Top Funnel Marketing: Converting Visitors into Leads to Fuel Your Sales Cycle

Guest Presenter: Spencer Mercy (00:00:00)

• Spencer Mercy is the Guest host, who is the founder and Senior Strategist at Brilliant Setups, a third-party professional listed in the Brilliant Director’s Marketplace, and has joined the presentation in the past as well (00:00:09).
• Brilliant Setups is one of the marketplace partners, and some attendees may have worked with Spencer previously, including a past webinar where he presented strategies to grow membership websites, including introducing upsells and bringing clarity to the value offered (00:00:12).
• In the past webinar, Spencer covered two strategies: how to introduce upsells into a website’s pricing strategy and how to bring clarity to the value offered by a membership website to prospective members, and a link to that video will be shared in the chat (00:00:25).
• Spencer has experience presenting tips and strategies to help grow membership websites, including overall signups, sales, and leads, and has now joined the presentation again to share more information (00:00:32).
• The current presentation is a follow-up to Spencer’s previous appearance, where he will likely share more tips and strategies, and the hosts are introducing him and welcoming him back to the presentation (00:01:00).

About Spencer (00:01:09)

• Spencer Mercy is the founder and Senior strategist at Brilliant Setups, and it’s nice to meet everybody (00:01:09).
• Brilliant Setups works specifically on the Brilliant Directory platform, with a focus on sales and lead generation for brands that use this platform (00:01:18).
• The company is proud to provide these services, and Spencer Mercy is introducing himself as the founder and Senior strategist, highlighting the company’s area of expertise (00:01:11).

Case Study (00:01:25)

• The International Teaching English as a second or foreign language Academy Costa Rica is a brand that sells TEFL accreditation courses for native English language speakers who want to teach and travel around the world, providing a unique way to start a Sales process engineering at the top (00:01:26).
• The brand’s homepage is designed to educate visitors and provide them with resources, rather than immediately directing them to a search, with quick call-to-actions that lead to lead magnets for people interested in taking the course (00:02:09).
• The International TEFL Academy Costa Rica’s homepage also features trust-building elements, such as the number of graduates who have completed the course, level five accreditation, and high ratings from previous students, which help to establish credibility with potential customers (00:02:52).
• The brand offers a unique solution for individuals who want to travel and have a source of income, particularly recent graduates or those looking to retire, by providing TEFL accreditation courses that allow them to teach English abroad (00:01:57).
• The sales funnel for The International TEFL Academy Costa Rica is designed to engage visitors and provide them with valuable information, with the goal of converting them into leads and ultimately fueling the sales cycle (00:03:14).

BD as the Top Funnel of the Sales Cycle (00:03:15)

• The top funnel of the sales cycle utilizes Brilliant Directories, which is used for various purposes such as lead magnets, content creation, landing pages, capturing emails, company missions, and initiating workflows (00:03:17).
• Brilliant Directories can be used for specific use cases, especially when selling products outside of a membership plan, and it is beneficial for marketing, lead generation, and sales (00:03:23).
• There are certain features that are not utilized in this specific case, including membership signups, a searchable directory, member reviews, and payment processing, which distinguishes this use case from others (00:03:46).
• The Brilliant Directories platform is used strictly for marketing, lead generation, and sales, making it a unique use case that differs from other applications (00:04:02).
• The top funnel is an essential part of the sales cycle, and Brilliant Directories plays a crucial role in it by facilitating various marketing and sales activities (00:03:20).

What Is a Sales Funnel? (00:04:11)

• A Sales process engineering typically consists of several phases, including awareness and interest, where people download a lead magnet or sign up for a free trial, providing email information and user data to be nurtured towards paid content (00:04:12).
• The awareness and interest phases are followed by the intent phase, which is part of the nurturing process, where people educate themselves about a new product, but are not yet ready to buy (00:04:19).
• During the intent phase, individuals want to learn more about what the product can do for them, and this phase is a crucial part of the sales funnel (00:04:22).
• The evaluation and action stages are where the sales offering is promoted, and confidence in the product is built using trust factors, such as reassurance and confidence-building measures (00:04:35).
• The action stage is the final phase of the sales funnel, where the individual moves forward with the product, and upselling opportunities become available (00:05:07).
• The sales funnel is designed to capture email information and user data, nurture leads, and ultimately convert them into paying customers, with the goal of fueling the sales cycle (00:04:18).

Challenge: More Leads that Close (00:05:16)

• The International Teaching English as a second or foreign language Academy in Costa Rica had a unique problem of generating more and better-qualified leads that fit into their target persona, which led to the creation of a new lead magnet specifically focused on Costa Rica and the courses and products they offer (00:05:17).
• The new lead magnet, a starter kit, was offered on a Landing page with a form to fill out, and it provided a description of what people could expect when they download it, as well as featured brands that have used the International TEFL Academy’s content on their websites to build trust (00:05:29).
• The landing page included a description of the starter kit and what people could expect from it, and it also featured brands that have used the International TEFL Academy’s content to build trust and credibility (00:05:43).
• The use of brilliant directories, Zapier, ActiveCampaign, and HubSpot were discussed as tools to create landing pages, calls to action, and forms, and to automate email nurturing and sales pipeline management (00:07:44).
• Zapier was used to send information to Active Campaign for email automations, allowing for automated emails to be sent to people who download the lead magnet, and HubSpot was used for sales pipeline management and tracking open and click rates (00:08:26).
• The combination of these tools and platforms allowed for a streamlined process of generating leads, nurturing them, and managing sales, all while building trust and credibility with potential customers (00:08:44).

Why BD Is the Top Funnel Content Hub (00:10:00)

• The top funnel functions include initiating workflows, and everything on the BD website is focused on awareness, with the goal of educating visitors and making them aware of what’s possible (00:10:00).
• The website serves as a content hub for the top funnel, featuring awareness and interest-driven content such as ebook downloads and infographics, which peek people’s interest and educate them (00:10:12).
• The site lists various types of content, including courses, upcoming Teaching English as a second or foreign language courses, and other events, utilizing post types offered by Brilliant Directories (00:10:34).
• Brilliant Directories provides default features such as events, and can also be used to showcase other blogs, articles, and content, making it a versatile tool for creating a content hub (00:10:59).
• The international TEFL organization utilizes Brilliant Directories in non-traditional ways, taking advantage of its features to create a comprehensive content hub for their top funnel (00:11:27).

Types of Content to Attract Website Visitors (00:11:35)

• The Landing page for the starter kit is designed to build credibility by listing brands that are partnered with the organization, and as users scroll down, they can see what’s included in the kit, which helps them understand the next step, (00:11:44).
• The page also includes trust-building elements, such as the number of students who have gone through the network, ratings, and being listed as number one from Go Abroad, which is also part of the industry, (00:12:27).
• The form on the page has multiple questions, which may seem counterintuitive, but it’s designed to qualify leads for the sales team, as the organization requires applicants to have graduated from college to become a Teaching English as a second or foreign language teacher, (00:12:38).
• The form includes questions about the user’s level of education, such as whether they have a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, and their citizenship, which is important because certain countries are more likely to move forward with the program, (00:13:34).
• The sales team uses the information from the form to target leads that are more likely to move forward with the program, and the form also asks about the type of program the user is interested in, such as online or moving to Costa Rica, (00:14:36).
• The organization uses different lead magnets, such as a brochure, which is more specific and goes to a salesperson, and a newsletter sign-up, which is typically lighter and only requires a first name and email, (00:15:01).
• The organization does not have a newsletter sign-up on their site, but instead focuses on getting users to go through their funnels, and they initiate workflows based on the user’s interactions, (00:15:15).
• To control the workflow of sales teams, forms can be used to capture information and create specific zaps in Zapier that go to designated channels or people based on the fields filled out, allowing for tailored workflows (00:15:43).
• The sales team has its own workflow, and anyone who enters it has answered questions in a way that indicates they are likely to move forward, making it easier to identify high-quality leads (00:16:07).
• Defining the right lead magnet and content to write can be achieved by conducting surveys to gather feedback from potential buyers, ensuring that the content created is relevant and valuable to them (00:16:37).
• Creating a high-quality lead magnet, such as an ebook or information guide, can be done by identifying the critical questions that potential customers have and providing answers to those questions, as seen in the example of a country comparison chart focused on Costa Rica (00:17:00).
• Tools like Canva and AI-powered tools can help create visually appealing ebooks or PDFs, even for those without design experience, by providing templates and editing capabilities (00:18:36).
• Surveys can be used to compel people to fill out forms by providing value in exchange for their information, such as exclusive content or insights, and can be used to gather feedback from potential customers (00:18:56).
• Online marketers can use surveys and lead magnets to exchange value for email addresses and other information, allowing them to build relationships with potential customers and move them through the sales cycle (00:19:09).
• The process of creating a product or service that meets the needs of potential customers involves asking them about their pain points and what they would like to see changed in their lives, and then building a product that addresses those needs (00:19:16).
• By using the words and phrases of potential customers in surveys and lead magnets, it is possible to create a product that they will want to exchange their contact information for, essentially guaranteeing that people will be interested in the product (00:19:48).
• The creation of ebooks and lead magnets that explain how a product or service can improve customers’ lives is a key part of this process, and using the customers’ own words can make the product more appealing and increase the likelihood that they will want to learn more (00:19:50).
• There are many tools available that can help with the creation of these products, including chatbots like ChatGPT that can write content, making it easier to create effective lead magnets and ebooks (00:20:11).
• Jason is mentioned as someone who is discussing the importance of understanding customer needs and creating products that meet those needs, and his ideas are being referenced in the context of creating effective funnel marketing strategies (00:20:10).

Businesses That Can Benefit from This Process (00:20:20)

• Top funnel and inbound marketing works really well for various industries, including ITA Costa Rica, and can be applied to different niches and industries that people are involved in (00:20:20)
• This marketing approach can be effective for businesses that sell products, courses, and services, and can utilize lead magnets, call to actions, and landing pages to attract leads (00:20:35)
• Industries that can benefit from this process include those that can utilize the top fold of the Sales process engineering to create brilliant directories with great looking landing pages and effective marketing strategies (00:20:45)

Conclusion (00:21:01)

• The conversation is wrapping up, with a check-in to see if Jason and David have any additional points to add before the outro, and it’s noted that the discussion was good and the use case presented was effective (00:21:02).
• The use case involves using brilliant directories for creating custom forms, landing pages, and compelling content, rather than for a membership site, and also includes blogging, with automations happening after forms are filled out (00:21:13).
• The automations use tools like ActiveCampaign for nurture emails and HubSpot to track the progress of leads, from when they fill out forms to when they become closed sales (00:21:33).
• The use case is interesting because it’s not using brilliant directories for the typical purposes of membership or business directory websites, making it a refreshing example of how the tool can be utilized (00:21:47).
• The host, Spencer Mercy, is introducing himself and providing his email address, Spencer@brilliantsetups.do, for viewers to reach out with questions about creating email automations and setting up workflows (00:22:01).
• There are additional resources available, including videos that cover email automation and content writing, as well as a sales course, all of which can be found at brilliantsetups.do (00:22:15).
• The host is thanking the viewers for having him and inviting them to check out the additional resources, including the sales course, at brilliantsetups.do/slgo (00:22:27).