5 Reasons Why Your Personal Brand Needs an Email Funnel
You've got a lead magnet and you're building your email list.
But what comes after the lead magnet?
You definitely shouldn’t send off a freebie and leave your new subscriber hanging.
That’s the online equivalent of a one-night stand.
Instead, nurture the relationship you’ve just established with your new subscriber with an email funnel.
Simply put, an email funnel is a series of emails that follows your freebie and intentionally leads your subscribers to one of your offers, which can be unpaid (e.g., a webinar) or paid (e.g., your on-demand workshop).
The keyword there being "intentionally."
You probably already know that having an email funnel lets you automate your email marketing so that you can connect with your audience on auto-pilot.
There's something comforting about "set-it-and-forget-it" marketing, isn't there?
No matter what time of day your leads are googling for answers to their problems, your automated funnel has them covered.
But before you go ahead and load a handful of emails into ConvertKit, let's take a look at some of the not-so-obvious benefits of putting an email funnel in place for your business.
5 Overlooked Benefits of Having an Email Funnel
1) You establish a personal relationship with your subscribers
Email is intimate because you're showing up in your subscribers' inboxes with their permission.
Even if your open rate falls within the average range of 15-25%, that means a solid chunk of your subscribers are engaging with your emails.
And the good news is that even those who aren't opening your emails to read your content are becoming more aware of your brand simply because you're showing up on their phones with regularity.
Compare that to Instagram, where an average of 1.22% of your followers are engaging with your posts. (Obvi much lower than the average email engagement rate…)
Also keep in mind that your readers are less likely to make a purchase directly from social compared to email. The conversion rate for emails is 3x that of social media.
In fact, 60% of people say they've purchased as a result of an email, while only 12.5% say they’d even think about buying through a “buy” button on social.
Take advantage of the intimacy and higher conversion rate of email and cultivate a personal relationship with your readers by:
sharing personal stories
giving your audience a look behind-the-scenes
talking about your industry from your personal perspective.
Why? Because all other things being equal, people are more likely to buy from people they know, like, and trust.
And that matters to your bottom line.
2) You shape the experience your subscribers have with your brand
Consider this: on average, it takes 7 interactions with your brand before a customer purchases from you.
When you follow-up your lead magnet delivery with an intentional email funnel, you help your potential customer get to know you and what you stand for, so they can decide if buying from your brand is a fit for the person they want to be.
If you deliver a freebie and follow it up with, well, nothing, you:
give up control over how your subscriber interacts with your brand
lose credibility with your new subscribers because you haven't taken the time to implement an online business basic
miss the opportunity to show your new lead exactly what your business is about
Instead, plan and create a funnel that showcases how your business can help your customer.
3) You provide value to your audience by educating, inspiring, and entertaining them
Before someone becomes a customer, they have to trust that you're going to deliver on your promises.
When you provide value in your email sequence, you build trust with your audience.
Because you demonstrate that you can deliver results for your reader.
My clients often think that they have to teach something in order to provide value, but that's not true.
Value comes in many forms, including inspiration, education, and entertainment
Tutorials, tips and tricks, and step-by-step guides are fantastic, but so are:
inspirational quotes, and talking about why they inspire you
engaging stories from your personal life, like how you first spotted your husband at a funeral (<- true story from my own life)
recommendations for what to watch next on Netflix, related back to your business in some way
4) You position your offer as a solution to your ideal client's problems
When you understand your ideal client deeply and can speak to her dreams, desires, problems, obstacles, and limiting beliefs, you can plan and create a series of emails that help her move forward.
Not only that, but you can help her see what the options are for solving her problem, and then show her how your offer is a solution for that problem.
A well-planned funnel combines knowledge of your ideal client with an understanding of the outcomes your offer delivers to move your lead through the marketing stages of awareness so that she's ready to hand over her credit card digits.
5) You build your credibility so your readers see you as a real business
People will take you and your business more seriously if you look and act like a business.
That means knowing what your brand stands for, having a well-defined brand voice, and polishing your online presence.
And I'm not the only one who feels this way...
Your potential customers do, too.
So when they sign up for your freebie and you leave them hanging with no follow-up, it makes your business look less trustworthy and hurts your credibility.
Making it less likely that your subscribers will see you as a reputable expert and take the next step to become your customer.
By implementing an email funnel, you demonstrate a commitment to taking care of your subscribers and position yourself as a trustworthy professional.