I like to think of a sales funnel as a journey…

The journey your potential customer takes from the moment they find you and your business all the way to the point of sale or purchase… and eventually on to the next sale and the next.

And while some entrepreneurs find funnels complicated, frustrating or just plain boring there are no 2 ways about it…

Funnels are a critical part of building a successful business and you need to understand how to use them to motivate your audience to opt into your email list, or join your community on social media or sign up for your webinar…

So they’ll eventually hit that “buy button” on your sales page.

Impossible to Ignore

Marketing psychographic expert Sean D’Souza says there are 3 elements in the marketing cycle that you need to understand:

1. Attraction
2. Conversion
3. Consumption 

All businesses focus on attracting customers and clients and growing their audience.

Good businesses focus on conversion which is about transforming your audience into paying customers.

But truly great businesses — the ones that stand the test of time — focus on consumption, which is about getting people to engage and consume your products and your marketing messages…

And that’s exactly what a great funnel can do for you!

If your audience doesn’t opt in or comment or subscribe, it means they won’t convert — they won’t buy — and it’s game over.

 

So, the secret to creating a powerful, effective funnel is about connecting with your audience in a way that invites them to engage with your content whether that’s in an email or launch video or blog post or sales page.

It’s about making it impossible for them to ignore you or your message… 

And the best way to do that is to put some fun, engaging elements in your funnels! 🙂

Welcome to the Googlepocalypse

Here’s an example of a video that was part of the funnel for our core product — Experience Product Masterclass (EPM). 

EPM is one of the most popular products at Live Your Message and it’s about validating, creating, launching and successfully selling your very own Experience Product — with results guaranteed! 

I call this our “Googlepocalypse” video 🙂 Here’s a short snippet, take a look…

So, this isn’t your typical “talking head” video where there’s someone sitting there, staring at the camera and going on and on about their business and the thing they’re trying to sell you.

That’s B-O-R-I-N-G!

Audiences these days are bombarded nonstop by thousands of messages and data every single second and they’ll tune out if you don’t grab their attention.

You need to do something out of the ordinary to get people to engage with the content in your funnel.

We wanted this video to be informative, and interesting… and I think we achieved that!

Yes, the content is serious but it has an exciting, fun quality that’s also sticky… it kept people glued to their screens.

And to create even more engagement and comments, we added a very special touch to our launch video funnel…

Every time someone added a comment there was a “celebration” of sorts. You can watch it here:

I hint at this at the end of my launch videos where I talk about a “surprise” for anyone who leaves a comment after watching… and it absolutely worked!

We had thousands of comments and a ton of engagement.

People were motivated to keep watching and following our videos and all the other pieces of content in our funnel because we defied expectations, we delighted the audience…

We made things engaging and fun 🙂

Serious Doesn’t Mean Un-Fun 

You probably think creating a funnel is serious business and it is but it doesn’t have to be uncreative, unimaginative… or un-fun!

The thing is most entrepreneurs think fun and addictive or engaging elements belong outside the world of business.

It’s something you think about when you picture board games, video games like Candy Crush or Angry Birds or the Pokémon GO global craze…

But that’s a massive misunderstanding. 

Fun and engagement are critical central concepts that drive gamification in business…

Gamification is the art of applying fun and engaging elements that you find in games to non-game environments like your business.

Let’s look at some real-world examples…

Fun and engagement are the 2 key elements that transformed companies like Facebook and Instagram into mega, global success stories.

When you see notifications and pop-ups on Facebook or hearts and comments on Instagram, you get that exciting dopamine hit that has you wanting more. 

 

Both platforms integrate gamification elements that keep users coming back day after day… 

Basically, that’s billions of people taking action based on the irresistible, addictive principles of fun and engagement in gamification.

Remember how grown adults were racing around Central Park chasing little virtual creatures with their friends? 

Every time you catch a Pokemon, the app flashes and makes all sorts of nice beeps and dings… which makes you want to keep playing. And when you play enough, you start to anticipate the high before you even catch one.

These constant wins keep people coming back again and again!

And some of the biggest brands have gone all-in on gamification with tremendous results…

Starbucks rewards customers with “stars” and encourages them to reach “gold” status to unlock more perks.

Language app Duolingo’s entire business model revolves around gamification — making learning a new language like playing a game.

And Nike’s Run Club deploys gamification tactics — like trophies and badges — to keep runners going.

There are even more real-world marketing examples here.

The fact is that in an over-connected, overcrowded world, gamification will get people to follow through at every stage of your marketing funnel…

Transforming a total stranger into a raving fan and ultimately motivate people to happily hit that buy button on your sales page… again and again 🙂

And keep in mind…

Gamification is not just about fun. 

It’s about creating a sticky, engaging experience for people as they journey through your funnel (some of my Experience Product Masterclass students have built successful funnels around super serious topics such rape recovery).

So over to you…

What are some ideas you can use to gamify your funnels? How can you add elements that surprise and delight your audience? How can you create a sense of connection that inspires people to engage with your content? 

Share your ideas and aha moments below and let me know if you have any questions. I read and respond to every, single comment.

One more thing 🙂 The doors are now open for Experience Product Masterclass — the first & only implementation program to create an Experience Product, the new “high profit” kind of course taking the world by storm that’s easier to create and up to 16 times more profitable than the norm. Learn more HERE.