This automated sales funnel is ace!

Amy Porterfield’s evergreen webinar campaign is a masterclass on marketing funnels.

Here’s a peak behind the curtain on how this legend in market myth-making keeps her sales funnel full through the power of content automation.

I recently came across this campaign from inbound genius Amy Porterfield. Amy is one of those people that everyone in marketing loves to hate because she’s just so damn good at what she does.

Today, we’re going to put our jealousy aside and take a look at how she generates inbound leads through something we in the business call an evergreen sales funnel. Essentially, this is a way to generate an endless stream of leads and attempt to convert them to become a customer in a short amount of time.

Even if you’re unsuccessful at sales upfront, you can continue to market to these leads in the long-term to improve demand generation and word of mouth marketing for your business.

Alright, let’s take a look…

The Landing Page

Amy uses a very old copywriting formula to create a solid landing page. The formula is called AIDA and stands for “Attention - Interest - Desire - Action.”

Here’s how it works:

1. A call-to-action above the fold.

Amy begins with a clear headline and call to action.

If you want to grow your list, here are 3 ways to do it quickly. Reserve your seat to learn.

All this information is “above the fold” meaning you don’t have to scroll down if you’re ready to take action. It grabs your attention and qualifies leads up front.

2. Generating interest in the offer.

If you still need more information, this next section piques your interest even more.

Amy fleshes out the promise in the headline above. If you give her your time, here are all the things you’re going to learn.

It’s clear, data-driven, and action-oriented information.

3. Social proof and addressing objectives.

Okay, you’ve checked all the boxes and you want to learn, but you’re still not sure about giving this person your email.

Amy comes at you with some strong social proof and directly addresses any objections you might have. She’s playing directly to your desires now.

Look at what this person who joined the webinar was able to accomplish. Don’t you want results like these?

And, oh yeah, I get it. You feel stuck, you don’t know where to start, and you don’t want to waste time with things that don’t work. I’m with you and my solution covers all this!

4. Mission-driven call to action.

And to wrap up the landing page, Amy doesn’t just tell you what to do, she tells you why you should do it.

Just sign up for this webinar. It’ll take an hour and you’ll walk away with all the tools you need to successfully build an email list. Don’t wait any longer!

I love the way Amy taps into what is typically a fear-driven, manipulative tactic (scarcity), and yet positions it in a way that feels full of abundance, hope, and optimism. Instead of saying there’s “only a little time left — act now or forever miss out,” she says “now is the time and I believe in you.”

How to create something similar…

Amy hosts this landing page on Wordpress using a custom theme, but you can easily create something similar using a tool like Thrive Themes.

The Sign Up Process

Amy extends the sign up process and makes it feel like a fun and engaging activity. She doesn’t just grab your email address then leave you wondering what happens next.

She starts with a simple sign up form that gives you options for when you’re ready to attend, then follows up with a personalize question, and finally gives you a content-rich and clear set of steps on what’s going to happen next.

Check it out:

1. A simple registration form.

This form is so simple. It asks only your first name and email address. You don’t feel like your being data-mined.

You also have options for the event date and time. There are three options and the first one is only five minutes from now. Sweet!

2. A quick survey.

Once you sign up, Amy asks you what you’re struggling most with. Oh, and your name is right in the headline.

Simple and personalized. It makes me feel like Amy is going to address my problems directly. Nice!

3. A content rich thank-you page.

This is the part that most marketers fail miserably on. Amy does it right.

The thank-you page after completing the survey tells you exactly what to do next and delivers value right away.

It clearly states to check your email for the webinar invite and gives you a few other content options to explore after the session.

The Evergreen Webinar

Here’s where it gets interesting. Amy uses a combination of a marketing automation software called Keap (formerly InfusionSoft) and EasyWebinar to deliver an automated email sequence and real-time webinar replay.

You can accomplish the same thing for much less using whatever email marketing software you’re already on and a gated webpage with an embedded video.

Let’s take a look at her sequence:

1. The Invite Email

This is the most important part of the sales process. Amy wants to deliver value to her subscribers immediately. She wants people to know that when they see an email from her in their inbox, that email is worth opening and the content inside is worth clicking. She accomplishes this with strong, strategic copy.

The Lede

Copywriting lore says you don’t want to “bury the lede.” That is you want to say the most important thing right up front because it’s what entices readers to keep going.

Amy is a master at capturing your attention with a lede. This email begins by reiterating the title of the landing page and webinar, and the reason why you want to attend: it’s designed to get your business up and running asap.

Getting Buy-In

Amy then uses some good old-fashioned psychology — the same principles your third grade teacher used to get you to pay attention in class and your mother used to get you to clean your damn room.

She says, let’s create a pact. You finish this training and I promise I’m going to bring my all and deliver you something good in return. Do this for me and reap the rewards.

The Conversion Point

Then she hits you with the facts.

Class is in session. Webinar’s about to start. Click to join.

2. The Webinar

When you click the link, there’s a little queue to begin. Hey, let me explore those resources Amy sent me on the thank-you page, you might think.

Then the session starts and it feels like a live webinar, even if you know it’s not. There’s a list of live attendees, a form for comments, and Amy flipping back and forth from her video feed and presentation slides.

The content is fantastic and exactly what she promised. Win - win - win.

Amy’s got your contacts to keep marketing to you, and you’ve got solid information for growing your email list.

Sales On Demand & Ongoing Marketing

At the end of the webinar, Amy attempts to upsell you additional content offerings about email list building. The webinar is so damn good, that I bet her conversion rate is relatively high.

If you got value from the free webinar, there’s a strong chance you’re going to want to dig deeper.

Even if you skip out, you’ll probably want more content like this to help you continue growing your business. Amy knows this. After the session she sends weekly emails with marketing tips, tricks, and resources that keep you engaged. Every now and then she throws in another offer.

There’s an old metric that it takes 7-10 touch points over at least 3 different channels to close a sale. Amy has maximized her potential to reach customers multiple times over a variety of channels. This is the secret to her success.

Want to build an evergreen sales funnel like this?

Well, you’ve got the link to Amy’s program now. Or you could hire someone  like me to take care of the full setup for you.

‘Till next time!

— Mike