ClickFunnels Review – Is It Worth It For eCommerce?

So, you want to convert website visitors into customers. And you’ve read that ClickFunnels might be the best way to do that.

It sounds like a tantalising prospect: A sales page builder that does all the hard work for you when it comes to conversions.

All you’ve really got to do is sit back and watch those sales roll in.

Bingo. 

However, nothing in eCommerce is ever that simple. And like anything, ClickFunnels has its fair share of supporters and critics, pros and cons. 

In this article, we cut through the noise, giving you a clearer idea of what ClickFunnels is all about, and whether or not it’s worth your time. 

Let’s dive in.

What Is ClickFunnels? 

ClickFunnels is a web page builder (not a website builder!) founded by Russell Brunson.

Aimed at entrepreneurs who want an easier way of creating landing pages and sales funnels, it arms you with the tools needed to kickstart your marketing campaigns online. 

In other words, it’s here to do one thing: Boost your online sales the quick and easy way via a funnel that captures leads and turns them into customers. 

And as any marketer will tell you, sales funnels are essential if you want to increase your revenue.

A funnel takes the end user on a journey that starts at the top (awareness stage) and ends at the bottom (purchase stage). 

However, creating a funnel from scratch can be a real pain.

There are numerous conversions along the way that you need to try and maximise, lots of various branches (upsells and so on), and multiple offerings to keep track of. 

An all-in-one sales funnel builder,ClickFunnels makes it easier for you to craft a top-notch landing page that grabs your customer’s’ attention.

So much so that many of them convert and either hand over key info, or purchase your products. 

ClickFunnels doesn’t stop there.

The software lets you follow up with potential customers via email, Facebook Messenger and even desktop notifications and it kick starts the customer journey, taking them from the top of the funnel right down to the bottom.

This boosts your customer lifetime value while ensuring more sales and profits. 

What Is a Sales Funnel? 

Each customer who buys from you goes on a little journey before they get to the purchase stage.

Marketers call this a sales funnel and it’s your job to keep nudging them along it. Indeed, research has shown that it usually takes between 5 and 7 interactions with a brand before a customer decides to make a purchase. 

A sales funnel doesn’t need to be complex. In fact, it’s typically broken down into three parts: 

➤ The awareness stage – This is the point at which the customer first discovers your brand

 ➤ The evaluation stage – This second stage is where your prospect is weighing up options. They’re torn between you and one or two other brands

➤ The purchase stage – At the bottom of the funnel, businesses need to give the customer one final push in the right direction so that they go ahead and make that purchase 

A lot of effort goes into the creation and monitoring of a sales funnel.

For example, understanding your target persona is super important during the awareness stage because you can then craft an eye-catching landing page that attracts their attention straight away. 

During the evaluation stage, meanwhile, you need to keep warming your prospects up with educational content that shows off your expertise so that they start to trust you more and more. 

Finally, the purchase stage is where you really turn the heat up with optimised content that pushes the right emotional buttons (words such as ‘Discounts!’ are useful). 

Numerous metrics need to be analysed during each stage, such as bounce rate, click-through-rate, sessions and conversions.

It can all sound a bit too much, which is one of the reasons more marketers are turning to software and tools like ClickFunnels to help them out. 

Pros and Cons of ClickFunnels  

Pros of Using ClickFunnels

➤ Relatively low cost to entry – With prices starting out from just $97, ClickFunnels might not look cheap on the surface of things.

But give it’s a drag and drop builder, it saves businesses from spending a small fortune on WordPress developers or designers

➤ Multi-tool capabilities – ClickFunnels has lots of bells and whistles built into its price, including many features and capabilities that many competitors don’t have 

➤ It’s versatile – There’s a lot you can do with this all-in-one system, including tracking data, creating a sales funnel flow, adding a shopping cart and utilising WordPress plugins 

➤ Newbie friendly – ClickFunnels is a drag and drop builder that anyone can quickly get the hang of. No coding experience is needed

➤ Huge community support – ClickFunnels is popular around the world, and there are multiple groups on Facebook dedicated to the software.

There are also websites and forums where experts are on hand to field questions from newbies.

Reddit, for a example, has a whole subreddit dedicated to ClickFunnels, while WarriorForum has a huge amount of daily content from users  

➤ Built to scale – ClickFunnels helps your eCommerce scale by making it easier to attract leads that you then turn into customers

Cons of ClickFunnels 

➤ Locked into it – With ClickFunnels, you don’t really own your funnels.

You’re only renting them, which means that you’re locked into it.

When you quit, you lose your funnels

➤ Questionable official support – The initial training offered by co-founder Russell Brunson himself is pretty good.

But after that, the official support is found wanting

➤ Has a cult status – ClickFunnels has a pretty big cult status among its followers who have hyped it up so much that it gets hard to cut through the noise in regards how effective it actually is.

It’s not helped by the fact that some of the guys behind ClickFunnels, such as Russell Brunson and Sam Ovens, seem to be everywhere on social media, hyping up both ClickFunnels and sales funnels themselves.

Followers and members of groups dedicated to these guys have seemingly transformed them into ‘gurus’ and ‘saviours’ whose products and services are taken as gospel

➤ Closed source – Without access to the code, you’ll be in a pretty big pickle if things go wrong 

ClickFunnels Features

ClickFunnels has a pile of features. Here are the top picks that you need to know about:

Drag and Drop Editor

The drag and drop editor is a huge part of ClickFunnels’ appeal. Naturally, you’ve still got a few things to pick up, but the drag and drop editor makes it really easy to get to grips with the software.

It’s nothing like building pages from scratch using code. Instead, whenever you want a picture of a button in a certain place, all you need to do is drag it there. 

Support 

As mentioned earlier, ClickFunnels’ customer support is notoriously hit and miss, but 24/7 chat is available. 

There are also plenty of resources to get you started, including how-to guides and videos, while the training material is super in-depth and comprehensive.

Telephone support is available, too. 

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Templates

One of the most annoying things about starting pages from scratch is deciding what the page should look like. 

Then, you have to drag and drop everything into place before realising that – actually – this still looks pretty bad. 

With the huge library of template options on offer, ClickFunnels makes it easy for you to get your pages up and running in minutes. Plus, they all look pretty damn amazing. 

Order Forms

Cart abandonment is real, with stats showing that X of customers abandon their cart at checkout. One of the reasons for cart abandonment is complex order forms. 

The order form feature simplifies your order forms so that more customers go through with their purchases. And even if they don’t, you can capture their info before reaching out to them at a later date so bring them back into the game. 

One Click Upsells

This feature boosts cart value by giving customers the chance to buy extra products at the simple click of a button. 

Actionetics 

Actionetics is ClickFunnelss’ email system that lets you put together an efficient workflow of text messaging services, follow-up funnels and autoresponders. This means that, whenever you’ve captured a lead, you can keep them in your funnel until they’ve converted into a customer. 

Actionetics makes it easy to build emails using templates, and it puts you in full control so that – for example – certain emails will only be sent if the recipient opened the previous email. 

BackPack 

Aimed at affiliates who want to put together networks of customers, this feature gives you access to unlimited affiliates. It also comes with customisation, branded affiliate sign up and trackable commissions.

Integrations For ClickFunnels 

One of the biggest advantages of using ClickFunnels is that it offers a number of integrations. These include:

➤ Stripe – Online payment gateway that’s growing in popularity with consumers. Works a lot like PayPal but is seen as a solid alternative  

➤ MailChimp – Email automation software that helps you build awesome email marketing campaigns to keep leads in the game

➤ ActiveCampaign – Marketing automation software aimed especially at smaller businesses

➤ GetResponse – Another solid email marketing platform designed to help you build long lasting relationships with your customers 

➤ ClickBank – Affiliate marketing program that can compliment your efforts on ClickFunnels: Build your funnels on ClickFunnels, sell your products on ClickBank

➤ GoToWebinar – Webinar software that lets you create educational content to share with your prospects (invaluable during the middle stage of your funnel)

➤ ShipStation – Helps you keep track of your payment gateways, mail carriers and shopping carts and it synchs them all up 

➤ InfusionSoft – Helps you optimise numerous aspects of your business, such as lead capture and customer relationship management 

➤ SendLane – Software that allows you to tailor your emails according to different user’s needs and preferences. This personalises the experience, thus boosting your 1:1 relationships with customers 

Costs of ClickFunnels – What Package Should You Choose? 

There are 3 packages available at the moment:

Free trial – A great way for anyone to test the waters with ClickFunnels so that they can make a better, more informed decision about whether to stick with it or not. This free trial lasts 14 days

➤ Startup ($97 per month) – Ideal for smaller businesses who are perhaps looking to scale but who don’t need as many landing pages or sales funnels just yet. BackPack and actionetics are not included with this package 

➤ Enterprise ($297 per month) – Aimed at bigger businesses, the Enterprise package gives you unlimited funnels and pages, as well as Actionetics

Who Is ClickFunnels For? 

Any business that wants to make money online should build funnel.

But do all businesses need ClickFunnels? 

ClickFunnels is ideal for businesses like eCommerce stores that sell physical products. A funnel is what can build trust and nudge the customer further along until they eventually make a purchase. With ClickFunnels, the process is made that bit easier for the merchant. 

ClickFunnels also suits businesses who sell services or digital products and who again need funnels to capture peoples’ attention, educate them, show them their services before clinching the sale. 

And while ClickFunnels can also work for startups and ‘solo entrepreneurs’ who need funnels, it’s not super duper cheap. It is, however, easy to get to grips with and automates the whole funnel-making process for you.

How To Sign Up For ClickFunnels

If you want to try ClickFunnels for free, signing up for your first account takes just a few seconds. All you need is your email address, a password and your credit card details.

Once all that information has been inputted, you’re ready to go. 

If you’re ready to choose a paid package, all you need to do is select the one that feels right for you and complete the necessary steps.

Is There a Discount Code? 

There are ClickFunnels coupon codes being offered all the time, and they often range from 30% off to a whopping 90% off your yearly membership. 

Make sure to grab our free trial discount code while the going’s good.

Conclusion

ClickFunnels skips the coding part so that it’s easy for any online marketer to build high-converting landing pages from scratch. It also lets you create sales funnels that are designed to increase orders and customer lifetime value. 

However, ClickFunnels isn’t without its disadvantages so it’s important that you weigh up the pros and cons before making a final decision.

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