Sales is the lifeblood of every business. And yet, for so many businesses, the process of generating leads and converting them into paying customers is a mystery.
There's a lot of confusion around what actually counts as a lead, how to generate leads effectively, and how to convert them into paying customers. Essentially, a lead is simply someone who has expressed interest in your product or service. A lead can be generated through an online form, a sign-up for a newsletter, or even just a phone call expressing interest.
In this article, we'll dispel some of the mystery and give you a clear framework for generating and converting leads.
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What is a Clickfunnel and why do you need one?
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of how Clickfunnels work, it's important that we first establish what exactly we mean when we say "sales funnel." It is a process that takes potential customers from initial awareness of your product or service all the way through to purchase.
Clickfunnel reduces the number of steps a user has to take to reach the ultimate goal. Taking the person directly to the product page, eliminating all the extra steps in between, increases the chances of a conversion.
Agencies that are paid to generate leads often have to take measures to increase the output for companies. A lot of Clickfunnels alternative options are available nowadays. Take a look at them, especially if you’re a consultant or work for an agency.
Reasons why you need a clickfunnel:
- Decreasing attention span: In today’s fast-paced world, the attention span of people is decreasing. No one has the time to go through long steps to reach the ultimate goal.
- An overwhelming number of websites: The number of websites on the Internet is over 1.9 billion. With such a staggering number, a website does no longer serve the purpose of effectively conveying the message across. The website design really has to stand out for a user to give much heed to it.
- More control over the user experience: By using a clickfunnel, businesses have more control over how users interact with their brand. By carefully designing each step of the funnel, businesses can guide users toward their desired outcome, whether that’s signing up for a newsletter, downloading a white paper, or making a purchase.
- Increased conversion rates: The whole purpose of a clickfunnel is to increase conversion rates by taking users through a carefully designed journey that is optimized for conversions.
For instance, let’s assume the goal is to purchase a product. If instead of the product page showing on search results, the potential customer sees a long home page, the user is likely to bounce from the website.
Remember: Spending money on increasing traffic to your website no longer works. Instead, creating a sales funnel means having targeted pages that are crafted specifically to allow visitors to take specific actions.
By nurturing leads through each stage of the funnel, increase the likelihood of converting them into paying customers.
Stages of a sales funnel
Awareness
This is the step when a potential customer becomes aware of your product or service. To generate awareness, you need to get in front of your target audience through marketing initiatives like SEO, advertising, PR, or content marketing. (Read: common saas seo mistakes and how to avoid them).
Interest
Once you have generated awareness, the next step is interest. This is when a potential customer starts to show interest in your product or service. To generate interest, you need to provide more information about your offering and why it’s valuable - mainly done through
content marketing, webinars, or free trials.
Evaluation
The next step is the evaluation phase. This is when a potential customer decides whether or not to purchase your product or service. To generate a decision, you need to provide even more information about your offering and how it can benefit the potential customer - mainly done through case studies, product demos, or pricing information.
Action
Finally, the last step in the sales funnel is action. This is when a potential customer takes the desired action, which is usually to purchase your product or service. To generate an action, you need to make it easy for the potential customer to buy your offering - mainly done through a simple checkout process, a subscription plan, or a free trial.
Aim to bring customers to the end of the funnel, so that they're ready and willing to make a purchase.
The idea behind a funnel is that not every person who comes into contact with your brand will be ready to make a purchase immediately. Some people will need more time to consider their options; others will need more information before they're comfortable making a decision.
The goal of any sales funnel, then, is to move each person through these different stages as efficiently as possible.
The Different Types of Clickfunnels
Now that we know the stages of a sales funnel, let's take a closer look at the different types of Clickfunnels.
Webinar Funnel
- A person registers for a webinar.
- They then receive a confirmation email with the date and time of the webinar as well as a link to join.
- While they are attending the webinar, they are prompted to take a particular action. For example: a follow-up process. This follow-up process can be done individually in which you can pitch your company’s solution and its benefits.
Live Demo Funnel
- People are encouraged to sign up for a live demo of the software or solution.
- In the demo, you demonstrate how your software works and its various features.
- The attendee finds value in one or more of the features of the solution and subscribes to the tool. Remember, the key is to address the pain points of the customers.
Application Funnel
- Assuming you’re a consultant or a coach, you can teach a skill to your audience.
- In the lecture, subtly include how you make use of a tool to help you in your work.
- Your target audience is impressed and wants to know more about the tool. They sign up for a free trial or subscribe to the tool.
Thank you page Funnel
- A person visits your website and reads an article that you’ve written.
- At the end of the article, they are prompted to sign up for your email list to receive more articles like the one they just read.
Analyzing Your Results
Digital marketing in the post-pandemic world has changed significantly. As more and more people started purchasing online, the competition to compete in the space also skyrocketed. As a result, creating a sales/marketing funnel is perhaps one of the most challenging tasks.
Your best bid is to track your customer's progress through each stage of the funnel so that you can see which parts of your funnel are working and which need some improvement. The stakes of building a successful sales or marketing funnel are high. More so if your ROI is dependent on it.
There’s no worse feeling than spending a significant amount of time in building the funnel and still not getting the desired output.
By analyzing, you'll be able to see how many people started at each stage of the funnel and how many progressed to the next stage until they reached purchase. With this data, you’re able to pinpoint which parts of your funnel need work. Make changes accordingly and improve your conversion rate over time.
Final verdict: Which part of the sales funnel should you focus on?
We hope this article gives you a better understanding of what Clickfunnels are. Essentially, they allow you to create a simplified experience for each stage of your customer's journey from awareness to purchase.
A clickfunnel takes a user to the end goal through a simple, linear path. In comparison, the website takes the user through a zigzagged path with a high chance that the user gets distracted in the process.
If you're still on the fence about whether or not they're right for your business, try focusing on a specific part of a sales funnel. Work on that stage of the funnel to increase the likelihood of converting leads into paying customers.
Author Bio:
Osama Zahid is a technology content strategist who is passionate about content marketing and all things SEO. He has helped various companies rank their content on the first page of search engines. In his free time, Osama loves to play football and travel.