What is funnel marketing and why does it work?

Funnel marketing describes the structured process you use to guide potential customers through the various phases of their purchase decision. The term “funnel” reflects the fact that there are many people at the entrance, but only some of them end up buying – and that is completely normal. The key is to optimize this funnel so that as many potential customers as possible are guided through it and the abandonment rate drops at every stage.

The classic marketing funnel consists of six phases that build on each other. Each phase requires different content, different channels and different key performance indicators. If you use all six phases consistently, you create a system that generates new leads around the clock and develops existing customers into regular customers.

The six funnel phases at a glance

From initial awareness to long-term customer loyalty, potential customers go through clearly defined phases. The following table shows which measures and KPIs are decisive in each phase:

Awareness: visibility as the foundation of every funnel

Without awareness, there is no funnel. This phase is about getting people to find out about your brand, product or service in the first place. The goal is not immediate sales, but the first point of contact – and that has to be right.

Effective awareness measures vary depending on budget and target group. For B2B companies, LinkedIn thought leadership posts, SEO-optimized specialist articles and targeted Google Ads campaigns are particularly effective. In the B2C sector, Instagram Reels, TikTok videos and influencer collaborations dominate the awareness phase. It is crucial that you are present where your target group spends their time – with content that offers real added value, not flat advertising messages.

A common mistake: companies invest too much in awareness and too little in the downstream funnel phases. Visibility alone does not generate sales. Only when the entire chain works does every euro in the awareness phase pay off. Therefore, set clear KPIs: reach, impressions and cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) are the most important key figures in this phase.

Agency tip: Always start awareness campaigns with a clear landing page at the end – even if the traffic is still small. This allows you to collect data, fire pixels and build retargeting audiences from day one. If you only set this up later, you will lose valuable signals.

Lead generation: from anonymous visitor to qualified lead

The Interest and Consideration phases are the actual home of lead generation. This is where anonymous visitors are converted into known contacts – through newsletter registrations, download magnets, webinar registrations or contact forms. This phase determines whether your funnel works at all, because without qualified leads there are no conversions.

A lead magnet must offer concrete, immediately noticeable added value. Checklists, templates, calculators or mini-courses perform much better than general “subscribe to newsletter” appeals. The key lies in specificity: the more precisely you address the problem of your target group, the higher the opt-in rate.

The nurturing phase begins after registration. Using automated email sequences, you guide new leads through relevant content – from problem orientation and solution approaches to specific offers. Marketing automation tools such as HubSpot, ActiveCampaign or Klaviyo make it possible to fully automate these sequences and personalize them at the same time. Email marketing and automation are indispensable tools for systematically developing leads.

Retargeting is also key in the consideration phase: Anyone who visits your website but has not downloaded a lead magnet is shown relevant content again via paid ads on Facebook, Instagram or Google – until contact is established or the prospect clearly signals that they are not interested.

Conversion: Bringing about the moment of purchase in a targeted manner

In the Intent and Purchase phases, everything revolves around making the purchase decision easier. Every detail counts here: page load time, number of form fields, trust through testimonials and the clarity of your value proposition. Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the most powerful lever in these phases, because increasing the conversion rate from 2 % to 3 % means 50 % more sales – without an additional advertising budget.

Concrete measures for conversion optimization include A/B tests on landing pages, social proof through real customer reviews, urgency through time-limited offers (without false scarcity) and simplification of the checkout process. Studies show that each additional mandatory field in the form increases the abandonment rate by an average of 5-10%. Reduce friction wherever possible.

The performance marketing ROAS and conversion strategy is also closely linked to this phase: Paid channels should only be used in the purchase phase if the organic conversion rate is already optimized. Otherwise, you are simply reinforcing an inefficient system.

Live chat and chatbots can be crucial in the intent phase: Anyone who has a question shortly before making a purchase often abandons without a quick answer. Responsive support – whether human or automated – can significantly improve the conversion rate.

Loyalty and retention: the underestimated funnel section

Retaining existing customers is five times cheaper than acquiring new ones – yet many companies neglect the loyalty phase. Yet this is where the greatest leverage for profitable growth lies: those who build up regular customers increase customer lifetime value (CLV), generate organic recommendations and reduce their average acquisition costs in the long term.

Effective loyalty measures start right after the first purchase: structured onboarding that helps customers achieve their first success quickly lays the foundation for a long-term relationship. Regular, relevant emails – not weekly floods of advertising, but genuine value-added communication – maintain the connection.

Loyalty programs, exclusive content for existing customers and proactive customer service are further building blocks. Upselling and cross-selling work best when they are based on real usage data: Those who consistently fill and evaluate their CRM know exactly when which customer is ready for an upgrade. Social media ROI is also significantly influenced by how well you develop existing customers into brand ambassadors.

Funnel optimization: use data, eliminate weak points

A funnel is not a static construct, but a dynamic system that needs to be continuously optimized. The most important basis for this is proper tracking: Google Analytics 4, a CRM system and platform-specific dashboards provide the data you need to make informed decisions.

The first step towards optimization is to identify drop-off points: Where do most people leave your funnel? In which phase is the bounce rate disproportionately high? This point deserves your full attention before you invest additional budget. The causes often lie in unclear messages, poor usability or a lack of trust – all factors that can be remedied without additional budget.

Attribution is another key issue: which channel contributed to which purchase? First-touch attribution overestimates awareness channels, last-touch attribution overestimates conversion channels. Multi-touch attribution provides a much more realistic picture and helps you to allocate budget in a more targeted way. Professional social media agencies rely on data-driven attribution models as standard to justify and optimize funnel investments.

Regular funnel reviews – at least monthly, weekly for active campaigns – ensure that you quickly recognize and react to changes in user behaviour. A/B tests at each funnel stage continuously provide new insights: What works better on the landing page? Which email subject line leads to more opens? Which offer in the intent phase increases the conversion rate? Direct contact with our agency can also help if you need an individual funnel analysis and optimization strategy.

Frequently asked questions about funnel marketing

More on the topic: Email marketing automation – Generate leads – B2B social media – Performance marketing – Conversion optimization

Related articles

• Social media agency: services and collaboration
• Performance marketing: ROAS and conversion strategy
• Email marketing and newsletter automation for companies
• Calculating social media ROI: Formula and examples
• Contact: Funnel consulting with Social Media One

Why email marketing is indispensable for companies

Email is the only digital channel you have complete control over. Your list is yours – no social media algorithm can separate you from your target group. At the same time, email marketing allows for personalization and segmentation that is not possible on any other platform with such precision. You address people directly, at the right time, with the right content.

The basis for successful email marketing is a clear strategy: define goals, segment target groups, develop relevant content and use the right tools. If you implement this consistently, you have a sales channel that is continuously optimized and scales with the company.

For companies that want to structure their digital sales, it is advisable to take a look at the agency’s services – especially if email is to be embedded in a holistic marketing system.

Building a newsletter: From the list to the community

A newsletter is more than just a monthly newsletter. When implemented professionally, it becomes the central means of communication between the brand and the target group. The structure starts with the right lead generation: opt-in forms, lead magnets, content upgrades and landing pages that promise real added value.

The most important elements in the newsletter structure:

• Double opt-in: mandatory from a legal perspective (GDPR), but also crucial for list quality – only genuine prospects get through
• Welcome sequence: The first three to five emails after registration determine open rates and engagement over the next few months
• Segmentation right from the start: Differentiate by source (where did the lead come from?), interest (what topic attracted them?) and behavior (did they buy, click, open?)
• Content calendar: Regularity beats frequency – better every other Tuesday than irregular and hectic
• Test subject lines: A/B tests on subject, sender name and pre-header can improve the open rate by 20-40%

Anyone who brings performance marketing experience to the email strategy immediately understands that the newsletter is not an end in itself, but a conversion channel. Every email must have a clear goal, a clear call to action and a measurable success factor. You can find out more about how channels interact under Performance marketing: ROAS, conversion and strategy.

Agency tip: Don’t start with the perfect template, start with a strong welcome sequence. The first five emails after registration are by far the most frequently opened. Use this time window for onboarding, brand positioning and the first conversion attempt. An average newsletter later in the funnel rarely performs better than the initial phase.

Email automation: trigger emails and workflows

Email automation is the turbo in email marketing. Instead of sending emails manually, companies set up workflows that react automatically to user behavior. The result: higher relevance, better open rates and more conversions – with less manual effort.

The most important automation workflows for companies:

1. Welcome Series: 3-7 emails after registration – brand presentation, added value demonstration, first conversion
2. Abandoned Cart: User has added product to cart but not purchased – reminder after 1h, 24h, 72h
3. Post-purchase sequence: thank you mail, cross-sell, review request, loyalty offer
4. Re-Engagement Campaign: Reactivate inactive subscribers (no opening for 90+ days) or remove them from the list
5. Lead nurturing: guiding B2B leads through the sales funnel – white papers, webinars, case studies, demo requests
6. Birthday/Anniversary: Using personal occasions for highly relevant communication
7. Browse Abandonment: User has visited certain product page but not purchased – targeted follow-up email

The basic rule of automation: every trigger workflow is built once, then optimized. Split tests for timing (immediately vs. after 2 hours), subject and CTA gradually lead to better performance. Automation is not a set-and-forget, but a system that is continuously improved.

The article on social media marketing for SMEs describes how automation fits into an overarching social media strategy.

Email funnels: from lead to customer

An email funnel is a sequential series of emails that guides a contact through a purchase decision. In contrast to a newsletter, which provides content for existing customers, the funnel is aimed at new contacts and has a clear conversion target.

The typical funnel structure for companies:

• Top of Funnel (Awareness): Valuable content, no direct sales message – build trust
• Middle of Funnel (Consideration): Case studies, testimonials, product presentations, FAQs – offer decision support
• Bottom of Funnel (Decision): Concrete offers, discounts, time pressure, guarantees – trigger purchase
• Post-purchase (retention): Onboarding, upsell, cross-sell, loyalty program – ensure customer retention

An effective funnel works with segmentation: someone who goes through stage 1 without clicking gets a different sequence than someone who has clicked on links several times but has not yet bought. This behavior-based segmentation is the key difference between an average and a high-performing funnel.

The next step is to make the ROI of such funnels measurable. We explain how this works in Calculating social media ROI: Formula and examples.

A comparison of email marketing tools

Choosing the right tool determines how far you can get in email marketing. The following five platforms cover different requirements:

The decision for a tool depends less on the price and more on the use case: e-commerce stores are best served by Klaviyo, B2B companies with long sales cycles benefit from ActiveCampaign or HubSpot, and those who want GDPR compliance without effort are well served by Brevo. Mailchimp is the classic entry-level solution – solid, but quickly reaches its limits with complex requirements.

KPIs and measuring success in email marketing

You can’t improve what you don’t measure. The most important KPIs in email marketing are:

• Open rate: Industry average 18-22 %; below 15 % = need for action on subject, sender or sending time
• Click-through rate (CTR): 2-5% is good; 8-12% is also possible with segmented automation emails
• Click-to-open rate (CTOR): Ratio of clicks to opens – shows whether the content is relevant
• Conversion rate: percentage of recipients who perform the desired action after clicking (purchase, registration, download)
• Unsubscribe rate: Below 0.5% is normal; above indicates too high frequency or irrelevant content
• Bounce rate (hard + soft): Hard bounces (invalid addresses) must be removed immediately – they damage the sender’s reputation
• Spam complaint rate: Over 0.1% leads to delivery problems with Gmail and Outlook
• List build rate: New subscribers per month minus unsubscribes – shows whether the list is growing or shrinking

Each of these metrics is a lever. A low open rate indicates problems with the subject or sender. A low CTR shows that the content is not relevant enough. A high unsubscribe rate signals frequency or relevance problems. The interaction of all KPIs provides the complete picture of the email strategy.

If you want to delve deeper into the topic of reach measurement across all channels, you can find the direct route to us under Contact and advice.

Legal requirements: GDPR and email marketing

Email marketing is strictly regulated in Germany and the EU. The GDPR requires clear, documented consent before sending commercial emails. This means in practice:

• Double opt-in (DOI) is mandatory: A simple registration is not enough – consent must be verified via a confirmation link
• Documentation of the consent: IP address, timestamp and source of registration must be saved
• Clear unsubscribe right: every email must contain a functioning unsubscribe link
• No purchasing of email lists: Sending to purchased lists is illegal in the EU and severely damages the sender’s reputation
• Data processing agreement (DPA): Must be concluded with the email tool provider (Brevo and Mailchimp EU offer this as standard)
• Transparency about data processing: privacy policy must explain newsletter operation

Violations of the GDPR in email marketing can result in fines of up to 20 million euros or 4% of annual global turnover. Choosing an EU-based email provider (e.g. Brevo with a server in Germany/Belgium) simplifies compliance considerably.

More on the topic: Funnel marketing – Newsletter marketing – Generating leads – Performance marketing – Webpush notifications

Related articles

• Social media agency – services and contact
• Performance marketing: ROAS, conversion and strategy for companies
• Social media marketing for SMEs: strategy and budget
• Calculate social media ROI: Formula and examples
• Contact us: Request a free initial consultation

Newsletter marketing: what is it?

At its core, newsletter marketing is the regular distribution of editorial or advertising content by email to a mailing list of subscribers. It is the digital descendant of traditional direct mail, but with one decisive advantage: it is measurable, personalizable and extremely cost-efficient. It is not about sending messages at random, but about delivering the right content to the right person at the right time.

“A well-maintained email list is like having your own printing press for sales – you reach your customers directly in their most private digital space without having to pay Google or Meta for every click.”

Stephan M. Czaja, Social Media One

6 concrete advantages for your sales

What are the concrete benefits of newsletter marketing? The benefits are obvious when you look at the bare figures. While the organic reach on platforms such as Instagram decreases, your email is sure to land in your inbox. In a holistic marketing consultation, setting up your own mailing list is therefore always one of the first recommendations.

1. Independence: No fear of algorithm changes.
2. ROI: Highest return on investment in online marketing.
3. Ownership: Subscriber data belongs to you.
4. Measurability: opening and click rates in real time.
5. Customer loyalty: Building genuine trust over months.
6. Turnover: Immediate sales through promotional mailings.

Agency and strategies? How we increase sales

As a specialized agency, we know: A “newsletter for everyone” no longer works today. Users expect relevance. A successful strategy starts at the first point of contact. In email marketing, we guide users from the first point of contact via specific landing pages directly into an automated process that builds trust and reduces objections.

Segmentation for maximum relevance

Segmentation is at the heart of modern campaigns. We divide your list into groups based on buying behavior, interests or demographic data. When a user comes to your site via TikTok Marketing, they need a different approach than a long-time regular customer. If data is used intelligently, relevance increases and the unsubscribe rate drops to almost zero.

A/B split tests for steady growth

A/B split tests make it more complex and efficient. We test subject lines, call-to-action buttons and the layout of the emails against each other. Even a 1% higher click rate can mean thousands of euros in additional sales for a large mailing list. We don’t leave success to chance, we leave it to the data.

Automation and funnel structure

Building an email funnel is the “supreme discipline”. This is a series of automated emails that are triggered by a specific event (trigger). This can be a download, a purchase or an abandoned shopping cart. A well-built funnel sells for you while you sleep and is the perfect complement to your Google Ads campaigns.

Step 1: Collect e-mails

Step 2: Use emails for remarketing

And then? Segment, build, optimize!

Examples for stores & industry setups

Theory is good, but practice is convincing. As a newsletter marketing agency, we have managed numerous cases. Let’s take a look at three concrete scenarios of what a setup of various sizes can look like to ensure e-commerce success.

1st garden store (small online store): Focus lead gene

This is about picking up hobby gardeners on a seasonal basis. We want customers to buy more by accompanying them through the gardening year. The focus is on content that leads to sales.

• Opt-in: Free planting calendar (PDF) against e-mail.
• Welcome series: 3 emails with tips on soil preparation.
• Trigger: Seasonal push (e.g. “Now fertilizer time”) with discount code.
• Link: Reference to UGC videos of happy harvests.

2. car parts store (middle store): Focus on reactivation

The demand for car parts is often specific and time-critical. Here, we use data on the customer’s vehicle model to provide tailor-made offers.

• Segmentation: Filter by brand and model (e.g. VW Golf vs. BMW 3 Series).
• Shopping cart abandoner: Automated email after 2 hours: “Do the brakes fit?”
• Interval mailings: reminder for oil change or winter tire check.
• Additional sales: cross-selling based on previous purchases.

3. technology & smartphones (large chain): High-end strategy

In a complex technology market, the margins are often small, but the volume is large. This is where we work with high-end automation and AI marketing approaches.

• Multi-channel: Coupling with Webpush notifications for flash sales.
• Loyalty program: Exclusive advance information on new smartphone releases.
• Lifecycle marketing: Offer to extend the contract or trade-in after 24 months.
• A/B testing: Permanent testing of video content in emails.

Also works for new technology, such as small household robots.

Trends in newsletter marketing

What’s next? Hyper-personalization is the buzzword. By integrating dynamic content, emails adapt to the user’s current location or the weather when they are opened. We are also seeing a trend towards “plain text” emails, which appear more personal and improve the delivery rate. In combination with keynotes on marketing trends, we always keep our customers up to date here.

This is how collecting and targeting works:

Newsletter Funnel (Automatisierung)

Newsletter Marketing: Agency & Contact

Why should you trust our expertise? Our advantage is our practical experience: we manage successful own brands in the double-digit million range and know exactly which button click ultimately generates sales. So why are we still working as an agency? Because we love marketing and are constantly on the cutting edge thanks to the large number of cases we work on. We pass this knowledge advantage directly on to you and your team.

Whether you are just starting out or want to optimize your existing funnel – we get your emails to perform.

• Directly to the contact
• A career in email marketing
• More about e-commerce strategies

Who is crowdfunding suitable for?

1. Creative minds
2. Start-ups and entrepreneurs
3. Non-profit organizations
4. Individuals / influencers

Creative minds

Artists, musicians, filmmakers and writers often use crowdfunding to finance their creative projects. This enables them to realize their works without having to rely solely on the support of publishers or studios.

Start-ups and entrepreneurs

Founders of new companies can use crowdfunding to raise start-up capital. This is particularly helpful if they have difficulty finding conventional investors.

Non-profit organizations

Non-profit organizations can use crowdfunding to raise money for charitable causes or social projects. It enables them to finance their missions and spread their message.

Individuals / influencers

Self-employed people or those with personal projects, such as travel, education or medical treatments, can use crowdfunding to get financial support from family, friends or even strangers.

How is crowdfunding financed? 4 types

Crowdfunding usually works on an online platform where the project creator presents their project and collects money from interested supporters. The supporters can contribute amounts of money of their choice. There are various crowdfunding models:

1. Reward-based crowdfunding: Product
2. Equity crowdfunding: Shares
3. Loan-based crowdfunding: Repayment
4. Donation-based crowdfunding: Nothing

Reward-based crowdfunding: Product

Supporters often receive a reward or product in return for their contributions. For example, they might receive an author’s finished book or a copy of a movie.

Equity crowdfunding: Shares

Investors receive shares in the company or project instead of rewards. This is often used by start-ups to raise investment.

Loan-based crowdfunding: Repayment

Supporters grant the project creator a loan that is repaid. This is similar to a loan.

Donation-based crowdfunding: Nothing

These are pure donations for which the supporters do not expect any material consideration.

Can you earn money with crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding is primarily a method of funding projects or ideas, and the results can vary greatly. Some projects raise substantial sums, while others may only receive limited support. Most people use crowdfunding to realize their ventures and do not use the financial support as a source of income. However, there are also cases where successful crowdfunding campaigns have led to long-term business opportunities. Keep in mind that success in crowdfunding depends on various factors, including the quality of the project, the presentation on the platform and the ability to attract supporters.

Kickstart campaign: examples of crowdfunding

If you want to start a Kickstarter campaign, it’s helpful to learn from successful examples. Here are some best practices and inspiring examples of campaigns that have achieved great results. You want cases? Here are 7 practical examples! For example: Jeremy Fragrance, who not only established his brand with his Kickstarter campaign for “Office For Men” perfume, but also raised 31 times more than expected. Jeremy Fragrance asked the community for €25,000.

In the end, it amounted to 780,149 euros from 5,955 supporters!

This impressively illustrates the potential of a Kickstarter campaign for influencers and budding brands.

• 7 examples: Kickstart campaign

And then…? Online marketing!

Once you have successfuly financed and implemented your crowdfunding project, the next step is to make it known to a wider audience and achieve the desired results. This is where online marketing comes into play! Through targeted online marketing strategies such as social media advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing and email marketing, you can effectively promote your project or company, increase visibility and attract customers or supporters. Online marketing offers the opportunity to address specific target groups and further maximize the success of your crowdfunding project.

• Social media advertising
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Content Marketing
• E-mail marketing

How to find the perfect e-commerce agency

In order to hold one’s own in the high-opportunity online trade, a very broad and deep expertise as well as many capacities are required. However, most companies cannot muster these on their own. For this reason, companies are increasingly entering into an active exchange with a specialized e-commerce agency. This ensures a professional online presence without wasting valuable time, money and resources. In this article, we tell you what you should look out for when choosing an e-commerce agency.

Costs and services of a good e-commerce agency

What does an e-commerce agency do?

Basically, an e-commerce agency has exactly one task: the development and comprehensive maintenance of the online store of the commissioning company. However, this can be subdivided into various subtasks. A professional e-commerce agency provides companies with holistic support. This means that in addition to website and store maintenance, a good agency is also responsible for the maintenance of all technical systems, the development of strategic e-mail marketing campaigns and the presentation and promotion of products on platforms relevant to the target group.

How to start with e-commerce?

Building and maintaining your own online store requires a lot of time and expertise in a wide variety of areas:

• Target group analysis
• Choosing the right store system
• Domain registration
• (Technical) Setup, Maintenance & Care
• Visual design
• Marketing & Branding
• Legal protection

For most companies, it makes sense to transfer these tasks to an external service provider, as there is often a lack of resources and necessary expertise. A specialized e-commerce agency offers holistic consulting based on many years of experience.

Will e-commerce still be in demand in the future?

One thing is certain: e-commerce is shaping up to be an increasingly lucrative industry for companies, especially in the future. The sales figures in online commerce show steady growth throughout the last few years. In addition, the market is exceptionally fast-moving and is constantly being fed with new ideas and trends. This makes the future of the e-commerce industry very exciting – both for newcomers and for experienced A-players.

When should you hire an e-commerce agency?

The sooner, the better. Working with an e-commerce agency can be beneficial for several reasons. Below, we have listed the most common reasons why companies choose to work with us:

• Insufficient expertise
• Lack of in-house capacities and resources
• Relieving the burden on your own employees
• Lack of experience
• Holistic advice & support

How much does an e-commerce agency cost?

The price of an e-commerce agency depends entirely on what services are ultimately used. A reputable agency will only ever charge for the actual work involved. Professional agencies also offer free initial consultations to determine the actual requirements and the costs incurred in this context.

What makes a good e-commerce agency?

A good e-commerce agency is characterized by visible customer successes. These are often illustrated by case studies on the homepages of the respective e-commerce agencies. Since a very broad range of expertise is required in e-commerce, agencies usually offer holistic support with specialized experts in each case. In addition, the e-commerce industry is fully data-driven, which means that all relevant key figures can be evaluated and analyzed.

Conclusion: This is why you should hire an e-commerce agency

Companies that lack capacity or do not have the required expertise should work with an e-commerce agency. E-commerce is a very broad field that requires extensive knowledge and a lot of time for continuous maintenance. This is usually not sustainable for a company alone. Especially when the e-commerce presence has to be established or even restructured, it makes sense to work with a professional e-commerce agency. This saves time, money and resources.

Calculation of the CPL

The formula for calculating the CPL is simple. All you have to do is divide the cost of your advertising campaign by the number of leads generated.

Total advertising spend / number of all leads generated = CPL

Why use CPL?

The CPL is mostly used in online marketing when it comes to scaling and comparing advertising measures more precisely. A significant advantage of the CPL is the fact that, in contrast to the CPC, payment is only made for the successful referral of potential new customers.

This has the advantage that only users who are willing to buy approach you through advertising measures and the success is often more clearly visible. Despite the great success potential of CPL, it should be noted that compared to alternative billing models, lead costs are often higher with CPL.

• Application in online marketing
• In the event of successful referral of potential new customers
• “Addressing” only users who are willing to buy
• Lead costs often higher for CPL

Fields of application

This billing model clearly focuses on the acquisition of customer data. This data can then be used, for example, for targeted new customer acquisition. The CPL is therefore used primarily in these areas:

• Email marketing
• Search Engine Marketing
• Affiliate marketing

What is an email / sales funnel?

With our agency you have the right sparring partner for your ideas. Success at work, happiness in life, dating, relationship, nutrition or even solar systems, house construction and real estate investment – the variety of topics is large.

First of all, the great advantage of an email funnel: automated emails

Especially for coachings, trainings, advanced trainings, which take place digitally, but also for live events, email funnels can be used excellently to turn prospects into buyers. Not only buyers, through further strategies like cross-selling and up-selling, similar products can be sold (cross) and higher priced products (up).

The second major advantage of an email funnel is that once a user has registered with their contact details(opt-in), you can send them information again and again. Automated, segmented and personalized, of course.

Email Funnel Guide: Here’s what you learn

This guide will help you:

• Understanding email marketing
• Understand the email funnel structure
• Examples of automated emails
• Sales of digital products and events

In few sales areas, we can virtually promise success, but in email marketing, especially for coaches, we have first-class references. Not only once, our clients and ourselves were surprised by the results of individual email marketing campaigns. Let’s start with the basics:

Funnel = “optimized sales funnel

An email funnel is an optimized “sales funnel” into which leads (i.e. qualified traffic via social ads or Google Ads, for example) are initiated. Leads can be collected via various sources:

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

Funnel means that users are first collected with little information, e.g. only their email address, so that the barrier to entry is as low as possible. Through segmentation and personalization, they get to know each individual user (data based) better and better and can accordingly design the offers more and more precisely. You will get to know exactly how this works in a moment!

Infographic: How the funnel works

The “sales funnel”:

• Funnel = funnel
• Traffic = Incoming visitors
• Leads = Successful entries (Opt-In)
• Touchpoints = Individual emails
• Sales = closing or product sale

Advantage Funnel: Direct, automated and personalized

Many people think that email marketing no longer brings the success it once did. But email marketing today is just as effective, even more effective, than ever before, thanks to data tracking.

Click tracking, opening rate: who does what?

Tracking and user data – Especially through technical enhancements, new functions and data analysis (who is doing what), a lot of details can be evaluated nowadays, of which one had no knowledge before. A simple example: Is a link, in a sent e-mail a) clicked or b) not? Every click is registered and the data stored.

The more data they collect about the individual user, the better!

Depending on the action, the email funnel can adapt.

• Email opened with topic X?
• Link to topic X clicked?
• …

10,000 + leads and all automated

No matter if you have 10 leads in your “newsletter list”, 100 leads, 1.000 or even 10.000 leads, the work will not be more, because you work with automated emails. Through the analytics, e.g. click tracking, as just learned, different target groups can be segmented and the address, or even the coaching products offered, increasingly personalized.

Immediately on smartphone and notebook

Emails reach your users directly on their smartphone, tablet or notebook.

This makes email marketing so immediate, who blocks push notifications from their email program on their cell phone? This in turn ensures that the return on investment (ROI) is above average compared to other online marketing measures. This is also shown by our various cases and references in email marketing, for coaches and digital products.

Tip! You don’t want to wait long, but gain more customers directly? Get in touch with our contact persons:

• Contact

Advantages at a glance: 5 convincing facts

Let’s recap your email marketing advantages:

1. Automated: Email marketing
2. Relevant: Segmentation
3. Personal: Personalization
4. Direct: Newsletters are direct
5. Particularly high ROI

And this is how it works:

Create email funnel: Basics

You’ve now learned a lot about how to use email funnels and email marketing as a coach for your digital products and events.

Whether high pricing or low budget for the masses. In the following, we would like to show you schematically how such an email funnel works, with its automated emails and processes.

How does a funnel work? The email “machine

As soon as users have registered in your email funnel(opt-in), the “machine” starts. For example, by immediately sending the person a welcome email, perhaps even with a link to a small survey! In the survey, the first segmentation takes place, for example based on areas of interest, so that our user really only gets the messages he or she is interested in!

Right from the beginning, this starts the process of automated emails.

From opt-in to personalization:

1. Double Opt-In -> Data Protection Compliant
2. Survey -> Segmentation
3. Start -> Automated emails
4. Personalization -> Tracking and analysis

Infographic: Email Funnel + AIDA Model

How do you get leads to become customers?

A method goes according to the AIDA model that goes from 1) attention to 2) interest. After that, 3) interest is aroused / desire is awakened and the lead executes 4) the conclusion and / or purchase.

The next step is to move on to up-sells and cross-sells (more on this later).

AIDA model in the email funnel:

Segmentation: After the opt-in

Opt-in means “to enter”. Already in this first step the segmentation of the user can take place.

For example, through the aforementioned links placed within an email and tracked through tracking methods. Another example was the survey tool just mentioned, with which you can get segmentation information directly after registration, such as interests or goals.

Query even more data? That makes sense for your coaching prospects (leads)! Because this way they only get information on the topics that really interest them.

• Segmentation through link tracking
• Segmentation through email open tracking
• Segmentation through survey tool
• …

The goal:

• Does user X like topic Y – yes / no?
• If so, more input on topic Y
• If not, no input on topic Y

Automated emails: pre-planned content and timeframes

After that, you start sending your automated emails. With the first welcome email, but also with all the other prepared emails that are sent again and again in the same rhythm to new leads in the funnel.

The paths of the individual users, the so-called “customer journey,” is planned in advance.

This methodology of automated emails is also great for scaling your coaching products. After you create your email funnel, as described, it doesn’t matter to you if 1 lead has signed up, 100 or 10,000 leads. the path is always the same and leads from your first welcome email to the coaching product (see: infographic sales funnel).

Tips! Later, 3 more example and strategies for automated emails.

Personalization: Segmentation through touchpoints

How an email funnel is personalized little by little, step by step, you have already learned in the course of the article, in segmentation.

This personalization is extremely important, because with each new piece of information, you can go new ways with the individual user. Therefore, such a newsletter funnel does not “only” consist of 20 always the same emails, but of an extensive planning, which takes into account all ways and possibilities. So user X doesn’t like product A, but is perhaps interested in product B. Every single email provides another, so-called “touchpoint”, where you can collect data on the lead.

Practical example: Real estate coaching.

A customer in the field of real estate marketing, has different groups of interested parties. There are so-called 1) “owner-occupiers”, i.e. those who are looking for their dream house, there are 2) “capital investors” who would like to rent out a property but have little equity capital, yet others 3) have inherited and have quickly come into the possession of a lot of money and so on. Depending on this, the approach differs! So if our client knows analysis and reporting, in which status or living environment a person is, emails can be adapted more and more precisely.

The more precisely the approach, the content and also the products offered match a person and their wishes, the higher the chance of closing a sale.

Personalized emails:

Sales: Sell more with cross-sell and up-sell

You also collect information through deals, such as sales.

Users were willing to spend money on a specific coaching topic. No matter whether it was an entry-level product, for example in the form of a PDF or a webinar. A coaching for advanced users, for example in a longer online coaching or even the high-price ticket at live events. The question: What else could interest your buyer? The segmentation and personalization process continues.

Because after the sale, the cross-sell and up-sell begins.

• Sales information flows into personalization
• Cross-sell (similar) begins
• Up-sell (high price) begins

Cross-sell – Cross-selling is the selling of related or complementary products or services based on the products the customer has already purchased (or in which he or she is interested).

Up-sell – Up-selling is the additional offering of higher value products or higher value services.

Extra tip: Sales abort in the shopping cart, what to do?

Reactivation is the magic word when it comes to sales dropouts.

Customers often decide to buy a product, but then abandon it shortly before payment. If they can store, analyze and evaluate such information, it’s worth its weight in gold! After all, a user was already close to buying a product.

We focus on such sales cancellations in particular, since we also serve customers as an e-commerce agency. Let’s say the shopping cart abandonment rate is 12% and can be reduced by 7% by reactivating customers because the email address has already been deposited. This would have a significant effect on direct sales and also on further cross-selling and up-selling products.

Conclusion: Email Funnel for Coaching

We hope that we could bring you closer to the strategies of our agency!

Thus, we attract new customers by actively placingads (Social Ads, Google Ads, Native Ads but also organic SEO), thereby winning Leeds for your funnel and converting them into customers through automated and increasingly personalized emails. Through additional up-sells and cross-sells, the sales, in addition to the actual coaching product, are further increased.

That’s why so many of the great coaches rely on email funnels for lead generation, customer generation, and additional product sales.

Last but not least, we’d like to share three ways you can target key, overarching customer groups through automated emails.

Prospects, new customers and inactive customers

You have already learned a lot about email funnel marketing. Here we would like to show you once again three automated paths, from leads to new customers who have purchased the first product and just met inactive customers who have not yet purchased a second product or have abandoned in the shopping cart. Hot Leads!

1. Interested parties (new leads)
2. New customers (just purchased)
3. Inactive customers (win back)

Automated emails for customer groups, 3 strategies presented:

• 3 Email Funnel Strategies

Cases and references: Agency Services

Do you like the potential of email marketing for coaching, e-learning and coaching events? Then we look forward to receiving your e-mail or your call.

Tip. We design your coaching product

You want a product that really sells?

Whether it’s personality, healing, design thinking, leadership 2.0 for executives or any other area, we work with our clients to develop coaching products that sell! Especially when it comes to the product line, meaning not only the actual core product, but also the entire up-sells around a product, planning is extremely important. Often a coaching product is thought of, but not the entire world around it, especially with higher priced products that can be sold afterwards.

With our agency you have the right sparring partner for your ideas.

Contact and contact person

Here you can find our contact persons and email marketing experts.

• Contact

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