In the current online business landscape, turning prospects into buyers is the ultimate goal for all internet companies. This is where sales funnel software comes into play, and ClickFunnels positions itself as one of the most established names in this industry.
Founded by Russell Brunson in 2014, ClickFunnels has transformed the way marketers and organizations manage online sales, working to enhance the conversion path from discovery to conversion.
But is ClickFunnels a good value? Does it meet its expectations? Whether you’re a experienced business owner or launching your first venture, this in-depth review will provide you with all the insights you need to make an well-informed choice about ClickFunnels.
Defining ClickFunnels?
ClickFunnels is an complete marketing platform developed to help businesses develop optimized sales funnels without calling for technical expertise or a team of developers. At its center, ClickFunnels allows users to design landing pages, produce email sequences, handle payments, and supervise customer relationships-all within a integrated platform.
The Principle of Sales Funnels
Prior to diving deeper into ClickFunnels, it’s crucial to understand what a sales funnel is. A sales funnel symbolizes the route customers go through from initially discovering your product or service to making a purchase.
It typically includes stages like exposure, engagement, evaluation, and transaction.
Conventional sites are often built without a structured journey for visitors to follow. This can lead to high bounce rates and squandered potential customers. Sales funnels, alternatively, are strategically designed to navigate visitors through a established path, increasing the likelihood of results at each step.
ClickFunnels’ Methodology
ClickFunnels has reduced complexity in the process of creating these funnels with its intuitive editor and pre-built templates. The platform’s strategy centers around not just constructing web pages but creating impactful conversion paths that convert visitors into customers and customers into repeat buyers.
Key Features of ClickFunnels
1. Funnel Development Tool
The core of ClickFunnels is its straightforward funnel builder. Users can opt for a variety of funnel types, including:
- Opt-in funnels: Created to collect email addresses
- Sales funnels: For retailing products or services
- Webinar funnels: To market and register users for webinars
- Membership funnels: For recurring products
The user-friendly interface makes it straightforward to add parts like text, images, videos, forms, and buttons without writing a single line of code.
2. Pre-designed Templates
ClickFunnels features over many pre-designed templates for multiple industries and purposes. These templates, created by marketing experts, are engineered for sales and can be modified to match your brand.
3. Split Testing
Understanding what resonates with your audience is crucial for increasing conversions. ClickFunnels’ A/B testing function allows you to design multiple versions of your pages and compare different elements to see which delivers better results.
4. Email Campaigns
ClickFunnels integrates email marketing capabilities, allowing you to design automated email sequences started by specific actions. This feature helps cultivate leads and direct them further down the sales funnel.
5. Payment Processing
The platform easily integrates with payment processors like Stripe, PayPal, and others, empowering you to accept payments straight through your funnels without transferring customers to external sites.
6. Membership Areas
For professionals selling courses or subscription content, ClickFunnels provides the ability to create protected membership areas where customers can access special content.
7. Performance Tracking
ClickFunnels delivers thorough analytics on funnel success, including page views, conversions, and earnings. These insights help users improve their funnels for greater results.
8. Commission Management
If you have an affiliate program, ClickFunnels makes it straightforward to manage your affiliates, analyze their performance, and handle commission payments.
ClickFunnels 2.0: The Next Generation
In 2022, ClickFunnels released its most substantial update: ClickFunnels 2.0. This new version embodies a complete overhaul of the platform with enhanced features and capabilities.
Improvements in 2.0?
- Improved Website Builder: A more sophisticated website builder that allows for entire website creation, not just funnels
- Expanded E-commerce Capabilities: Better product management, inventory tracking, and order fulfillment
- Blog Creation: The ability to build and administer a blog directly within ClickFunnels
- Improved Customization: More options in design and functionality
- Upgraded User Interface: A more elegant dashboard and editor
- Loading Time Upgrades: Faster page loading times and better mobile responsiveness
- Advanced CRM Features: More sophisticated customer relationship management tools
The upgrade to 2.0 tackles many of the constraints users experienced with the original version, making it a more comprehensive marketing solution.
Price Plans
ClickFunnels includes different pricing tiers to support businesses of various sizes:
Standard Plan
The Basic plan (now called the “Standard” plan in ClickFunnels 2.0) runs $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
Advanced 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
Funnel Hacker Plan
For $997 per month, the Funnel Hacker plan features:
- 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 assess the platform before paying financially.
The Perks of Using ClickFunnels
1. Unified Solution
Perhaps the largest advantage of ClickFunnels is that it unifies multiple tools into one platform. Instead of switching between different services for landing pages, email marketing, payment processing, and membership sites, users can handle all these aspects in one place.
2. No Programming Expertise Required
The platform’s drag-and-drop interface does away with the need for coding or design skills. This opens up the funnel-building process, making it accessible to entrepreneurs without technical backgrounds.
3. Fast Implementation
With ready-made templates and a smooth workflow, ClickFunnels significantly decreases the time needed to release a marketing campaign. What might take weeks with custom development can be accomplished in days or even hours.
4. Help Resources
ClickFunnels has fostered a vibrant community of users who offer 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. Validated Conversion Frameworks
The templates and funnel structures within ClickFunnels are based on proven marketing principles and tested conversion strategies. This means users take advantage of established best practices rather than building from zero.
6. Learning Materials
Beyond the software itself, ClickFunnels offers a collection of educational resources. Russell Brunson’s books, such as “DotCom Secrets” and “Expert Secrets,” provide insightful marketing insights, while the ClickFunnels training programs offer systematic learning opportunities.
Weaknesses and Drawbacks
Despite its many merits, ClickFunnels isn’t without limitations:
1. Price Point
Starting at $147 per month, ClickFunnels represents a considerable investment, especially for solopreneurs or startups with limited budgets. Many competitors offer more inexpensive 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 intimidated by the platform’s capabilities.
3. Restricted Design Flexibility
Though the point-and-click editor is effective, designers accustomed to more advanced tools might find it confining. The balance between simplicity and flexibility sometimes prioritizes the former.
4. Page Performance
Prior to 2.0, some users reported problems with page loading speed, which can reduce SEO and user experience. While ClickFunnels 2.0 has improved performance, optimizing for speed calls for attention.
5. Email Marketing Constraints
While ClickFunnels offers email marketing features, they’re not as comprehensive as dedicated email marketing platforms. Power users might still need additional tools for high-level email campaigns.
ClickFunnels Contenders: How They Compare
The sales funnel and landing page builder market has become increasingly crowded. Here’s how ClickFunnels fares against its main competitors:
1. Kartra
Strengths relative to ClickFunnels:
- More thorough marketing automation
- Built-in video hosting and advanced video marketing features
- More sophisticated email marketing capabilities
- Helpdesk and ticket system included
Shortcomings:
- Steeper learning curve
- Fewer templates specifically optimized for sales funnels
- Less active community
2. Leadpages
Strengths:
- More cost-effective entry point ($37/month)
- Strong focus on lead generation
- Excellent mobile-responsive designs
- Solid WordPress integration
Shortcomings:
- Less full-featured than ClickFunnels (primarily focuses on landing pages)
- Limited checkout and payment processing options
- No built-in email marketing
3. Unbounce
Benefits:
- Advanced A/B testing capabilities
- Highly customizable design options
- Strong analytics and conversion intelligence
- More affordable starting point
Disadvantages:
- Primarily focused on landing pages rather than complete funnels
- No built-in payment processing
- Less intuitive for non-technical users
4. Systeme.io
Advantages:
- Significantly more budget-friendly (starting at $27/month, with a free plan available)
- All-in-one solution similar to ClickFunnels
- Simple, intuitive interface
Disadvantages:
- Fewer templates and design options
- Less powerful feature set
- Smaller community and fewer educational resources
5. Instapage
Advantages:
- 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 cost-effective 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 Is Ideal For ClickFunnels?
ClickFunnels is particularly appropriate for:
1. Online Course 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 effortless to deliver content to paying customers.
2. Internet Retail Businesses
With ClickFunnels 2.0’s enhanced e-commerce features, online retailers can create effective product funnels that increase average order value through upsells, downsells, and order bumps.
3. B2B Service Businesses
Experts, agencies, and service providers can use ClickFunnels to produce leads, book appointments, and sell service packages without complex website development.
4. Partnership Marketers
The platform’s optimization for conversions makes it excellent for affiliate marketers looking to maximize their commissions from promotional campaigns.
5. Publishers and Content Creators
ClickFunnels provides effective book funnel templates that help authors distribute books while collecting reader information for long-term relationship building.
6. Technically Challenged Entrepreneurs
Those without coding or design skills will enjoy ClickFunnels’ intuitive interface and pre-built templates.
Who May Not Be Ideal Elsewhere?
ClickFunnels may not be the perfect match for:
1. New Ventures with Limited Budgets
The monthly investment might be costly for businesses just starting out or with tight marketing budgets.
2. Publishing-Oriented Websites
Businesses that rely heavily on blog content and SEO might find traditional CMS platforms like WordPress more fitting, though ClickFunnels 2.0 has made improvements in this area.
3. Design Experts Seeking Complete Creative Control
Those who require flawless designs and extensive customization might prefer platforms with more design flexibility.
4. Multinational Businesses with Complex Requirements
Very large organizations with complex integration needs and custom requirements might need more tailored solutions.
Beginning Your Journey with ClickFunnels: Tips for Success
If you decide to try ClickFunnels, here are some tips to maximize your experience:
1. Start with the Right Funnel Type
Choose a funnel template that fits your specific goal, whether it’s lead generation, product sales, or webinar registration.
2. Focus on One Funnel at a Time
Rather than trying to build multiple funnels simultaneously, focus on creating and optimizing one performing 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. Become part of the Community
The ClickFunnels Facebook group provides useful insights and support from fellow users who can help address issues or suggest optimization strategies.
5. Experiment and Optimize
Use the A/B testing features to persistently refine your funnels based on actual user behavior and conversion data.
6. Start with Pre-built Templates
Rather than building from scratch, alter existing high-converting templates to match your brand and offering.
Summary: Is ClickFunnels Worth It?
ClickFunnels represents a important investment, but for many businesses, the benefit on that investment can be significant. The platform’s strength lies in its ability to uncomplicate the complex process of creating effective sales funnels while providing the tools needed to develop leads and convert customers.
The decision ultimately rests on your specific business needs, technical comfort level, and budget. If you’re dedicated to optimizing your online sales process and desire an all-in-one solution that doesn’t require technical expertise, ClickFunnels offers a attractive package-especially with the advanced capabilities of ClickFunnels 2.0.
For businesses that can handle the monthly subscription and are serious about 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, tackling previous limitations and increasing its capabilities to serve a broader range of marketing needs.
Whether you’re selling e-products, tangible products, or services, ClickFunnels offers a simplified path from stranger to customer-and that, for many businesses, is justified for the investment.