The Multi-Step Lead Generation System
The single biggest source of waste in advertising is the one-step “Buy Now” ad. It assumes that every person seeing the ad is ready to buy this weekend. But there is almost no target audience where everyone is ready to buy immediately.
If “Buy Now” is your only option, your waste factor will kill you economically. You are paying for 100% of the eyeballs but only speaking to the 2% who are ready today.
You want a constant flow of prospects, regardless of their readiness. Today, you build the “escort” system—the pipeline—that guides prospects from curiosity to commitment over 30, 60, or 90 days.
Step 1: Create a “Secondary Information” Offer
If a prospect isn’t ready for a consultation, offer them a “Free Book” or a “Buyer’s Guide.” Consider the stairlift industry: some people are “Buy Now” (like those who just had a fall), but many more are “evolvng” toward that purchase.
If your ad offers a “Free Guide to Selecting a Stairlift,” you capture the lead months before they are ready to buy. You get to “hover” and educate them while your competitor is invisible.
Step 2: Develop “Blind” vs. “Branded” Campaigns
Sometimes a brand carries a bias that gets in the way of a sale. For example, Weight Watchers is a powerful brand, but people think they already “know” it (meetings, counting points, getting weighed in public). If they don’t like those things, they won’t respond to a branded ad.
By using a “blind” ad—one that focuses on the result (weight loss) without revealing the brand until page 12—you can draw in prospects who would otherwise ignore you. Use unbranded lead-gen to bypass prospect prejudice.
Step 3: Build the “Indoctrination” Sequence
Once a lead is captured, they must enter a persistent, organized system. This is not a one-off email; it is a 16-step series that educates, removes skepticism, and establishes your authority.
This “escort” ensures they don’t wander around your category unsupervised. Confused consumers do nothing. You must lead them by the hand.
Step 4: Eliminate “Lead Chaos”
The main reason lead generation fails is that it dumps leads into chaos. There is no system for sorting, qualifying, or providing differential messaging. High-value “A-leads” should be handled differently than “C-leads.”
If you generate leads but don’t have a structured follow-up, the advertising will be blamed for the failure of the sales system. Don’t dump your leads into a disorganized mess; put them in a pipeline.
A system is only as strong as the individual ads within it. Tomorrow, we craft the high-performance advertisement itself.
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