell] written down from 3 different categories as well as a handful of complementary products for the 3 categories.)
• Write down what your Value Ladder is, what you “think” it is, or where you want it to go.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Delivery

As an Ecommerce business, your “delivery system” is already setup, ie. your store.

However, there's a couple things you should do RIGHT NOW that'll directly increase revenue:

1) Add Up-Sells, Cross-Sells, Down-Sells, And Bonuses To Orders

“People who bought this also purchased this.”

“Don’t Miss This Limited Time Offer!”

“Spend $3.37 more to qualify for free shipping.”

You’ve seen these lines used many times in many places. Why? Because they work. Are you using them?

If you mapped out your “Point Of Sale” products (the top selling products in 3 different categories and their up-sell/down-sell versions, plus the cross-sell products for the 3 categories) like you were supposed to 😉 , this part should be a piece of cake!

Depending on your business, how it’s setup, and the platforms you use – the implementation method will change; however, it’s certainly worth figuring out!

Fortunately, many shopping cart platforms have this functionality built in or have plugins that make this a piece of cake:

• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• SamCart
• MemberMouse
• ClickFunnels
• ClickBank

2) Add A Cart Abandonment Email Series

According to the Baymard Institute, 67.19% of shopping carts are abandoned.

67.19%!!!!!

While there are a hundred reasons a person doesn’t finish checking out – their credit card is upstairs and they’re downstairs, they’re at work and don’t want to enter their credit card info on a work computer, etc … one thing remains true, you’re missing out on sales.

After reading through about 15 case studies on cart abandonment recovery, it appears roughly 10% or more abandoned carts can be “won back” by simply sending a few reminder emails. A plugin can handle this automatically.

Like the up-sells, cross-sells, down-sells, and bonus options, the “how” will change depending on your system; however, being able to recover 10%+ of your lost sales makes it well worth figuring out!

• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• ClickFunnels

To Do

• Add up-sells, down-sells, cross-sells, and bonuses to your store
• Add a cart abandonment email series to your store

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

The “Meat”

The “Meat” represents all the content your sales system consists of. This includes …

• Sales Pages / Product Listings
• Squeeze Pages / Landing Pages / LeadPages (whatever you want to call them)
• Emails
• Blog Posts
• Social Media Posts
• Everything…

All content needs to have a purpose. Whether the purpose is to sell a product or service, capture contact information, position yourself and your business as the authority, make someone laugh, whatever … it needs a reason for being.

If you're doing things to “check the box” or putting out bland, generic content – STOP! You're wasting your time.

I see too many businesses start blogs and write utterly useless, uninteresting crap. Or, even worse, they pay some guy or gal in the Philippines $6 for 1,000 words of pure, unintelligible garbage to try and “please” the almighty Google.

You're not going to please Google and you're not going to please people (which are more important than Google as they have the cash).

Everything you do and create needs to have a purpose.

The best way to understand this “purpose” is by studying the art and science of copywriting.

In simple terms, copywriting is a form of written or spoken word that convinces people to take action – ie. buy stuff.

It's very intentional and purposeful.

You Need Copywriting Skills

While you will not develop great copywriting skills overnight, or possibly ever if you don't work at it, it's still a concept you need to understand.

Knowing how to spur action with written word is critical to your Ecommerce store's success.

Ok, I'll get off my soap box now and get to some actionable stuff you can apply today!

Copywriting Tip #1

Write to your ideal customer.

Always consider where they are in life, what they're going through, how they see themselves, and how well they know your products and industry.

If your ideal customer is someone that's brand new to your business and industry, you'll likely need to be more educational and descriptive in your content, as opposed to someone who “knows” your business and industry. If your ideal customer “knows” you, you can be more entertaining, share inside jokes, etc.

Copywriting Tip #2

Write from your business's persona (you should have figured this out earlier 😉 ) – write how they talk.

This means using pronouns like I, me, you, we, he, she, etc.

This means using slang, jargon, and emotion like … (ellipses), YOLO!, naw, etc. (Of course, use what makes sense for your ideal customer. If you sell life saving medical supplies, being “goofy” probably isn't the best idea)

This means asking questions of the reader like, “Do you understand this copywriting “stuff”?”

People like doing business with people, so, be a person!

Don't be a generic machine. You're not a news source, you don't need to be some “better than thou” figure that doesn't have emotion.

Copywriting Tip #3

Remember when you defined where your ideal customer is in the journey of life and how they see, or present, themselves? (I hope so!)

What you need to do is take “where they are now”, “how they see themselves”, and bridge that gap with your product or service.

This is a marketing formula, aptly called, the Before-After-Bridge.

And, just because it's called the “Before-After-Bridge” formula doesn't mean you necessarily have to structure your words in that manner. Ultimately, you want to connect your product to how people see themselves.

Examples:

• You may be tired after a long day at work; however, your kids are going to love building this birdhouse kit with you!
• We know you're one hardworking, successful gal. But, do you look it? Show up to the office in our Blue Dress and look the part!

Copywriting Tip #4

Another marketing formula that works wonders and is easy to understand is the Problem-Agitate-Solve formula.

It first defines the problem, then addresses the pain/feelings/emotions caused by that problem, and then solves the problem with your product.

Examples:

• Is your wife nagging you about hanging pictures on the wall? Grab our Journeyman Drill with a free level and ensure your pictures are straight! No more nagging!
• Tired of job interview after job interview? That can really hurt your confidence going into future interviews, but there's good news! If you look good, you feel good – our Black Pant Suit will give you the confidence you need to really nail your next interview!

Copywriting Tip #5

List the features of your product, then say “which means”, and write that answer down. Ask “which means” again. And again. Pick the best one and list it as a bullet on your sales page, product listing, etc.

Examples:

Cordless Power Drill

• “Lightweight and compact design” which means “it's easy to maneuver” which means “it easily fits into narrow spaces” which means “there's nowhere too small or narrow for you to drill a precise hole”.
• “Lithium Ion Technology & 20V MAX” which means “the battery lasts 10 hours on a single charge” which means “you don't have to worry about charging it every time you want to use it” which means “it's ready when you are”.

Yoga Pants

• “87% Nylon 13% Spandex” which means “they feel nice and stretchy” which means “you'll be comfortable when you workout” which means “you'll get in a good workout and reach your fitness goals quicker”
• “Moisture wicking” which means “you won't be basting in your own sweat” which means “you won't smell bad” which means “people will appreciate you”

Ok, sorry about that last one … I feel weird talking about women's yoga pants and should have chosen another product, alas I did not! However, I believe the concept was still clear.

The “Other” Stuff

If you understand copywriting, or at least the concept of producing content with purpose – the “other” stuff is technical.

How to create opt-in forms, pages, design emails, etc. is all technical. Sure, it takes time to learn and understand; however, it's not what's truly important because tools will come and go.

There will always be a new social media platform, or a new way to contact your customers, or a better Ecommerce platform, but copywriting and having a purpose behind your content is what truly matters. It's the meat and potatoes.

Learn everything you need to about the “other” stuff by joining The Sales Funnel Training Vault!

To Do

Armed with your newly found copywriting skills I want you to review the 3-9 products you identified earlier (the top selling products in 3 different categories and their up-sell/down-sell versions) and, if they're lacking on copy – update them!

As time permits, do the same for the complementary products you identified earlier.

Ultimately, you should review and update all product listings and sales pages.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

The “Simple” Sales Funnel

The “Simple” Sales Funnel or “Straight Line Sales Funnel” is simply a fancy way of saying “email autoresponder series.”

An email autoresponder series is a series of emails automatically sent to a subscriber.

While email autoresponder series and automations can be very complex, as we'll discuss later with the “Advanced” Sales Funnels section, in this “Simple” section we're only going to talk about sending emails in a straight line.

Think of it like this:

What's The Point?

I'm glad you asked! We're building this email series for a few reasons:

• This email series will automatically build and maintain a relationship with your leads and customers while simultaneously converting them to your way of thinking
• This will serve as the backbone for more complex email automations we'll later build on
• Your personal understanding. If you have trouble making emails trigger in a straight line, when we get into more advanced topics you'll really struggle

How Many “Simple” Sales Funnels Should You Have?

Most of the time, you will only need one. The type of content you send in this funnel will be interesting to people interested in your type of business or industry.

For example:

• People who are interested in home repairs
• People who are interested in women's fashion

There are a few instances where you may need 2 or more, for example if you sell nutritional supplements, your customers are tremendously different. One half of your market may only be interested in losing weight while the other half is interested in gaining weight and putting on muscle (complete opposites). In this case, you would likely want 2 different “simple” sales funnels.

If you have more than one “simple” sales funnel, you'll need to segment individuals at the very beginning by asking them “who” they are.

What Type Of Content Should You Send?

Remember, the point of this particular sales funnel is to build and maintain a relationship and convert them to your way of thinking.

To accomplish this, send 3 types of emails:

1. Educational – emails that teach people how to do something, about the market, about what's happening, etc.
2. Entertaining – emails that are “fun” like inside jokes, critiques, testimonials, events, etc.
3. Earning – emails that remind people you sell stuff like deals, top selling products, etc.

I've aptly named these emails the “3 E Emails”.

Now, this doesn't mean an email can only be 1 of the Es at a time. Like, you can only send a boring how-to tutorial, or only send a silly cat video. That's not what I mean. Your how-to tutorial should be entertaining and can even sell your product at the end. That's like killing 3 birds with one stone!

However, each email should have 1 core focus.

Is the primary aim of the email to educate, entertain, or earn?

• Educational emails tend to build relationships while converting people to your way of thinking
• Entertaining emails tend to build and maintain relationships
• Earn emails tend to ring the cash register

Examples:

Cordless Power Tools Store

• Educational: Send a link to a video on how to properly find a stud in the wall. Have an entertaining host and sell a stud finder at the end of the video.
• Entertaining: Share a success story where a father and his son built a birdhouse together with one of the kits you sell; they then enjoyed watching the birds build their nest and watching the babies learn to fly.
• Earn: Here's a 10% off coupon available for the next 48 hours.

Women's Clothing And Accessories Store

• Educational: Talk about what's “in fashion” this season. Be entertaining in the process while also selling the latest fashion.
• Entertaining: Send a “who wore it better” with side by side comparisons of people wearing your clothes. Depending on your brand and personality, this could be really silly like comparing a female in a dress compared to a male in a dress.
• Earn: Here are our top selling items across 3 different categories.

Where Do You Get Content?

Ideally, your emails will bring people back to your website and your store. Of course, this requires a blog or pages setup to present the content.

If you lack your own content, I recommend you change that ASAP.

And remember, content doesn't necessarily mean blogging. While you still want to display the content on your site to “bring people back”, it can mean, video, audio (podcasts), images, etc.

For example, if my brother is your target audience, blogging is a terrible idea. He doesn't read anything and you need to draw him in with video.

HOWEVER, and it's a pretty big one – Google can't really “watch” videos. It won't matter how good your video content is from a search engine perspective. Blogging is still the #1 way to rank in the search results.

The Most Epic Blogging Strategy Of All Time

1. Write the most epic post for your ideal customer, as it relates to how they see themselves and how it relates to your business/industry. If that is too esoteric, think of it as, “How does your business help people go from point A (where they are now) to point B (where they want to be/how they see themselves).” (3,000+ words)
   • 101 Home Improvements You Can Do With Just A Few Tools
   • Your Complete Summer 2016 Fashion Guide
2. Write more in-depth articles for each individual section of your “epic” post. (500-1,000 words)
   • 9 Steps To Fixing A Leaking Faucet
   • Why Bright Colors Are “In” This Summer
3. Write case studies, testimonials, reviews, etc. and/or create videos and/or pdf checklists for each of the “more in-depth” articles. (500-1,000 words and/or 3-5 minute video and/or a 1 page checklist)
   • A video tutorial that shows how to fix a leaky faucet
   • An article and picture gallery of 10 “hot” celebrities wearing bright colors

Of course, you link your products as they “fit” the particular articles.

How Often Should You Email?

As often as is necessary.

Wow, Nathan – that's helpful.

This answer varies from industry to industry; however, normally – two to four times a week. The first 3-5 emails are sent daily, no matter what, because this is when the lead is “hot”.

During the “Advanced” Sales Funnel portion, there will be more instances where you email daily because the lead will “tell” you they're “hot” again.

To Do

• Write down 3 EPIC blog post ideas

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Lead Magnets

A Lead Magnet can best be thought of as the freebie or offer that motivates individuals to give you their contact information.

Many times, in the Ecommerce world, a coupon or discount works well as a Lead Magnet.

A few more Lead Magnet examples include videos, guides, checklists, and webinars.

There are two types of Lead Magnets:

1. General
2. Specific

General Lead Magnets

A General Lead Magnet is attractive to anyone who visits your Ecommerce store and is usually presented as a form on most pages of your site. The form can be a lightbox, bar/ribbon, landing mat, sidebar, slide-in, etc.

For example:

Anyone that visits this particular store will likely be interested in 10% off their order.

Specific Lead Magnets

A Specific Lead Magnet is attractive to individuals interested in a certain product or category of products and many times is presented as a Squeeze Page (although, this isn't always the case).

What's a “Squeeze Page”?

A Squeeze Page is a page dedicated to one thing and one thing only – “squeezing” the email address (and possibly other contact info) out of a visitor, turning them into a lead.

Here's an example:

That's an entire page. The only option is to click the “Get The Coupon” button which opens an opt-in form and requests an individual's first name and email.

Only people interested in receiving that specific flashlight would be interested in requesting the coupon.

99% of the time, paid traffic should be sent to dedicated Squeeze Pages like the example

You can follow up with emails that “push” the particular item to individuals that don't buy right away.

In addition to Squeeze Pages, you can present opt-in forms that present Specific Lead Magnets.

For example, if someone is looking at cordless drills, you can present a lightbox opt-in form with a Specific Lead Magnet for 20% off the purchase of a cordless drill.

Coupons Aren't Always The Best Option

I know I just mentioned 2 different Lead Magnets – 1 general, 1 specific that were both coupons; however, coupons may not be the best Lead Magnet.

The only time a coupon is needed is when someone is about to checkout. Not everyone wants to checkout right away. Sometimes, people just want more information. If you offered a coupon to those just looking for information, you'd miss out on collecting their contact information, building a relationship, and making a sale.

The point is, sometimes a video or checklist lead magnet will perform better in the long run than a coupon.

To Do

• Write down 3 General Lead Magnet ideas
• Write down 3 Specific Lead Magnet ideas (probably for your top selling products)

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

The “Advanced” Sales Funnel

The “Advanced” Sales Funnel is driven by interests, hence, it's other name the “Interest Driven Sales Funnel.”

Essentially, people join your email list and based upon which links they click, pages they view, and lead magnets they request – you'll send relevant emails in order to try and sell a product.

Here's what an Interest Driven Sales Funnel looks like:

As you see on the left hand side you have your “Simple” or “Straight Line” Sales Funnel (also called the “Main Series”).

As previously mentioned, this autoresponder series acts as the backbone for your Interest Driven Sales Funnel. As it sends emails that follow the 3 E strategy, it automatically pays attention to how people respond to certain emails.

If people respond a certain way (show interest), a “Micro Sales Funnel” (Product / Service Sales Funnel) will automatically trigger. The point of the Micro Sales Funnel is to sell a product or service.

You will likely have lots of Micro Sales Funnels. Ideally, one for each category of products you offer and in some instances, individual products will have their own.

Here's an example of one:

A Micro Sales Funnel may differ from the above example based upon what you're attempting to sell, your Value Ladder, and your approach.

Quick Explanation

No matter what the Micro Sales Funnel looks like, the start and end will look the same.

The Start

The Start occurs when an individual shows interest in a product you offer or a topic you talk about. We can gauge interest by tracking their link clicks, Specific Lead Magnet requests, page views, and via points (if you use a CRM).

The End

The End occurs when an individual has gone through the entire Micro Sales Funnel. If the individual went straight into the Micro Sales Funnel by requesting a Specific Lead Magnet and they have yet to enter the “Main Series” (Straight Line Sales Funnel) – they'll now enter the Main Series starting at the beginning.

If the individual was in the Main Series, showed interest in a product by clicking a link, and entered a Micro Sales Funnel – upon entering the Micro Sales Funnel, their “trip” down the Main Series would have been paused, and upon exiting the Micro Sales Funnel, they'd resume their “trip” down the Main Series.

The Rest

Action Series

A few emails that attempt to drive action, ie. a purchase of the product or category of products the individual has shown interest in.

Did Action Happen?

If the desired action was taken, go to the Upsell Series.

If the desired action was not taken, go to The End.

Upsell Series

An email or two that attempts to sell more, usually complementary, products.

Examples

Cordless Power Tools Store

An individual joins the email list by opting in for a Specific Lead Magnet that offers 10% off all cordless drills. Being that the coupon is only for cordless drills, we know they're interested in them.

We then send 3 emails that talk exclusively about cordless drills.

• Email 1: Features of a “good” cordless drill
• Email 2: The differences between our top 3 selling drills
• Email 3: Reminder that the 10% off coupon will expire in 24 hours

Let's pretend that on Email 2 they purchase one of our drills. We then end that series (we won't send email 3) and launch into our Upsell Series where we send 2 emails that attempt to sell complementary products.

• Email 1: 3 pieces of gear you need to get the most out of your drill (sell drill bits, safety goggles, and a level)
• Email 2: Offer a 10% off any complementary pieces of gear

After completing the Upsell Series, they enter our Main Series from the beginning where we begin to build and maintain a relationship and gauge more interest(s).

Women's Clothing And Accessories Store

An individual has been on our email list and in our Main Series for a few weeks when they receive a 3 E email about “how to dress for a job interview.” They click the link contained in the email.

By clicking the link, we know they're interested in “how to dress for a job interview.” We pause the Main Series and trigger 3 emails that talk about that topic, while promoting our products.

• Email 1: Dresses vs Suits – which lands you the job? (turns out, dresses land jobs more often than suits)
• Email 2: 3 Dresses that'll help you land a job
• Email 3: 10% off any of our dresses

Let's pretend our 3rd email results in the sale of a dress. The individual is then sent the Upsell Series for dresses:

• Email 1: How to decide what accessories to wear in order to make your dress “pop”
• Email 2: 3 accessories to make your dress “pop” (hand bag, earrings, belt)

To Do

• Write down 3 Action Series ideas, 1 for each category of your top 3 selling products (defined earlier in this article)
• Write down 3 Upsell Series ideas, 1 for each category of your top 3 selling products (the complementary products you defined earlier)

Note: Many of these emails will likely link to blog posts and other content you've created, fitting nicely within your Epic Blogging Strategy.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Traffic

There are over 1,645,444 ways to drive traffic to your Ecommerce store.

Maybe there's not quite that many ways to drive traffic; however, there are still A LOT.

There are online and offline methods. “Free” and paid methods.

There are so many options and so many people “pushing” the one they think is best.

I get it – it all sounds super attractive …

HOWEVER … do you remember the second question I asked you to answer?

“Where does your ideal customer hangout?”

Wherever they hangout is where, and how, you'll advertise.

It doesn't matter if someone just made a million dollars by advertising on LinkedIn. If your customers aren't on LinkedIn, you will never find success.

So what if someone is getting leads for 2 cents from Twitter ads. If your customers aren't on Twitter, you will never find success.

All that being said, and given the fact that you're an Ecommerce business, and you need people comfortable with shopping online … there are 2 sources of traffic that at least some of your ideal customers hangout on:

• Google
• Facebook

While I can't possibly run through everything you need to know about these two platforms in this post, I'll at least point you in the right direction.

Google

No matter your niche, the almighty Google will always be a source of traffic.

While Google provides a number of ways to drive traffic, I'm going to break it down into two: “free” and paid.

“Free” Google Traffic (SEO)

While SEO (organic) traffic might not cost you money, it's going to cost you time – which is why I place “free” in quotes.

Ecommerce stores tend to have a lot of pages. Thousands in some instances, depending on the number of products you offer.

However, product listings normally contain “thin” content (a few hundred words max that aren't interesting or unique).

It is difficult for “thin” content to rank well in the search results, especially when you're up against behemoths like Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc.

Ideally, you'll go through your top listings, follow some of the copywriting tricks I outlined above and “beef” up your product listings. This will help your listings standout a little more and gain a competitive advantage over the behemoths.

The other advantage your Ecommerce store may have is its blog.

In following the Epic Blogging Strategy, you'll likely gain attention from Google in ways big stores won't.

Paid Google Traffic (Adwords)

Google has an advertising platform called Adwords that essentially allows you to pay money in order to “bump up” your listing in the search results for given keywords.

I won't go further in depth on Adwords. I'll give you some paid advertising tips after I talk about Facebook.

Facebook

Nearly everyone has a Facebook account which means at least a subset of your audience can be found on the platform.

“Free” Facebook Traffic

By creating a page for your Ecommerce store, sharing great content (like stuff from your blog), and by promoting your page, you can gain a following on Facebook that leads to “free” (organic) traffic.

Plus, there's built in social proof, sharing, and possibilities of virality by being present on Facebook.

Paid Facebook Traffic

Facebook's Ads Manager is an incredibly powerful tool.

It allows you to target your ideal customer in every way imaginable from demographic information to interests and likes.

Rules For Paid Traffic

#1: ALWAYS TRACK EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!

The most important rule – yet, every client I've ever worked with on paid advertising has failed to do this from the start.

Google, Facebook, and most reputable advertising companies allow you to track everything – cost per lead, cost per purchase, average order size, and much more.

If you're not tracking your results, you will make poor decisions and throw money away.

#2: Always Send People To A Dedicated Page

When paying for traffic, you need to send people to a dedicated landing page whether it's a Squeeze Page where you're trying to capture contact information or a Sales Page where you're trying to make a sale.

Like the content you produce, everything needs a clear purpose and objective.

#3: Have A Reasonable Budget

There will be a learning curve with paid advertising.

Expect 9 out of 10 of your ads to fail.

You'll likely spend $1k+ before you start seeing real success. Consider it an education.

Point is, if you don't have $1k+ to spend on an education in paid advertising – don't start. Do the “free” stuff first.

#4: Have Patience

When you're learning and losing money, it isn't fun.

You'll likely want to change things very quickly (pause ads, launch new ads, etc). You can't do this.

Generally, you need a few thousand people to see your ad before you can determine if it's bad and a few hundred people to land on your Squeeze Page or Sales Page to determine if it's bad.

You need to collect the data. It's part of learning what does and does not work.

Point is, if you change everything every 10 minutes, you're not going to learn anything and you'll likely fail.

To Do

You're not going to send paid traffic until you have a Straight Line Sales Funnel in place, at a minimum. Ideally, have an Interest Driven Sales Funnel setup before you spend a dime on traffic.

Having said that, only focus on “free” traffic for the time being.

• Implement the Epic Blogging Strategy.
• Start a Facebook Page and share your blog posts on it.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Optimization

Unfortunately, you cannot optimize something you don't have – so, you will need to implement the Ecommerce marketing strategy you drafted with the help of this post.

However, when you begin optimizing your sales funnel, there's a certain way to think about it on a macro and micro level.

Macro Level

Your entire sales system is an integrated system.

Who your customers are, where they hangout, how you present your business, how you deliver your products, your product listings, your pages, your emails, your ads … it's all integrated and how well one part performs affects the other parts.

For example, if you're advertising to the wrong people, it doesn't matter how good everything else is, your entire system will fail.

If you're unable to match your products to your customers needs, your entire system will fail.

The Golden Rule

Start at the beginning.

If you're having trouble with your sales system, start at the beginning – with your customers. If you're absolutely positive you're trying to attract the correct customers, move onto your business – how you portray yourself, what you sell and how you sell it (Value Ladder).

Does everything make sense? Is the “flow” of the Value Ladder natural? Is your business's persona coming across as sincere or as a douche-bag?

How are your products listed on your sales pages? Do you have high quality photos? Good copy that's attractive to your ideal customer? Is the checkout process easy?

Work your way through the entire system, piece by piece.

If the early stuff isn't right, it won't matter how good the later stuff is as no one will ever get to it.

Micro Level

Beyond optimizing at the Macro Level, you have the Micro Level – and, to be honest, this is what most people focus on already.

These are things like email subject lines, page titles, calls-to-actions (CTA), ads, etc.

The good part is, a few % increases here and there can increase the performance of the entire system very quickly.

For example:

A few minor tweaks (all 5% increases or less) to the ad, squeeze page, thank you page, action series, and upsell series resulted in 10 more customers than before and 2 additional upsells.

Imagine if only the ad's CTR increased … what would happen …

We'd still add 4 more customers!

It's amazing what even a half-percent change can do!

To Do

Implement.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

How To Implement

This post should have your Ecommerce business on a path for success; however, there's still a lot of work and technical understanding that needs to happen.

There's still …

• Email marketing automation configuration
• Landing page and opt-in form integration
• Advertising campaign launches and optimization
• Tracking tools and pixels to implement
• Various other areas that'll need tweaking

Of course, you can piecemeal all this together from various sources, or you can save a bunch of time, effort, and energy by joining The Vault!

The Vault includes all the training, resources, and support you'll need to implement everything you planned above!

Click here to see how The Vault can help your Ecommerce Business!

Sales funnels are awesome.

By following the right strategies and taking advantage of some automation tools – you can grow your business on autopilot (pretty much – it still takes work as you have to optimize and expand … but, I digress).

Building sales funnels takes time. You need to plan, write copy, setup automations, install tracking … you need to do a bunch of “stuff”.

Most businesses see the value in all of this; HOWEVER, most don't have the time or resources to do it all and they need “instant” results.

I get that.

Especially if they can use the revenue from these “instant” results to fund the development of the rest of their funnel *cough-cough* OR to invest in some training *wink-wink*

Alright, let's get into it!

1) Sell On The Thank You Page

One of the biggest mistakes I ever made was NOT selling on my thank you pages. (the page someone lands on after subscribing to an email list)

I used to say the usual, “Thanks for joining my email list! Check your email for the lead magnet!” … yeah, I literally told people to leave my site.

Dumb.

Then, one day, I saw someone was selling a low-end offer on their thank you page. I copied their idea and found, on average, between 3% to 10% of the people that land on my thank you page purchase the corresponding low-end offer (normally under $10).

Example

2) Modify Your Checkout Page

The checkout page is one of the most overlooked pages on a website – it's taken for granted.

One would assume that if someone winds up on the checkout page, they're there to checkout; however, this is not always the case.

There are several things you can quickly and easily do to increase conversions:

• Remove unnecessary fields. With more and more people purchasing via mobile devices, and the tediousness that comes with filling out a form while on a mobile device – you only want to ask for the essentials. Do you really need the person's birth date to complete the order? Unlikely. Ask for it later in a follow up email.
• Add testimonials. Instill one last lit bit of confidence; this can go a long way when it comes to your order form conversion rates.
• Remind people what they're ordering. Don't only mention the name of the product/service they're about to receive, but list some of the features and benefits to remind them of the greatness they're about to receive!
• Include your guarantee. Remind people that, should something go wrong, they're safe and have nothing to worry about.

As of posting this article, SamCart has a webinar that describes how modifying the checkout form can boost sales by up to 400%, it's worth checking out … at least the first 30 minutes or so.

Example

3) Add Up-Sells, Cross-Sells, Down-Sells, And Bonuses To Orders

“People who bought this also purchased this.”

“Don't Miss This Limited Time Offer!”

“Spend $3.37 more to qualify for free shipping.”

You've seen these lines used many times in many places. Why? Because they work … are you using them?

Depending on your business, how it's setup, and the platforms you use – the implementation method will change; however, it's certainly worth figuring out!

Fortunately, many shopping cart platforms have this functionality built in or have plugins that make this a piece of cake:

• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• SamCart
• MemberMouse
• ClickFunnels
• ClickBank

Down-Sell Mega Tip!

It can be hard to sell a $200+ product online as not everyone has a few hundred bucks lying around.

So, after making the initial offer for the $200+ product, if it's turned down, offer a down-sell by offering a payment plan!

Example

The page itself looks similar to the thank you page example I showed you above (there's a video and write-up explaining the payment plan).

4) Cart Abandonment Email Series

According to the Baymard Institute, 67.19% of shopping carts are abandoned.

67.19%!!!!!

While there are a hundred reasons a person doesn't finish checking out … their credit card is upstairs and they're downstairs, they're at work and don't want to enter their credit card info on a work computer, etc … one thing remains true, you're missing out on sales.

After reading through about 15 case studies on cart abandonment recovery, it appears roughly 10% or more abandoned carts can be “won back” by simply sending a few reminder emails. A plugin can handle this automatically.

Like the up-sells, cross-sells, down-sells, and bonus options … the “how” will change depending on your system; however, being able to recover 10%+ of your lost sales makes it well worth figuring out!

• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• ClickFunnels

5) Collect Email Addresses

While collecting email addresses won't add to your revenue “instantly” – you can start collecting addresses in less than an hour.

Having a list of people that are interested in what you and your business do is indispensable.

Email remains the #1 way businesses keep in touch with their customers, and if you don't believe it, read this page: http://www.emailisnotdead.com/

Anyway, collecting email addresses doesn't have to be difficult, I mean … how long do you think it took me to setup this page? (it converts at over 50%)

Plus, there are a ton of tools that make adding an opt-in form to any website a piece of cake. Here are a few:

• Sumome
• Hello Bar
• MailMunch
• OptinMonster

Most of these offer a free version and even include options to store the email addresses within the tools themselves. You won't have to signup for an autoresponder service or anything like that. You could literally take the list of emails, plug them all into the BCC line of your email client and email your list straight from your personal email account.

It's literally that easy.

Final thoughts

Taking the time to setup and implement a full fledged sales funnel is certainly worth it. It will pay dividends for years to come. You can even boost revenue while you build your sales funnel with a few minor tweaks.

This Is Important!

Before charging head first into sales funnel creation, you need to take the time to map out your value ladder – your products and services mapped in ascending order of value and price.

The Value Ladder

General Concept

As people “ascend” your value ladder, they're offered more value; however, this value comes at a price ($).

Note: Value doesn't necessarily mean “more”. You can also provide greater value by saving people time.

Tiers

Your value ladder doesn't necessarily need 5 tiers as the diagram above shows, but offering multiple value tiers at various price points gives you more opportunity to give your customers exactly what they need.

Lead Magnet

The freebies you give away to grow your list and get people in the door.

• Price: Free
• Goals: Qualify & Capture Leads
• Examples: Checklist, Guide, Video, Free Sample, Trial, Coupon

Initial Offer

The low-end products you offer that ideally cover the cost of advertising and “prove” the lead has enough “pain” that they're willing to spend money to resolve it. Many times you'll see “Free plus Shipping” offers.

• Price: < $10
• Goals: Re-Capture Ad Spend & Qualify Customers
• Examples: Book, Course, Product

1st Tier

The low-mid range products and services you offer generate profit while simultaneously building trust with the customer as they receive more value from you and your business.

• Price: < $100
• Goals: Increase Profits & Build Trust
• Examples: Course, Productized Service, Product

2nd Tier

The high-mid range products and services you offer generate profit, ideally recurring revenue, from membership and continuity programs.

• Price: < $1,000
• Goals: Increase Profits & Recurring
• Examples: Course, Membership, Custom Service, Product

Top Tier

The biggest and best product/service you have!

• Price: > $1,000
• Goals: Increase Profits & Recurring
• Examples: Done For You Service, Masterminds

Product Based Businesses

I know what you're thinking, “A value ladder sounds nice, especially for digital and service based businesses, but I sell physical products … and things just aren't “fitting”.”

Don't worry, I've got you covered!

Incorporate The Hub And Spoke Model

The “hub” is the core product and the “spokes” are all the accessories and peripherals that “enhance” the core product.

Many times, businesses that sell physical products can't “ascend” customers the same way as digital and service-based businesses can.

For example, if you sell cars, you can develop and give away a lead magnet and you can likely come up with an initial offer for under $10 (ie. a car buying guide). However, after those first two steps … there's not much … you gotta sell a car!

You're not going to try and sell a motorized bicycle, then a scooter, then a motorcycle, then a car, then a nicer car, then an even nicer car (at least not in one sitting). It simply doesn't work that way; however, after the individual purchases a car they're going to need a lot more stuff – accessories, maintenance, insurance, credit, etc. for years to come.

The car is the “hub” and the additive products/services are the “spokes”.

Eventually, ideally, when the individual is ready for a new car, they'll ascend to the next level, get a new car (hub), and start buying more stuff (spokes).

Another Example (Retail)

A few years ago, when I first came across the value ladder concept, I tried to apply it to an ecommerce business that also had a brick & mortar location. This particular retailer sold women's clothing – dresses, to be exact.

They offered many different types of dresses from seasonal, to work, to formal, to wedding … what “appeared” to be a natural ladder … and it kinda was.

Many times, women would come in for a seasonal dress and leave with two or more dresses – for work and for play. However, there were many occasions where women would only need one type of dress for one specific occasion – ie. a formal occasion.

This was where the hub and spoke model came into play as there are a TON of accessories with formal wear – shoes, bags, jewelry, makeup, etc.

Let's stick with the woman that came in and purchased a formal dress. In this case, a wedding dress, even though it's “technically” the next step in the value ladder, doesn't have to be the next step … especially if she's not engaged and/or doesn't have a boyfriend (or girlfriend, whatever floats your boat – not the point).

The point is, there are likely many seasons and occasions for more dresses (hubs) and accessories (spokes) between now and then that can be capitalized upon, if done correctly.

If it makes sense to ascend people up your ladder, ascend them. If not, be sure to incorporate enough spokes!

Offer Continuity

Often, customers will not ascend your entire value ladder ever, much less in one sitting. For those that do ascend, it can take weeks, months, or even years to ascend to the next level.

This is where offering a continuity program or recurring offer comes into play because it'll help accelerate ascension while increasing capitalization.

For example:

• A car dealership can offer oil changes. Cars need oil changes, making this is a natural offer.
• A dress shop can offer a subscription service where every month or season they send out the appropriate style of sunglasses for maybe $10/mo. Not only will this sell more sunglasses, but it'll serve as a reminder to the customer that they need a new dress for the new season!
• Digital products businesses can offer a community and/or premium support as a recurring offer.
• Dentists offer 6 month check-ups.

Bundles & Down-sells

Bundles and down-sells come in handy, especially if you're stuck or are truly limited in what you have to offer.

Let's say you sell 10 different products, that all cost $30, and don't have any additional accessories, even ones you could offer as an affiliate. (unlikely, but this is a hypothetical!)

Could you create bundles of these products? Maybe a 3 pack, 5 pack, and 10 pack? There's your ladder!

For example:

• This concept can be applied to businesses that only offer one thing, for example, a soft serve ice cream shop. Beyond up-selling more ice cream, they can offer a punch card for $X that grants the holder 5 cups, 10 cups, 20 cups, etc. at various price breaks.
• Barber shops can also take advantage of the bundling concept. While many offer other services like shaves, dyeing, massages, etc., that can bundle into packages, they can also bundle visits onto punch cards in a similar fashion to the ice cream shops.
• Here at Crazy Eye Marketing, we offer courses and resources individually and as a bundle we call The Vault.

Down-Sell Mega Tip!

One of the best ways to help people ascend your value ladder quickly is to reduce the entry price to the next tier.

How?

Payment plans!

Let's say your 1st Tier product costs $97 and your 2nd Tier product costs $247, you can split your 2nd Tier product into 3 easy payments of $93.67!

Doing this makes the 2nd Tier product a no-brainer as it costs less than the 1st Tier product (at least for today – which is what the mind tends to focus on

Most of the time, when discussing sales funnels, we only cover email marketing and automation.

Why? It's the cheapest, easiest, and fastest to setup and implement.

But, the thing is, you can do a lot more, automatically, than just send emails.

For example, you can …

• Send a text or make a phone call
• Send a postcard or a letter
• Update and post to social media
• Sync with over 500 services

Why Do This?

Why would you want to send someone a text or a postcard?

Obviously, you wouldn't do this for every single subscriber that enters your sales funnel because it costs extra to perform these functions. Plus, you would need to request even more contact information (phone number and/or address) to make it possible.

Here are a few examples of when you might want to go the extra mile.

Birthdays

Many small businesses have a “birthday club” where they send out special discounts as a birthday present.

Instead of sending a regular old email, you can make your business really stand out by sending a postcard with the special birthday discount!

Every year I receive a postcard from the local ice cream shop and it makes my day!

Urgent Reminders

You can use the text messaging and/or phone calling features to notify individuals if their payment is about to lapse.

Or, if a special sale, offer, or event is about to end, you can send out a message reminding people that they have until 7pm to do X, Y, and Z.

The Overall Concept

Allow me to explain the overall concept, or “strategy”, before getting into the nitty-gritty tactical details.

The concept involves connecting your autoresponder or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool to Zapier via webhooks where Zapier acts as a middleman, translating what your autoresponder/CRM spits out and converting it into a language another service can use.

* For simplicity – a webhook is a URL that's notified when something happens.

For example, when someone subscribes to my email list I could have my autoresponder tool notify Zapier via a webhook that I have a new subscriber. Zapier could then tell Twilio (text messaging service) to send the new subscriber a text, welcoming them to my list.

How To: ActiveCampaign

For this particular tutorial I'll be demonstrating my favorite email autoresponder tool, ActiveCampaign. However, most autoresponder tools offer some form of webhook capabilities. A Google search may show you how to do something similar with your particular tool.

Step 1: Create A New Zap & Trigger

• The first thing you need to do is login to Zapier and create a new Zap
• You'll need to choose your Trigger App, which is ActiveCampaign for this example
• You'll want to select “New Automation Webhook” as your trigger
• Zapier will give you a URL (webhook) to use within ActiveCampaign
• Copy the URL
• You should have something that looks like this:

Step 2: Add Webhook URL To ActiveCampaign

• Login to your ActiveCampaign account and locate where you want the webhook to trigger and select “Add new action”
• Select “Webhook”

• Paste in the URL that Zapier gave you

Step 3: Test

• Go back to Zapier and select “OK, I did this”.
• You'll see “Looking for the automation…” – more than likely, it won't be found and you'll have to go back to ActiveCampaign and trigger it first
  • Go to ActiveCampaign
  • Do what you need to do in order to trigger the automation that has the webhook – ie. in the example above I had to subscribe to list “0 – test”

• Once your test is successful, select “Continue”

Step 4: Connect To Action App

• Search through over 500 services for the one(s) you'd like to have do something. A couple popular ones are:
  • Twilio – Text messaging and calls
  • Lob – Mailings
• Follow the instructions Zapier gives you (don't worry, it's intuitive ;))

The Future Looks Exciting!

The concept of combining email marketing with offline marketing tactics like text messaging, phone calls, and mailings isn't new.

Businesses have been taking the multi-pronged approach for years; however, it's been a very manual process.

Only recently has technology advanced enough that we're able to start putting automated systems in place to handle all aspects of our sales funnels.

I imagine most email autoresponder tools and CRM tools will eventually integrate seamlessly with text messaging, phone calls, mailings, and beyond without the requirement of a 3rd party tool like Zapier.

I'm excited to see what's next for the world of marketing and sales funnels!

How many emails do you ignore every day?

Why are you ignoring them?

Is it because you don't care about what they say?

Why don't you care?

I know I don't care because 9 times out of 10 … the content of the email doesn't pertain to me.

So, it gets ignored.

What if …

What if every email you received pertained to your particular interests, desires, and goals?

Wouldn't you be more inclined to read them … or at least click a link or two to see what they're all about?

I know if I had X problem and someone sent me a solution for dealing with X problem … I'd at least check it out.

Wouldn't you?

And it's proven …

And it's proven … tailored content converts better than non-tailored content.

Just checkout some of the results from MailChimp's most recent study on how segmentation affects opens, clicks, bounces, abuse reports, and unsubscribers:

• Opens: 14.96% higher than non-segmented campaigns
• Clicks: 72.37% higher than non-segmented campaigns (huge!)
• Abuse Reports: 20.39% lower than non-segmented campaigns
• Unsubscribes: 22.09% lower than non-segmented campaigns

The big number I want to point out here is “Clicks”  because you need people to click-through your emails to land on your sales pages and checkout pages … no one can purchase anything straight from an email … you need clicks.

By sending tailored content to individuals, the click-through-rate almost doubles (72.37% higher) … and that's insane.

Alas, most businesses don't …

Alas, most businesses don't segment their list and they don't send out tailored content.

Why not?

Most small businesses think it's beyond their capabilities to do something like this.

They're seeing massive corporations like Amazon do it … if you even think about a product on Amazon they'll start showing you ads everywhere you go for that same product and of course, they'll start sending you emails about that product.

But, most businesses can …

The good news is that most businesses can setup something that automatically segments their list and sends out tailored content to individual subscribers.

Thanks to advances in email marketing automation this type of system is very possible to setup for most small businesses … as I'm about to explain …

• Related Course: The ActiveCampaign & Interest Driven Sales Funnels Course

Segment Based On Interests

Earlier we talked about why we're personally ignoring most emails (because they don't pertain to us).

So, if we're ignoring emails because they don't pertain to us, we have to expect our subscribers to ignore our emails if the content doesn't pertain to them, right?

How do we make sure we're sending emails that pertain to the particular subscriber?

My suggestion is to segment based on interests … let the subscriber show you what they're interested in based on the links they're clicking, the pages they're viewing, and the stuff they're buying. Then, tailor emails to fit those interests.

For example:

If a subscriber shows they're interested in X, send them more content about X, and recommend products and services that help with X.

If they're interested in Y, send more content about Y, and recommend products and services that help with Y.

The Interest Driven Sales Funnel

You need to develop a sales funnel that's driven by each subscriber's particular interest(s).

Stop sending the same thing to everyone … it's neither effective nor efficient.

You've seen the results from MailChimp's study – tailored content gets nearly twice as many click-throughs as non-tailored content.

Instead of 100 click-throughs, you'd get 172 click-throughs … insane.

Interesting, eh?

Overall Concept (Macro Level)

Think of it like this – an Interest Driven Sales Funnel is your business, it encompasses everything … all of your products, services, offerings, etc.

An Interest Driven Sales Funnel is made up of many small or “micro” sales funnels.

Being made up of many micro sales funnels makes it modular in nature – which makes it easy to add to and remove from.

One of the micro sales funnels is a Straight Line Sales Funnel which we'll call your “Main Series”. The Main Series is your way to maintain a relationship with your leads while gauging interest (more on it later).

The other micro sales funnels are for your individual products, services, and offerings. Some products, especially those that are expensive and/or complicated, are likely to need more explanation than various one-off emails can provide, which is why they need their own sales funnel.

Straight Line Sales Funnel (Main Series)

The Main Series is the “backbone” of your Interest Driven Sales Funnel.

It's responsible for building and maintaining the relationship with your subscribers, while simultaneously gauging interest.

This is accomplished through the sending of 3 E Emails:

• Entertain: These emails are meant to entertain. Videos, pictures, stories, etc provide great entertainment.
• Educate: Helpful emails that solve problems, answer questions, and provide guidance. How-to tutorials, white papers, case studies, etc provide great educational material.
• Earn: These emails drive sales by bringing customers back to your business. Coupons, discounts, bonuses, etc provide extra incentive to shop.

People enter your Main Series when they opt-in for a General Lead Magnet (one that doesn't show intent) or after an individual completes a Product/Service Sales Funnel.

You can learn more about Straight Lines Sales Funnels here.

Product/Service Sales Funnels (Micro Sales Funnels)

Product/Service Sales Funnels are your “money makers”.

Their sole purpose is to sell a product or service that your business offers.

These funnels have the ability to stand on their own (ie. you can send paid traffic to them) and can look very different based upon what you're trying to sell.

For example, they can have 1-100 emails, offer webinars, product launches, 3 video funnels, up-sells, down-sells, cross-sells … basically any “guru” funnel you want to follow can be plugged in here.

The ability to plug & play with these various type of Product/Service Sales Funnels is what makes the Interest Driven Sales Funnel so powerful!

You're not limited in what you can do and people will always come back to your Main Series where the relationship will be maintained, other interests gauged, and other Product/Service Sales Funnels triggered!

For Example …

The above is just a taste of a Product/Service Sales Funnel.

The Start

No matter what “guru” funnel you follow (or you can always do your own thing 😉 ) the start will most likely be based on 1 of 4 things:

• Click (Interest Shown) – Someone clicks a link in one of your emails showing they're interested in a certain topic, product, service, etc.
• Specific Lead Magnet – Someone opts in to receive a Lead Magnet for something related to what you want to sell. For example, a mini-guide called “5 ways we decreased Facebook Ad spending by 89%” could lead to a Facebook Ads course.
• Page View – Similar to the “click” mentioned above; however, in this instance the individual may navigate to a particular page on their own without going through a link provided in an email.
• Points (CRM) – More “advanced”; however, if you're using a CRM tool you can use points to gauge interest and trigger Product/Service Sales Funnels based on points. For example, if someone looks at your sales page 5 times, you know they're highly interested … they may just need a tad more persuasion … exactly what a Product/Service Sales Funnel will provide.

After The Start (The Funnel Part)

After the Start, you have the “funnel part.” Again, this can look like pretty much anything; however, in the example above we use an Action Series and an Upsell Series.

• Action Series – This is a series of emails that addresses the subscriber from different angles in order to try and “connect” with them and drive them to take action (make a purchase). For example, one email could be very logical and explain, by-the-numbers, why your deal is great. One email could be a story about someone who found success with your product. One email could be very benefits driven and explain the results one can expect.
• Upsell Series – This is a series of emails that triggers after an action (purchase) is taken and attempts to move them to the next logical step. For example, they purchase a $7 guide to solve a problem and the upsell is a step-by-step video course that's $97.

The Finish

Just like the Start, the Finish will be the same no matter what the “funnel part” looks like.

If the individual entered into your Product/Service Sales Funnel from your Main Series – they'll re-enter the Main Series and pick up where they left off.

If the individual entered into your Product/Service Sales Funnel via another source, ie. Facebook Ad to a Specific Lead Magnet – they'll start the Main Series from the top.

Let's Piece It Together

This is what an Interest Driven Sales Funnel can, hypothetically, look like: (remember, an Interest Driven Sales Funnel is modular in nature. Interest(s) can be shown at any time which means Product/Service (Micro) Sales Funnels can be triggered at any time!)

Simple Explanation

When a new subscriber joins your list, they're “welcomed” to your list and your business via a Welcome Series.

From there, interest(s) is/are gauged based upon general emails that are entertaining, educational, and/or sell (earn) (3 E Emails).

For example, if I run a fitness center and I send out an email with a link to an article titled, “7 steps to lose 7 pounds in 7 days” and a subscriber clicks the link to that article, I can tell they're interested in weight loss.

Or, if I send out an email with a link to video called, “3 biceps exercises that'll add 3 inches to your biceps in 3 weeks” and a subscriber clicks the link to that video, I can tell they're interested in building muscle.

From there, I'll launch my “Action Series” that sends content pertaining to each specific interest and that also sells related products and services to help individuals reach their goals.

For example, if the individual shows they're interested in weight loss, I'll send more helpful content about weight loss in the form of articles and videos, as well as links to sales pages and offers for things like courses, diet books, exercise plans, supplements, etc.

And, I'll do something similar for the person interested in building muscle.

When the individual purchases a product or service from me, I'll recommend complementary products/services or even “bigger” products/services. (Upsell Series)

For example, the individual buys a $7 eBook that contains recipes for healthy meals to lose weight. I then know they're interested in eating healthy and can recommend various meal delivery services to them, for which I'll earn a referral commission.

And it goes on, and on from there …

Gauge interest, send relevant content, recommend relevant products and services, repeat.

Businesses That Need An Interest Driven Sales Funnel

Really, the only “requirement” is that you have the ability to cater to various interests – ie. you have multiple products/services. Of course, these don't need to be your own products/services – you can recommend partner products as an affiliate in order to best serve  your customers.

Digital Businesses

Businesses that sell digital products like courses, resources, guides, ebooks, etc can greatly benefit from implementing an Interest Driven Sales Funnel!

Since everything is performed online, you're able to “watch” everything your subscribers and customers do within your business – making it incredibly easy to gauge interest, setup and implement product/services (micro) sales funnels, and measure/test everything!

An Interest Driven Sales Funnel is what drives Crazy Eye Marketing!

Ecommerce Businesses

Ecommerce businesses can benefit tremendously from implementing an Interest Driven Sales Funnel!

In a similar fashion to the Digital Businesses I mentioned above, ecommerce businesses are able to track how individuals interact with their store, the products people are viewing, the products that are purchased (upsell series!), the words they're searching for, and even if products have been added to a shopping cart … but not purchased! (hint: send a cart abandonment series)

The options and possibilities are seemingly endless when it comes to ecommerce businesses!

Brick & Mortar Businesses

Believe it or not – brick & mortar businesses can also benefit from implementing an Interest Driven Sales Funnel!

Sure, the tracking won't be as precise as it'll be harder to track which part(s) of your sales funnel results in “actual” action – ie. a purchase; however, most everything else will be the same! You are still able to gauge interest based on clicks and pages viewed, you are able to send tailored content, and you still strive to drive action (a shopping trip to your business)!

Don't count yourself out of this goodness, just because you're not based primarily online!

Summary

Sending emails that contain content people care about will always convert better than generic emails.

The best way to figure out what someone cares about is to see what links they click on, pages they view, and products they buy.

From there you're able to send relevant content, products, and services and then rinse and repeat the process.

How To Get Started

I know this post was more high level strategy than actual tactics you can apply today.

But, don't worry! I've got something for ya … the The ActiveCampaign & Interest Driven Sales Funnels Course.

I visited 32, top rated, eCommerce stores in an attempt to enter their email marketing campaigns … these are my findings.

The reason this all started is because I've been working with a few eCommerce stores in regards to their email marketing campaigns and I've seen quite a few similarities in regards to how eCommerce businesses are “using” their email marketing platforms.

Most suck at it.

In this post, I will take you through what I found vs what I expected.

Had Optin Present

While I believe ALL eCommerce stores need to have an optin, only about two-thirds of this sample actually did.

Email marketing is used to build relationships, turn potential customers into actual customers, and keep actual customers coming back again, and again, and again.

By not having an email optin form on your site, you're hurting your business.

Lead Magnet

Of the stores that had optin forms, I took a few minutes to note their Lead Magnet. If you're unfamiliar with that term, a Lead Magnet is an offer that helps persuade individuals to join your email list – like a discount, a checklist, an eBook, a video, etc.

80% were offering a “Newsletter.” While most stated that they would send discounts and promotions, it was unclear as to when I would receive anything.

As a visitor to your eCommerce store, I want instant gratification – which is what a Lead Magnet should provide. Having to sit around, waiting for my discount … that's no fun … and spurs no action.

10% offered entry into a monthly contest for either a free product or a gift card. This isn't too bad, at least once a month I have a chance to win something!

5% offered nothing. Their optin form was literally a text box that said “Enter your email here” and a button that said “Subscribe”. I don't know about you, but normally I don't just pass my email address around for no apparent reason!

5% wanted me to “Join The Movement”. Whoa! I'm just shopping here … not signing up for a revolution. Tone it down, make it clear as to what I'm about to receive.

Double Optin

Double optin is where an individual inputs their email address, then has to go check their email and click a link in order to confirm their subscription. So, there are two steps – input email address, confirm email address (double).

While I personally do not like double optin forms, I get it … especially for eCommerce stores that get a lot of low quality subscribers and also take a lot of heat themselves as users report them as sending spam more frequently than most businesses.

Ultimately, in regards to eCommerce, I think double optin is the way to go in order to ensure higher quality subscribers and less spam reports.

Welcome Emails

This is what really surprised me.

Only 20% of the businesses I gave my contact information actually said “Thank You”.

The other 80% – I don't even know if they got my information. It's just floating out there and if I get an email from one of those businesses, I'll probably forget that I gave them my information and report it as spam. Sad. (I won't really do this)

A Welcome Email is absolutely critical.

You need to thank people for giving you their contact information. You need to welcome people to your email list and your business. You need to set expectations. You need to start building that relationship and give people a reason to buy from you.

Not having a welcome email is severely disappointing.

If you don't have one – go write on now … or scroll to the end of this post.

Email Service Used

MailChimp was the “top dog” at 55%. And, I kind of expected this. MailChimp is a quality email autoresponder service that interacts well with eCommerce.

For 35% of the eCommerce stores, I couldn't tell what service they were using. They may have been “in-house” services or something else. Either way, I couldn't identify them.

5% were using CreateSend.

And the remaining 5% were using Klaviyo. I've been hearing a lot of good stuff about Klaviyo recently in regards to how well they work with eCommerce stores. I haven't personally got my hands on it yet; however, it may be worth checking out!

Where To Go From Here

For those eCommerce stores that lack an optin and email marketing in general – here's a short video tutorial on how to get started:

• ActiveCampaign

For those that lack a Welcome Email … well, I'm going to give you one:

 

That should help!

You may have noticed over the last few weeks that we added a Shop and started to fill it with things.

It's been a slow trickle; however, today is the day!

Today's Our Shop's Grand Opening!

Of course, it wouldn't be much of a grand opening without an extremely awesome sale … would it?

So, until 1 October 2015 you can buy the store for $10.

Click this link to get this limited time offer.

This offer has expired; however, you can still grab the templates here. (the price is a bit higher; however, we've added several more templates!)

What's In Our Store?

Did I jump the gun earlier? My bad.

You probably want to know what's actually in our store … right?

We're selling Autoresponder Series Templates.

What's that?

It's probably best to start with a quick example and then I'll explain.

Ok – back to the question of, “What is an Autoresponder Series Template?”

Simply put, it's a “fill-in-the-blank” series of emails that you plug into your email autoresponder service like ActiveCampaign.

The series are typically 3 to 4 emails long and they aim to achieve a certain goal.

For example, the sample above shows the 1st email in the Welcome Series 1 package. Its goal is to welcome people to your email list and work on segmenting those individuals.

Types Of Autoresponder Series

[Goals]

Welcome Series

The Welcome Series … get this … welcomes individuals to your email list and your business. It delivers the lead magnet, sets expectations, introduces your business, builds that initial relationship, and helps to segment your list based on interests.

Action Series

Action Series follow proven formulas that spur action. “Action” typically refers to a purchase – these are sales scripts. You use these when you're trying to make a sale.

Upsell Series

An Upsell Series is used after an individual makes a purchase in order to sell complementary products and/or services.

Cart Abandonment Series

A Cart Abandonment Series is used to help persuade individuals who have added a product to their cart, but didn't checkout – to checkout.

Re-Engagement Series

A Re-Engagement Series is used when a subscriber has not done anything (opened, clicked, read, etc) within the last 30-60 days. It helps to either “re-activate” or delete inactive subscribers.

Why Buy Autoresponder Series Templates?

Time baby, time.

And time = money.

Oh, and to keep from getting a headache.

Writing emails for an autoresponder sucks, plain and simple.

You can sit there for hours trying to figure out what to say, how you're going to map them out, and how to actually implement them.

Or, you can spend $6 on a 3 email series, or $24 (or $10 for the grand opening sale) on 8 email series (approximately 25 emails) … that's less than $1 per email.

Let me repeat that, $1 per email.

Even if, by some miraculous way, you can crank out 6 emails in an hour … you're still valuing your time at less than $6 an hour.

You're worth more than that.

Save time, money, and keep from getting a headache by using something that's already there … ready for you to take advantage of.

Click this link to go to the shop with the limited time offer.

Autoresponder Series Blueprints

Another reason why our autoresponder series templates will help your business grow are because we give you the blueprints for how to most effectively implement them.

Here's our most recent blueprint for eCommerce:

From there, it's pretty much just drag and drop!

Easy peasy.

Grand Opening Sale Ends 1 October 2015!

There you have it!

Hopefully I've addressed any questions or concerns in this article, if not, leave a comment below.

Otherwise, here's the link to the Grand Opening Super Awesome Mega Sale!

This offer has expired; however, you can still grab the templates here. (the price is a bit higher; however, we've added several more templates!)