Conversion Funnel 101: The Complete Guide

Conversion funnel… the two secret words which are helping thousands of entrepreneurs, start-ups and marketers DOMINATE their digital marketing.

But what do the words “conversion funnel” actually mean?

And WHY should you build a conversion funnel for your business anyway?

After reading this article, you will NOT ONLY have the ANSWERS to these questions… BUT you will also be given access to a free video course which will teach you how to set up your very own conversion funnel FROM SCRATCH.

Conversion Funnel:

Conversion Funnel: A funnel is a multi-step, multi-variate system which automatically guides a prospect towards a desired action in a non invasive way.

I know what you’re probably thinking…

“Paul, quit the uber nerd slang and tell me this in plain english”. 

Alright, let’s break this definition down to a keyword level.

Funnel:

Wikipedia defines a “funnel” or “purchasing funnel” as: a consumer focused marketing model which illustrates the theoretical customer journey towards the purchase of a product or service.

Funnels are actually systems that are ubiquitous in all online and offline businesses, and are not exclusive to marketing or eCommerce.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a plumber or if you run an online clothing store…

The fact is, if you run a business and you have customers…

Then I guarantee you have some type of funnel in place – even if you don’t refer to it as one.

Some people refer to funnels as a “sales pipeline”.

Other’s call them “marketing systems” or “the customer journey”.

Personally, I like to call them “conversion funnels”.

Regardless, whatever you may call it, your business already has some type of conversion funnel in place.

Multi-Step, Multi-Variate System:

In a perfect world, a business owner would simply have to publish one Facebook Ad and people would flock to their business like a moth to a flame.

Unfortunately for business owners (and thankfully for everyone else) this is not how the real world works.

In the real world, you can’t make people purchase your products by simply publishing one Facebook Ad.

Automatically:

A conversion funnel is considered to be an automated system because once it’s set up and optimised, it anticipates every step needed to guide a cold prospect towards a desired action.

Desired Action:

The desired action refers to the end goal you’d like your prospect to achieve once they have progressed through your conversion funnel.

Examples of desired actions include:

• a prospect giving you their contact information
• a prospect sending you an email requesting more information from you
• a prospect actually taking out their wallet and passing over their hard earned money to you in exchange for your product

Non Invasive:

An effective conversion funnel is non invasive.

This means the conversion funnel does not spam, bully or annoy any prospect into making a purchase.

Instead, the conversion funnel simply provides a TONNE of value which leaves the prospect primed and ready to buy from you.

Benefits Of Using Conversion Funnels:

When teaching the concept of conversion funnels to my clients at RamondoMedia, I often get asked:

“Paul, what are the benefits using conversion funnels?”

Conversion funnels have a myriad of benefits, the most powerful of which are:

1. Acquiring new prospects and leads

Imagine never having to worry about when, where or how you are generating new business.

Effective conversion funnels provide businesses with a steady stream of new prospects on autopilot.

This allows you to stress less about business development so you can focus your efforts on more important tasks.

2. Converting those leads into buyers

Imagine how you would feel if you knew there was an awesome sales system working 24-7, 365 for YOU.

Imagine how much stress would be lifted from your shoulders if you knew your business’ prospects were being AUTOMATICALLY converted into buyers, in a non invasive way…

Even while you sleep.

3. Turning those buyers into fans

Imagine how you would feel if you knew that all of these new buyers were also being automatically turned into fanatical brand evangelists purely because of your conversion funnel?

Related: How I Turned $5,989 Into $163,969 Using Facebook Ads

Types Of Conversion Funnels:

After explaining what conversion funnels are and how they actually work to my clients, the second most common question I get asked is:

“Okay Paul, what types of Conversion Funnels are there?”

If you’ve spent time lurking ANY online marketing blogs over the past year or so…

Then you’ve probably read about many “types” of conversion funnels… or even learnt many different names for them before.

The truth is, I find that all of this jargon and terminology surrounding conversion funnels can be very confusing.

Especially to those that are new to this concept.

So to keep things simple, I want only want to focus on one type of conversion funnel in this article.

This conversion funnel can be applied and customised to any aspect of your business.

Remember, your business’s conversion funnel should automatically guide a prospect towards your desired action in a non invasive way.

This means, that your business’s conversion funnel should be holistic in its function.

Even if you have multiple funnels running for different aspects of your business, they should all flow back into your business’s primary overarching funnel.

I’ve quickly sketched out what this overarching funnel may look like for a business in the diagram below (excuse my messy handwriting!).

I’ll explain exactly how this funnel works in a second.

But first, I want you to notice the 3 SEGMENTS that this funnel is split into…

• TOP SEGMENT: The Acquisition Segment
• MIDDLE SEGMENT: The Activation Segment
• BOTTOM SEGMENT: The Monetisation Segment

Your prospects, leads and customers will fall into one of these three segments depending on what their relationship is with your business.

The Acquisition Segment:

The Acquisition Segment of your conversion funnel is where the majority of your cold traffic gets driven to.

This cold traffic could come from any source, such as SEO, AdWords, Facebook, Twitter, Email etc.

The goal of The Acquisition Segment is to build initial awareness from targeted cold traffic.

A great way to do this would be through content marketing (e.g. blog articles, how-to guides, infographics etc) which you would host on your website.

By using content marketing to attract cold traffic to your website…

The Acquisition Segment sets you up to convert this cold traffic into lukewarm prospects in the The Activation Segment.

The Activation Segment:

The Activation Segment of your conversion funnel filters out “window shoppers” that will never buy from you.

Your conversion funnel filters out these “windows shoppers” by gauging their level of real interest in your content by offering a them a lead magnet.

A lead magnet refers to any type of value packed content (e.g. an eBook or Cheat Sheet) that is offered to your audience during or after consuming your content.

To receive the lead magnet, your audience must pay with some kind of currency (most commonly an email address) or with a small amount of money (e.g. $0.99).

The goal of The Activation Segment is to turn cold traffic that has shown an interest in your content into lukewarm prospects.

The lead magnet achieves this goal by “upgrading” the relationship your cold traffic has with your business (by turning them into an email subscriber or a very low paying customer).

By using lead magnets to convert cold traffic into a lukewarm leads…

The Activation Segment positions your business to turn these lukewarm prospects into hot leads in The Monetisation Segment.

The Monetisation Segment:

If conversion funnels were a game of basketball…

The Acquisition Segment and The Activation Segment would work together to alley-oop your business’s hot leads to your star player…

The Monetisation Segment, who would slam dunk these leads into a basket full of of satisifed buyers.

The primary goal of The Monetisation Segment is to fulfil the desired action your funnel has been created for.

Ultimately, this desired action is to generate revenue from your business’s hot leads by offering them products which are full of Amazing Value.

If done correctly, these hot leads will then:

• turn into customers for life by re-entering your conversion funnel through Repeat Purchase behaviour (follow the pink dotted line in the diagram above) and;
• create organic Customer Reviews that propels Word of Mouse referral traffic back to The Acquisition Segment (follow the light blue dotted line in the diagram above)

Do Conversion Funnels Work?

Okay, I know what you’re thinking…

“Paul, this all sounds a little TOO good to be true.” 

Remember how I said above that “if you run a business and you have customers… then I guarantee you have some type of funnel in place”? 

I can guarantee if you were to spend 15 minutes, right now, analysing your business…

Looking at all of the steps your customers go through before buying from you…

That you would uncover EXACTLY what your business’s conversion funnel looks like.

Not only that, I truely believe this exercise will help you discover what parts of your conversion funnel have been WORKING for you, and what parts could be IMPROVED.

Now I understand that your business’s current conversion funnel / sales pipeline / customer journey / whatever you may call it…

Might not be an automated, well oiled machine that spits out leads on autopilot like the conversion funnel I’ve described above…

But regardless, you already know you HAVE a conversion funnel, and you already know it WORKS!

Which means you’re already on your way to creating an awesome conversion funnel for your business.

How Do I Set Up A Conversion Funnel?

We’ve established that all businesses – including yours – have some kind of conversion funnel.

We’ve also established that conversion funnels work.

And whilst that is awesome, you’re probably still doubting whether you can set up something like this for your business.

Maybe you’re thinking to yourself…

“Paul a conversion funnel like that sounds awesome. But it also sounds WAY out of my budget… and it’s not something I could set up myself”. 

The truth is, setting up an automated conversion funnel for your business is not expensive to do AT ALL.

It’s also something that ANYONE can set up for themselves.

Even if you only have a basic understanding of a program as simple as Microsoft Word, YOU TOO, can set up a conversion funnel for your business TODAY.

And you can do this FOR FREE and have it fully set up with less than a day’s worth of work.

All you have to do is sign up to my new 3 Part Video Course: “Facebook Funnels 101“.

This FREE course will show you exactly how to set up your very own, automated conversion funnel for you business using Facebook Ads.

All I ask for in return is your email address, which I promise to never, EVER, spam you on.

So if you’re keen to set up your very own conversion funnel, for free, in less than a day’s worth of work, please click here to get instant access!

And no, this is not “too good to be true“.

In fact, I’ll tell you a little secret…

This blog article that you’re reading RIGHT NOW, is part of my business’s conversion funnel.

In fact, the majority of you reading this article right now are currently in the The Acquisition Segment of my conversion funnel.

It’s very likely you’re a cold lead and don’t know or even care all too much about me and what I do.

And that’s totally cool!

However, I really do hope this article has helped answer some questions you have surrounding conversion funnels…

And if you’d like to start building your very own automated funnel for your business…

Then please join me inside my FREE 3 Part Video Course: “Facebook Funnels 101“ by clicking here.

Spoiler Alert:

I pride myself on being a VERY no bullshit, what you see is what you get, type of dude.

By signing up to my FREE 3 Part Video Course lead magnet, you’ll be on your way to my business’s Activation Segment.

Where you guessed it…

You’ll then be given the opportunity to purchase my new online course “Funnels 101: The Digital Marketing Blueprint I Used To Turn $5,989.09 Into $163,969.49“.

This is the EXACT System I used to turn $5,989.09 of Facebook Ads Into $163,969.49 of Revenue in 34 days.

But honestly, don’t even worry about this paid course right now.

What I want from you right now is to set up your very own automated conversion funnel for your business…

And make the most of the INSANE amount of FREE VALUE included inside my free 3 Part Video Course: “Facebook Funnels 101“.

All the best with creating your very first automated conversion funnel!

Hopefully I’ll see you inside “Facebook Funnels 101“!

Cheers!