It’s another one of those making money online courses that’s centered around sales promoted by Steve Hofstetter. To put it simply, it’s basically a how-to course.
It shows you how to find clients and how you should close deals for those clients…but you have to do all the searching and closing yourself.
You might even have to put up an ad for this on different platforms to get interest…YIKES!
Ironically, one of the main selling points of Marketing Funnel Academy is that funnels are a high-demand skill.
Not only that, but a course like this gives people the hope that they can make money online. And while we have to be honest for this review…
MFA does come with some very helpful information to make money online and land some massive commission checks.
I’m going to review Marketing Funnel Academy to decide if it really is the best SMMA course out there.
I’ll talk about whether SMMA is the right online business model for you.
Marketing Funnel Academy is a course that teaches you how to build your own advertising agency. The core idea here is that they’ll teach you how to not only run the ads themselves but also how to (hopefully) build a successful business with it.
In my opinion, ad agencies are one of the best business models out there, and to be honest – they will always be needed (more on that later).
While Marketing Funnel Academy has its merits, it’s NOT my top recommendation if you’re interested in running your own ad agency.
My top program in the ad agency category will be Josh Osborne & Sean Kochel’s Digital Rental Method program.
Here’s the thing:
There’s a good way and a bad way to run an advertising agency.
The bad way involves only knowing how to run ads.
It may seem counterintuitive but stay with me for a minute.
Probably the least important part of running an ad agency is actually knowing how to run ads on platforms like Facebook and Google.
It’s the things that go on behind the scenes that make a 6-or-7-figure agency.
Any monkey could take some random “template” that some guru gave them and plug it into Facebook or Google – that will not make you a 7 figure earner.
Why?
Because after a while, the market gets overwhelmed with the same message, and it stops working.
If you don’t have a system for thinking about how to run ads properly, you won’t be able to pivot.
So what’s the good way to run an ad agency, then?
The things that really separate a 6 or 7-figure agency from one that fails after a few months are:
- Having a proven sales process
- Knowing how to convert users that land on your client’s website
Let me explain why:
#1 – Most ad gurus out there have never run a 7-figure agency, so how could they possibly teach you a sales process that’s going to actually work? If you don’t have this nailed down, nothing else matters, because you won’t have anyone to run ads for!
#2 – Getting clicks on an ad is easy… getting them actually to go on and buy something from you is the hard part. If you don’t know about conversion rate optimization, landing page design, & email/text marketing, your ability to copy-paste some random ad won’t matter.
If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know that I recommend this ad agency program, because it helps my boyfriend and I personally make over $20,000/mo on autopilot.
The cool part is that it shows you pretty much exactly what to do to create a recurring revenue stream, that can bring you in anywhere from a few thousand, to $10,000+ per month.
I really like how you can build it with only an hour or two each day, and you can grow it as big (or small) as you want to.
The people that run it have an actual 7-figure marketing agency, so you know their systems work.
If that sounds interesting to you, check out The Digital Rental Method program here
That being said, let’s continue on to the Marketing Funnel Academy review.
Marketing Funnel Academy (MFA) Overview
Rank: Ranked #6 out of 30 Facebook Ad courses
Length: 13 hours, 28 minutes, & 49 seconds
Content: Content caters more to the well-experienced online marketers who want to bring their business to the next level
Rating: 4.0/5 – one of the best FB ad courses
Price: $10,000 USD (50% upfront and 50% afterwards)
What Is Marketing Funnel Academy?
Before I dive into my review of Steve Hofstetter’s Marketing Funnel Academy, let me first share a little about them.
Steve and his team started out in the business as an online learning space to train business people and aspiring entrepreneurs on “funnels.”
Funnels are an automated lead generation system that creates a marketing sequence that breaks down potential clients’ “purchasing journey” to get their contact information (email info), so you can eventually use it to sell or make an offer.
The idea is to attract as many potential clients as possible and narrow them down to potential leads who will most likely make a purchase – as in the conical shape of funnels, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom end.
However, when used online, the word “funnel” is likely to refer to automation.
Who Started The Marketing Funnel Academy?
Steve Hofstetter created the Marketing Funnel Academy course.
Steve is happily married and a family guy, living in Gilbert, Arizona, his wife’s hometown, with his wife and three children.
You might be asking whether or not Steve is some puffed-up, self-proclaimed guru (because you know there’s a lot out there).
This is what I found when I researched Steve: he has a total net worth amounting to 4 million dollars! Not only that, Clickfunnels 2 Comma Club has featured him quite a few times.
If in any way you don’t trust it, you can go to 2CC’s enrollment page and see for yourself. Steve’s in the center.
He is absolutely a legit online educator and marketer.
Who Is Steve Hofstetter?
Steve is an expert in his industry. Their company runs like a well-oiled system and has been in business for a long time.
Since my research in 2017, I couldn’t find other successful and active social apart from paid ads.
The main thing is that you don’t have to be everywhere and exhaust all ways to develop a business.
The whole pitch behind Marketing Funnel Academy’s existing main offer is automating the performance and client-getting approach, which frees you up from trying to do everything so you can do just one thing:
Make sales calls, follow up with clients, and fulfill the offer.
Steve and his team do put their words into action.
What To Expect In This Course
When I called Steve, I already had a company I wanted to develop.
The leads were coming in but weren’t what I had hoped. They were a lot, but the target clients were just too few.
So much so that I was willing to spend a lot of money to see my conversion rates launch into space like Elon Musk’s rockets.
Are you a newbie to funnels? By all means, feel free to keep reading to learn more, but Steve’s course is obviously not for you.
Why is this?
Steve’s course is distinct from conventional “educational” courses in that his end purpose is totally different.
He doesn’t want to drop a massive information bomb on you and then drop you with a “Nice knowing You,” as Jay Gatsby did (Leonardo DiCaprio).
Instead, Steve’s goal is to give you a full-on optimized and operating funnel and the information to make the best of it.
As a consequence, the MFA program requires, among other things, the following:
- Sales Call Script and Training
- Facebook ads training
- Live Training Calls
- MFA Done-For-You Sales Funnel
- MFA Optimized FB Ad Campaigns to Fuel Your New Funnel
MFA Process: Done-For-You Funnels
Nowadays, I see many advertisers throwing out every tactic they can use to get their own customers.
You’ll see an advertisement that says, “No Blogging! Put an end to the advertisements! Stop with the free stuff!”
Then you bite the hook, click on the advertising, read what’s there, and watch the free online training they give – only to be taught something entirely different from what you’ve just seen, even though this is exactly what the guru did to get you into their pipeline.
Marketing Funnel Academy is kinda one of these guys.
They put their words into action sometimes but not always.
There is one ad, video clip, offer, and email per day.
The only changing factor is that they make somewhat different ads and deals for various markets or audiences.
They use the same funnel they create for you in their own company, which I like:
- So you see an advertisement.
- Click and go to a video clip.
- See if there is a call to action to schedule a sales call.
- If you leave the tab, you’ll receive a slew of amusing sales letters urging you to schedule a call.
- You make a phone call.
- Get on the phone with a dealer, and you’ll get the pitch and a quick action bonus.
Breakdown Of Marketing Funnels Academy:
Module 1: Customer Avatar
This first module is primarily concerned with consumer research and analysis.
Steve requires you to experiment with constructing Your Funnel to understand more about your client.
Steve and his team need this information to construct the pipeline that will convert your clients.
At the very least, you must be familiar with the following (and the more, the better):
- Your ideal customers’ demographics (age, gender, education, where they live, etc.)
- Your ideal customers’ wants (what are their ambitions, goals, and dreams?)
- Your ideal customers’ challenges (What’s stopping them from achieving their goals? Some possibilities are: money, lack of education, negative mindset…)
- Your ideal customers’ objections (Why would they say no to your product’s offer?)
Steve conducts an interview with you about your ideal customer, using a related worksheet as a reference.
When you’ve gathered all your data, it’s time to create the traffic source for your funnel.
Even though it has been more expensive in recent years, Steve recommends Facebook as the best source of prospects. (Here is where Steve and I disagree; I like Freetraffic more.)
Module 2: Create Highly Targeted Ads On Facebook
Now that you know who you want to advertise to, it’s time to build the ad that will drive browsers and scrollers into your funnel.
Steve discusses a variety and broad selection of topics in this segment but focuses on the five mentioned below:
- Starting with a High Enough Budget
- Knowing What Part of Your Ad to Change
- Using Hybrid Photos (They both Attract and Inform)
- The 2 Simplest Ways to Get Your Ads to Covert
- Setting and Tracking Goals for Campaigns
Steve provides his knowledge on what critical parts of a landing page need to be tuned to the oncoming traffic by giving a few different types of proven landing pages that have served him well in the past.
Module 3: Utilizing 3 Types Of High-Converting Landing Pages
Steve provides his knowledge of what a landing page should be to complement incoming visitors by adding a few different sorts of proven landing pages that have previously served him well.
Below are the different parts of a landing page that you will learn how to optimize in this module:
- Focusing the Message
- Crafting a Bold and Powerful Headline
- Composing a crystal clear description of your offering
- Eliminating non-essential navigation elements
- Carving a Compelling Call-to-Action (CTA)
At the module’s end, Steve looks at the big picture, demonstrating how your landing page blends into the three must-haves of your profitable digital funnel.
Steve and his team really excel in their understanding of landing pages!
They scrutinized my new funnel with a hawk’s eye and brought several minor improvements to my attention.
That is one of the wonderful aspects of the MFA community.
They do the majority of the busy work for you and advise you about how to develop your future marketing structures, which is why I believe they call it an “academy” rather than just a “service.”
Module 4: Adding Free Value Using Education
According to Steve, one of the most crucial ways to keep prospects flowing across the funnel is to continue providing “value” as they carry on with the process.
Steve’s kind of “value,” and hence his first recommendation, is digital content in either a downloaded ebook (pdf), video instruction, or both.
These digital and informational products have several advantages:
Number one, they are less expensive: Apart from the creation costs, they are free, reducing company expenses. (This is in contrast to sending a book or DVD, which will incur both content and delivery costs.)
Number 2 Professional: This insightful content demonstrates that you know what you’re talking about and place you as the authority in the field, putting you in a position of influence.
Number 3 Higher Quality Leads: Candidates are weeded out as more information is gathered, so some will realize they are on the wrong track and exit the sales pipeline, while others will step up the pace, convinced that the offer is the one for them.
This screening process improves your planned sales calls’ reliability by limiting them to only the most interesting prospects.
Below are the two major subjects addressed:
- How to write an ebook that will transform your prospects
- Creating an appealing instructional video (which Steve’s team can help critique and even edit for you)
This is super beneficial as part of an all-in-one kit since it’s all too time-consuming to gather such experts for this.
Module 5: 3 Objectives
When they construct funnels, Steve and his team are attempting to accomplish these three goals:
- Develop your relationship with your prospect
- Inform them about the procedure
- Persuade them to plan a breakthrough call.
Here’s a visual representation of one of Steve’s funnels:
Every blue block in the illustration represents a signal. It implies that certain activities, such as sending the individual a few emails or submitting a report to the company, are carried out when activated.
Each symbol, which resembles a green calculator surrounded by a bubble, depicts different pages prospects will arrive at.
Is Marketing Funnel Academy A Good Investment?
Ultimately, it’s all up to you, but I hope you don’t rush into it.
Steve has put up an informative course and a highly supportive team that will teach you through every step of creating the ideal sales funnel before building it for you and giving you the reins.
Their material is among higher levels in the industry, which explains why it doesn’t come cheap. Better to assess the return on ad spend.
But, if you already have a company and want to improve your pipeline, as I did, the Marketing Funnel Academy probably won’t be your golden goose.
You can certainly make money with Funnels, but if you’re gonna put in the amount of grueling work to become a Facebooks ads marketing strategist (which, trust me, isn’t easy), you might as well bring in some REAL money.
The program that helped skyrocket my online business to $50,000+ per month teaches some of the same advertising skills, but shows you how to monetize them in a much, MUCH more profitable way.
Alternatives To Marketing Funnel Academy?
Yes, there are plenty of other business models to choose from if you want to pursue making money in 2022. Here are just a few:
Is Marketing Funnel Academy A Scam?
Time for the $1,000,000 question: is Marketing Funnel Academy a scam?
No, not technically. They aren’t going to take your money and run off. It’s actually a decent program.
Read Our In Depth Breakdown Of The Top 5 Ad AgencyOpp Courses For 2024
It’s just not my top choice.
The Digital Rental Method program is unique. They give you over 30 proven templates (ad copy, targeting, keywords, exact landing pages, etc.) so that you can hit the ground running on Facebook, Google, Youtube, Snapchat, Pinterest, & more.
Outside of the ad training, they teach a whole bunch of skills: their proven sales process, building high-converting landing pages, email & text marketing, and a lot more.
The people that run the program actually have an agency that does 7-figures per year, which is a major advantage over most other ad agency courses.
What if you could put in a few hours of work each day (whenever you feel like it), and you were rewarded with a recurring $500-$2,000 payment for each site you put up?
And what if it only took you a week or two to get that first payment?
And what if you could double or triple that payment over the following month or two?
That’s what you get when you’re a Digital Landlord.
All you really need is a laptop and some internet.
Some of my friends are Digital Rental Method that run their 6-figure businesses from:
- Camping trips at national parks
- Beachfront in Hawaii
- On the road in a camper van (with a pet pig!)
They focus on living an enjoyable life first, and focus on income second. All thanks to this program.
They can take weeks or months off, and money keeps rolling in.
Living happily is the top priority.
If the thought of living perpetually at your dream vacation spot interests you, using the Digital Rental Method might be for you!
What Is My #1 Recommendation For Making Money Online In 2022?
I’ve personally tried all of the major online business models:
- I’ve sold fidget spinners through Amazon FBA
- I’ve dropshipped a toilet bowl putting green on Shopify
- I’ve sold women’s health supplements via Clickbank affiliate marketing
And I made money with all of them, so trust me when I say: there is no “perfect” business model.
That being said, my #1 recommendation for making real money online is, hands-down: being a Digital Landlord.
Whether you’re a complete newbie or you’ve been around the block before but have never had that “big win” to propel you forward, using the Digital Rental Method is for you.
Why?
1)Time commitment: If you have an hour or two per day, you can do this. Even if you want to drop everything and commit fully, that works too.
You don’t have to be constantly working to make money. The income you generate is recurring.
Imagine taking off for a month to places like Hawaii, Paris, National Parks, & other spots people only dream about – all while collecting dozens of little $500-$2,000 checks. It’s like a dream come true.
But it’s only possible to do it when you’ve separated your income from your time.
2) Complete control: You completely control everything, which means no one can take your business away from you. This is a huge difference from other lead generation models, where Google can end you at the snap of a finger.
3) It’s Effectively Copy-Paste: Here’s my favorite part: once you have your first Digital Rental Property up, you can literally copy-paste another version of it and find another willing “renter” in a few days. DOUBLING your income doesn’t get much easier than that…
4) Great Margins: using the Digital Rental Method, your profit margin is nearly 100%.
Just a reminder: these Digital Rental Properties are worth (at a minimum) $500/mo in semi-passive income. And each time you create another one, your income increases, and the effort to create the next property decreases.
Best-case scenario, you have properties bringing in over $3,000+/mo on auto-pilot.
5) You’re Helping REAL People: With the Digital Rental Method, you’re helping solve REAL problems that people are ASKING for help with:
Small local businesses around the world need one thing: customers. Without them, their business would fall apart. If you can provide those customers, they’re going to be really happy – and they’re going to pay you for it.
You’re helping a struggling mother or father put food on the table for their families, put their kids through college, or simply live life a little bit more comfortably.
Having this type of impact on the world is what will help you sleep soundly at night.
So, the rest is up to you. You could keep looking at other programs like Marketing Funnel Academy, which might work out.
You could keep researching and researching for the next few months (or few years), never making a concrete decision.
OR, you can look deep inside, think about those dreams, hopes, & desires, and make the decision to ACTUALLY make it happen, just like it has for thousands of other students before you.
Making a fortune while actually helping real people that need it.
If this sounds like you, click here to see how it all works.
