The Foundation of a 6-Figure Ad Strategy
Believe it or not, setting up and even creating ads is the easy part.
But it’s the approach behind them that most people get wrong.
This is generally when I hear people say things like, “Ads don’t work!” when they do. I wouldn’t have a business or be here writing this newsletter today if they didn’t.
The first thing to understand is that ads are simply a tool that you can pay to get in front of more people and get immediate attention to your brand.
And if you’ve ever had a video or post go viral on social media, you know that attention alone doesn’t equal sales or results.
It might feel exciting to get more attention and it might even get you more likes and followers, but you still need to have a system in place to turn that attention into paying customers. AKA a funnel.
Here are the 4 main types of funnels that you can use to support your ad strategy.
1.A list-building funnel
This is the easiest funnel to implement in my opinion and the goal of this funnel is to grow your email list with low-cost leads on autopilot that you can nurture and warm up over time. I recommend using this type of funnel leading up to a live launch for your course or group program, or as a way to continually grow your audience throughout the year.
2. An evergreen sales funnel
This type of funnel generally involves a bit more strategy and work to put together, but when done right, can generate new sales for your online course or membership consistently on autopilot. I recommend this type of funnel once you’ve had a few successful live launches and have proven that there is demand for your offer.
3. A discovery call funnel
This type of funnel is similar to an evergreen sales funnel, except instead of taking people to a sales page & checkout page where they can buy your offer, they are driven to a calendar or application page where they can book a discovery call. I recommend this type of funnel if you sell services or a high-ticket program and generally lead people to a sales call first before buying from you.
4. A self-liquidating offer (SLO) funnel
This type of funnel is less widely used or talked about, but it’s one of my favorite ways to help client’s build their audience with immediate buyers. I recommend using this funnel after you have more experience running ads and when you have an evergreen sales funnel or discovery call funnel that you can pair with it on the backend.
The big mistake that I see entrepreneurs make is not having the proper type of funnel for their business and overall strategy.
For example, I see a lot of service providers using a list-building funnel and then being disappointed when they don’t get people booking calls and becoming clients immediately on the backend, even though that’s not what their funnel was designed to do.
Besides having a funnel, there are a few other main to consider and have in place before diving into ads.
You need to have an irresistible offer. This includes both your front-end offer (your lead magnet or low ticket offer) and your paid offer.
two big mistakes that I see people making with their offers that end up hurting their results with ads:
Their lead magnet doesn’t solve a real problem or offer something that their audience actually wants. We have to remember that just because something is free doesn’t mean people will automatically want it. Your free offer should be a painkiller, not a vitamin; meaning that it solves an immediate pain that your audience will be motivated to fix instead of a long-term, less immediate problem.
Their front-end offer and paid offer are not closely aligned. For example, I’ll see a copywriter offer something like a free guide on how to write headlines for social media, but then they’re selling a program that’s all about writing sales emails for your launches. Sure, both are attracting people who want help with copy but the two problems aren’t necessarily aligned.
The last two components you need to have are a clear idea of your target market and messaging that speaks directly to them.
I know this may sound obvious, but as someone who has analyzed hundreds of funnels for clients you’d be surprised how often people miss the mark on this.
When I say that you need to have a clear idea of your target audience, I don’t just mean that you need to know that they’re a coach or their demographics. I mean that you need to have a clear idea of who you’re trying to reach and a deep understanding of what that person is going through including their thoughts, pain points, frustrations, goals and desires.
Many business owners avoid narrowing their focus and targeting a specific audience out of fear of losing potential customers. This results in messaging that is watered down, which ends up attracting a very broad group of people.
For example, have you ever seen someone’s post or website say something like “Transform your life” or “Uplevel your finances”
^^ This is what vague, generic messaging sounds like and it’s a direct result of not having a clear niche or idea of exactly who you’re speaking to.
In Conclusion
Here are the 4 key pillars to dial in before running ads to ensure you’ll see results:
A clear understanding of your target audience
An irresistible free and paid offer
The right funnel to attract your audience and point them to your offer
Specific messaging that speaks directly to your market
Once you have these pieces in place, you can use ads (and really any form of marketing) to start attracting consistent leads and sales to your business.
This is how you wake up with an inbox full of ideal customers who are excited to work with you and buy your offers.
So, today I want to leave you with this: check your foundation before you attempt to run ads for your business.
Or if you’ve run ads before and didn’t see results, go back and analyze which of these pieces you may need to work on a bit more.
I always say that 90% of your success with ads comes down to what you do BEFORE you ever set up an ad campaign.
And ads always work when you have a strong foundation in place first.
STATS TO MOTIVATE YOU TO TAKE ACTION
Here are a few stats on funnels shared by Danielle Canty (founder of BossBabe) that I found interesting and hope will inspire you to take action on creating or refining yours:
68% of companies have never created or analyzed their sales funnel 😱 (Yikes!)
96% of people who land on your website need to be nurtured through a sales funnel before they buy 🤯
79% of leads will never convert into buyers because they’re not nurtured in a sales funnel 😲
Also, last week Meta released its 3rd quarter 2023 results, and some positive stats were shared:
Ad impressions delivered across all apps increased by 31% year over year 🙌
The average price per ad decreased by 6% 💸⬇️
Daily active users averaged 2.09B in September… a 5% increase year over year 👏
In other words: impressions and activity on the platform are up, while ad costs are down. ^^ This is great news for advertisers and business owners.
WANT MORE SUPPORT? WHEN YOU’RE READY, HERE ARE THE WAYS THAT I CAN HELP YOU GROW YOUR BUSINESS:
1. Ready to create your own high-converting ads? Grab the High-Performing Ad Toolkit that’s helped thousands of business owners create click-worthy ads while saving time and guesswork.
2. Want Done-For-You support and help to get your ads up and running without paying monthly management fees? Apply to work with me through my VIP Ads In A Day experience. I only have a couple of spots available per month, and I'd love to work with you if you're serious about getting ads set up for your business.
JAYMIE TARSHIS DECEMBER 19, 2023