How to use your email marketing funnel to boost sales, retention & loyalty

By Sean Tinney Could 28, 2024

E mail advertising is a conversion-driving machine.

In actual fact, e mail has the highest conversion rate of any B2C advertising channel (and the third-highest for B2B audiences, narrowly behind thought management and public talking).

However you gained’t benefit from the sales-generating advantages of e mail advertising except you: 

• Construct a dependable pipeline of leads
• Clarify your worth proposition successfully
• Give new email subscribers a cause to purchase

How will you do all of that?

By designing a watertight, streamlined, high-converting e mail advertising funnel.

What’s the advertising funnel?

The advertising funnel is a instrument that helps you visualize the shopper journey, or the trail a prospect takes as they grow to be conversant in your organization, from introduction to conversion (and hopefully past).

Your advertising funnel ought to embody the next 5 phases:
1 – Consciousness
2 – Consideration
3 – Conversion
4 – Loyalty
5 – Advocacy

E mail advertising funnel vs conventional advertising funnel: What’s the distinction?

E mail advertising funnels and conventional advertising funnels have the identical objective: persuading your viewers to purchase from you by feeding them a gentle stream of knowledge and incentives.

Nevertheless, they’ve other ways of reaching this objective in several methods.

The normal advertising funnel makes use of a wide range of advertising instruments and channels — website positioning, paid advertisements, social media, e mail, and extra — to maneuver prospects by way of the completely different shopping for phases, whereas the e-mail advertising funnel is all about selling your services or products to folks in your e mail listing.

5 advertising funnel phases

Now that you just perceive what the e-mail advertising funnel is, I’ll describe every stage and supply you real-world examples for shifting your viewers by way of these phases.

1. Consciousness

Consciousness is the primary of the advertising funnel phases.  Throughout this stage, prospects which can be strangers to your model and firm. That is your alternative to begin constructing a trusted relationship with them.

It’s your job throughout this stage of the advertising funnel to display your worth to prospects by way of free, academic content material. They’re not prepared to purchase from you but — as a result of they don’t but perceive what you convey to the desk. 

Easy methods to use e mail within the consciousness stage

Undecided what free content material to ship in your emails? Let’s say you’re a private coach who’s making an attempt to show your prospect into paying prospects and also you’re utilizing e mail as your important supply of communication. Listed below are some concepts for content material you may embody in an automatic e mail sequence to your prospects:

• Weblog posts about vitamin or health
• A meals monitoring calendar worksheet
• An book that explains the well being advantages of being match
• A dwell 30-minute exercise webinar

(Listed below are 25 brilliant lead magnet ideas to grow your email list right now.)

Right here’s one other instance:

Health influencer Massy Arias builds a relationship with prospects by providing customized steering on coaching and vitamin by way of a quiz on her web site:

Prospects who land on Massy’s quiz landing page reply a bunch of questions on their age, physique sort, health targets, and extra. Then they hand over their title and e mail handle to obtain their customized health plan.

With this technique, prospects get a priceless piece of content material tailor-made to their particular wants, whereas Massy will get one other subscriber to her e mail listing.

It’s a win-win!

Right here’s an instance:

Health influencer Kayla Itsines builds a relationship along with her prospects by exhibiting her experience and demonstrating the worth of her companies by giving her prospects a free week of her Bikini Physique Information exercise program.

When prospects enroll, they obtain an book with a full week of exercises to allow them to take a look at this system and see the worth of it for themselves.

2. Consideration

As soon as a prospect strikes previous the attention stage of the advertising funnel, they enter the consideration stage. Within the consideration stage, a prospect is prepared to contemplate buying your companies or merchandise. They’re fascinated by studying extra about you and what you’ll be able to supply them.

Since extra about your prospect on this advertising funnel stage than you probably did through the consciousness stage, you’ll be able to ship them extra focused content material that addresses their particular pain points. This helps construct belief between your prospect and your model, since you’re exhibiting them that you just perceive them. 

Easy methods to use e mail within the consideration stage

So what sort of content material do you have to ship your prospects through the consideration stage? 

Let’s say you run an internet retailer promoting outside furnishings. Potential prospects may need a ton of questions on your model and product. Is your furnishings well-made? Does it appear like the photographs? Is it well worth the cash?

It’s your job to reply these questions in your e mail advertising funnel by sharing content material like:

• Testimonials from current prospects who love your merchandise
• Critiques from thought leaders and trusted publications
• High quality and security rankings from unbiased business our bodies 

Let’s check out how this works in follow.

Right here’s an instance:

On this e mail, outside furnishings model Outer shares a few of its finest buyer opinions:

These opinions deal with a number of the widespread points which may put somebody off shopping for from Outer. Extra importantly, the solutions come from actual prospects slightly than the model, which makes them far more persuasive.

Sharing opinions is particularly priceless whenever you’re making an attempt to transform first-time buyers, on condition that 98% of consumers say they’re extra prone to learn opinions for a product they’ve by no means bought earlier than.

👉 Study extra: How to get Google reviews: A step-by-step guide to boosting your sales

3. Conversion

It has lastly arrived: choice time. As soon as your prospect is aware of the worth of your product and you’ve got educated them on the product itself by way of using social proof, webinars, weblog posts, and different academic content material, they’re able to resolve whether or not or to not buy.

When you’ve reached this advertising funnel stage, you can begin speaking about why your product and repair is best than your opponents’ and why it’s excellent to your prospect. Give attention to the advantages of your product/service slightly than simply explaining options.

Easy methods to use e mail within the conversion stage

Listed below are a number of techniques you should utilize to persuade your prospects to buy:

• Invite prospects to a gross sales webinar the place you present them your product/service and inform them the advantages
• Create an automated email series that describe a distinct good thing about your product/service
• Provide a free trial or give away samples in order that prospects can see the advantages for themselves
• Ship prospects an e mail that gives a sale or low cost for buying inside a sure timeframe

Right here’s an instance:

By providing reductions and offers by way of e mail, Thrive Market creates a way of urgency round their merchandise. If prospects are fascinated by buying however haven’t but, this e mail convinces them that now’s the proper time to take motion.

4. Loyalty

As soon as a prospect turns into a buyer, you could be tempted to pat your self on the again and transfer on to the following prospect. Nevertheless, forgetting about your prospects is a nasty thought.

Until you’ve got a plan for creating buyer loyalty, you’ll most likely lose lots of your prospects, losing numerous your prior advertising efforts through the earlier advertising funnel phases.

Keep in mind the Pareto Precept? Repeat prospects are too priceless to disregard. So what sort of e mail content material will increase loyalty and retention?

Easy methods to use e mail within the loyalty stage

Let’s say you’ve got an internet espresso retailer. You promote subscriptions to your coffee-of-the-month membership, and also you don’t need your coffee-of-the-month members to lose curiosity and cancel their subscription. Listed below are a number of concepts for priceless content material you may embody in your emails to extend retention:

• A month-to-month dwell stream to YouTube that describes the coffee-of-the-month and provides espresso brewing finest practices.
• A survey that asks prospects how pleased they’re with the coffees they’re receiving and what other forms of espresso they’d prefer to get.
• Instructional content material concerning the historical past of espresso.
• A 20 % low cost to prospects that buy a yearly subscription of your coffee-of-the-month membership.

Right here’s an instance:

SaaS instrument Zapier reaches out to customers after they’ve constructed their first automation by way of the platform:

This e mail makes prospects be ok with themselves by (metaphorically) patting them on the again for organising their first profitable automation.

Extra importantly, it suggests some extra automations they’ll create, thereby encouraging them to get extra worth from the platform. And the extra helpful they discover it, the extra probably they’re to remain subscribed, boosting Zapier’s buyer lifetime worth.

👉 Study extra: Increase repeat purchases with these 5 easy tips

 5. Advocacy

Advocacy occurs when your prospects grow to be one thing greater than prospects: they grow to be followers. 

Bringing prospects to this stage of the advertising funnel is extraordinarily priceless. The simplest advertising is referral advertising. That’s when your good friend tells you a sure product is superior, you’re more likely to buy that product since you belief your good friend.

Easy methods to use e mail within the advocacy stage

What are some methods to make use of e mail to show your prospects into raving followers?

• Determine prospects that love you and ship them an e mail asking them to refer you to their mates
• Embody a survey in an e mail to find out how you may enhance your services or products
• Begin an affiliate or loyalty program the place prospects get incentives for referring you
• Have interaction along with your advocates by replying to their emails, posting on social media, providing incentives for writing opinions and taking part in testimonials

You additionally need to acquire suggestions throughout this stage. The extra you take heed to your prospects, the extra you’ll be able to study and enhance your content material so it’s in step with their challenges, wants, and desires. Instruments like SurveyMonkey and SurveyGizmo make amassing suggestions simple. 

Professional tip: Inside AWeber’s platform, yow will discover survey templates, too. All it’s a must to do is add your personal content material into the templates and ship it to your prospects.

Right here’s an instance:

To make their prospects really feel particular, trend model Torrid sends them an unique low cost on their birthday:

Even when recipients don’t benefit from the supply, this tactic positions Torrid as a model that cares about its viewers.

Which, in flip, makes prospects extra prone to advocate Torrid to their family members.

👉 Study extra: Birthday emails: How to boost subscriber loyalty and make more sales

5 tricks to construct a high-converting e mail advertising funnel

Now that we’ve defined the worth of the e-mail advertising funnel, let’s take into account 5 tried-and-trusted techniques to generate extra leads and gross sales:

1. Use your web site and social channels to develop your e mail listing

For finest outcomes, guarantee your e mail advertising funnel is commonly topped up with new leads generated by way of your web site and social media.

YouTube progress coach Matt Par (AKA Make Cash Matt) is a grasp at utilizing YouTube for lead gen. Let’s check out how he does it.

First up, Matt created a video explaining the best way to earn cash from YouTube with out really publishing your personal content material:

He clearly hit on a standard ache level, as a result of it had racked up 1.9 million views at time of writing.

The video is step one in Matt’s advertising funnel.

He makes use of the YouTube description to steer viewers towards the subsequent step — his free coaching supply:

Clicking that hyperlink takes you to a devoted touchdown web page on Matt’s web site that spells out the advantages of signing up for the coaching.

When you hit the CTA button…

…you open up a lead seize type that prompts you to pick the popular date to your coaching session and hand over your e mail handle.

Now Matt can attain out to you by way of e mail when he launches new companies or particular provides.

Intelligent stuff!

👉 Study extra: 5 Proven ways to grow your email list using YouTube

2. Ship welcome emails to new subscribers

what they are saying: you solely get one likelihood to make first impression.

Welcome emails are your alternative to reassure new leads that they had been proper to enroll in your publication. Use them to share priceless info like:

• Your model story and worth proposition
• Explainer movies about your product / service
• Weblog posts tackling widespread viewers ache factors

And you need to take into account including some form of promotion or incentive to drive first-time purchases, too.

Cosmetics model Duradry has constructed a killer welcome sequence.

For starters, they share some background about their model and the way they created their first antiperspirant merchandise:

Then, within the second step of their welcome sequence, they go into extra depth on how their merchandise work:

Lastly, at step #3, they incorporate a bunch of buyer testimonials (together with video opinions for added credibility), adopted by a 20% cashback incentive to encourage first-time purchases:

👉 Study extra: Welcome email campaigns: How to onboard new subscribers 

3. Drive conversions with limited-time provides

Brief-term reductions and promotions add an air of shortage and urgency to your emails, which might help you flip publication subscribers into paying prospects.

For instance, on-line coding courses platform Codecademy shared a limited-time supply giving e mail subscribers 50% off their premium membership package deal:

That preliminary e mail was adopted 5 days later by a ultimate warning that the promotion was about to run out:

This mixture of a pretty low cost and a looming deadline provides potential prospects all the motivation they should purchase now.

4. Encourage subscribers to advertise your model by way of opinions

On-line opinions play a significant function in changing people who find themselves on the consideration stage of the advertising funnel.

How important?

Nicely, 98% of shoppers say opinions are a necessary useful resource when making buy choices, whereas 45% gained’t buy a product with no out there opinions.

So it pays to construct a continuing stream of opinions. Make it occur by asking individuals who’ve lately purchased a services or products to overview their buy. Then share the outcomes as a part of your e mail advertising funnel, similar to pet food model Sundays did right here:

5. Ask prospects to refer family and friends

Critiques aren’t the one approach your prospects might help you drive conversions.

They’ll play an much more direct function within the path to buy by encouraging mates, household, colleagues, and random folks they meet on the street to purchase your services or products.

How will you flip current prospects into model advocates? By constructing a referral program and sharing it along with your e mail subscribers, similar to digital advertising company Circles did right here:

This tactic is especially efficient on condition that referrals make it easier to attain extra priceless prospects.

Certainly, an analysis of virtually 10,000 new German financial institution accounts over a 33-month interval discovered that referred prospects:

• Are extra loyal
• Generate larger revenue margins
• Present the next buyer lifetime worth

Create your personal e mail advertising funnel

Develop your email strategy with the advertising funnel in thoughts. Doing so, you’ll convert extra prospects into prospects and extra prospects into followers, which implies more cash for your corporation. Yay!

And with a instrument like email automation, it’s simpler than ever earlier than to maneuver folks by way of your funnel towards advocacy.

Automation options can help you give every prospect the content material, info, or merchandise they want after they want it most. It personalizes their expertise in any respect areas of the funnel.

And as soon as it’s arrange, you by no means need to carry a finger! You’ve successfully arrange an engine that generates passive revenue to gas your ardour.

Begin implementing your e mail advertising funnel in your AWeber account. Don’t have an account but. No drawback, signing up is fast and simple.