The ladies that I work with are capable, inspirational CEOs, founders, authors and more that are at the top of their game. They are also wives and mothers who, are not only balancing their businesses, they are balancing the ebb and flow of family life. With so much going on in life and business, a lot of them come to me knowing that they can delegate media pitching to me so that they can get more visible, attract their dream clients and get paid what they want (without having to use their last morsel of brain power to get it done). However, there is sometimes a learning curve for them in terms of understanding that It takes a PR funnel to make this happen and how all the pieces come together to do so. Can you relate, sis? Well, consider this post your glossary!
So, as you can see from the graphic below, PR funnels are made up of 5 components:
Here's an explanation of what they are:
1) Public Relations (PR)
When I was at uni, I used to work to support myself and study at the same time. Whenever I found myself looking for a new job, my rule of thumb was always to cast a wide net consistently (by filling applications in everyday) and then see what came back to me. As the graphic above shows, PR is the widest part of the funnel for exactly the same reason. It's a way to cast a wide net in order to expose you to as many new leads as possible so that they become incentivised enough to check out your freebie. You may also hear the amount of eyeballs that you get on your freebie (i.e. leads visiting the web page that allows them to sign up for it) referred to as "traffic". To me, PR features include:
Guest blog posts
Magazine features/articles
Podcast/radio appearances
Speaking engagements (in-person, such as at conferences, or online, such as at virtual summits or going live on social media with another influencer) and so on
2) Freebie opt-in page
When you are featured on somebody else's platform for PR purposes, that's exactly what it is- somebody else's platform. In other words, you have no "ownership" over the platform or their audience. Without access to their audience, you have no way of building the know, like and trust factor that is so important for getting people to ultimately buy from you. Freebies allow you to build this rapport by:
Creating good will with leads
Gaining greater access to them through their inbox
and ultimately Increasing your profitability. You can find out more about how here.
As mentioned above, a freebie opt-in page is a web page that allows leads to sign up for your freebie. This also doubles as them opting in to joining your email list and receiving emails from you (which is very important for GDPR purposes). A freebie opt-in page can either be very short (like the one that I have on my homepage) or more longform and similar to a sales page (like my previous opt-in page was). The most important thing is that it tells your leads what your freebie is, how it solves their problem(s) and makes it easy for them to sign up for it. Not everyone that visits your opt-in page will actually sign up for your freebie, though, which is why you can see the width of the funnel in the graphic above narrowing at this point. This represents fact that, while the aim of the PR part of the funnel is to cast a wide net, the rest of the funnel will serve as a way to attract and keep quality/qualified leads while repelling less qualified ones. The further you go down the funnel is the more that you will attract and keep the leads you want while repelling the ones you don't.
3) Opt-in form
The opt-in form typically consists of spaces for leads to type in their first name and email address so that they can receive your freebie. They can either be visible (as in the example on my home page) or hidden until they press a button (as in this example).
4) Nurture sequence
As mentioned above, once people sign up for your freebie, they join your email list. Once they join your email list, they should automatically receive follow-up emails as part of your nurture sequence (which is essentially 3-5 emails that are drip fed to your new lead on a daily basis, for example). A nurture sequence's job is to:
Create multiple touch points with new leads
Build that all-important know, like and trust factor
Persuade them (in a non-sleazy way) that you/your product or service are the solution to their problems, leading them to ultimately buy from you
It's job is also to act as a filter:
Similar to the process of passing rice "through a device [sieve] to remove unwanted material [water]" because it leaves you with the qualified/quality leads mentioned above
By "moving [leads] slowly in a specified direction"- i.e. the paid product that it is your goal to promote
You can read more about both processes here and here.
5) Paid product
A paid product is literally what its says on the tin. This is the pinnacle of the funnel that can result in anything from leads buying a book, subscription service, templates, done-for-you services, tickets to an event- the options are truly limitless and dependent on your business model. It is the narrowest part of the funnel to represent the aforementioned filter process and the fact that, though only a small percentage of leads will make it here (compared to the amount that enter the funnel), the ones that do will be the most aligned with you and your brand.
Want more PR tips?
Click here to access my free Media Attraction Audit- the checklist that helps you to make sure that your website proves your expertise, credibility and authority so that you can be a #mediamagnet, attracting PR (and therefore clients and collaborations) on autopilot!