Whatever your activity or profession, you can sell your products and services on the Internet. However, you can’t be constantly in front of your computer or on the phone explaining the benefits of what you offer. Fortunately, there is a solution to generate sales for you, automatically, 24 hours a day, anywhere in the world. The name of this miracle: the sales funnel, conversion funnel or even sales funnel. This is what we will discover together in this ultimate guide.

A sales funnel or conversion funnel, is a more or less elaborate automatic process composed of web pages and a mailing campaign which will allow prospects to be selected and filtered with the aim of guiding them towards the act of purchasing the product. product offered.

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Create a sales funnel in 5 steps with Systeme io

A conversion funnel can be more or less complex, but the basis always remains the same.

  1. Visitor registration to a capture page.
  2. Presentation of an offer on a sales page.
  3. Presentation of an offer via an email campaign.
  4. Purchase the offer.
  5. Access to the offer.

To create follow the steps on this page, register on Systeme io in order to understand the progress of a sales funnel.

What software is needed to create a sales funnel?

There are different solutions for creating your sales funnels. The best current offer is that offered by Systeme io. Indeed, you can build your first 3 sales funnels for free and manage your marketing in one place.

What is a sales funnel? – definition

A funnel, a marketing funnel, conversion funnel or even a sales funnel are all terms used to designate the stages which consist of converting a “cold” visitor into a prospect, then into a customer.

A sales funnel is a system for automating sales. It is also carried out with the aim of optimizing the purchase conversion rate and the resulting turnover .

How does a sales funnel work?

This web marketing process which guides the target prospect from your site or your capture form to your sales page through a process of high value-added advice pages to finally give access to your training, your service or your product.

Concretely, you seduce your target prospect with a strong promise that solves their problem, fulfills their desire, satisfies their need or relieves their deep pain and also brings transformation.

Thus, he arrives at your capture page which guarantees him free content with a concrete result against his email address.

You then collect what we call a lead ( a contact ), a person interested in what you have to share. You also receive the user’s contact details immediately after registration.

Your new prospect will be registered in your autoresponder or e-mailing system in which you will have prepared an automated sequence of emails inviting them every day to discover new free content.

Sometimes, you will send an email to your sales page and obviously to your training, your Shopify store or your ecommerce.

It’s the automation of your online business .

If you want to boost your business and also generate more sales, a funnel is an essential step to creating a profitable business.

The different objectives for a sales funnel

tunnel-de-conversation

When creating a conversion funnel, it can be done for different objectives. There are mainly three types of sales funnels which will vary depending on the desired objective for your business.

  • Acquisition funnel : composed of a capture page and a thank you page.
  • A funnel to sell a physical, digital product or a service : composed of at least a sales page, an order form and an order confirmation page.
  • funnel for a webinar : consisting of a registration page.

The acquisition funnel is created with the aim of “harvesting” email addresses, it is the simplest funnel. For products and services, the funnels can be very simple as seen previously, or much more complex with complementary products or offers, more expensive and less expensive offered depending on the behavior of the prospect. The conversion funnel for a webinar consists of registering on a specific date to participate in a live or rebroadcast event.

Example of acquisition funnel:

example of an acquisition funnel for leads

Example of a funnel for a Webinar:

example of a sales funnel to create with systeme.io

Which software should you use to create a sales funnel?

You can create your marketing funnels in several ways. The easiest way is to use an all-in-one solution that will allow you to send your emails, present your offers and make the sale for you.

There are several such as Click Funnels, Learny box or Systeme io which is the cheapest SAAS (software as a service) solution on the market and perfect for starting your business on the Internet.

How to create a sales funnel: 6 steps to follow.

What you need to know is why you really want to build your funnel.

And also select the products and services you offer if this is the case.

From there, you have the option of creating a very simple conversion funnel , made up of 3 or 4 pages. You can also start with a much more complex sales funnel model which will respond to the prospect’s actions either by presenting pages of different offers, or by a personalized email sequence.

Thus, you may find yourself offering dowsells ( cheaper ) or upsells ( more expensive ) or even a “  one time offer  ” or “  orderbump ”. An offer valid only once generally on the payment page of the first item.

What must be understood is that the complexity of a sales funnel in no way guarantees conversions to sales. It’s a simple sales process. What matters is the offer you make and the method you use to deliver it.

1. The capture page of your conversion funnel (landing page or squeeze page)

The first step of the conversion funnel begins by creating a form that will allow you to capture email addresses in your mailing list (the list of your autoresponder).

This form will have to be inserted in an article and presented in the form of a capture page or even in the form of a pop-up depending on the case.

This is the first concrete step to transform a “cold visitor” into a qualified prospect who is attentive to your offers.

In this form, you will collect various information such as:

  • email address (required).
  • The name.
  • First name.
  • Telephone number, etc.

You must add a check box to your form so that the person can agree to the commercial proposals that you may submit to them.

This is essential to comply with the general data protection regulations (GDPR or GPRD).

Offer a bonus

Obviously, people aren’t going to sign up for your pretty eyes. This is where you will offer something to your visitors to ask them to register. You will first need to define your target or customer avatar precisely.

You can offer different things such as access to a member area, to a group, half-hour coaching, a program to download, access to a utility, an e-book, etc.

The main objective of this bonus is to concretely help the visitor on a crucial point which particularly affects them or which they want to undertake.

This bonus must also be related to the physical or digital product that you intend to present next. It’s an introduction designed to make visitors want to follow you and go further with you later.

It provides the beginning of an explanation to your visitor’s problem which can be completely solved with your product.

Building the form for a capture page

The capture page form generally has more or less six elements:

Solution 1 to capture emails:
  • A title with a strong promise that meets a specific need.
  • A bulleted list presenting the different benefits of the bonus or lead magnet.
  • One or more form fields to retrieve the email address, name, etc.
  • An image representing your bonus or a mock-up of it.
  • A box to check for the GDPR standard and comply with the law.
  • A call to action button. Here, an inscription.
capture page example
Solution 2 to capture emails:
  • A title that meets a specific need with a strong promise that serves to gain the visitor’s interest.
  • A bulleted list of the different benefits of the bonus or lead magnet.
  • An image of your bonus or a mock-up representing it.
  • A call to action button that redirects to the registration form.
Capture Page Step 1
Capture Page Step 2

Building a pop-up to capture emails

You can repeat the different points discussed above, but you also have the possibility of adding a step just before the capture page which consists of asking the visitor a question.

If he says “yes”, he is redirected to the capture page. Otherwise, the pop-up simply closes.

Example 2 - Step 1 - capture page
Example 2 - Step 2 - capture page
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After your visitor registers

Your visitor’s first step has been taken. He has downloaded his bonus, he is now a qualified lead. Probably interested in your product since it responds logically to the solution of your bonus.

First, your marketing conversion funnel will continue on the screen, you will offer different options to your prospect through sales pages with calls to action.

At the same time, their registration will trigger a sequence of automatic emails which will bring them value, but also your commercial offers through your sales pages.

Little by little, your prospects will segment themselves at the different stages of your conversion funnel. Some will buy your infoproducts, others will be satisfied with the lead magnet that you offered upon registration.

For these people, you must gradually get them to believe in you more in your personalized email sequence.

You can offer a questionnaire to learn more about them.

Also provide an offer with a sales page right after registration.

At the same time offer the same offer in your first email.

You have to strike while the iron is hot, as the saying goes.

2. the sales page of your sales funnel

To be effective, a sales page must contain several elements:

  • social proof, to show your authority in the field.
  • A share of authority, to show your skills in the field.
  • Appreciation, making yourself sympathetic and human ( photo ).
  • From the principle of coherence, pushing people to action by facilitating their progress.
  • Urgency, limit the offer over time to push for action (example, a countdown)
  • Reciprocity, showing the value you bring in exchange with your results.

These are valid elements for a sales page or an entire site for that matter. However, this is more of a method used for a page with no video, just text.

Video still remains the most effective way to detail your local physical products , digital product or service. This makes your method human by the fact that people can see who is speaking to them.

In this case, you will have a headline with a strong promise, the sales video, a call to action button and customer testimonials underneath.

If you don’t want to show your face, the technique of writing on screen with a good copywriting scheme along with voice also works perfectly. Reading a text has a strong impact.

It’s up to you to determine what’s best for your product or business.

sales page
sales page

3. The order form for your offer

If all goes well, your prospect will take action and arrive on your purchase order page. This is a strategic place in your sales funnel.

You must reassure without further delay, but also reinforce your prospect’s purchasing decision.

Apart from the form on the side which contains all the elements for the customer’s contact details, you must add on your order page social proof, a summary of your offer and the bonuses which accompanies it, the actual price and the exceptional price that you are offering for a limited period. The customer has the option of entering a discount voucher to purchase your physical or digital product.

You can also add testimonials below to establish your authority.

On the other hand, you must facilitate payment methods by offering payment by Stripe, Paypal or credit card. Payment facilities in several installments are not excluded.

On this page, it is strongly recommended to carry out a cross sell. This is a complementary “one time free” sale ( which will only be presented once ) with a very attractive price.

It is generally an inexpensive product that can double your customers’ average basket. The offer is represented in a yellow box with dotted lines around it, above the “order” button on the Systeme io forms.

To access this additional offer, buyers simply need to check a box. The order bump is offered by Systeme io on your order forms. A good way to easily increase your sales.

4. Additional sale of higher value (upsell)

If the prospect has reached this stage, it is because he has become your customer, because he has validated his order form. You must of course thank them for their purchase and also take advantage of their enthusiasm for the development of your basket by offering them a premium offer.

An offer with high value in terms of price, but corresponding to the service that you can provide in exchange. It’s not about ripping people off.

In short, offer a premium service, because it is at the time of purchase that the customer is more likely to continue buying. Don’t worry, if he’s not interested, you haven’t said your last word.

5. Complementary sales of lower value (downsell)

Your customer didn’t want your premium offer, that’s okay, you can adapt this offer to make it more attractive.

For example, you can remove a few options to reduce the price of your product to the minimum of its value to call them to action.

Make your offer accessible by adapting it in such a way that he cannot refuse. Created an irresistible offer.

This is why you can combine upsells and downsells as long as you match them to your main offer in your conversion funnel. There is no limit. The client will stop the process on its own or the process will stop on its own.

At the time of purchase, your customer expects to receive offers. He will therefore not be shocked if you present it to him on this occasion. It’s less intrusive than anywhere else.

So don’t be afraid to describe all of your offers within reason for the same sales funnel. You then have the opportunity to make new sales in your e-mailing sequences or the newsletter.

6. Order confirmation

Your customer has gone through all the stages of your conversion funnel, he has been able to choose all of his products, he is therefore redirected to the order confirmation page.

On this one, we will find:

  • a summary of the purchase and the detailed product.
  • Details of access to the product (after-sales service, delivery, etc.).

It is imperative to deliver to the customer in good conditions. Whether in terms of deadlines, service or even the product itself, the quality must be exemplary, this is one of the essential steps.

For example, you can offer a discount coupon on another range of products to bring your customer into another of your sales funnels.

You can now create your first funnel.

Traffic to your sales funnel

tunnel-de-vente

All the usual traffic sources can feed your digital sales funnel.

  • Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and other social networks.
  • YouTube.
  • The advertisement.
  • The email list.
  • A blog.
  • A podcast, etc.

The fastest source of traffic for your sales funnel is undoubtedly advertising. You can set this up with Facebook Ads, Google Ads or even an influencer on Instagram.

This requires a minimum of knowledge that you can delegate to a freelance entrepreneur on platforms like Fiverr or Comeup.com for example. This will specialize in creating a machine to attract prospects to the entrance to your funnel.

A/B testing of pages in your conversion funnel

Whether for a capture page or an actual sales page, you can make several versions and modify certain elements, for example titles, colors, images, button layout, etc.

Thanks to this, you will be able to study and improve the conversion rate as well as the performance of each element. This will allow you to keep the ones that work best.

This is how you will gradually shape your sales funnel. This is also a good reflex to have, because sometimes it only takes a little to make a big difference.

What software should I use to create a sales funnel?

To start, you have plugins for WordPress that manage this, you can take in particular Thrives leads for pop-ups.

It is the best of its kind in web marketing, because it has the advantage of being subscription-free.

Complete solutions like Clickfunnels, Learny box, Builderall or Systeme io also offer it.

You can also do this with a WordPress theme. Notably the best-seller Optimizepress 3.

It allows you to create complete sales funnels with your sales pages or even your pop-ups. It has different payment forms and methods.

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Systeme io the cheapest solution to create a sales funnel

To conclude, if you are looking for a simple solution to design your conversion funnels, to start with, Systeme io which has many advantages:

  • The complete creation of your sales funnels (form, page, payment, etc.)
  • Autoresponder included.
  • Member area for your customers.
  • Hosting your digital products.
  • Affiliate program for your products.
  • Automation system for sending behavioral emails.
  • Creation of a blog.
  • Market place.
  • In French.

For sales funnels, you are dealing with software that is ergonomic and also easy to understand. It is used by moving elements using drag and drop directly on the page.

So, if you are a newbie or looking for simplicity, this is a good choice. Especially for the unbeatable price it offers.

You have everything you need to sell a product online. This single software allows you to create a complete business on the Internet from scratch.

Give it a try, this will also allow you to make your first sales and see if the software is right for you.