BroadVision Marketing Blog

Guest Blogger: Ann Mullen  You can go look at sales funnels for yourself on Google Images any time you want, but I thought I would show you a few different ones. Why am I so interested in sales funnels besides the fact that they are colorful? I like them because they are so different. Whatever you want to study you can create as a funnel.  It starts at the top with a general topic and winds up very specific. I have also discovered in my quest that not all sales funnels are even shaped like a funnel. So for your edification and my enjoyment, here are some sales funnels.

Do you fully understand the steps which your leads go through and how they react to each step? This process is actually known as Activity of the Lead and refers to things such as landing pages, squeeze pages, opening your emails and more. While you know the portions of your lead funnel how do you know if your leads are going through each step or if they opt out at a certain point each time? Knowing this information is vital to your business and will allow you to make changes and tweak your funnel.

Part of the inbound marketing puzzle is to consistently identify and attract new leads. As you develop successful methods to do this it is essential to know your next action or step number two of your inbound marketing plan.

What do Bill Gates, the late Steve Jobs, “internet founder” Al Gore and a local inbound marketing strategy all have in common? If you say computers, I’ll have to tell you that’s not all. They are all Baby Boomers and almost every organization has one or other product or service they want to sell to baby boomers. Jobs and Gates were both born in 1955 and Gore was born in 1948. Baby Boomers are not only the largest market segment today, they are also the local inbound market segment with the most dispensable income – in other words, they have money to spend!

Once you have found a good source of leads your next step is to entice them through your sales funnel. Your end goal is to have them purchase a product or sign up for your services. Not doing this step, unfortunately, is a mistake that many marketers both online and those who market locally make. They forget about how to nurture leads and process them through their sales funnel.

At first your main nurturing goal is to introduce you and your business to them. This should be done in a friendly and non-threatening manner, don’t come across as all salesy. Instead look to educate your reader on what you do and how you can help them achieve their goals.

Think of a blog article as a seed. Next think about a big garden where you want to grow repeats of that article. What you need to do is get a bunch of those seeds and throw them everywhere. Basically that is the concept of content syndication. In other words syndicating your content means getting it shared on various websites across the area of the internet you want to cover. While this sounds easy enough, hold on there, Farmer Jones. There are some key points to take into consideration.

Lead intelligence reminds me of Spy vs. Spy. Maybe that’s because the word “intelligence” is in there, like CIA and FBI. OK, FBI is really the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but they work the same. What do you think? I have read that lead intelligence is a form of data mining, the purpose being to capture vital information about your prospect thereby giving your team the best shot at making the sale. The act of asking questions about your lead is an important part of your local inbound marketing strategy.

Social bookmarking sites have been around for years, but their popularity as a local inbound marketing tool is just now being realized by anyone who markets on and offline. The internet is a powerful tool which provides you with several resources that you can use to create a successful marketing plan. Let’s get back to basics and look at the Bookmarking aspect of the internet and how you can use it in your local inbound marketing plan.

There is something magic about turning 50. Those of us in the Generation Jones demographic have reached the age when we aren’t too young to be dismissed and we aren’t too old to be on fixed incomes.  In fact in the US, like in many other countries, Generation Jones has taken over the reins of political and business power. After approximately 20 years of international Boomer leadership, the torch has been passed to Jonesers, who now comprise over two thirds of the current Presidents and Prime Ministers of EU and NATO member countries. America’s Obama, France’s Sarkozy, Germany’s Merkel, Australia’s Gillard, New Zealand’s Key, and Canada’s Harper are some of many GenJones leaders who are redefining global affairs. This array of dignitaries is mirrored in our local political and leadership officials. Local inbound marketers need to take note.