As a solopreneur, you know that marketing is essential for growing your business. But with so many different tactics to choose from and so little time, it can be overwhelming to know where to focus your efforts. That’s where the Clever Marketing Method comes in. The Clever Method is designed to help you build a marketing engine that will run on autopilot and drive growth for your business.
Understanding the Funnel
The first step in building a marketing engine is understanding the funnel. The funnel is the path that potential customers take from becoming aware of your business to making a purchase and becoming a loyal customer.
The stages of the funnel are:
| Stage | Description | Potential Channels |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | Potential customers become aware of your business and your products or services. This is when you first capture their attention and pique their interest. | Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), Search Engine Optimization (Google, Bing, Yahoo), Blogging, Public Relations, Networking events, Trade shows, Influencer Marketing, Outdoor advertising (billboards, bus shelters, etc), YouTube, Podcasting |
| Consideration | Potential customers are evaluating your business and weighing the pros and cons of working with you. They’re looking at things like price, value, and customer service. This is when you want to provide them with helpful information and build trust. | Email marketing, Retargeting ads, Content marketing, Landing pages, Lead magnets, Social proof (reviews, testimonials), Webinars, Surveys, Quizzes, Interactive content (polls, quizzes, etc) |
| Conversion | Potential customers take the desired action, like making a purchase or signing up for your email list. This is when they become a customer. | Product demos, Free trials, Sales pages, Calls to action, Cart abandonment email, Live chat, Checkout optimization, Upsells and cross-sells, Customer reviews, User generated content |
| Referral | You want to turn your customers into advocates who refer friends and family to your business. This is when you want to keep them happy and make it easy for them to share their positive experiences. | Referral marketing, Loyalty program, Advocacy programs, Refer-a-friend campaigns, Incentives (discounts, rewards, etc), Affiliate marketing, Influencer partnerships, Brand ambassadors, Testimonials |
| Retention | Keep customers coming back. Build loyalty and create repeat business. Focus on keeping customers happy. | Customer service, Email marketing, Personalization, Surveys, Upsells and |
It’s important to measure conversion rates at each stage so you can see where people are dropping off and make adjustments to improve the funnel.
Building Your Backlog
Once you understand the funnel, the next step is to build a backlog of tasks and campaigns to move people through the funnel. This includes creating content, email campaigns, social media posts, and more.
Marketing isn’t rocket science, but it does require a game plan. And that’s where building your backlog comes in. Once you’ve got a handle on the funnel, it’s time to start planning out all the campaigns and tasks that’ll move your customers through it. That means content, email campaigns, social media posts, you name it. But don’t just focus on the tasks, focus on the process of creating them too. Because coming up with new and creative ways to engage your customers is just as important as executing the plan.
Now here’s the kicker, automating the process. That’s where the real magic happens. You don’t have time to micromanage every damn thing. That’s why setting up systems and automations for your marketing campaigns is a game-changer. Not only will it streamline the process, but it’ll also free up your time and energy to focus on the creative side of things. Because let’s face it, you’re not a robot, you’re a creative genius. And that’s what’s gonna set you apart from the competition.
When it comes to building a backlog for your marketing campaigns, it’s important to not just focus on the tasks themselves but also the process of brainstorming and creating them.
Understanding the funnel and conversion rates for each stage is key, but so is coming up with new and creative ways to move customers through it. That’s why, in addition to outlining the tasks and campaigns, we also recommend taking the time to brainstorm and ideate new strategies.
Connecting the Dots
All of these different elements – the funnel, the backlog, and the automations – come together to form your marketing engine.
The backlog, conversion rates, and automations all work together to create a cohesive marketing engine.
By understanding your conversion points, you can begin automating them. Email is usually the easiest to automate, but it depends on the section of the funnel and the goal for the customer. The goal should be for an automation to be moving the customer along at each portion of the funnel.
Starting the Marketing Engines
A marketing engine is like having a donut factory that’s always running, churning out delicious treats (or in this case, customers moving through your funnel) on autopilot. Just like how a donut factory has a series of steps to make a donut – mixing the ingredients, cutting, frying, and glazing – your marketing engine has a series of steps to move customers through your funnel. And just like how a donut factory can run 24/7 with the right automation, your marketing engine can do the same.
Let me give you an example of what this could look like. Imagine you’ve got a new customer who signs up for your email list. Their journey through the funnel starts at awareness. Next, with the right marketing automation, they’re automatically sent an email welcoming them to your list and showing off your most popular products. This nudges them towards the consideration stage, where they’re more likely to make a purchase. Once they’ve made that purchase, you can trigger another automation that sends them a personalized thank you message and an offer for a related product. That’s how you drive repeat business, move them to the referral stage by asking for a review, and build customer retention.
Another example, you’ve got a prospect who has just downloaded a resource from your website. They’re at the awareness stage. You can use marketing automation tools to follow up with them via email, showing them relevant information, driving them to the next stage of consideration, and eventually converting them into a customer.
A third example would be, when a customer has made a purchase, automatically send them an email asking them to refer their friends or family, move them to referral stage and if they do, reward them with a special promotion. And then make sure to keep them engaged and happy with special promotions, updates, and other tactics to boost customer retention.
In each of these examples, the donut factory is making the donuts and you’re not having to do it manually. By automating these steps in your marketing engine, you’re able to save time and resources while still moving your customers through the funnel in an effective way.
Measuring Success
The last piece of this puzzle is to tweak and improve your marketing engine by staying agile, responsive and closely monitoring your KPIs. Make sure that as you grow, you’re revisiting your marketing engine’s goals and progress to see what’s working and what’s not. This allows you to pivot or adjust your marketing campaigns and campaigns.
To measure the success of your marketing engine, you need to track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as website traffic, conversion rates, and revenue. By monitoring these metrics, you can make adjustments to improve your marketing efforts and drive growth.
Building a marketing engine with the Clever Marketing Method can help solopreneurs save time and improve their marketing efforts. By understanding the funnel, building a backlog, connecting the dots, creating automations and focusing on key performance indicators, you can create a marketing engine that will run on autopilot and drive growth for your business. Don’t let the overwhelm of marketing hold you back, implement these steps today and watch your business grow!
