Your Essential Guide to Sales Funnel Builder in 2024

"Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost."

So, you’ve built a great website and have started getting visitors to your website. But let's face it, turning those website visitors into paying customers can feel like a never-ending battle.

There’s just too much competition going out there!

But what if there was a tool that could ease up this process, guiding potential buyers smoothly through each stage of the decision-making journey?

Enter the sales funnel builder: a software solution that is designed to simplify and optimize your sales process. This blog will be your essential guide to navigating the world of sales funnel builders in 2024.

We'll break down exactly what an effective sales funnel is, delve into the benefits these builders offer, and equip you with the knowledge to choose the features that best suit your business needs.

What is a sales funnel?

A sales funnel is a journey that your potential customers go through from awareness to making a purchase. It is a valuable marketing concept designed to improve overall sales effectiveness by converting leads into customers.

Why is a sales funnel important?

"A visual journey of potential customers from their first visit to your website to becoming a paying customer helps identify bottlenecks, streamlining and automating the process of converting prospects into customers by guiding them through each stage of the sales funnel."

What are the stages of the sales funnel?

Each business owner can have different stages in the sales funnel based on how refined they want to track the journey. In general, there are 4 stages.

1. Awareness
2. Interest
3. Decision & Action

Let us now dissect each stage to understand it better:

Understanding the stages of sales funnel builder

Stage 1: Awareness

The awareness stage is all about finding different ways to spread the word about your course or business to attract people to come and learn more.

Let's understand the Awareness stage with a lemonade stand

Let’s understand this with an example: Many of you might have set up a lemonade stand when you were young.

You would have spread the news about your delicious and healthy lemonade stand to your neighborhood, friends, and other passersby. This is called the awareness stage.

You are making sure more and more people around you know about your stand so they can come and try the drink and tell their friends and family.

Awareness Stage Techniques for Course Creators:

Goal of the Awareness stage: Your prospective customers visit your website and share their email address

1. Social Media:

• Platforms: Utilize platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok.
• Content: Share engaging content, such as short videos, infographics, testimonials, and behind-the-scenes looks at the course creation process.

2. Email Marketing:

• Newsletters: Send regular newsletters with valuable content related to your course topic.
• Announcements: Inform your email list about new courses, special offers, and upcoming webinars.
• Platform: FreshLearn provides a very easy-to-use functionality to design beautiful emails and send email campaigns.

3. Blogging:

• SEO: Write blog posts related to your course content to attract organic traffic.
• Guest Posts: Write guest posts for other popular blogs in your niche to reach a broader audience.
• Platform: FreshLearn has a built-in CMS to launch your blogs with no server hosting or any technical knowledge required.

4. Webinars and Live Sessions:

• Free Webinars: Host free webinars to showcase your expertise and give a preview of what your course offers.
• Q&A Sessions: Conduct live Q&A sessions to engage with potential students and answer their questions.
• Platforms: FreshLearn lets you launch your live workshops/webinars - paid or free.

5. Online Communities and Forums:

• Groups: Participate in online communities and forums related to your course topic (e.g., Reddit, Facebook Groups).
• Value Contribution: Provide valuable insights and answers to establish yourself as an expert.
• Platforms: FreshLearn lets you set up community and groups for your members to interact with each other.

6. Free Resources and Lead Magnets:

• Ebooks and Guides: Offer free ebooks or guides that provide value and relate to your course content.
• Checklists and Templates: Provide free checklists, templates, or other useful resources to attract potential students.
• Platforms: FreshLearn lets you set up and launch digital downloads i.e. ebooks as lead magnets for lead generation.

Stage 2: Interest

The Interest stage is critical in a sales funnel. Here is the stage where the potential customers are already aware of your product or service and begin to evaluate you and hence seek more information that is more relevant to their needs.

The main focus should be to nurture and engage with potential customers with the right information on how your product or service can solve their problems and why you are better than others in the market.

Let's understand the Interest stage with a lemonade stand

Continuing on the lemonade stand business example. The interest stage is the place where you can put the quizzes like: Is lemonade really good for health, give the pdf downloads of lemonade recipes in return for more information about them, share the video testimonials of the customers who love it, and more.

Goals of Interest Stage:

Educate: Provide the right educational materials that give prospects a direction on how their problems can be solved with your course.

Nurture: It takes at least 6-10 touch points before customers make a buy decision. Build a relationship with prospects by engaging them through personalized and relevant content.

Build Trust: Establish credibility and trust through social proof and valuable content that addresses their concerns and questions.

Guide: Help prospects progress to the next stage of the funnel by offering clear calls to action and easy ways to learn more or engage further.

Interest Stage Techniques for Course Creators

1. Interactive Content:

Quizzes: Create interactive quizzes that allow leads to learn more about their needs and how your product/service can help. Quizzes are a great way to learn more about your potential customers.

Platform:  FreshLearn allows you to design and launch interactive quizzes or assessments with zero coding knowledge. The quizzes look beautiful on mobile devices as well.

2. Email Marketing:

- Personalized Emails: Tailor emails based on the lead’s behavior, interests, and interactions with your content.

- Platform: FreshLearn's email marketing feature empowers creators to send captivating email campaigns and newsletters effortlessly, enhancing their online knowledge business.

With user-friendly templates, you can create stunning, mobile-responsive emails in minutes, without any HTML skills.

The platform also enables personalized communication by sending the right emails at the right time and updating customers on purchases and account activity.

3. Lead Nurturing:

 - Segmentation: Segment your leads based on their interests, behavior, and demographics to deliver more relevant content.

- Nurture Emails: Automate and send a series of 5-7 emails leaving a gap of a day or 2 days each. Also take the actions based on the responses from prospects like opens, email responses, etc.

Platform: With Freshlearn's pre-built automation, you can send the right email at the right time. Not just that, you can drive better conversions with automated email sequences that boost your engagement.

4. Case Studies and Testimonials:

- Success Stories: Showcase how your course has helped similar customers achieve their goals and move to the next steps in their profession or personal life.

- Platform: Freshlearn allows you to collect and display testimonials in just a few minutes. Through the neat and organized dashboard, you get to manage and choose the testimonials you want others to see.

By implementing these simple techniques, you are effectively engaging and nurturing leads in the interest stage, moving them closer to making a purchasing decision.

Stage 3: Decision & Action

Any online course's sales funnel relies heavily on the deciding stage. It is where prospective students have learned about your course, evaluated its value, and weighed their options before enrollment.

Improving this step can significantly boost your course sales.

Our lemonade stand example:

Now, your lemonade stand has become a known business in the market and your potential customers are comparing your offerings with the other competitors.

So, you need to level up in this stage and try to break your customers' hesitations by providing positive testimonials, answering their doubts, letting them taste and decide etc.

The primary goal of the decision stage is to assist prospective students in transitioning from consideration to purchase.

Goals of Decision & Action stage.

Address any doubts: Expect last-minute reservations about price, time commitment, or course effectiveness.

Provide straightforward responses via FAQs, testimonials, or satisfaction guarantees.

Emphasise Unique Value: Highlight your expertise and the course's special benefits.

Showcase any distinguishing characteristics that set you apart from the competitors.

Simplify the Purchasing Process: Ensure a seamless checkout process by providing clear pricing information.

Provide several payment choices for ease.

Decision & Action Stage Techniques for Course Creators:

1. Time and scarcity: To promote quick decisions, consider implementing time-sensitive promotions, early bird discounts, or enrollment deadlines. FreshLearn lets you create discount coupons and share them with your audience in few clicks.  

2. Complimentary Previews and Trials: To offer a taste of the course material to students, offer a free introductory module or sample lesson.

This lets prospective students observe how you teach and make sure the course is a good fit for them.

3. Risk Reduction Strategies: Offer a money-back guarantee or a course completion certificate to reduce perceived risk and encourage registration.

Implementing these approaches allows you to effectively assist potential students through the decision-making process and convert them into satisfied clients.

What Is A Sales Funnel Builder Software?

Simply put, a sales funnel builder software is a tool that businesses use to create and visualize their complete marketing and sales journey which immensely helps to automate and convert the user who never heard about you into paying customers.

Benefits of Sales Funnel Builder Software (Why Use It?)

For businesses looking to ease their sales processes and maximize conversions, sales funnel builder software is going to be your best buddy. Take a look at some of the key benefits:

1. Lead Nurturing

Sales funnel builder software can facilitate lead nurturing by automating follow-up sequences, delivering targeted content, and engaging prospects at various stages of the sales funnel.

This helps businesses build relationships with leads over time, increasing the likelihood of conversion.

2. Effectiveness

Sales funnel builders provide valuable data and analytics, allowing you to understand how well your course advertising is going.

You can monitor metrics such as click-through rates and conversion rates to determine where your funnel may be losing potential students.

This data-driven strategy enables you to improve your funnel, ensuring that you're targeting the proper audience and expanding the reach of your course.

3. Visual Representation

Sales funnel builders make sales funnels easier to understand by visualizing the entire student journey.

Drag-and-drop interfaces let you examine the connections and flow of every stage, from awareness to purchase.

Because of the clear visuals, it's simpler to identify potential bottlenecks and adjust your material for each stage. It guarantees a quick and easy route to course success, much like having a roadmap for student enrolment.

What Features To Look Out For In Sales Funnel Software?

Sales funnel software can be a powerful tool to streamline your sales process and boost conversions. Here are some key features to look for:

Different Types Of Lead Magnets In The Awareness Stage

Not all leads are created equal.  You should have access to a variety of lead magnet choices from a quality sales funnel builder to accommodate varying audience tastes.

Free trials as well as checklists, webinars, whitepapers, and ebooks can all fall under this category.

1. Design & Deliver Beautiful Emails

First impressions count, and this also applies to emails. Look for software with a simple drag-and-drop editor that allows you to write professional, on-brand emails. Robust deliverability is also essential to ensure that your emails get in inboxes rather than spam folders.

2. Segment & Automate Lead Nurture

Not all leads are ready to buy at once. A powerful sales funnel builder will enable you to segment your leads based on interests and behavior.

This allows for targeted email sequences that nurture leads with relevant content, pushing them gently down the sales funnel.

3. Conversion-Optimized Checkout System

A clunky checkout process can be the final hurdle that loses a potential customer. Choose a sales funnel builder with a smooth, secure, and optimized checkout system.

This includes features like one-click purchases, guest checkout options, and integration with popular payment gateways.

5 Sales Funnel Builders For You (Our Recommendation)

1. Freshlearn

Freshlearn is an all-in-one course creation platform that goes beyond just creating courses. It can act as a complete sales funnel builder for course creators. Its sales page builder allows you to design high-converting landing pages.

By showcasing course benefits, incorporating testimonials, and including clear calls to action, you can seamlessly guide potential students through the sales funnel, turning their initial interest into a paid enrollment.

Key features

• Sales page builder: Craft stunning sales pages effortlessly with FreshLearn's intuitive page builder. No coding knowledge is required. Choose your template, personalize your content, and watch your pages come to life in minutes.
• Drag-and-drop Editor: Experience the simplicity of Lego-like building blocks. The drag-and-drop editor allows you to effortlessly stack and rearrange content blocks with a few clicks, streamlining modular page design.
• Pre-built themes: Select from a curated collection of pre-built themes, meticulously designed for optimal conversion rates and seamless accessibility across various devices.
• Tailored checkout experience: Enhance learner engagement with a tailored checkout experience. FreshLearn's sales page builder includes unique features crafted to streamline payments and enrollment, ensuring a seamless journey for your learners.

Pricing

• Free: $0/mo
• Pro: $29/mo
• No Brainer: $49/mo

2. Clickfunnels

ClickFunnels is a user-friendly platform designed especially for entrepreneurs with no coding experience. It makes your sales funnel process easier, helping you build your email list, nurture leads, make sales, and much more.

Key features

• Templates: ClickFunnels offers a large library of pre-designed templates for different sales funnel types, such as sales funnels, product launch funnels, and membership funnels. This can save you a lot of time and effort
• Drag-and-drop editor: The ClickFunnels editor is easy to use, even for those with no coding experience. You can simply drag and drop elements onto your pages to create your funnel.
• Landing pages, email marketing, and webinars: Additionally, ClickFunnels comes with built-in capabilities for creating webinars, email marketing campaigns, and landing sites. You can put everything in one location and arrange your marketing efforts much more effectively.
• Integrations: ClickFunnels integrates with a wide range of other marketing tools and services. This can make it easier to connect your sales funnels with other parts of your marketing automation.

Pricing

• Basic: $127/mo
• Pro: $157/mo
• Funnel Hacker: $208/mo

3. Leadpages

Leadpages is the ultimate solution for boosting your conversions effortlessly. With a platform that outperforms the industry average by fivefold, Leadpages makes it simple to promote your products, connect with new customers, and gain invaluable insights from seasoned marketing professionals.

Key features

• Landing Page Builder: At its core, Leadpages excels at creating landing pages, which are crucial building blocks in any sales funnel. Their drag-and-drop interface and library of professionally designed templates make it easy to build attractive and high-converting pages for different stages of your funnel.
• Conversion Tools: Leadpages goes beyond basic page building by offering features specifically designed to boost conversions. This includes pop-up forms, alert bars, and integrations with various payment gateways, making it easy to collect leads and payments directly through your landing pages.
• Integrations: Leadpages integrates with many popular email marketing platforms, allowing you to seamlessly move captured leads into your nurturing campaigns. This is essential for building relationships and guiding them further down the sales funnel.
• Simple Funnel Building: While Leadpages doesn't offer a fully-fledged funnel builder like ClickFunnels, you can create a basic funnel by linking landing pages together.

Pricing

• Standard: $ 37/ mo
• Pro: $74/ mo
• Advanced: Contact the team

4. Hubspot

HubSpot is more than just CRM software; it's a versatile tool for building and managing your sales funnel. With features like detailed contact insights, lead scoring, and document tracking, it offers a holistic view of your sales pipeline.

Plus, you can easily set up lifecycle stages and tag leads based on their interests and buying journey stages. It's the ultimate solution for optimizing your sales process.

Key features

• Landing page builder:  Create high-converting landing pages to capture leads at the top of your funnel.  HubSpot's landing page builder allows for easy drag-and-drop design with no coding required.
• Forms and popups:  Design engaging forms and popups to collect contact information from visitors.  HubSpot integrates seamlessly with your CRM, allowing you to automatically add leads to your funnel.
• Email marketing:  Nurture leads with targeted email campaigns throughout the sales funnel.  HubSpot offers a robust email marketing platform with automation features to personalize your outreach.
• Reporting and analytics: Track the effectiveness of your sales funnel with detailed reports and analytics.  HubSpot provides insights on conversion rates at each stage, allowing you to identify areas for improvement.

Pricing

• Professional: $90/mo/seat
• Enterprise: $150/mo/seat

5. Kartra

Kartra positions itself as an all-in-one marketing platform that caters specifically to building and managing sales funnels.

It promises to streamline the process by offering a comprehensive suite of tools under one roof, eliminating the need to cobble together functionalities from various disconnected platforms.

Key features

Drag-and-Drop Editing:  Kartra features a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, making it easy to visually design landing pages, opt-in forms, and other crucial funnel components, even for beginners with no coding experience.

Pre-designed Templates: To jumpstart the creation process, Kartra offers a library of professionally designed templates that cater to various industries and marketing goals.

Automation Engine:  A key strength of Kartra is its marketing automation engine. This allows you to create automated email sequences, tag leads based on their behavior, and trigger specific actions throughout the sales funnel, nurturing leads and driving conversions.

Integrated Elements: Kartra integrates various functionalities crucial for a well-rounded sales funnel. This includes tools for email marketing, membership sites, product sales, video hosting, and even appointment scheduling, all accessible within the same platform.

Funnel Visualization: Kartra provides a funnel mapper that lets you visually map out your sales funnel, giving you a clear overview of the customer journey and making it easier to identify potential bottlenecks.

Analytics and Tracking: To measure your success and optimize your funnels, Kartra offers built-in analytics that tracks key metrics such as conversion rates, open rates, and click-through rates.

Pricing

• Starter: $119/mo
• Growth: $229/mo
• Professional: $549/mo

Final Verdict

Now you're equipped with the knowledge of sales funnels and our top picks for sales funnel builder software. The right tool is out there to streamline your sales process and convert leads into customers.

Freshlearn stands out for its user-friendly sales page builder, jam-packed with features, all at an affordable price.

Don't wait to see the difference Freshlearn can make in your business - Sign up for your free trial today and experience the power of effective sales funnels firsthand!

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