Business owners will often look at their ROI (return on investment) to help them determine if a marketing activity is worth the time, effort, and money invested. It’s just as important, however, to fully examine your sales funnel activities to make sure that your “middle of the funnel” process compliments your “top of the funnel” activity.
Consider this…
If you are hosting seminars or workshops, for instance, the process of getting people to register is a “top of the funnel” activity. Technically, people who register are nothing more than cold market leads.
When people show up to your seminar, you expedite the “middle of the funnel” and can often get them quickly to the bottom where they will convert to a paying client. This, obviously, is the best case scenario.
However, you will still be left with the majority of people falling into one of two categories:
- Those who no-showed for your seminar.
- Those who came to your seminar but took no action afterwards (failed to set a follow up appointment and meet with you 1-on-1).
Since the people falling into the categories above will almost always outnumber those who immediately convert, your overall ROI highly depends on having a well-strategized nurturing plan. Ignoring the no-shows and the non-appointments is typically akin to throwing your marketing efforts down the drain, as many of these could convert in the future if you stay engaged with them.
So what needs to be done? Follow these steps for optimal results…
Step One: Identify Needs
This is a critical first step but one that you’ve actually already accomplished by electing to host seminars. Since this list of people registered for your seminar, you already have a pretty good idea that they need the information you covered! After all, that’s why they initially signed up. Congratulations, you can move on to Step Two.
Step Two: Offer Relevant Content
Since your “top of the funnel” registration activity put a bullseye on their needs, we now know exactly what to do in step two. Dripping tidbits from your presentation is a great way to start. When you regularly offer this educational content, you build credibility and these prospects will begin to view you as the “resident expert”. Who do you think they’ll look toward, when they are ready to take the next step?
Generate this content in a variety of formats, such as articles or videos, so that you appeal to a wider audience. It can be delivered within the blog section of your website, on social media, via email, or any combination of methods.
Step Three: Stay in Touch
Not every prospect is ready to commit right away, but that’s why it’s called “nurturing”. Encourage them to reach out to you if they have questions, send them invites to future seminars or events, offer exclusive content, or encourage them to follow your social media accounts. Keep yourself top-of-mind.
Step Four: Automate Your Process
More likely than not, your days are filled with appointments and dealing with active clients and prospects. It’s doubtful that you have much time to worry about contacting a lead who no-showed your last seminar. An automated drip campaign is the perfect solution. It can keep you in touch without having to lift a finger.
Have questions regarding any of these points? Get in touch with us and we’ll clarify them for you. We can also help you to put these pieces in place. With a little attention to detail, you can encourage more prospects to move further down the funnel and boost your ROI!
