Flip the Sales Funnel for Better Website Copy

April 28, 2020 by

flip sales funnelOur story begins not with a reverse sales funnel but with John Lennon climbing a ladder.

It is said that his love affair with Yoko Ono began after he saw one of her conceptual art works in London. It was at a gallery in 1966. One of her pieces featured a tall ladder with a magnifying glass at the top. One had to climb the ladder to view a tiny word through the magnifying glass. The word was printed on paper suspended from the ceiling.

It was a simple word but it moved him. You would think the word on the paper would have been “Love” or “Imagine.” But it wasn’t either of those. Yoko Ono had simply written the word “Yes” on the paper.

John didn’t really like conceptual art because, as he said, it was “anti” everything. But this piece was positive. It convinced him to stay at the exhibit and view her other works.

And so began the iconic relationship between John and Yoko.

And So Begins Your Relationship with Your Customers Online

Yoko Ono’s piece was called Ceiling Painting/Yes Painting. And it got John Lennon’s attention. It piqued his interest. One yes led to another. They were married just a few years later.

Like Yoko’s conceptual art piece, “yes” is transformational in your online marketing.

The misconception about sales funnels is that they are an irresistible force of gravity. Customers fall into the top of the funnel, clamoring to buy.

But who actually falls into a funnel? Yes, people arrive at your site searching for what you offer. But when they get there, they're at the bottom of the funnel. Gravity is not on your side.

Too many businesses think that all they have to do is get people to their site and they’re done. So their copy ends up superficial, self-centered, and often boring.

Because of this, customers are actually falling out of your funnel. If your site doesn’t relate to them in any way, they’ll click away.

Your sales messages will pack more punch if you think of your website visitors climbing up. Like John climbed Yoko’s ladder. And for each step that they take in this climb, they must say the magic word to themselves, “Yes.”

We’ll call these decisions in their heads micro-yesses. These micro-yesses move visitors through your site to an ultimate conclusion, the big, macro-yes…I want to buy.

Check out my explainer infographic:

reverse sales funnel

In a sense, we’re not optimizing a web page, we’re optimizing a thought process. Generating a series of yesses in the minds of your visitors.

I want to cite Flint McLaughlin of Marketing Experiments for the transformational insight that we’re optimizing a thought process, not a web page. And the significance of creating copy that registers a series of yesses in the mind of your prospects as they journey through your site.

John Lennon started his amazing journey with Yoko Ono by climbing a ladder. That led to the first yes in their relationship. Your sales messages must do the same. Create positive, customer-centered copy that visitors will say "yes" to as they journey up your reverse sales funnel.

Until next time,
Nick

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