7 Sales Funnel Mistakes to Avoid if You Want to Drive New Leads
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If you’re a business owner, then you know how important it is to drive leads (and if you don’t…well now I’m telling you!). Because those leads? They’re ultimately what make you money. Even if you’re doing 1:1 client work, and ESPECIALLY if you’re offering things like digital products or online courses.
And to drive those leads, you’ve got to have a good sales funnel — aka, the thing that takes people from being a cold lead (who are you??) to a warm lead (I freakin’ love you!!).
If you want to make sure your funnel is in tip-top shape, check out these seven sales funnel mistakes to avoid!
Sales funnel mistake #1: You’re not thinking about traffic
The number one thing you need for funnels to convert isn’t an ad you paid big bucks for, a big audience, or even a great offer. Do all those things help? Sure (and obviously, having a great offer is a must).
But at the end of the day, sales funnels are a numbers game, when you strip them down into their truest form. It’s all about eyes…because the more eyes you have on your offer, the better chances you have to convert higher numbers.
It’s just math. You need traffic to make sales. On average, a good conversion rate is anywhere from 2-5%. So for every 100 people that have eyes on your offer, 2-5 will buy.
That’s why you need a solid plan that consistently gets eyes on that offer — especially at ground zero.
(Pssssst — YouTube is a handy dandy way to get that accomplished. Wanna know how? Read more about using YouTube to drive leads here!)
Sales funnel mistake #2: You don’t have an opt-in or freebie
You’ve got to get eyes on that offer of yours to sell it. But cold pitching to your audience won’t work. If they’ve never bought from/worked with you before, it’s going to be really hard to get them to do so before they’ve had a chance to warm up to you.
That’s why you need a freebie to draw them in! People can see for themselves the value you have to offer in a completely low-risk way (can’t go any cheaper than free!). You can build a deeper relationship with your audience by earning their loyalty and trust, on their time.
And an opt-in — NOT just asking people to subscribe to your newsletter — can help you get there.
But avoid PDFs if you can
Try to switch up your opt-in offer with something other than a PDF. There’s nothing wrong with PDFs if you know they work for YOUR audience. Sometimes that truly is your best bet. But sometimes, people want more because there are SO MANY PDF freebies in the world.
If you can, try something different like a workshop, masterclass, a group challenge, an email course, or even a checklist!
Sales funnel mistake #3: You have too many opt-ins
Once you have someone on your list, instead of giving them a thousand and one things right off the bat, maybe, I dunno…give them time to digest the first one? Everyone loves a freebie, but giving people too many at one time will just confuse them.
And if you have multiple offers and multiple opt-ins that lead to those offers, they’re not going to know what to buy. So just keep it simple. Confused shoppers don’t buy.
Sales funnel mistake #4: You’re chasing email subscribers
Chasing email subscribers is a lot like chasing YouTube subscribers. If you’re trying to appeal to everyone, you’ll appeal to no one.
So when you’re thinking about all the steps in your sales funnel, make sure you’re staying true to who YOU are and what YOUR BUSINESS does. Don’t try to be like every other person in your industry or even in your niche.
You have your own special sauce that will attract the right audience. And yes, that even means your email list.
Sales funnel mistake #5: You’re charging for your opt-ins
Something I’ve seen a lot of lately? People charging $2ish for what is supposed to be their opt-in. STOP DOING THIS! Opt-ins are at the bottom of the funnel. They are made to attract and nurture a cold audience.
The vast majority of them don’t know you well enough to want to spend money on you. Because if they have to stop and think about it…the risk of them talking themselves out of it is pretty high.
If you’re going to offer them a really low ticket offer, like a self-liquidating offer or a tripwire, do it AFTER they sign up for your freebie.
Sales funnel mistake #6: You aren’t using YouTube yet
Content drives traffic. Period. That’s usually the first interaction your audience has with you, regardless of the platform. They get to know you there, get intrigued about what you’re doing, and eventually, join that sales funnel!
But relying on platforms like Instagram and TikTok is tough. Because while you’re battling to get seen over there, Youtube is right there waiting for you.
YouTube has some of the BEST returns on investment when it comes to time, energy, attention, money, etc. Because if you’re producing great content and catering to YOUR niche, YouTube will gladly push your content out to more people (so they can stick around and watch more videos, but still!).
If you haven’t thought about how YouTube can help yet…take a look at this video here! I’m taking a deeper dive into why YouTube is the BEST social media platform to drive traffic to your offers!
Sales funnel mistake #7: You’re not automating anything
You don’t need fancy software. I say this all the time! But let me tell ya, automation will make your life so much easier. You won’t have to worry about what goes where and when. You’ll only have to set it up once and then you’re all set!
This means less time fumbling around on the backend with more time spent focusing on serving your audience well! I don’t know about you…but my best ideas and best work never come when I’m overwhelmed with all the little things.
But automation? That’s where it’s at!
Bonus sales funnel hack
If you want to supercharge your funnels with ease, you’ll want to learn more about FG Funnels and what their tools and automations can do for your biz! I’ll be sharing about this favorite tool in a FREE workshop for you coming up soon!
FG Funnels is my GO-TO for setting up my funnels for literally everything. They have templates for everything, which make the process go by fast. It’s AWESOME!
And I’ve actually asked Julie, their founder, to host a workshop with me to show you the capabilities it has! With this tech, you can do SO MUCH to simplify your biz as a course creator or coach.
