How to Turn Fans into Clients

If you’ve been listening to The Prosper Project, you may have heard Episode 33 that challenged listeners to flip their marketing funnel. We introduced the concept of relationship marketing and suggested you start marketing to those you have a one-to-one relationship with first and grow your business from there. This is a much better starting point than the traditional marketing funnel because the people you have relationships with already know and trust you. Who better to share your business goals with?

In Episode 35 of The Prosper Project, we continued the relationship marketing conversation by delving into the power of borrowing other people’s audiences. This is next-level relationship marketing. The point is to leverage relationships with people who influence the people you want to work with. Sometimes, these may be people you already have relationships with, and other times it involves forming new relationships. The power of borrowing other people’s audiences comes from borrowing their relationships. Whether they’re a service provider, coach, organization or media outlet, their credibility is extended to you when you’re presented by them to their audience.

So what’s lurking in the middle of your marketing funnel? Unfortunately, this is an area that most business owners overlook. That’s why some refer to it as “the messy middle.” The messy middle includes the email subscribers you don’t know personally, followers on your social media channels, and people who may have heard you speak at an event. These people know, like and maybe even trust the idea of you, but you’ve had little if any, direct contact with them. Ask yourself, “Why do I spend so much time, money and effort trying to bring new people into my sphere of influence when I’m doing so little to convert the people who’ve already engaged with my business?”

Why do you spend more time chasing cold leads than building relationships with lukewarm leads? A lukewarm lead is someone who has shown interest in your business, but you’re not fully aware of why they’re interested. So, what can you do to heat these lukewarm leads?

3 Steps to Turn Fans into Clients

1) Understand your data. Who opens your emails regularly? Thank them by inviting them to a free consultation. Not everyone will say yes, but some will! Send a survey to your mailing list that offers three free training options and asks your contacts to vote for which one they feel would be most valuable. Then, invite them to the training. Dive into your website analytics too. Try to figure out where you’re gaining leads from. 

2) Amplify your outreach. The platform that’s working best for your business is the one on which you should spend the most time. If your leads are coming from Facebook, devote more effort toward marketing your business there. Go all in. Create content, form a group and invite people to join you for a virtual meeting over coffee so you can get to know your fans better. If Instagram is your jam, crank up with volume there! Reach out to your followers, thank them for following you and ask them something about themselves to get the conversation going. You can also join and connect with various groups. Often, the warmest leads come from networking groups and volunteer organizations. Don’t be afraid to take on leadership roles; this can provide an opportunity to share your expertise, gain trust and turn fans into clients.

3) Convert your fans. Finally, it’s time to tell your followers and subscribers how they can work with you. It’s amazing how hesitant business owners can be about including calls to action in their social media posts, but this is a crucial step that shouldn’t be dismissed. Our clients sometimes tell us they’re afraid a CTA will come across as too salesy. We tell them that sharing a CTA every 4-to-5 posts is NOT salesy, but it’s also what audiences expect from the businesses they follow. When one of our clients took our advice, within one week they received a call from a follower who saw their CTA and wanted to hire them.

Remember, there are people you’ve never met who — right now — are considering the possibility of working with you. It’s time for you to get back to work and transform the middle of your marketing funnel from messy to magnificent. Turn your fans into clients today!