The Dating Phase. Think about what dating entails: It requires some sort of investment from both parties and can make or break the rest of the relationship. In the dating phase, you’re still getting to know the person and investing your time and energy in deciding if you want to continue to know, like, and trust them.
In marketing, this is often the phase where most people start. However, the first two steps–the Introduction Phase and the Flirting Phase –are essential in order to make the Dating Phase more effective.
In marketing, we have to connect with the audience before we ask for a date. Skipping out on the earlier phases will inevitably make the later phases more difficult.
Just like in relationships, if you jump right into dating someone, you’re essentially in all three phases at once, and it can take longer to decide if you want to continue in a relationship with the person.
The Dating Phase of marketing generates leads and entices people to enter your sales funnel.
What is a funnel?
Your funnel is your Customer Journey that is designed to take your clients from introduction through commitment so the process is simple. Knowing how to design your funnel requires time, and if you spend the time in designing the introduction phase makes generating leads into your funnel much simpler.
In relationships, if you have some knowledge of who the person is, it is much easier to accept an invitation for a date. In marketing, if your ideal client has some background knowledge of your brand, they are more likely to give you their email address in place of something of value.
Consider the alternative: Driving cold traffic–people who have no idea who you are or even that they have a problem that you can solve–to your landing page and asking them to give you their name and email is extremely difficult and more costly.
You have to warm them up through phases one and two of this process. If you’ve already built a rapport with your ideal client, they are much more likely to enter and engage in your sales funnel.
And, an added benefit: Focusing on steps one and two help you generate leads that are more qualified for your business and solution. Therefore, the people who enter your funnel are much more serious about getting to know how your products or services can help them. Plus, the cost will likely be much lower.
How Will “Dating” Your Ideal Client Benefit Your Marketing?
The Dating Phase of Dating Your Ideal Client provides vital information to assess, adapt, and establish a successful sales funnel that meets your goals.
The reality is that this piece of marketing –your lead generation– is where most people spend the majority of their budget. Most of the time about 70-75% of your marketing budget goes to this phase.
Therefore, understanding what it costs to convert from cold traffic to someone on your list versus warm to commitment is an important part of this process.
How many leads do you need in order to meet your sales goal? What can you afford to pay for a lead?
Going off industry standards you might pay $1-3 per lead if your lead magnet is a PDF, infographic, or something similar while you may pay $3-8+ for a micro-offer where the client may need to invest right away. Your price is dependent on how well you set up your visibility in the prior stages.
For example, people who have taken the time to watch a 2-5 minute video are more likely to convert because they are already warmed up. This visibility can help decrease the cost per lead. Therefore, it literally pays to carefully and effectively set up each phase to generate leads.
Understanding your conversion rate helps you know how to effectively use the Dating Your Ideal Client process when you’re driving traffic to your sales funnel.
What Do You Need to Evaluate When Testing Your Marketing Strategy?
Ask yourself these two questions:
- Are you testing enough?
It is better to focus on one funnel until you’ve got it working. You must test to evaluate what is working and what isn’t. It is better to make tweaks to your funnel rather than scrapping it and starting over.
The whole point of this is to take your ideal client from introduction to commitment. You want to make sure that each step of the process is effective, and you won’t know that unless you evaluate each phase. Taking the time to do this makes your funnel more profitable and allows you to work on perfecting your funnel to reach your goals.
- What does success in this process mean?
How many people do you need to sign up for lead magnet before they are ready to take the next step? Understanding your sales cycle is incredibly important so you know what to expect in order to meet your sales goals.
For more information about how to “date” with your ideal audience to generate more leads and meet your goals, contact me today!
For more information about Dating Your Ideal Client and more, check out my Marketing Matchmaker podcast!