As the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Not all sales funnels are created equally; likewise, you may want to rebuild the success of an existing funnel but have no idea how to emulate it.
Chances are you can find out how using just three steps.
There’s nothing wrong with a bit of competition.
In fact, it’s fair to say that competition is the catalyst of modern Internet marketing, as businesses constantly strive to test, tinker and try out new strategies as a means to dominating their respective niches.
A successful sales funnel is a prime example of trying something new to drive new sales and figure out what speaks most to our base of hungry users looking for real solutions in a marketing world often full of white noise.
Now, let’s say that you find a killer sales funnel that hits all the right buttons regarding design, content, and reach.
The design is crisp, the call-to-action is clear, and the offer is dynamite.
Let’s say you want to try and recreate the same marketing principles and points for your own funnel.
Well, what happens when that perfect funnel is in your niche?
What if the funnel belongs to a direct competitor?
That’s a problem, right?
Not necessarily.
The beauty of sales funnels comes in the fact that they are flexible regarding customization.
You can easily adjust your marketing language and offers.
For example, a site selling home dumbbell routines for men and a site selling yoga accessories to expectant mothers have two completely different audiences; however, the tone of their frontend pitches and execution of their backend funnel strategies may be identical.
We’re not suggesting that you undercut your competition, not by a long shot.
Any successful means of marketing, a sales funnel or otherwise, depends on a trustworthy brand with a sound product.
If you’re unable to provide such value to your users, you may find your efforts dead before they hit the ground.
If you are instead looking to see how competing funnels are performing and whether or not you can crack the code to their success, keep reading.
Truly understanding the in’s and out’s of your competition is perhaps one of the best weapons in your marketing arsenal.
It’s not always about you; instead, it’s about your customer and what products and services are currently being marketed to them.
Where does your funnel stack up?
What does your funnel do for them and how can you improve it?
How can you figure out what really works?
To rebuild a top performing sales funnel, you must first research and understand exactly how the funnel works.
Easier said than done, right?
Enter Their Funnel
Understanding the success of a competing funnel is akin to performing some in-depth detective work.
Perhaps the most effective way of gathering information is by going through the buying process yourself (sometimes known as “the buyer’s journey”), serving almost as an undercover agent for the product in the question.
Exploring this process is advantageous for multiple reasons, including:
You get to put yourself in the customer’s shoes – It’s not difficult for businesses to lose touch with their base from time to time.
Often, sales teams fail to map out what makes a successful sale.
This includes metrics such as click-through rates, drop off points and other milestones which measure customer engagement.
By playing the role of customer, ask yourself: how engaged are you with your competitors funnel?
What about your own By putting ourselves in the customer’s shoes, we get to see the “gotcha” moments of a sales funnel and the calls-to-action in a real-time setting.
You see firsthand what works (and what doesn’t) – We can go on and on about market research and A/B testing; however, it’s all meaningless until it’s actually put into action.
By seeing how competing funnels operate, you provide yourself an opportunity to gather meaningful data on competitors regarding how they’re writing their content, presenting their deals and so on.
Are they using percentages or statistics?
Infographics?
Are the offers time sensitive?
The answers to these questions can help you craft your own killer funnel.
You get to see the backend firsthand – Marketers tend to obsess over the frontend and neglect arguably the most important aspect of a sales funnel: the backend.
However, the backend provides more opportunities to upsell customers and turn them into repeat buyers.
By seeing a competing funnel’s backend firsthand, you better understand what types of services you could eventually push to your own list over time.
Spy Games
Rebuilding a successful sales funnel also requires a keen understanding of competing for traffic sources.
Let’s face it: the traffic for your niche is probably spread across a network of sites.
How are you supposed to dominate a niche when there are so many moving pieces to ranking in Google or getting users into your funnel?
Many marketers have no idea where to begin with driving traffic away from competitors and back to their own sites, especially when keyword competition is so fierce.
To push the detective allegory a bit further, one of the best ways to learn from your competitors is to do a bit of spying.
It is very much possible to play some spy games with your competitors to see where their traffic comes from.
Depending on the tools you have in your marketing tool belt, this can be a relatively simple process.
Is this so-called spying underhanded or “unfair?” Absolutely not.
Such tools are completely by-the-book and can be accessed by any marketer.
Don’t think of “spying” as sneaking around; think of it as using what’s available to you to stay competitive in your industry.
There are some free tools available to help keep an eye on your competition and understand their traffic.
Such tools often have their limitations (especially when using the unpaid versions); however, there are plenty of free tools out there which work to…
Keep you updated whenever your competitor is mentioned online (via social media or otherwise)
- Monitor to the competitiveness of keywords in your niche, including keywords your competitors are targeting
- Analyze your competitor’s traffic regarding what keywords they are ranking for organically
In short, there’s plenty you can do to analyze your competitor’s traffic without spending a penny (Google’s Keyword Planner, for example, should already be a staple of your marketing efforts).
What if you’re willing to spend a bit more to learn the in’s and out’s of your competitor’s traffic?
There are plenty of paid tools out there (perhaps to the point of being overwhelming), but what’s worth its salt for marketers looking to get the best bang for their buck?
In the past, we’ve discussed the benefit of sales funnel tools such as AdBeat, which allows you to see the biggest advertisers in your space, what publishers their using and what messages they’re using to generate leads.
Of course, such tools do not come without their price tags, yet provide options for those looking for an in-depth competitive analysis.
Such analysis may be the key to rebuilding your next sales funnel.
Ask the Right Questions (to the Right People)
Conventional wisdom tells us that if you want something (or in this case, want to know something), it’s best just to ask.
When it comes to building an effective sales funnel, it’s all about understanding the niche behind that funnel alongside the most popular products and services being offered within that niche.
As niche marketing continues to thrive, affiliate managers are in a unique position when it comes to businesses trying to break through their markets.
If you’re looking to understand a competing funnel’s success better, asking an affiliate manager where they’re having the most success.
This is less “spying” and more “canvassing” when it comes to gathering intelligence on your competitors; however, sometimes the direct approach is the best approach.
Affiliate managers can provide unique insight to marketers and shouldn’t be left out as part of your strategy to rebuild a successful sales funnel.
Bringing it All Together
To put it all together, the keys to rebuilding a successful sales funnel include…
- Going through the funnel process as a buyer, understanding the allure of the competitor’s frontend and investigating the intricacies of their backend
- Spying on your competitor’s traffic sources, establishing an understanding of where their buyers come from and how you can attract the same crowd
- Asking affiliate managers to insight as to what’s working and what isn’t within your niche, further refining your approach to rebuilding your funnel
Rebuilding a successful funnel doesn’t have to be rocket science.
In fact, following through with the steps above is a great way to ensure that you’re following the best practices within your industry while also beefing up your marketing strategy.
Which of the above strategies do you feel is most beneficial to building out a successful sales funnel?