Ensuring you have an effective sales funnel is a critical part of getting the most out of your business. While it is possible to build one yourself, having technological help can help take your sales funnels – and your marketing efforts – to the next level.
However, to do so, you’ll first need to choose the right sales funnel builder software.
What is a Sales Funnel?
Before you can start choosing a sales funnel software, you first need to understand exactly what a sales funnel is.
A sales funnel is essentially a visual depiction of the steps that a person needs to take in order to become a customer for a given business. Each business has its own sales funnel, which is unique to their brand and the type of business they run. For example, the sales funnel for a brick-and-mortar retail store would include a customer deciding to enter the storefront, while the funnel for an online business would be different.
There are four steps to a basic sales funnel. Let’s consider an example to see how they work:
- Awareness: You create an Instagram ment for your online store, which creates awareness of your business.
- Interest: You offer them a discount on their first sale, which makes them interested in your store.
- Decision: Your website includes relevant information, such as product descriptions and the benefits of making a purchase from your store. This allows your potential customer to reach a decision about purchasing from you.
- Action: The combination of the discount and the relevant information leads to the customer making a purchase.
Why Are Sales Funnels Useful?
A sales funnel is important because it clearly maps out the part your customers take in order to purchase from your store. Once you understand your funnel’s capabilities, you can start examining it for holes. Once you find these holes, you can take the necessary steps to fix them.
Without understanding your sales funnel, you will not be able to optimize it. With a clear understanding of your funnel, you can identify where you see prospect drop-off and fix it.
For example, consider the funnel mentioned above. You may find that you’re losing a significant number of potential customers in step two, the interest phase.
At this point, you can go back to the way you’re attempting to grab people’s interests – in this case, a discount code – and re-evaluate it. Is the discount too low? Are people more interested in another form of incentive, such as free shipping?
Once you know the answer to these questions, you can fix the issue. However, without understanding your sales funnel, you wouldn’t have known which questions to ask and wouldn’t have been able to fix the funnel.
Choosing a Sales Funnel Builder Software
A sales funnel builder helps you create this funnel by creating landing pages designed to help turn prospective customers into actual customers. One example of a sales funnel builder is an email marketing service, which provides you with complete control over how emails are sent and what data is collected. You start by creating the email, which helps you build awareness and interest, and use the rest of the mail to send product details.
These services also include checkout pages so that they can guide customers through the entire sales funnel. Finally, they collect customer statistics such as open rates, so you can determine how effective the funnel was.
That said, this is only one type of funnel builder. Many funnel-building software includes a variety of funnels, including website builders, video editors, SMS marketing software, and more.
When choosing a sales funnel builder software, here are some factors you should keep in mind:
Funnels
How many funnels does the software allow you to access? Some software offers unlimited funnels, while others limit the number you can use and the number of visitors you can analyze with the help of the software. The greater the number of funnels available, the more valuable software is to your business.
Custom Domain
Can you create a custom webpage for your store? The last thing you want is another business’s name included on your official website. If you have the ability to create custom domains, you don’t have to worry about this concern.
Testing
Does the software provide you with the capability to test your sales funnel? Testing the funnel before launching it to a wider audience allows you to work out the kinks while the funnel is still being built, ensuring your customers have as smooth an experience with your business as possible.
Ideally, the sales funnel builder you choose should offer A/B Testing capability. This type of test examines a ’s experience with something (here: your sales funnel). In this testing method, different segments of the test audience are shown different versions of the thing being tested.
You can then measure audience response to the concept being tested (your sales funnel) and determine which is most effective.
Price
This is, of course, perhaps the most important consideration to keep in mind.
A sales funnel builder software may seem perfect – however, unless the price is something that you can afford, it’s not going to be of use to your business.
When considering software, make sure to check whether they have multiple versions available – you may be able to find an option that is within your price point. Regardless of whether or not such a plan is available, however, it’s essential to stick to your budget.
It’s easy to be tempted into purchasing software with better features even if it is over your budget. However, this can pose a significant challenge for your business’s finances, especially when you take into that most sales funnel builder software operates on a monthly payment model, and you’ll be going over budget each month, rather than just once. Instead, choose the option that meets your needs best while still being affordable.
The right sales funnel builder software can make marketing your business and acquiring new customers easier than ever. Once you’ve chosen the software that works for you, invest in it and start using it as soon as possible – and see the difference it makes for your business!