Affiliate Disclosure:<\/strong> This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission (at no extra charge to you). <\/em><\/p>\n It makes me crazy when people selling products and services to authors use marketing buzzwords and phrases without defining them.\u00a0The phrase du jour is \u201cbook funnels.\u201d<\/p>\n And I\u2019ll be honest: When I first learned about marketing \u201cfunnels\u201d years ago, it took me a while to truly understand the concept because marketing funnels don\u2019t work like my kitchen funnel. (I\u2019ll explain that later.)<\/p>\n So, what is a book funnel and how can it help you sell more books? I\u2019ve got the answers for you. In this article, I explain:<\/p>\n Note: This article is not about the paid resource called BookFunnel<\/a>, a brand name for a service that allows you to outsource the book funnel process to a specialist. <\/em><\/p>\n A book funnel is a marketing strategy used to increase book sales. It consists of a series of steps that guide potential readers from discovering your book to purchasing it.<\/p>\n I created this graphic to help visualize it.<\/p>\n Now let me explain why this concept wasn\u2019t obvious to me at first.<\/p>\n When you pour a liquid into the wide mouth of a kitchen funnel, all of that water comes out the narrow bottom. All of it.<\/em><\/p>\n With marketing funnels, lots goes into the top, and little comes out the bottom. The difference between \u201clots\u201d and \u201clittle\u201d remains trapped in the middle. The marketing happens in that middle.<\/p>\n People enter the top of the funnel, and either take the action you\u2019re requesting in the middle, or they don\u2019t take it. If they don\u2019t take action, they remain in the middle.<\/p>\n If they do<\/em> take action, they move farther into the funnel.<\/p>\n And if they take the final desired action \u2013 purchasing a product, registering for an event, etc. \u2013 they come out of the funnel at the end. Sort of.<\/p>\n So, lots of people enter the top, but not everybody takes all of the steps that lead them out at the end. Unlike the liquid flowing through my kitchen funnel.<\/p>\n Now that you know what a book funnel is and isn’t, the big question is: Why do you need one?<\/p>\n Book funnels are a great way to gain visibility and generate more sales for your books. Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n Increased visibility:<\/strong> A book funnel and the marketing activities that drive readers into it increase your book\u2019s visibility and boost your author brand. It will also help generate more traffic to your website.<\/p>\n More sales: <\/strong>Targeting potential readers who are interested in your book and guiding them towards making a purchase helps you sell more books.<\/p>\n Increased engagement:<\/strong> A book funnel can help increase reader engagement on social media but also through email, which I find both helpful and rewarding. You\u2019ll be able to use your email list to launch promotions, send notifications about new releases, and create conversations around your book and other topics.<\/p>\n Saves time:<\/strong> It automates the marketing process and reduces the time you spend manually promoting your book. This gives you more time to do what you\u2019d rather be doing \u2013 writing another book.<\/p>\n Affordable:<\/strong> It\u2019s a cost-effective way to market your book.<\/p>\n Once it’s set up, it keeps working for you all day and all night. What’s not to like about that?<\/p>\n [novashare_tweet tweet=”Book funnels are a great way to gain visibility and generate more sales for your books.” hide_hashtags=”true”]<\/p>\n If you’re new to the funnel concept, it helps to break down how readers flow from top to bottom. Here’s how it works.<\/p>\n Book funnels typically begin when you or your publisher create awareness of your book. This might involve social media campaigns, advertising, blog posts, and email marketing.<\/p>\n You\u2019re attracting readers to the top of your funnel.<\/p>\n Picture those readers hovering at the top of the book funnel. You want to draw them in by helping them learn more about your book. Reviews, interviews, videos, and other content can give readers a better understanding of the book\u2019s themes and characters or what they\u2019ll learn from it.<\/p>\n That information will help them decide if they want to move further into your funnel to continue learning more.<\/p>\n To pull those at the top even further into your funnel, you offer them a free digital gift that\u2019s related to the book. Some call this a \u201cfreebie\u201d or \u201creader magnet.\u201d The marketing term is \u201clead magnet.\u201d<\/p>\n They must provide their email address to receive this gift.<\/p>\n The process you use to capture their email takes them to a \u201cthank you\u201d page on your site. In addition to information on how they download your lead magnet, this page provides more information about the book, including purchase links.<\/p>\n Your process will also automatically send an email containing the link they use to download your lead magnet. You use this to encourage a purchase, too.<\/p>\n You have the email address of everybody in the middle of your funnel who added themselves to your email list \u2013 they \u201copted in.\u201d This is whether they bought the book and came out the end or not.<\/p>\n Send them regular emails with helpful and interesting information so they don\u2019t forget about you and your book.<\/p>\n These aren\u2019t \u201cbuy my book\u201d emails. They\u2019re \u201cstaying in touch\u201d emails that include book and other news as well as a purchase link.<\/p>\n These are the people who are most likely to purchase from you eventually. It might not be this book, but it could be the next one.<\/p>\n Visualize these five steps as you look at the book funnel diagram again.<\/p>\n Book funnels require technology. If you\u2019re not a do-it-yourselfer, you can pay someone to set this up for you.<\/p>\n These are the elements you need.<\/p>\n I hope you\u2019re already collecting email addresses that you use to stay in touch with readers. If you aren\u2019t, this is a great way to start.<\/p>\n Your email service provider will:<\/p>\n There are many email service providers to chose from. I used several before discovering my absolute favorite, ConvertKit<\/a>. It\u2019s designed for creators like us, and the customer support is exceptional.<\/p>\n A landing page is a single web page designed to encourage a single, specific action. It has no toolbars. There are no links to other pages on your site.\u00a0I design mine with Thrive Architect<\/a>, which works with WordPress.<\/p>\n The goal of your book funnel landing page is to get people to join your email list. This is where you offer that free digital download, your lead magnet.<\/p>\n This means there should be a clear call-to-action that encourages readers to do that. Include these elements:<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an example of the landing page for my newest lead magnet, a cheat sheet that lists the “8 Services That Help Journalists Find Authors and Other Sources.<\/a>”<\/p>\n A lead magnet is a digital, downloadable incentive you offer your target readers in exchange for providing their address so they add themselves to your email list. It must be relevant to your book.<\/p>\n Get nonfiction lead magnet ideas and resources for creating one in \u201c5 nonfiction lead magnet ideas<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n A sample chapter works well as a fiction lead magnet, but I\u2019ve got other ideas plus tools you can use to design yours in \u201c3 fiction lead magnet ideas<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n As soon as readers submit their email address, technology will take them to a thank-you page. That page can either provide the download link for your lead magnet, thank them for requesting your \u201cgift\u201d and instruct them to check their email for a message with the download link, or both.<\/p>\n Use this page to sell your book. <\/strong><\/p>\n In addition to text that thanks people and instructs on the next steps involved for downloading the lead magnet, include:<\/p>\n An email sequence is an automated series of messages.<\/p>\n In this case, the first message thanks readers for requesting your gift and provides instructions on how and where to download it.<\/p>\n Follow that with an email with more information about your book and purchase links.<\/p>\n Continue to nurture these interested readers by sending regular emails with updates about your book, additional content related to it, helpful or interesting information, and so on.<\/p>\n The idea behind a book funnel is to create a series of steps that use information to turn readers from browsers to buyers. This is why I want you to use your landing page as an alternative home page for much of your book marketing.<\/p>\n\n
What the heck are book funnels?<\/h2>\n
![\"book](\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Book-Funnel-Diagram-300x300.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHow book funnels differ from my kitchen funnel<\/h2>\n
Getting stuck in the middle is a good thing<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"not](\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/kitchen-funnel-225x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Why you need a book funnel<\/h2>\n
Book funnel process flow<\/h2>\n
Step 1: At the top of your book funnel<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Step 2: Drawing the right readers into your funnel <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Step 3: Pulling readers further into your funnel <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Step 4: Convert readers in your book funnels from \u201cinterested\u201d to \u201cbuyers\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Step 5: Continue to encourage purchase by staying in touch<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nBook funnel elements<\/h2>\n
Email service provider<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Landing page<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Lead magnet<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Thank-you page<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Email sequence<\/strong><\/h3>\n
View your landing page as an alternative home page<\/h2>\n
![\"book](\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Curious-about-book-funnels.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n