Can I DITCH Instagram Marketing If I Have A Sales Funnel?
Does A Sales Funnel = No More Instagram
Dear Josephine,
I'm feeling really frustrated with Instagram marketing, because:
A: I don't love the platform like I used to and so spending time there drains my battery.
B: My reach is rubbish. And so it feels like a lot of input for minimal return.
Will building a sales funnel for my course help me step away from Instagram marketing?
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💌 ASK JOSEPHINE 💌
My agony-aunt style wisdom & guidance on growing a sustainable, flourishing business - delivered to your inbox every Monday.Dear frustrated-with-Instagram-marketing,
You're not on your own with this one. 🤎
If you've been on Instagram for a few years, it's hard not to notice the drop in reach and feel frustrated that you're putting a whole load of time and effort into creating content that just... *flops*.
Often we're gas-lit into thinking we need a better hook, better content, more engaging videos, MORE content ~ to get the reach and traction we want...
But from what I've observed online and experienced myself, none of these strategies are guaranteed to help you get more traction or reach on Instagram.
So I love that you're thinking about diversifying your marketing and income streams.
And email is where it's at. 💌
Despite my IG following being 5x the size of my mailing list, I usually reach more people through email than Insta.
So, is an automated email sales funnel the answer to being able to throw Instagram marketing in the bin?
Or at least take a significant step back from the 'gram?
Amongst my done-for-you sales funnel build clients, I've noticed that the clients who get the BEST organic results are the ones who are active on Instagram...
And that's because...
Your sales funnel NEEDS to be PART of a well rounded, active marketing strategy.
It's not a case of switching on your sales funnel and forgetting about any other marketing.
BUT that DOESN'T mean you have to be super active and rely solely on Instagram though - there are other ways to have a well-rounded, active marketing strategy...
Where your sales funnel fits into your marketing strategy
As a quick recap. Your customer/ client journey looks like:
DISCOVER your brand
Get to KNOW, LIKE & TRUST you
Learn more about your offers & BUY from you.
Your sales funnel fits into the third and final step in your client journey - the sales part (the clue's in the name).
Sure your sales funnel can do a bit of a nurturing job too.
But on it's own, your sales funnel is not going to be able to replace all other marketing.
You need to figure out:
What marketing activities you're doing to ATTRACT new people to your brand (and invite them over to sign up for your emails or lead magnet... which gets them into your sales funnel ~ because you need to 'feed' your sales funnel with a steady flow of new leads).
What marketing activities you're doing to NURTURE your audience (so they get to KNOW, LIKE & TRUST you. Which = an audience who are ready to buy).
Thinking about Instagram specifically…
Instagram is often doing largely a NURTURE role in your marketing, and perhaps a bit of selling.
So, your sales funnel isn't going to totally replace the need to be present on social media.
But there are other ways to NURTURE your audience and FEED your sales funnel that DON'T involve you having to show up day in day out on Instagram when you HATE being there (and I FEEL you on this) 🤎
Creating multiple touch points with your marketing
The other reason I see my clients who are active on social media getting the best results with their sales funnels is ~ TOUCH POINTS.
In this busy world of online marketing we're CONSTANTLY hit with marketing messages.
Just open up your inbox, Instagram app, podcast app - you name it. There are marketing messages EVERYWHERE.
Our brains HAVE TO filter out most of the noise online (and elsewhere) ~ otherwise we'd be exhausted by breakfast.
But it's because of this VOLUME of marketing messages that YOU need to keep getting in front of your audience on multiple platforms - to create those multiple touch points that build trust.
Yes your sales funnel will be ONE of those places.
But your audience will likely ALSO need to see you on social media, hear you on a podcast, receive your weekly emails, watch your free masterclass etc to create those all important TOUCH POINTS.
Aaaaand Instagram continues to be a 'good' way to create those multiple touch points and build trust - even with the dropping reach (because it does the nurture job in your marketing strategy).
Driving passive income WITHOUT being on IG every day
For most of us, gone are the days when organic Instagram posts got tons of reach...
Unless you're really playing the reels game right now, if so I salute you! But for a lot of us - it's EXHAUSTING.
If you're SICK of Instagram marketing & it's draining your batteries faster than a corporate networking event...
...there are some other ways to grow and nurture your audience AND feed your sales funnel:
Paid ads
Yup, this is probably the easiest way to BE on Instagram without BEING on Instagram day in day out.
There are tons of different ways you can run and target your ads so they do the DISCOVER, NURTURE and SALES job for you - WITHOUT you having to be there.
This doesn't 100% replace the need to be active on social media but this is the fast track route to taking a significant step back AND get more mileage out of the IG content you do create.
NOTE: I'm NOT talking about boosting your posts here (please, pleeeeease don't do that). I'm talking about running 'proper' facebook ads).
SEO
I have clients who get a significant amount of traffic to their sales funnel via their blog, AKA SEO.
SEO is a much longer game than switching on some ads but it's worth investing your time in to drive FREE leads to your sales funnel.
Outreach
I'm talking about speaking at events, on podcasts, in online communities, & maybe corporates.
This is a great way to build your audience organically, and fast track the trust building stage.
Your sales funnel NEEDS to be PART of a well rounded, active marketing strategy.
On their own, SEO and outreach are unlikely to drive the volume of leads you need to drive passive income through your sales funnel.
That's where Instagram often fills the gap - either organically, or ads + organic.
So I guess my answer to your question isn't the answer you want to hear (SORRY!).
But there are certainly ways to set up and run your marketing so you're not RELYING on Instagram.
And I think when you're RELYING on IG that's when it feels crap and draining.
Because you HAVE to be there to drive sales.
You're showing up because you 'should post something today' rather than because you want to.
So if you need a reason to diversify your marketing and sales 👆 that's the reason.
Building a sales funnel is a great way to AUTOMATE some of, and DIVERSIFY your marketing and income streams.
And running Facebook ads is a great way to FEED your sales funnel WHILE taking a BIG step back from the social media content creation hamster wheel.
That's when you can get to show up more authentically and less frequently on the 'gram. That's when it starts to feel soooo much better.
If you want to learn more about getting your sales funnel up and running, you can find out more about my Done For You sales funnel build service here.
Jxx
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