Using the 4-ad stack funnel to attract leads and drive sales

In this episode of The New School of Marketing Podcast, I talk about my 4-ad stack method—a strategic approach designed to attract leads and drive sales.

Whether you're just starting with paid advertising or looking to refine your current strategy, this episode breaks down the four key stages of the funnel: attraction, lead generation, launch event, and open cart.

You'll learn how to guide potential customers through a seamless journey from awareness to purchase, using targeted ads at every step. Tune in to discover how the 4-ad stack method can transform your advertising efforts and boost your sales.

If you want to go deeper into this, sign up for my free upcoming masterclass:
https://www.biancamckenzie.com/masterclass

Connect with me

Website: www.newschoolofmarketing.com
Facebook: @newschoolofmarketing
Facebook group: @newschoolofmarketing
Instagram: @bianca_mckenzie

Learn from me:

🟣 FREE MASTERCLASS: Sell more of your online course with Meta Ads
https://www.biancamckenzie.com/masterclass

🔵 AIMFUL ADS ACADEMY: Tools, resources & 1:1 support to attract more ideal clients and make more sales with proven, easy to follow Facebook & Instagram ad strategies for any budget. https://www.biancamckenzie.com/aimful-ads/

🟢 FACEBOOK ADS PREP SCHOOL: Find out what you need to know and do before spending money on ads. https://www.biancamckenzie.com/prep-school/

🟡 INVISIBLE AD FUNNEL PLAYBOOK: A practical step-by-step guide to making a big impact with a tiny budget. https://www.biancamckenzie.com/playbook

🟠 FUNNEL FUNDAMENTALS: Building effective sales funnels that drive conversions and grow your business. ...

Transcript

Hello. Welcome back to the new School of Marketing podcast. I am so, so grateful to you for tuning in. As always. Before we dive in, I would love to pay my respect and acknowledgement to the Palawa people of Lutruwita who are the traditional owners of the land on which my business operates. I pay my respects to their elders, past and present. 

Alrighty. Welcome. 

My name is Bianca McKenzie and I am so excited today to share with you my for ad stack method, which is really a powerful strategy that I have created to attract leads and to drive sales. So if you've ever felt overwhelmed by the complexity of running ads, or maybe you're unsure of how to create cohesive ad campaigns and actually get some results, this episode is for you. I'm going to take you through each stage of the 4-ad stack method, and they include attraction, lead generation, launch events and open cart. And hopefully by the end of this episode, you'll have a bit of a roadmap to effectively use ads to grow your own business. So let's dive in a little bit of a backstory. So when I first started using ads, which is over ten years ago now, things were actually pretty easy because it wasn't busy on Facebook, it wasn't busy on Instagram. In fact, I'm pretty sure Instagram is still in the making. When I first started running ads on Facebook. But as you know, over the years, things have gotten busy and I've had to, in a way, find better ways, new ways, make changes. And I was, I was getting frustrated, to be honest, because cost of leads were going up, the results became more unpredictable. And as I looked at it and as I analyzed it, I realized that campaigns didn't need to become more elaborate. In fact, they needed to be simplified. It was like going back to the roots of traditional marketing and looking at how traditional advertising works and has worked for decades. And as I was looking at the campaigns that I was running and, you know, doing the same thing over and over, I noticed that things were a little bit disjointed, results were inconsistent. And that's when I looked at traditional advertising methods and developed the 4-ad stack method. And by running these stages of ads, my ads, my clients campaigns started performing better. I could start to see where ads were going in this new landscape, because let's be honest, Facebook changes its algorithms all the time. It is busy. There are so many people on Facebook, but there are also so many more advertisers on Facebook. Like, back when I started, there was not that many, there was not that competition for feed space for like, you know, being able to show up in the feed and having your ads seen. Now there is, there are thousands and thousands of advertisers, so it is crowded. The algorithm has gotten smarter as well. Facebook is continuously updating things so that, like, things are easier for us as advertisers to run ads. And yeah, like I said, it's just getting smarter. And like, it is not as hard. In some ways it is easier than it used to be, but in other ways it is more complex because it is just busier. There's just more people on Facebook. So I'm going to share with you my 4-ad stack method so that you can also build a solid framework and get the same success. Because this is not something that is only reserved for people with big budgets. In fact, my first stage of this ad stack method is amazing because you don't need a big budget. You can start with like one or $2 a day, $2 if you're in Australia, $1 if it's in us dollars. So let's dive in. 

So the first stage is attraction. And this is where you focus on creating awareness. It is like going back to the roots of advertising. It is awareness, advertising. People don't know you, they don't know who you are. So to put an ad in front of them that asks them in a way, you know, to put in their email address or something like that, that is sometimes a big ask. And some people don't trust you yet. Like, people are getting more savvy. They know that if they sign up for something that they're going to get emails. So the first stage is attraction. Attraction. And you really just focus on getting the attention of your ideal audience. So the goal is not to sell, but the goal is to generate interest and to build an audience. And to use stage one, you'll be focusing mostly on content. And that could be using blog posts. It could be videos, like informative videos. It could be social media content, which could also be videos, but it is literally getting someone's attention and at the same time showing that you know your topic. So promote your ads to a broader audience. You don't have to get super specific here and you want to target people that are most likely to be interested in what you offer. So you do need to do some targeting there. But yeah, show the world like you're already creating social media content. Most likely use some of your advertising budget to get that content seen by more people. Now here are some tips. Like I said, use broad targeting to get in front of new audiences who may not know about you. Use engaging content. So content that educates, content that entertains, content that inspires. Obviously it doesn't just need to do that. Like it needs to be related to what you offer as well, so that you can position yourself as your like, as the expert in your area and measure what you're doing. And it is sometimes a little bit tricky because especially if you've done advertising before, because there, the measuring part is not necessarily that easy. Like, it's kind of like going back to traditional advertising. Wherever. If you run a newspaper ad or a tv ad or a radio ad, you don't really get that much data back. It's kind of more of a fingers crossed approach that the right people will hear it and that they will take action. Awareness and attraction ads are a little bit like that, but you can still track metrics like clicks, shares, video views. And even though those are numbers and they don't actually tell the story of whether or not it's the right audience, whether or not they actually were interested, whether or not they actually liked it. I mean, likes, yes, and shares probably. Yes. Like, it doesn't give you any insight into whether or not the person is most likely to buy from you or not, but you still get some data. So the attractions, the attraction stage is all about capturing attention and generating interest. And I want you to think of it as planting seeds. You're introducing your brand, your business, and you're putting down the groundwork for the next steps for future engagement. 

All right, the next stage is lead generation. So once you've attracted an audience, you move on to the lead generation stage. And the goal here is to change that interest in your ads, that you know the attraction ads into leads. And you do this by using ads that allow you to capture contact information, such as an email address. And then what you would do with that email address is use email marketing to nurture your audience, so on and so forth. I'm not going to go too deep into that right here, but there are next steps you would take towards driving people to buy from you. Now, you can use lead magnets, as we call it, or freebies or whatever you want to call it, but you give away something for free in return for someone's email address. And great lead magnets could be ebooks, checklists, webinars, like a free thing that your audience really gets something out of. So for example, I have, my Facebook advertising success bundle is one of my free offers. I also have a number of free masterclasses, whether they are live, whether they are recorded. So there are a number of things that you can give away. The main thing is it needs to be something that your audience wants. And it needs to be not one of those things where like it's like just a tick box, kind of like, you know, oh, here's a freebie now. I want you to work with me. No, you need to make it so good that someone literally will just go through it and go, oh my goodness, if this is something they're giving away for free, imagine what the paid thing would be like. So it needs to be that good. So use lead generation ads to give away your free resources so that you get their email address. And that way you can build your email list and you can nurture the leads over time. So here's some tips. Create, like I said, an irresistible offer. Like it should. Your lead magnet should provide real value and solve a problem for your audience. You really want them to think, omg, imagine what the paid stuff is like. Like they, yeah, you get it, right? Okay. Also use clear CTA's call to actions. Make sure that your call to action is clear and just make sense. You don't want to make it wishy washy. You really want to be clear on what you want the next step to be. So get them to sign up for your free thing. Like if you running out of words and you don't know what to say, you literally can say, get access to my free xYz. And then literally a button, get it here or sign up now. Like simple. And you want to do this on a landing page. And make sure that your landing pages are optimized for conversions. So no distractions, just a simple form. Make it clear what you want them to do. No hoo ha, not too much scrolling, no menus. So don't put it on your general website. Make it one page where there's no distractions. The only thing they can do is sign up for your free thing. So stage two, lead generation. And this is where you turn that interest into action. Give them something valuable in exchange for their email address and contact information. And basically you're creating a pathway for deeper engagement with your audience. Because there is much more opportunity to build a strong connection and to nurture them through email than there is through social media because you have no control over who sees your organic social media. 

Stage number three is your launch event and that is where you create excitement and you create anticipation for your upcoming product or service launch, whether it is a launch or not, whether it is evergreen or not, people need some kind of hype and excitement. Sometimes they even need a little nudge in the form of extra offers like bonuses or expiring offers or things like that. So the next stage is your launch event and you want to promote these events with ads and you want to really focus on the value and the benefits of attending. And if it is a live thing, you can create a sense of urgency. If it is not a live thing, you can still create a sense of urgency because if it is always there and always open, people kind of just put it on the back burner. So some things that you can do as part of a live or, sorry, as part of a launch event, whether they are live or not live, but they can be live webinars, they can be online challenges or maybe like pre launched previews and Q and a calls and things like that. And yeah, you really want to make sure that you focus on getting people there to actually participate, to be part of it. There's no point in getting them to sign up aka you're paying for the ads and they're not really doing the thing or watching the video or attending the webinar. So here are some tips. Build hype so you can use teasers, you can use countdowns, like all of the things to build anticipation leading up to the event. Make sure that you engage with your audience. So during the event, focus on delivering high value and really focus on interacting with your audience to keep them engaged. So you give them something like really good. And this is like in a way the same as your lead generation, your general lead generation. You want them to to literally sit there going, oh my goodness, if this is a free thing, imagine the paid thing, I'm going to sign up for this. And also after the event, if you're doing a live one, especially follow up with people to keep up that momentum and then guide them towards the next stage. So don't just do, for example, a webinar and you say, you can join my thing now and that's it. Keep emailing them for a while afterwards. Firstly, say thank you for attending. Or if they couldn't make it, send them a recording. Keep in touch with them keep sending them information. And no, not just information, but keep in touch with them, follow up with them. Make sure that they know that the doors to your program are open and that they can buy. And also tell them when they close so that they don't miss out. So your launch event is all about creating buzz, creating that anticipation, and it is your chance to showcase what's coming and to engage your audience and engage with your audience in a way that gets them really excited about your offer. And it's amazing how many people don't do this. They kind of just like, do it, do this. Quiet, hey, I'm selling this. But they don't create a hype. They don't shout it from the rooftops, and they wonder why they don't sell anything. And sometimes the audience is like, hang on, what did I miss? What did I miss? It's because there's not enough hype, not enough excitement, not enough engagement, not enough telling people that you're actually selling this thing. It needs more than one email. It needs more than one live webinar. All right, next stage. 

Stage number four is the open cart. So this is the final stage of the for ad stack method. And it's where you move from engagement to sales. And this is where your product or your service or your course becomes available. People can buy it, and you really need to start focusing on driving conversions. This is where the rubber hits the road and you go, okay, well, I've given you all this free value. Now here is my paid thing. I can help you so much more and so much further. Here's where you pay. Join this and this. And this is really where you start focusing on that. So in addition to all of the things you're already doing. So your live event where you hopefully invited people to work with you, your emails, all of that use ads. That one, tell people that your offer is open, but also really emphasize the benefits of your product or your service or your course share, testimonials and if there is urgency, make sure that you also communicate that. So potentially limited time, discounts, bonuses, telling them when the doors are closing. And these ads, you want to target them to the leads who have shown interest. So not just, so not a cold audience at all, not the people that don't know about you. You want to show these ads to the people that know you, whether that is through engaging on your socials, being on your email list, visiting your websites, these are people that know you in some shape or form. And here's to my, here's some tips to make the most of that open cut stage one. Create a sense of urgency and you might feel a bit like, oh, don't want to use scarcity tactics. Sometimes you need to and use the ones that feel right to you and that could be limited time. Office exclusive bonuses to really encourage immediate action. People will not take action if there is no sense of urgency at all. So close the doors. If you're not comfortable with creating false scarcity, as some people call it, literally close the doors. People can't join unless it is before x date. Or make it really fun and give people bonuses if they join before x date. Like they can join that program anytime they want, but they only get those bonuses if they join before x date. Make it fun, create a sense of urgency also retarget warmly. So really focus on retargeting people that have engaged with your content attended one of your launch events because they are more likely to convert people who have been with you on that trajectory that like, really were there. When you're building up the hype, that excitement, they are much more likely to purchase than anyone who doesn't know you. So don't in a way waste your money on those people. Focus on warm leads and highlight social proof, share testimonials, share case studies, share success stories to really focus and build that trust and reassure people that are going to buy. Because it is scary buying online if you're not familiar with it and you don't often buy online or you haven't done any programs online, it's scary. So yeah, really tell people, look, I am the person to help you. Here's what I've done with previous people and if it is your first round, tell people that. Make it a beta lounge launch. There we go. Make it a beta launch. Beta, beta, whatever. Never know. And tell people, like, this is my first launch. The price is like this much lower than it will be in the future. Come and join me and like use it to actually create a that social proof and the success stories so the open cart stage is where the magic happens. If you have followed the other stages, you can't just skip to stage four. It's not going to work. But it is literally where the magic happens. It's where everything comes together and, you know, gets up wrapped up nicely with a pretty bow. It is your moment to convert people that are interested into sales by showing your audience why your thing, your product, your service, your course is the absolute solution that they've been looking for. Obviously that makes it sound way easier than it is, because stages one to three need to have been executed properly. You need to have been nurturing your audience through socials, through emails, really warming them up, getting them on board. Your sales page is, in a way your salesperson that needs to really be so clear and so well written that people go, oh my goodness, this is me where like take my money. So yeah, all of those pieces need to come together, but I wanted to take you through how ads can support you in that journey. 

So I'm going to give you a quick recap. So the four ad stack method has four stages, attraction, lead generation, your launch event and your open cart. And I want to say I talk about launch event. Even if you run evergreen funnels, you still need an influx of leads. Whether that is continuously running ads to get people to a launch event that might not be live, it might be like a pre recorded webinar that people can watch for a certain number of days. It needs leads. So you need that consistent lead generation happening, whether that is stage one, so stage two and three combined, or whether you do a live launch event, you need leads to be able to sell your program. Each stage really plays an important role in guiding your audience from awareness, getting to know about you to purchase, and using the for adstack method. It creates a structured like a structured and really effective path because I've been testing this for quite some years from awareness to sales. So hopefully that gives you some clarity. It gives you a roadmap on how to work things out. If you want to know more about the for adstack method, come to one of my free masterclasses. Literally, simply go to biancamackenzie.com masterclass, have a look at when the next one is upcoming, and register and come and join us. You'll get a replay if you can't make it. But yeah, if you want to have more of a visual of this four ad stack method and know get more in depth, in depth information about how this works, come to one of my free masterclasses. I'll pop the link in the show notes as well. Pretty easy. Bianca mckenzie.com Masterclass all right, that's it for this episode. 

Thank you so much for joining me on the new School of Marketing podcast. I hope it was helpful and I can't wait to share more marketing and Facebook ads tips with you next week. If you are ready to take your business to the next level with Facebook and Instagram advertising, make sure you visit newschoolofmarketing.com to download practical free resources. Plus subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. I can't wait to go on this journey with you. Until next time, take care and market your business every day.