Email funnel marketing: quickly explained – 3 facts

Let’s first clarify all the important terms and 3 questions.

What is an email funnel?

What is a funnel? As described in the introduction: Email funnels are optimized “sales funnels” into which leads (i.e. qualified traffic, e.g. via social ads or Google Ads) are introduced. Leads can be collected from various sources:

• Internal, for example own website
• External, leads from third parties (such as affiliate partners)

A typical lead leaves their data: Name and e-mail address. The less data that has to be entered, the better (simpler, faster for the user). For this purpose, landing pages are built, for example, that specifically encourage the user to “sign up”. For example, with a small gift, such as a free e-book on topic X (to be seen later in the “pop-up example”).

Pop-ups are another popular tool. These are small windows that open above the actual browser and briefly block the content. The user has to deal with the pop-up: He or she can only 1) sign in or 2) close the pop-up.

How does a funnel work?

As soon as users have registered in your e-mail funnel, the “machine” starts.

1. Double opt-in -> data protection compliant
2. Survey -> Segmentation
3. Start -> Automated e-mails
4. Personalization -> Tracking and analysis

More on all these points later.

This “path” is technically known as the customer journey. So to speak, from the ad on Google, via the landing page, into the email funnel, through automation, to the sale. This means that email funnels also follow the “classic” four-stage customer life cycle:

• Interaction
• Discovery
• Purchase
• Binding

How do you turn leads into customers? One method is based on the AIDA model, which goes from 1) attention to 2) interest. Then 3) the interest is aroused, the desire is awakened and the lead 4) completes the transaction and / or purchase.

The next step involves up-sells and cross-sells (more on this later).

How do you create a successful funnel?

In the following, we show why the creation and optimization of an email funnel should ideally be managed by an experienced agency. It is 1) about experience from practical customer projects and 2) about constant optimization through innovations, but also through results from reporting and analyses.

5 advantages of email marketing

Many people think email marketing is so 1990.

The fact is, however, that email marketing and funnels in particular still deliver extremely good performance figures. Why is that?

Firstly, email marketing is automated, so you don’t have to deal with each “customer individually”. Through segmentation, i.e. division into groups, for example through a small, initial survey at the beginning, emails can be made even more relevant (content suitable for the target group).

Through clicks, tracking and analyses, the emails become more and more personalized, also through sales (as can be seen in the infographic above). If user X has bought product X, he or she will take a different route from now on and receive customized, personalized emails. These are usually sent directly to the smartphone, directly to the workplace. This is what makes emails so immediate.

Ultimately, all of this ensures that the ROI (return on investment) for email funnel marketing is so high. As I said, sometimes even higher than our customers expect.

Let’s summarize the 5 advantages once again:

1. Automated: E-mail marketing
2. Relevant: Segmentation
3. Personal: Personalization
4. Directly: Newsletters are direct
5. Particularly high ROI

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Infographic: Email automation

This is how a funnel works:

Collect leads: Landing page and pop-up

There are two effective ways to collect email addresses. The aim is always for users to register in the opt-in form.

1. Landing pages
2. Pop-ups

Landing pages are small, extra subpages of a website that are built specifically for the purpose of getting visitors to sign up to the opt-in form and become leads. The content is specially adapted for this purpose, everything is focused on the form, the benefits and there is often a free gift. This increases the rate of registrations even further. Sometimes main menus and other elements are also omitted. The fewer opportunities for promotion, the greater the focus on the desired action -> signing up in the email funnel.

Pop-ups are not individual subpages, but content that is superimposed on the actual website. This blocks users from the content and they have to engage with the content. They either sign in or close the pop-up.

Pop-ups example with gift:

Different designs, texts and colors can also be tested here. This allows you to see later in the analyses what brings many leads and what brings fewer.

A practical example, here even the book covers (download for opt-in) were designed differently in a quick test.

AIDA: From attention to purchase

As always in marketing, there are very basic strategies that are also used here in email marketing. For example, the AIDA principle.

Attention

Attention means that the user gets to know a product or a solution.

Interest

Interest means that he or she is interested in the product or solution.

Desire (need)

Need means that he or she is convinced and wants your product or solution.

Action (plot)

Action means that the customer then buys the product or solution.

Automation: Automated emails for target groups

One of the magic words in online marketing is “automation”.

The more processes are automated, the less work remains. Projects can also be scaled more easily, as you need fewer staff despite an increase in customers. Some areas and digital products or even online coaching can be extremely scalable in this way.

Email funnels can be tailored to different segments. Let’s take a look at 3 overarching target groups:

• E-mail funnel for interested parties
• Email funnel for new customers
• Email funnel for reactivation

For example:

E-mail funnel for interested parties

The typical visitor who is led from interest to the offer. A simple, effective process looks like this:

1. Encourage interested parties to register (opt-in)
2. Automated e-mail greeting
3. Optional: Initial segmentation through a small survey
4. First trigger emails with enticing offers (vouchers) directly after welcome

Email funnel for new customers

Not only new visitors are suitable as leads for your email funnel. You can also integrate your online store customers into an email funnel and turn them into regular customers who will order from you a second, third and fourth time.

Example funnel for new customers:

1. Thank you email with discount code for #2 purchase
2. Order e-mail with shipping status
3. Multi-level campaign emails
   1. Cross-selling offers
   2. Up-selling offers
4. Seasonal and themed mailings for events
   1. Summer season or soccer World Cup
   2. Days like Christmas or Valentine’s Day
5. Post-purchase evaluation and satisfaction survey

Email funnel for reactivation

Every customer that does not have to be acquired anew saves effort, time and money. That’s why it’s also worth thinking about email funnels that bring customers back. For example, if they haven’t bought anything for a while.

Example funnel to win back customers:

1. Reactivation e-mail with special offers
2. E-mail as a reminder
   1. If discount code not used
   2. If purchase canceled in shopping cart
3. Survey to improve the service: What would you like to see?

As learned in the benefits, almost all emails reach users directly, for example on their smartphone.