{"id":906,"date":"2017-11-06T16:20:01","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T23:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/3.14.248.234\/?p=906"},"modified":"2020-05-08T04:19:07","modified_gmt":"2020-05-08T11:19:07","slug":"membership-funnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/membership-funnel\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Automate an Entire Hyper-Local Membership Funnel"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. Start with a Facebook Ad<\/p>\n

It all starts with a Facebook ad.
\nIn this example, I’m selling a startup membership.
\nYou’ll notice that there’s no picture of startup events, only the city.
\nThis works because the audience has a higher affinity towards their city than startup events.
\nIn other words, they take more pride in their city – in this case, it’s Los Angeles. We also play to humor that startup entrepreneurs would enjoy “You won’t find models here.”
\nThis works perfect because it also plays to LA’s vanity culture, too.
\n\"\"
\nThe audience:<\/strong> we target people interested in Y Combinator, 500 Startups, Startup Weekend, and much more. The result: an audience of 50,000 people \ud83d\ude42
\nThe placement:<\/strong> we’re not expecting people to pay. We only want emails for a drip sales campaign. So we target only the mobile news feed. That’s where we get the lowest cost-per-conversion.
\nCost-per-lead:<\/strong> $2<\/p>\n

2. Design a High-Converting Landing Page<\/h2>\n

The next step is to create a landing page that explains the benefits well.
\nBecause we’re only looking to collect an email and the benefits are clear, we don’t design a long landing page. We stick to a one-fold design.
\nAnd rather than use a background picture of an events, we stick with a picture of Los Angeles because it converts up to 3 times higher. Notice how the copy places an emphasis on exclusivity with “underground,” and where they’ll get the tickets “your email.”
\nThese words help increase the conversion rate by upwards of fifty percent.
\nWhy?
\nPeople want to believe their special while knowing where they’ll receive the benefit.
\n\"\"
\nWe’re almost ready to drive traffic.
\nBut first we need a thank-you page to complete the entire landing page experience.<\/p>\n

3. Make it Exclusive<\/h2>\n

When visitors hit the thank-you page, they can’t get the benefit right away. This adds value to the membership by making it more exclusive.
\nAnd then we make it clear that we’ll notify them when a spot opens up.
\n\"\"
\nThe main difference?
\nWe use a picture of a startup event hosted at the Nasdaq to add credibility.
\nKeep in mind, we haven’t used a picture of startup event until they hit the thank-you page.<\/p>\n

4. Deliver Emails Straight from Gmail<\/h2>\n

If you’re receiving less than a hundred leads a day, then send your follow-up emails right from your Gmail to increase your deliverability rate.
\nTo do this, I sync Autopilot with Mailshake using Zapier.
\nWhen I have a new a lead, they get added to my Autopilot mailing list. Rather than send the immediate follow-up emails from there, I have it “zap” the contact information right into a Mailshake campaign.
\n\"\"
\nBy sending through Mailshake, it triggers emails in my Gmail account. As a result, the emails the lead receive look more organic.
\nThe best part: I can send reply emails.
\nThis means I can send replies to previous emails to create a thread. As a result, this increases the click-through, open, and reply rate. Magic!<\/p>\n

5. Create Follow-Up Emails<\/h2>\n

Once someone becomes a lead, I send out three emails to them in the next week.
\nEach of these emails outline the benefits and make the membership sound exclusive.<\/p>\n

Immediate Email<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This email goes out right away.
\nThe secret: We don’t give them access.
\nWe play up the exclusivity.
\nSubject:<\/strong> Hey {{first_name}} you’re Invited to BAMF Insiders
\n“Hey there {{first_name}}<\/span>
\nI’m Josh the CEO at BAMF Media.<\/span>
\nWe got your request for an invite to Los Angeles’s BAMF Insiders and think you\u2019d enjoy the experience.<\/span>
\nWe\u2019re opening up <\/span>50 spots in Los Angeles – \u00a0first come, first serve.<\/span><\/i>
\nWhat is UpOut Insiders exactly? It\u2019s the best way to explore LA’s startup scene without the touristy\u00a0vibe.<\/b><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Each month, we curate a list of LA startup events for you<\/span><\/li>\n
  • You choose your favorite two<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Instantly receive complimentary tickets to each in your inbox<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Be warned:<\/b> If you\u2019re not at least a little entrepreneurs, Los Angeles’s Insiders may not be for you.<\/span>
    \nIt\u2019s only for people who want to try new things, and meet new people.<\/span>
    \nWe’ve sent Los Angeles startup adventurers to meet the founders and execs from Quora, Snap, YouTube, VC firms, and more.<\/span>
    \nYou can think of us as your own personal and exclusive startup club that will give you the nudge to try something new.<\/span>
    \nInterested? Be on the lookout for another email from me TOMORROW morning containing a special link to claim one of the Los Angeles Insiders spots.<\/b>
    \nHave an awesome day :)!<\/span>
    \nJosh<\/span>
    \nCEO<\/span>
    \nBAMF Media<\/span>
    \nP.S.<\/span>
    \nSpace is limited and our spots tend to fill up quickly, so please be on the lookout tomorrow to ensure you don’t miss out!”<\/b><\/p>\n

    Second Email<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    In this email, our goal is to get the reader to click through on “Join Insiders FREE”<\/strong>
    \nThis will take them to a landing page that “warms” them up before they enter their payment information.
    \nSubject: <\/span>Hey {{first_name}} your BAMF Insiders invitation [inside]<\/b>
    \n“Hey there {{first_name}}<\/span>
    \nMy name is Josh and I\u2019m the CEO here at BAMF Media.<\/span>
    \nWe received your request to join Los Angeles’s Insiders and think you\u2019d enjoy the experience.<\/span>
    \nWe\u2019re opening up 50 spots in <\/span>Los Angeles – first come, first serve.<\/span><\/i>
    \nWhat is BAMF Insiders exactly? It’s the best way to explore Los Angeles’s underground & secret events.<\/b><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Each month, we curate a list of LA startup events for you<\/li>\n
    • You choose your favorite two<\/li>\n
    • Instantly receive complimentary tickets to each in your inbox.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      WARNING: <\/b>If you\u2019re not at least a little adventurous, Los Angeles Insiders may not be for you.<\/span>
      \nIt\u2019s only for people who want to try new things, and meet new people.<\/span>
      \nTo ensure LA Insiders is a good fit for both of us,\u00a0<\/span>we’re giving you a 30-day membership – completely FREE.<\/b>
      \nHere\u2019s How To Join BAMF Insiders For FREE:<\/b>
      \nUse the code <\/span>\u201cgrowthhacking\u201d <\/b>
      \nafter you click the link below to get a full month of Insiders for FREE.<\/b>
      \nThink of it like a test drive – but one where you get to go to some really cool startup events.<\/span>
      \nDuring this month, <\/span>you get to claim at least a pair of tickets worth between $50 to $300<\/b> to events to see the founders and execs of many top Los Angeles companies.<\/span>
      \n\u2026plus you have the chance to get another set of bonus tickets as well!<\/span>
      \nIf you love your experiences at Los Angeles’s best startup events and want to continue with Insiders, dues are only $29 per month.<\/span>
      \nIf not, no worries, you are welcome to cancel at any time hassle-free.<\/span>
      \nClick the link below now to try Insiders free for a full 30 days.<\/span>
      \nJoin Insiders FREE\u00a0<\/strong>
      \nIf you have any additional questions you can email me back.
      \nIn the meantime, have a great week!
      \nCheers,
      \nJosh
      \nCEO, BAMF Media
      \nP.S.
      \nThere is absolutely no risk to join. You get a full 30 days of Insiders for FREE<\/b>, but to make sure we can give our members first class service, we can only accept a limited number of new members at this time. Don\u2019t miss your spot.”<\/p>\n

      Wednesday<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      For this email, we keep it simple by making it a reply email. This way it looks more organic.
      \nThe body copy:
      \n“Hey!
      \nDid you see my email yesterday?”<\/p>\n

      6. Add Extra Love Mid-Funnel<\/h2>\n

      For a higher conversion rate, you can send LinkedIn connection requests to new leads.
      \nHow?
      \nUse a free Chrome extension like Full Contact or Clearbit.
      \n\"\"
      \nNext pay a virtual assistant to comb through your sent emails to connect with the leads at scale.
      \nI recommend sending them this LinkedIn personal invite:
      \n“Hey {{first name}},
      \nI noticed you were interested in our exclusive LA startup community.
      \nWe’d love to have you join. ”<\/p>\n

      7. Design a Benefits Page<\/h2>\n

      Once they click through to the landing page from the email, this is what they see.
      \nYou’ll notice there’s social validation EVERYWHERE.
      \nYou can’t escape it.
      \nPlus, we outline the benefits one more time.
      \n\"\"
      \nOn this page, they’ll click “Join Insiders.”<\/p>\n

      8. Design the Payment’s Page<\/h2>\n

      “Join Insiders” takes them to a payment page.
      \nOn this payment page, they review the membership benefits on the right (if on desktop). And because many were not expecting to pay even though we outlined that fact in the email copy, we add details on why they need to input their credit card information.
      \n\"\"
      \nNotice how we make the process sound easy with the headline “…in 3 Easy Steps”.
      \nWe also include logos and testimonials to provide more social validation.
      \nAnother benefit we provide is that we accept Stripe AND PayPal.
      \nBy only accepting one, we turn off many would-be customers.
      \nThe integration only takes a little coding – so worth it.
      \nAnd boom! There you have it.<\/p>\n

      Implement Today<\/h2>\n

      I used Unbounce to create most of the landing pages.
      \nI then outsourced the payment page for a couple hundred dollars.
      \nIf you copy these steps, it will take you less than a day to create the funnel and drive new leads.
      \nIf you want to build a hyper-local membership community, then there’s no excuse not to do it.
      \nAre you ready to take the reins?]]><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Start with a Facebook Ad<\/p>\n

      It all starts with a Facebook ad.
      \nIn this example, I’m selling a startup membership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":18674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ub_ctt_via":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[142,112],"tags":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Copy-of-How-to-Scale-a-10-Million-Dollar-SaaS-Company-with-Patrick-Campbell-Co-Founder-of-ProfitWell-1.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Houston Golden","author_link":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/author\/josh\/"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}