Sales funnels allow you to provide an excellent user experience for your buyers. Sales funnels help guide your potential customers through a series of steps from when they first come into contact with your business until when they make their purchase. This experience satisfies your customers and increases their likelihood of returning. ClickFunnels and MailChimp allow you to build sales funnels quickly and efficiently.
In this review, I am going to take you through each software and help you make an informed decision on which one to use.
What is a Sales Funnel?
A sales funnel is a step by step guide that allows your prospects to turn into buying customers. It enables them to follow simple steps from when they see your captivating offer to join your email directory until when they purchase products. This guidance provides a valuable user experience, which improves the customer satisfaction level.
Steps a Sales Funnel Follows
Sales funnels typically follow the following phases
- Your lead visits your landing page
- You present them an appealing offer to join your email directory
- Write an enticing email and send it to the individual that is now in your email list
- The prospect opens the email, and it convinces them to purchase your goods
- They click a link that takes them to the selection area then the payment section
- You interact with the customer frequently which leads to more sales
What is ClickFunnels?
Inspired by the need to help marketers create successful funnels, Russell Brunson founded ClickFunnels in 2014. ClickFunnels allows e-commerce stores to develop funnels that make their processes simple for their prospects and customers. You do not have to have any coding knowledge or spend a significant amount of resources hiring coding experts to build your funnel, which may not meet your expectations. Subscribe to their varying bundles, and you will be able to develop them quickly and at affordable rates.
ClickFunnels allows users to build different funnels, including sales funnels. Sales funnels simplify the customer journey for your clients and provide integrations that improve the operations of your e-commerce shop. You can choose to use the templates they have or develop yours, even with no coding knowledge. You will spend to subscribe to their packages, but the return on investment will be excellent if you use the right strategies.
How ClickFunnels Works
Russell Brunson envisioned a world where e-commerce stores would sell their products through proven and reliable methods. Through ClickFunnels, you can create a sales funnel that improves your customer experience. You have the option of trying the 14-day free trial before you pay for a package. If you are happy with the benefits and capabilities of the demo, you can choose to subscribe to any of their two plans (a third is coming soon, according to the ClickFunnels official website).
You can create your sales funnel or use any of the samples that come with your account. The customization process is simple, and you can do it even without coding skills. You may also integrate your account with other programs. Linking it with your PayPal, Aweber, and Shopify allows you to run a productive and reliable campaign from one place. This connection also allows you to improve your customer experience as they will receive guidance throughout their purchase, including payment via PayPal.
Features of ClickFunnels
ClickFunnels has several capabilities that improve its functionality.
1. Sales Funnels
The ClickFunnels account comes with many templates for you to choose from them. ClickFunnels developers created these samples after an analysis of the market requirements. They give you a good chance of having a successful marketing campaign. However, if you are not satisfied with the templates that ClickFunnels provides, you can create your own sales funnel. The creation process is straightforward, and there are directions provided that will guide you. No coding skills are necessary for you to build your sales funnel. The drag and drop editor allows you to create different templates, pages, and to redesign sales funnels in your ClickFunnels account. Take advantage of A/B testing to settle on the appropriate sales funnel for your campaign.
2. Page Elements
ClickFunnels has customizable page elements. You can modify them to meet the unique needs of your customer base. The layout of your site is crucial. Putting headlines, images, video widgets, and buttons in the right place improves the user experience. ClickFunnels allows you to set and reset them until they meet the needs of your customers.
3. Integrations
E-commerce stores use tools such as PayPal, Aweber, Facebook, and Shopify to improve their sales. Each of these platforms offers unique capabilities and benefits. ClickFunnels allows you to integrate these services with your account. You do not have to let go of them. Connecting these programs with your ClickFunnels enables you to run simple processes and manage everything well.
4. Tutorials
Many people do not like leaving their typical norms for new things. If you are new to ClickFunnels, you can be sure that this adventure will be manageable. ClickFunnels has many tutorials and learning materials that should help you familiarize yourself with the platform. There are several videos on YouTube, learning materials on the website, and standby support that is available to guide you through any difficulties. With these guidelines, you will be able to use the platform well and reap its benefits in a short time.
5. Share Your Sales Funnels
You can share your sales funnels with other people. Sharing the URL of your sales funnels increases the number of people that interact with it. This exposure leads to more leads, which can result in more customers for your business.
Cost of ClickFunnels
ClickFunnels is relatively cheap. It comes with a 14-day free trial that allows you to check out its capabilities and benefits before you invest your money into the program. Take advantage of this demo to see if ClickFunnels is the right fit for your business before paying for its premium packages.
- ClickFunnels Startup – goes for $97 per month and allows you to build up to 20 funnels with each having a maximum of 100 pages. You can connect it with up to 3 payment gateways and three domains. Funnel Hacker Platform gives you the guidance you need to unlock the potential of ClickFunnels. This plan does not allow you to reconnect with customers that leave your sales funnel and is not part of the weekly peer review hackathons.
- ClickFunnels Platinum – costs $297 per month and allows you to create unlimited sales funnels, each with unlimited pages. You can connect this account with up to 9 payment gateways, up to 9 domains, and reconnect with customers once they leave your sales funnels. This package comes with extra training materials and gives you access to the weekly peer review hackathons.
Other packages are Funnel Hacks One year (costs $1997 per year) and Funnel Hacks (goes for $997 for six months).
What is MailChimp?
MailChimp is a renowned email marketing services provider. However, many people do not know that you can use it to create landing pages. It is appropriate for businesses that want to propel their sales via email. MailChimp offers several plans that guarantee value for money. It has a free package that allows users to send up to 12,000 emails a month and supports up to 2000 email addresses.
How MailChimp Works
There are different ways to create a funnel using MailChimp. You will first need to connect your shop with your MailChimp account before you begin. Create a landing page and enable it to collect emails or sell products. If you choose to gather emails, you will need an automatic email sales sequence. This customization allows you to send captivating emails to your directory that seeks to convince members to buy from you. You will integrate your accounts, such as Shopify and PayPal, with your MailChimp to allow customers to follow simple steps until they make their payments.
Features of MailChimp
1. Integrations
You can connect your MailChimp account with various tools to boost your e-commerce sales. Link it with PayPal, Shopify, and social platforms. Connecting your accounts allows you to increase your outreach and improve your processes.
2. Analytics
MailChimp offers tracking capabilities that enable you to monitor the performance of your campaigns. Track your conversion to know whether your efforts are yielding the expected results.
3. Drag and Drop
Besides the templates of landing pages that MailChimp provides, you can customize one to suit your needs. MailChimp allows you to edit page elements such as buttons and headlines. Rearranging and changing them enables you to improve the customer experience.
4. Learning Materials
MailChimp provides several tools that help you familiarize yourself with the platform. There are videos, texts, and helpful communities which help you take advantage of its capabilities.
Cost of MailChimp
MailChimp has the following packages.
- New Business Plan – this plan is free and allows small businesses to take advantage of the capabilities and benefits of MailChimp. However, you can only send 12000 emails a month and have a list of up to 2000 addresses.
- Growing Business Plan – costs $10 per month and gives users access to support, unlimited emails, predicted demographics, and advanced testing tools. You may also schedule the delivery of your messages according to different time zones.
- Pro Marketer Plan – costs $199 a month and offers several capabilities and benefits to big organizations. It provides subscribers with multivariate testing and comparative reports, among other abilities.
Wrapping It Up
To wrap things up and conclude, both funnel builders are an excellent choice. Choosing between ClickFunnels and MailChimp can be a difficult decision when you don’t have your business needs figured out yet. This difficulty can be simplified by evaluating your business needs and seeing which platform meets most of your requirements.
Online shoppers today have many alternatives to choose from when it comes to e-commerce stores. They will purchase whatever they cannot obtain from you from many other shops that offer similar goods. However, there has been an increase in shops that do not meet the requirements of these customers. Consequently, many online shoppers are skeptical of buying from places they barely know.
If you pick the right platform that satisfies your requirements, you will succeed if you employ it well. Learning materials should help you take advantage of the capabilities of each program to realize many benefits. Once an online shopper finds a store offering excellent and reliable services, they are likely to return for their subsequent purchases.