In today’s internet-driven economy, moving leads to sales is the primary objective for every digital enterprise. This is where customer journey software proves valuable, and ClickFunnels exists as one of the most prominent names in this field.
Started by Russell Brunson in 2014, ClickFunnels has revolutionized the way companies and business owners handle online sales, working to enhance the customer journey from initial interest to checkout.
But is ClickFunnels worth pursuing? Does it meet its promises? Whether you’re a established entrepreneur or building your business from scratch, this complete review will provide you with everything you need to make an calculated decision about ClickFunnels.
All About ClickFunnels?
ClickFunnels is an all-in-one marketing platform developed to help businesses build optimized sales funnels without demanding technical expertise or a team of developers. At its essence, ClickFunnels allows users to construct landing pages, establish email sequences, facilitate payments, and supervise customer relationships-all within a centralized platform.
The Idea of Sales Funnels
Preceding diving deeper into ClickFunnels, it’s crucial to understand what a sales funnel is. A sales funnel shows the progression customers go through from becoming aware of your product or service to completing a transaction.
It typically includes steps like exposure, attention, decision, and conversion.
Standard websites are often built without a structured journey for visitors to follow. This can create high bounce rates and missed potential customers. Sales funnels, by contrast, are purposefully created to navigate visitors through a established path, enhancing the likelihood of sales at each step.
ClickFunnels’ Approach
ClickFunnels has made easier the process of creating these funnels with its intuitive editor and ready-to-use templates. The platform’s strategy centers around not just creating web pages but creating successful conversion paths that convert visitors into customers and customers into brand ambassadors.
Key Features of ClickFunnels
1. Funnel Builder
The foundation of ClickFunnels is its user-friendly funnel builder. Users can select a variety of funnel types, including:
- Opt-in funnels: Built to collect email addresses
- Sales funnels: For marketing products or services
- Webinar funnels: To advertise and register users for webinars
- Membership funnels: For subscription-based products
The user-friendly interface makes it effortless to add items like text, images, videos, forms, and buttons without writing a single line of code.
2. Pre-designed Templates
ClickFunnels provides over numerous pre-designed templates for numerous industries and purposes. These templates, crafted by experienced designers, are optimized for results and can be tailored to match your brand.
3. A/B Testing
Knowing what connects with your audience is crucial for enhancing conversions. ClickFunnels’ A/B testing feature allows you to develop multiple versions of your pages and evaluate different elements to see which works best.
4. Email Sequences
ClickFunnels features email marketing capabilities, allowing you to create automated email sequences initiated by specific actions. This feature helps develop leads and push them further down the sales funnel.
5. Payment Integration
The platform effortlessly integrates with payment processors like various payment gateways, enabling you to accept payments straight through your funnels without shifting customers to external sites.
6. Member Sections
For entrepreneurs selling courses or subscription content, ClickFunnels includes the ability to create protected membership areas where clients can access exclusive content.
7. Performance Tracking
ClickFunnels provides detailed analytics on funnel effectiveness, including page views, conversions, and earnings. These metrics help users enhance their funnels for better results.
8. Partner Program Tools
If you have an affiliate program, ClickFunnels makes it straightforward to handle your affiliates, analyze their performance, and handle commission payments.
ClickFunnels 2.0: The Improvement
In 2022, ClickFunnels released its most major update: ClickFunnels 2.0. This new version represents a complete revamp of the platform with expanded features and capabilities.
Enhancements in 2.0?
- Enhanced Website Builder: A more sophisticated website builder that allows for total website creation, not just funnels
- Upgraded E-commerce Capabilities: Better product management, inventory tracking, and order fulfillment
- Blog Creation: The ability to produce and maintain a blog directly within ClickFunnels
- Advanced Customization: More flexibility in design and functionality
- Upgraded User Interface: A more intuitive dashboard and editor
- Technical Improvements: Faster page loading times and better mobile responsiveness
- Advanced CRM Features: More capable customer relationship management tools
The upgrade to 2.0 fixes many of the weaknesses users experienced with the original version, making it a more complete marketing solution.
Membership Levels
ClickFunnels provides different pricing tiers to support businesses of various sizes:
Basic Plan
The Basic plan (now called the “Standard” plan in ClickFunnels 2.0) costs $147 per month and includes:
- Up to 20 funnels
- Up to 100 pages
- 3 payment gateways
- 3 domains
- 1 admin user
- Email automation
- Basic analytics
Premium Plan
At $197 per month, the Pro plan includes:
- Unlimited funnels
- Unlimited pages
- 9 payment gateways
- 9 domains
- 3 admin users
- Advanced automation
- Enhanced analytics
Enterprise Plan
For $997 per month, the Funnel Hacker plan contains:
- All Pro features
- Unlimited funnels and pages
- 27 payment gateways
- 27 domains
- 15 admin users
- Priority support
- Advanced API access
- Advanced training
All plans typically include a 14-day free trial, allowing users to evaluate the platform before subscribing financially.
The Positives of Using ClickFunnels
1. Unified Solution
Perhaps the largest advantage of ClickFunnels is that it consolidates multiple tools into one platform. Instead of coordinating different services for landing pages, email marketing, payment processing, and membership sites, users can manage all these aspects in one place.
2. No Technical Skills Required
The platform’s user-friendly interface takes away the need for coding or design skills. This simplifies the funnel-building process, making it usable to entrepreneurs without technical backgrounds.
3. Time Efficiency
With template templates and a simplified workflow, ClickFunnels significantly reduces the time needed to launch a marketing campaign. What might take weeks with custom development can be accomplished in days or even hours.
4. Help Resources
ClickFunnels has developed a vibrant community of users who share strategies, successes, and advice. The official ClickFunnels Facebook group has over 250,000 members, creating a helpful resource for marketers at all levels. Additionally, the platform offers complete documentation, tutorials, and responsive customer support.
5. Established Conversion Frameworks
The templates and funnel structures within ClickFunnels are derived from proven marketing principles and tested conversion strategies. This means users leverage established best practices rather than working from nothing.
6. Instructional Assets
Beyond the software itself, ClickFunnels offers a wealth of educational resources. Russell Brunson’s books, such as “DotCom Secrets” and “Expert Secrets,” provide helpful marketing insights, while the ClickFunnels training programs offer systematic learning opportunities.
Drawbacks and Drawbacks
Despite its many advantages, ClickFunnels isn’t without limitations:
1. Expense
Starting at $147 per month, ClickFunnels represents a major investment, especially for individual entrepreneurs or startups with limited budgets. Many competitors offer more cost-effective entry-level options.
2. Learning Process
While designed to be accessible, mastering all of ClickFunnels’ features and understanding funnel strategy requires time and dedication. New users might feel overwhelmed by the platform’s capabilities.
3. Limited Design Flexibility
Though the visual editor is effective, designers accustomed to more advanced tools might find it inflexible. The balance between simplicity and flexibility sometimes emphasizes the former.
4. Page Load Time
Prior to 2.0, some users reported difficulties with page loading speed, which can negatively impact SEO and user experience. While ClickFunnels 2.0 has improved performance, optimizing for speed needs attention.
5. Email Marketing Boundaries
While ClickFunnels offers email marketing features, they’re not as advanced as dedicated email marketing platforms. Power users might still need additional tools for sophisticated email campaigns.
ClickFunnels Competition: How They Compare
The sales funnel and landing page builder market has become increasingly competitive. Here’s how ClickFunnels stacks up against its main competitors:
1. Kartra
Strengths relative to ClickFunnels:
- More all-encompassing marketing automation
- Built-in video hosting and advanced video marketing features
- More capable email marketing capabilities
- Helpdesk and ticket system included
Limitations:
- Steeper learning curve
- Fewer templates specifically optimized for sales funnels
- Less active community
2. Leadpages
Benefits:
- More economical entry point ($37/month)
- Strong focus on lead generation
- Excellent mobile-responsive designs
- Solid WordPress integration
Limitations:
- Less comprehensive than ClickFunnels (primarily focuses on landing pages)
- Limited checkout and payment processing options
- No built-in email marketing
3. Unbounce
Positives:
- Advanced A/B testing capabilities
- Highly customizable design options
- Strong analytics and conversion intelligence
- More affordable starting point
Shortcomings:
- Primarily focused on landing pages rather than complete funnels
- No built-in payment processing
- Less user-friendly for non-technical users
4. Systeme.io
Positives:
- Significantly more cost-effective (starting at $27/month, with a free plan available)
- All-in-one solution similar to ClickFunnels
- Simple, intuitive interface
Weaknesses:
- Fewer templates and design options
- Less advanced feature set
- Smaller community and fewer educational resources
5. Instapage
Positives:
- Superior design flexibility and customization
- Advanced collaboration features
- Excellent analytics and heatmaps
- Strong AdWords and Facebook Ads integration
Disadvantages:
- Higher price point (starting at $149/month)
- Focus on landing pages rather than complete funnels
- No built-in payment processing
6. WordPress + Plugins (DIY Approach)
Strong points:
- Most affordable option if you already have WordPress
- Ultimate flexibility and customization
- Complete ownership and control
- One-time purchases versus subscription model
Shortcomings:
- Requires technical knowledge to set up and maintain
- Multiple plugins may cause compatibility issues
- No unified support system
- Time-intensive to implement and manage
Who Should Use ClickFunnels?
ClickFunnels is particularly well-suited for:
1. Information Product Creators and Coaches
The platform excels at creating sales funnels for digital products like courses, coaching programs, and membership sites. The built-in membership functionality makes it convenient to deliver content to paying customers.
2. Digital Sales Businesses
With ClickFunnels 2.0’s improved e-commerce features, online retailers can create effective product funnels that enhance average order value through upsells, downsells, and order bumps.
3. Professional Services Businesses
Professionals, agencies, and service providers can use ClickFunnels to acquire leads, book appointments, and sell service packages without complex website development.
4. Commission Marketers
The platform’s optimization for conversions makes it suitable for affiliate marketers looking to enhance their commissions from promotional campaigns.
5. Authors and Content Creators
ClickFunnels provides effective book funnel templates that help authors sell books while securing reader information for long-term relationship building.
6. Design-Inexperienced Entrepreneurs
Those without coding or design skills will appreciate ClickFunnels’ intuitive interface and pre-built templates.
Who Should Explore Other Options Elsewhere?
ClickFunnels may not be the right option for:
1. New Ventures with Limited Budgets
The monthly investment might be excessive for businesses just starting out or with tight marketing budgets.
2. Blog-Focused Websites
Businesses that rely heavily on blog content and SEO might find traditional CMS platforms like WordPress more beneficial, though ClickFunnels 2.0 has made improvements in this area.
3. Advanced Designers Seeking Complete Creative Control
Those who require precise designs and extensive customization might prefer platforms with more design flexibility.
4. Enterprise-Level Businesses with Complex Requirements
Very large organizations with complex integration needs and custom requirements might need more dedicated solutions.
Beginning Your Journey with ClickFunnels: Tips for Success
If you decide to try ClickFunnels, here are some tips to increase your experience:
1. Start with the Right Funnel Type
Pick a funnel template that suits your specific goal, whether it’s lead generation, product sales, or webinar registration.
2. Concentrate on One Funnel at a Time
Rather than trying to build multiple funnels simultaneously, focus on creating and optimizing one converting funnel before moving on to the next.
3. Use the Training Resources
Take advantage of the detailed training materials, including ClickFunnels’ onboarding sequence and the FunnelFlix training library.
4. Join the Community
The ClickFunnels Facebook group provides valuable insights and support from fellow users who can help troubleshoot issues or suggest optimization strategies.
5. Test and Optimize
Use the A/B testing features to constantly refine your funnels based on actual user behavior and conversion data.
6. Start with Pre-built Templates
Rather than building from scratch, adapt existing high-converting templates to match your brand and offering.
Summary: Is ClickFunnels Worth It?
ClickFunnels represents a significant investment, but for many businesses, the benefit on that investment can be significant. The platform’s strength lies in its ability to simplify the complex process of creating effective sales funnels while providing the tools needed to grow leads and convert customers.
The decision ultimately revolves around your specific business needs, technical comfort level, and budget. If you’re committed to optimizing your online sales process and prioritize an all-in-one solution that doesn’t require technical expertise, ClickFunnels offers a persuasive package-especially with the improved capabilities of ClickFunnels 2.0.
For businesses that can budget for the monthly subscription and are dedicated to implementing effective sales funnels, ClickFunnels provides both the tools and the strategic framework to excel in today’s competitive digital landscape. The platform keeps evolve, solving previous limitations and expanding its capabilities to serve a broader range of marketing needs.
Whether you’re selling online courses, items, or consulting, ClickFunnels offers a efficient path from stranger to customer-and that, for many businesses, is worth the investment.