Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1417136
76 m a s s a g e & b o d y wo r k n ove m b e r/d e ce m b e r 2 0 2 1 I f you've ever scrolled on Facebook or just used the internet in the past 10 years, you've likely come across advertisements telling you to build a "marketing funnel" for your business. Or maybe you've seen the ones that say "Funnels are dead . . . do this instead." And, of course, these ads invite you to subscribe, download, or purchase something that will magically grow your business! Marketing funnels sometimes get a bad rap. (Mostly because marketers ruin everything.) But the concept of a marketing funnel is pretty simple and can be effective for a massage practice in certain cases. So what is a marketing funnel? Is it sales-ey and icky? Is it legit? How do I make one? The term funnel comes from the visual representation of the process of getting new clients by reaching a larger group of people first and then creating a system that results in a smaller subset of those people becoming clients. The top of the funnel is the general public, or at least the community that you want to reach. The bottom of the funnel is smaller and represents the people who end up becoming clients. And yes, we do understand that in an actual funnel, all the contents reach the bottom. But hey, it's not a perfect analogy. We just go with it. COMPONENTS OF A MARKETING FUNNEL So how do you build this thing and what's it made of? Generally, a marketing funnel is simply a series of content that creates a path toward a goal. In classic marketing terms, we would say content lives at the top, middle, and bottom of the funnel. Top-of-the-funnel content is something that is (typically) free, published with no restrictions, and requires little or no commitment to get. Examples would be blog posts, videos, podcasts, downloadable resources, checklists, quizzes, or informational images. Middle-of-the-funnel content usually builds on the previous content and can require a little more commitment. At this stage, content can include webinars, courses, resources requiring an email address to download, group training sessions, or anything that is a little "meatier" and may require more commitment. Bottom-of-the-funnel content can be anything that leads to a sale or, in our context, a booking. This can be a Facebook ad that invites your followers to schedule a massage online. It can be an email with a booking link, or anything that invites the recipient to take action and book a massage. How to Build a Marketing Funnel By Michael Reynolds