When can you expect to start making sales online?
In 2022 I really began asking and inquiring with people who had purchased my programs. I asked three different things. And I suggest that you ask these three things as well. Where are they found you, how long they’ve been in your audience for, and where they ended up purchasing from.
Yes, some people find me on Instagram or through my podcast and purchase within a month, particularly if I am launching some thing. But most people need to be in my audience for a minimum of three months depending on the price point of the offer. That is what I found through my audience research. Especially for higher ticket items, it appears that someone needs to be in my audience for 6 to 12 months before purchasing. And that’s if they were an active part of my audience, and likely also on my mailing list. I say likely on my mailing list because I find that about 80% of people find me through Instagram who have purchased, and 80% of people purchase through my email marketing. Other people buy directly through links on Instagram or the podcast show notes.
I can’t say that this is exactly what would happen for you and your audience, but that is why I encourage you to start asking these questions of people who have purchased from you, as well as getting this on your intake form for people who purchase from you in the future.
Any time we can gain information like this from our audience, it just gives us more insight into actions that we need to take or how we need to position ourselves in our business. For me it’s clear that I need to grow my Instagram and podcast audiences, or begin to branch out into other platforms like YouTube to expand my audience, knowing that people typically need to Build trust with me over 6 to 12 months before investing. Essentially I need to focus my efforts on building the largest part of my funnel or lead pool, being where I put out free content. It’s clear to me that people then get on my mailing list, and the selling is effective from my mailing list. But also not immediately.
When I sent out a survey to my email list, or a particular segment of my email list, it was also clear that a quick sales funnel was not going to be effective with my audience. Unless they had already been in my audience on Instagram or another platform for 3 to 9 months. So having someone join my mailing list and then immediately try to sell them was not going to be effective. I needed to be more patient and draw out my email sales funnels.
Again that was based on my audience needing to take in content from me for that period of time before making a purchase. And yes we would love to make that buying cycle shorter and shorter from a business standpoint, but it is just true that typically people need to see or hear about some thing 7 to 13 times before they invest.
I will also repeat that the price point matters. I’m sure that I could have a quicker sales funnel for a low end offer that’s under $50 than some thing that is $2,000. So there’s always context. But generally speaking people need more time before purchasing, and that is some thing that I can adjust within my marketing. Marketing specifically via email, to be clear.
And I say email because that is the path that people tend to take. From socials to my email list to purchasing. That’s the route that 80% of people who purchase from me take. So that’s the route we look to refine.
With all of that being said, I encourage you to look at whatever platform you put out free content on and look to either prioritize building your mailing list and selling via email, selling more from that social media platform in general, and really creating content that is going to entertain and build trust in order to get people to purchase from you sooner.
And it’s not likely that someone is going to follow you today and purchase from you tomorrow. You also have to think about Instagram specifically, and the percentage of new followers who actually continue to see your content. Take that into consideration. I encourage you to track your insights on a monthly basis at least, regardless of if 200 people left your audience last month, if 400 joined, or even 200 joined, it might look like you only gain 0 to 200 followers, but that’s 200 new leads in the top of your pool. Don’t forget that they’ve never heard of your offers, what are you do, or how you can help them. You need to repeat yourself, and you need to talk about your offers often. Probably more often than you do.
And then keep in mind that those people will probably purchase from you in 3 to 12 months time if you are consistently selling.
As I’ve stated before, only one percent of your large free content based audience is likely ever going to pay you. And you will have to work for that one percent. Don’t forget it.
If you haven’t gathered this type of information from people who have purchased from you, I encourage you to send out some kind of survey via a Google form to find out. Your insights might be a completely different than my own. And your insights are what’s most important.
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