What are marketing funnels? (Email marketing funnel tips )


Funnels Aren't Just for Kitchens and Garages Anymore Just like so many other things in our world the word Funnel has a whole new meaning that none of us could conceive of when we were kids or even as recent as say, 20 years ago. Funnels were initially intended to take a large amount of product and direct it into a smaller opening.

The funnels that we all have come to know and love ( OK, well maybe not literally love) are the ones that we watched our Mom's use for canning fruits and veggies or getting 5 lbs of Sugar or Flour into a canister or container without spilling it all over the countertop. They are also the ones that we watched our Dad's use to put oil or antifreeze into the car, again, to keep from spilling it all over the engine.

If you were to go into a big box store, you would find funnels in every conceivable color and size you could possibly imagine. I am willing to bet that your house probably has one or two of them hiding in a cupboard or shelf. But as useful as the funnel is in our everyday kitchen or garage, that is not the kind funnel that is the real subject of this article. I'll bet you were just thinking "Why would anyone write an article to talk about funnels for heaven's sake? ", weren't you? Honestly, I can't even answer that myself so let's talk about the funnel that is the subject of this article.

I am referring to, of course, a Marketing Funnel. A what? A Marketing Funnel. It is more of an action verb than a thing that you can hold in your hand. Though these days they do come in many different configurations like those in your Kitchen, they serve an altogether different purpose in the world of Marketing online.

A Marketing funnel's purpose is to bring a large amount of people who are interested in a specific topic to a specific landing page, form, or squeeze page, and sends them through a process of either qualification or elimination. By the time the person has gone through the whole system, they are a buyer of whatever product the Marketer wants them to purchase.

Marketing funnels are mainly used to filter out the tire kickers and looky loos so that the online marketer then ends up with a person, who is known as, in today's marketing industry. as a highly qualified, highly targeted lead. In other words, that person is someone who is dead serious about obtaining the product or service being offered and will not waste the marketers time or resources. This end result is the marketer's absolute dream because these are the people that generate the marketer's income.

All that said, you are probably wondering if you actually need a Marketing Funnel in your online business and the answer is an absolute definite, without any reservation, YES!

Why do you want one? The easiest answer to this question is that it will save you a small fortune in personal time talking to people who may not be at all interested in what you have to offer.

So what is the best type of Marketing Funnel? There are many types of funnels from the simple to the more elaborate. There are also many different price points depending on the type of funnel you need. Why do they cost money? Simply because they involve extensive design, programming, coding etc and those services tend to cost a significant amount of money to develop the system itself. Therefore, unless you want to spend thousands of dollars to try and create your own system, it is best to seek out, and be willing to pay for, a marketing funnel that is suited to your business and best suits your needs.

There are a number of these funnels that use a landing page, sometimes referred to as a squeeze page that entices a person to opt in or insert there email address into a form. That email address is then connected to an auto responder that begins to send out email messages that are meant to convince the person receiving them to purchase the goods or service being offered. Due to the amount of goods and services that people are offered on the internet today, many enter their email addresses without a second thought or enter fake email addresses. Of course this does you, the marketer, absolutely no good at all.

But there is an alternative to this conundrum that savvy online marketers are currently turning to in droves. The hottest most technologically advanced Marketing funnel system today as I write this, is using cell phone technology. It relies on the most widely used communication method today and that is texting. Yes, you did read that correctly, it is based on cell phone technology and texting

If you are going to be serious about marketing your business online and putting potential leads through a marketing funnel to create a list of people to market to and buyers to purchase your product, this cutting edge brand new done for you Marketing funnel is what you want to have.

This innovative Marketing Funnel, takes all the guess work out of what your prospect is doing in your system at any given time. First of all, it codes the prospect to you with a cell phone number which unlike email addresses don't change and multiply. So each time someone provides you with their cell phone number it brings them right to your site and you can be fairly sure they are a serious prospect.

Even if they only get through the first page and have to leave, unable to complete the process, when they return, even if it is 3 months later, they re-enter their cell phone number and Voila! They land in your system, not anyone else's. How sweet is that? Then the funnel continues to track them through the entire system, automatically. In the end you have a buyer. That is what we all want, right?


Successful online business can't be led without email marketing. Many people know that it is very important to have a web site but having a web site is only one step in creating successful online presence. You have to stay in touch with your clients and prospects. You need to have a two way communication with your clients and prospects and best way to do this is to have an email newsletter. To send emails to your customer you need the right email marketing software.

Choosing your email marketing software is one of the most important steps you have to take in e-business. What are those necessary steps in choosing email marketing software?

Free or fee-based

The first thing you will have to decide in choosing software for your email campaigns will be whether you want to use free or fee based software. Some people may say: "There is much free software on the Internet. Why would I pay for email marketing software?" This is because some people still don't have a habit to buy things on the Internet, especially non-tangible items such are software and services. Many people still don't realize the power of email marketing so they think that can be satisfied with a free service.

One of the most famous contemporary economists, a Nobel Prize winner Mr. Milton Friedman said that there is no such thing like free launch. And there is another statement that says "You get what you pay for". I usually agree with these two statements. These have been proven on many examples, especially on the Internet.

You can choose to use free software for email marketing but you will be limited for some more advanced options. Some big portals offer free services for creating groups. This is OK, but in this case you will send your email messages without many important features like personalization, email tracking, sending SMS, using CSV files etc. I don't have to mention that many "free" email marketing software providers will include their ads in your email newsletter. I guess that you don't want that in your business email communication.

Some other free software like the free version of Group Mail will have limitation on the number of subscribers per one session. In this case you will be able to send your email newsletter to 100 subscribers at once and in paid version to unlimited number of subscribers and create unlimited number of lists.

It is recommended that you use fee-based email marketing software for your business email campaigns. However, you always have to look for a provider who offers a free trial, as well.

Important features

You have to check if your email service provider offers these several important features.

1) Personalization - personalization is one of the most important things that email marketing software has to provide. With good personalization you will have better open rates and click-through rates. Some more advanced email marketing software like Group Mail paid version offers if-then personalization for users who want to get the maximum personalization.

2) Monitoring - email marketing is popular and useful because results can be measured very effectively. You have to ask your email service provider if their product offers ability for detailed reports for open rates, click-through rates, deliverability...If their main product doesn't offer that it is important that they offer additional service that can be easily integrated with their main product.

3) Scalability - one of the main features of modern software is scalability. At this moment you might need software that will be able to send 1,000 emails at once but in 3 years your membership base can be 5,000. Will your software be able to handle that?

4) Creating HTML newsletters - HTML newsletters have better response rates than email newsletters in plain-text format so this is also another thing you have to consider in choosing your email marketing software. Without sending your email newsletter in HTML you won't be able to do email tracking.

5) Integration with existing applications and databases - your email marketing software has to offer you ability to import data from existing applications and databases like SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, Access, FoxPro and Excel. Also, it is very useful that it can be integrated with popular email clients like MS Outlook.

6) International Character Support - Online businesses have to have a global focus so it is useful that email marketing software provides support for International Characters.

7) Plug-ins and updates - it is very important that the email service provider constantly works on creating useful plug-ins and updates in order to make your work easier and more effective.

8) Technical support -If you are an average Internet user without technical knowledge you will probably want to get support for your software. How good is your email service provider when it comes to technical support?

Desktop email software vs. Hosted ASP

Now when you know do you want free or fee-based software and what to look in your email marketing software you have to decide do you want to have desktop email marketing software or so called Hosted ASP. Both types have limitations and advantages. You have to choose the best option for you.

Desktop email software like Group Mail Plus, one of the leading desktop email marketing software, has several very big advantages. The most important is that details of your subscribers are kept private and secure on your own computer. Dot com crash is not so far behind us. Imagine that you have several thousand clients and use web based service from a company that will later go out of business. You can only imagine how that could affect your business and credibility! With Group Mail Plus you can manage an unlimited number of groups with unlimited number of recipients in each. You will have a larger initial investment than with Hosted ASP which charge a monthly fee, but you will a full control of your email campaigns and after some time of using your software you will repay it.

With Hosted ASP you will usually have a lower initial investment. You don't have to buy hardware and software. However, price is usually determined by the number of emails you send so you will pay more how your membership base gets bigger so this option will be much more expensive than a desktop email marketing software option in the long run.

You can see that choosing the right email marketing software is very important. You have to bear in mind that the biggest investment is one that it is paid - twice. So, choose your email marketing software wisely.

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