Want to map out a sales funnel for your online course, but feel overwhelmed at the mere thought?
If so, you’re in the right place.
On the surface, sales funnels seem like a super-heady, complex topic. But as someone who values simplicity over everything, I’m here to tell you it truly doesn’t have to be that way.
Below, I’m breaking down how to craft a killer course sales funnel in a simple, 3-step process. (Pro tip: Bookmark this page to come back to if you ever get stuck!)
It can help to think of your course sales funnel in steps. Here’s a quick breakdown:
1. Pick Your Offer
What are you selling? In this case, choose the course you’re creating your entire funnel around. Boom. Done.
2. Choose a Freebie to Promote Your Offer
Your freebie–or lead magnet–is the free ‘thing’ (PDF, e-course, video series, etc.) that will get people interested in this particular topic onto your email list, so you can subsequently sell your offer to them down the line.
You don’t have to create a fresh freebie from scratch, though! Don’t reinvent the wheel if you don’t have to. If you already have a freebie or content that connects to your offer, use it.
You’ll also need a few other pieces of content to get people onto your email list successfully, including; a landing page, thank you page (which can even include a limited-time only upsell, if desired) and an email delivering your freebie
3. Map Out Your Marketing (Social Media, Email and More)
Now that you know what you’re selling, it’s time for (arguably) the hardest part of any sales funnel: outlining and creating the marketing materials you need to promote your course.
Even a simple sales funnel with a landing page and 3-4 emails can work like magic and convert curious freebie-seekers into actual buyers. Your goal here is to connect your freebie to your course. Why does someone who is interested in this specific topic need your course? What are they looking for help with? What outcome would they like to receive?
You’ll need to create quite a few marketing assets at this stage. At a minimum, you’ll need to map out:
Free and paid traffic sources: Where are you going to promote your freebie–and how? Are you going to get traffic from free sources like social media, or paid ads, or a combination–or something else?
Email sequence: You’ll want to whip up approximately 3-4 emails as a baseline, but you can always add more. There are truly so many ways to successfully ‘do’ email; the options are pretty endless! That said, you’ll want to use your emails to provide value, educate your audience and eventually, introduce your offer. You can also include emails that offer limited-time only discounts or bonuses, for example.
Sales page: This one is pretty self-explanatory, but your sales page is a staple in your funnel. It will do a lot of the heavy lifting for you and can include details and additional testimonials you can’t squeeze into your emails
Follow-up sequence: What will happen after you pitch your course? You can choose to move this list onto a main list (if you have one), or simply start sending them weekly value-based emails to stay connected
You can create these assets in any order, although some entrepreneurs find it easier to craft the sales page first, then pull from and repurpose the sales page to create your email sequence and other marketing.
To sum it all up, a simple course sales funnel will look like this:
1. Social media marketing (or other paid or free traffic-generation)
2. Freebie and freebie delivery
3. Email sequence
4. Sales page
5. Sale! Ca-ching!
Stressed out or struggling with other pieces of your workflow? Wish your business was way less complicated? Grab my FREE Standard Operating Procedures Template & Guide for Your Biz and learn to map out your company’s processes and workflows for a more streamlined business.
