What is a sales funnel?

All you need to know about Marketing Funnels

Online Marketing is all about funnels nowadays. But do you even know what that is?

Definition of a Marketing Funnel

This is no rocket science really...

Marketing is all about getting people to achieve a specific task.

That task is often buying something, but not always. You can use a funnel to merely get people to sign up (optin) to your email list.

Or you can use a funnel to get people to attend a webinar.

Now, why a 'funnel'?

Well, a funnel's function is to direct a flow from its wide end to a specific location through its narrow end.

In the Internet Marketing world, the funnels entrance, the wide end, is usually a sign up page, also called a landing page or a squeeze page. Its goal is to attract a maximum of people.

The funnel's exit, the narrow end, is usually a web page that delivers to people what they were promised when they entered the funnel.

It can be the web page hosting a webinar, a download page for a free PDF report or ebook, or a product delivery page in the case of a sales or launch funnel.

Of course, as you understand, the flow that passes through a web-based marketing funnel is composed of people, visitors, internet traffic.

FYI, as soon as someone enters a marketing funnel, he usually is called a 'lead'.

At this point, he is normally registered on an email list, since internet marketing funnels are (and should be) coupled with autoresponders.

Coupling your funnel with an autoresponder prevents you from having to work too much to direct the people from the funnel's entrance to its exit.

Of course, if the goal you seek is to have people attend a live webinar, you will have to host it!

But for most other funnels, it can be pretty much all automatic:
The people you will have signed up on the first page of your funnel will be automatically directed to all the pages until reaching the exit, most often via emails sent automatically by your autoresponder.

These emails are called 'autoresponses', or 'follow-ups'.

So, let's see what kind of funnel you can set up, and why you would choose one or the other...

Different types of Marketing Funnels

To try and break things down to their simplest form, I'd say there are 2 main types of funnels:

1. Simple funnels
2. Complex funnels

Don't get scared about the term 'complex', we're still not talking about rocket science! ;)

Simple funnels

Simple funnels are usually composed of only 2, sometimes 3, web pages.
For example, for an optin funnel, you will have:

• A landing page
• A thank you page.

Sometimes, depending on your 'lead capture' system (simple optin or double optin), you may want to add a page in between the landing and thank you pages.

When you're using a double optin lead capture system, visitors who have filled the optin form on your landing page will have to confirm they subscription to your email list by clicking a link in an email before they really become  your leads.

The extra page you want to add between the landing and the thank you page in that case is a page that tells the visitor to go and check his inbox and click the confirmation link before he can access the thank you page.

Of you're using a simple optin system, the visitor is taken straight to the thank you page after having filled the optin form on your landing page.

Now, if you're completely new to internet marketing, you might be wondering:

"Why on earth would someone want to reach a page that just says 'thank you' anyway???".

Well, a thank you page isn't just there to say "thank you!".

It is usually used as a delivery page really.

When you sign up to an email list, you usually do it for a good reason.
For example because you want something that has been promised to you on the landing page, like a free ebook.

The landing page is where you can download the ebook.

From the marketers point of view, you thank the visitor for giving you his email address by giving him something for free.

That gift is called a 'lead-magnet'.

You can see an example of a simple funnel by clicking here.

Of course, a simple funnel doesn't have to be only an optin funnel.

You can have a short sales funnel for example, without any lead capture.
This is how it was done a few years ago: a sales page, an order page and a product delivery page.

Or you can have a webinar registration process as a short and simple funnel: a registration page and a webinar hosting page.

Complex funnels

As you will have understood, complex funnels are only 'complex' because they are longer than simple funnels. They hold more web pages.

A typical complex funnel would be a launch funnel.

Usually, it is composed of:

1. A landing page
2. A first free 'pre-launch content' video
3. A second free 'pre-launch content' video
4. A third free 'pre-launch content' video
5. A sales (launch) video on a sales page
6. An order page
7. A product delivery page

A simple optin lead capture system is often used in a launch funnel, and the first free video is on the sign-up thank you page, in order to reduce the 'friction' caused by too many pages without 'valuable' content.

Visitors will 'travel' several days through such a funnel.
For example, the pre-launch videos can be spread out over a full week, and the sales period can also last an entire week, with a countdown timer showing on the sales video page.

Of course, this is what is usually used, but it is possible to build funnels exactly how you want, with as many pages as you want.
You could add a webinar page to this funnel for instance. That webinar page would also by linked to the two last pages of the funnel (order and delivery) if the webinar is held during the sales period.

The types of marketing funnels, either single or complex, you are most likely to come across on the internet are:

• Optin funnels
• Sales funnels
• Webinar funnels
• Launch funnels

Build your own Funnel!

You know the basics about internet marketing funnels now, and that is a powerful way of attracting and capturing leads, and selling products.

So why not try building your own funnel?

You don't need to have your own product to sell to start making money.
You can sell other people's products as an affiliate, and save some time and energy.
As a matter of fact, you could have a automatic money making system running by this time tomorrow!

If you want to know more, you can download a free guide by clicking the image below:

And if you're looking for a tool to easily and quickly build your own funnel, you can try Clickfunnels.

It's really simple to use, and you can sign up for a free account here:

Want to know more about Clickfunnels? Watch this demo:

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