Sales funnel : sell on the Internet with Systeme.io
Whatever your activity or profession, you can sell your services and products on the Internet. However, you cannot be constantly present in front of your computer or on the phone to explain the advantages 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 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 that will allow to select and filter the prospects in order to guide them towards the act of buying the proposed product.
Create a sales funnel in 5 steps with Systeme.io
A conversion funnel can be more or less complex, but the basis is always the same.
- Registration of the visitor to a capture page.
- Presentation of an offer on a sales page.
- Presentation of an offer by a mail campaign.
- Purchase of the offer.
- Access to the offer.
To create follow the steps on this page, register on Systeme.io in order to understand how a sales funnel works. You have 30 days free trial through this link.
What is a sales funnel ? – definition
A funnel, a marketing funnel, a conversion funnel or a sales funnel are all terms used to describe the steps involved in converting a « cold » visitor into a prospect and then into a customer.
A sales funnel is a system to automate sales. It is also used to optimize the purchase conversion rate and the resulting sales.
How does a sales funnel work ?
The different objectives for a sales funnel
There are mainly three types of sales funnels that will vary depending on the desired objective for your business.
- Acquisition funnel : composed of a capture page and a thank you page.
- A funnel for a physical or digital product or service : composed of at least a sales page, an order form and an order confirmation page.
- Funnel for a webinar : composed of a registration page.
The acquisition funnel is realized in order to « collect » email addresses, it is the simplest funnel. For products and services the funnels can be very simple as seen previously, or more complex with complementary products or offers, more expensive and cheaper proposed depending on the behavior of the prospect. The conversion funnel for a webinar consists of registering for a specific date to participate in a live event or rebroadcast.
Example of a sales funnel :
Example of a sales funnel for a webinar :
With which software should I create a sales funnel ?
You can create your marketing funnels in several ways. The easiest 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 or Systeme.io which is the cheapest SAAS (software as a service) solution on the market and perfect to 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 for selling your produccts.
And also select the products and services you offer if you do.
From there, you have the possibility to create a very simple conversion funnel, consisting of 3 or 4 pages. You can also go into a much more complex sales funnel model that will respond to the prospect’s actions either by presenting different offer pages 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, usually on the payment page of the first item.
What is important to understand is that the complexity of a sales funnel does not guarantee conversions to sales. It is a simple sales process. What matters is the offer you make and the method you use to make it.
1. The capture page of your sales funnels (landing page or squeeze page)
The first step of the conversion funnel starts with the creation of a form that will allow you to capture e-mail addresses in your mailing list (the list of your autoresponder).
This form will have to be inserted in an article and will be presented as a opt-in page or as a pop-up depending on the case.
This is the first concrete step to transform a « cold visitor » into a qualified prospect attentive to your offers.
In this form, you will retrieve various information such as :
- e-mail address (required).
- The name.
- The first name.
- Phone number, etc.
You must add a checkbox to your form so that the person can agree to any business proposals you may submit.
This is essential to comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR or GPRD).
Offer a bonus
Obviously, people are not going to sign up for your beautiful eyes. That’s where you’re going to propose something to your visitors to ask them to register. You will have to define your target or customer avatar precisely beforehand.
You can propose different things such as access to a member area, a group, a 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 that particularly affects him or that he wants to undertake.
This bonus must also be related to the physical or digital product that you intend to present next. It is an introduction made to make the visitors want to follow you to go further with you afterwards.
It brings a beginning of explanation to your visitor’s problem that can be solved completely with your product.
The construction of the form for a capture page
The form on the capture page usually has about six elements:
Solution 1 for capturing mails :
- Write a title with a strong promise that responds to a specific need.
- A bulleted list presenting the various benefits of the bonus or lead magnet.
- A form field(s) to retrieve the email address, name, etc.
- An image representing your bonus or a mock-up of it.
- A checkbox for the RGPD standard and to respect the law.
- A call to action button. Here, a registration.
Solution 2 for capturing emails :
- A title that responds to a specific need with a strong promise that serves to win the visitor’s interest.
- A bulleted list for the various 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.
Building a pop-up form to capture mails
You can take up the different points discussed above, but you also have the possibility to add a step just before the capture page which consists of asking the visitor a question.
If the visitor says « yes », he is redirected to the capture page. Otherwise, the pop-up simply closes.
After your visitor’s registration
Your visitor’s first step is taken. He has downloaded his bonus, he is now a qualified prospect. Probably interested in your product since he responds in the logical continuation to the solution of your bonus.
At 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, his registration will trigger a sequence of automatic mails that will bring him 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 you offered at registration.
For these people, you need to gradually get them to believe more in you in your personalized email sequence.
You can propose a questionnaire to learn more about them.
You can also make an offer with a sales page immediately after registration.
At the same time make 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
A sales page to be effective must contain several elements:
- social proof, to show your authority in the field.
- Some authority, to show your competence in the field.
- Appreciation, to make yourself friendly and human (photo).
- From the principle of coherence, to push people into action by facilitating their progress.
- Of urgency, to limit the offer in time to push for action (example, a countdown).
- Reciprocity, showing the value you bring in return for your results.
These are elements valid for a sales page or a complete site for that matter. However, it is more a method used for a page without video, only composed of text.
Video is still the most effective way to detail your physical product, digital product or service. It makes your method human by the fact that people can see who is talking to them.
In this case, you will have a title 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 on-screen writing technique with a good copywriting scheme along with the 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.
3. The order form of your offer
If all goes well, your prospect will act and arrive on your order form page. This is a strategic place in your sales funnel.
You need to reassure without further delay, but also to confirm your prospect’s purchase decision.
Apart from the form on the side that contains all the elements for the customer’s contact information, you must add on your order page social proof, a summary of your offer and the bonuses that come with it, the actual price and the exceptional price you are offering for a limited period of time. The customer has the option to enter a coupon to purchase your physical or digital product.
You can also add testimonials below to install your authority.
On the other hand, you must facilitate the means of payment by proposing a payment by Stripe, Paypal or credit card. Payment facilities in several installments are not excluded.
On this page, it is strongly recommended to make a cross sell. It is a complementary sale in « one time offered » (which will be presented only once) with a very attractive price.
It is generally a not too expensive product that allows you to increase by two the average basket of your customers. The offer is represented in a yellow box with dotted lines around it, above the « order » button on the forms of Systeme.io.
To access this additional offer, buyers simply need to check a box. The order bump is proposed by Systeme.io on your order forms. A good way to increase your sales easily.
4. Additional sale of higher value (upsell)
If the prospect has arrived at this stage, it means that he has become your customer, because he has validated his purchase order. Of course, you must thank him for his purchase and also take advantage of his enthusiasm for developing your shopping cart by offering him a premium offer.
An offer with a high value in terms of price, but corresponding to the service you can provide him in exchange. This is not about scamming people.
In short, offer a premium service, because it is at the time of purchase that the customer is most likely to continue to buy. Don’t worry, if he’s not interested, you haven’t said your last word.
5. Additional sales of lower value (downsell)
Your customer didn’t want your premium offer, it doesn’t matter, you can adapt this offer to make it more attractive.
For example, you can remove a few options in order to reduce the price of your product to the minimum of its value to call him to action.
Make your offer accessible by adapting it in such a way that it cannot refuse. Create an irresistible offer.
This is why you can cumulate upsells and downsells as long as they match your main offer in your conversion funnel. There is no limit. The customer will stop the process or the process will stop by itself.
At the time of purchase, your customer expects to receive offers. He will therefore not be shocked if you present them to him on this occasion. It’s less intrusive than anywhere else.
So don’t be afraid to describe all of your offers within the limits of what is reasonable for the same sales funnel. You then have the opportunity to re-sell in your e-mailing sequences or newsletter.
6. Confirmation of the order
Your customer has gone through all the steps of your conversion funnel, he was able to choose all his products, so he is redirected to the order confirmation page.
On this one, you 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 the customer in good conditions. Whether it is at the level of the deadline, the service or the product itself, the quality must be exemplary, it is part of the essential steps.
For example, you can offer a discount coupon on another product line to get your customer into another one of your sales funnels.
Now you can create your first funnel.
Traffic to your sales funnel
All the usual traffic sources can feed your digital sales funnel.
- Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and other social networks.
- YouTube.
- Advertising.
- Mail 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 an influencer on Instagram.
This requires a minimum of knowledge that you can delegate to a freelance entrepreneur on platforms like Fiveer or 5euros.com for example. This one will specialize in creating a machine to attract prospects to the entrance of your funnel.
A/B test of the pages of your conversion funnel
Whether it is for a capture page or a sales page itself, you can make multiple versions and modify certain elements, such as titles, colors, images, button layout, and so on.
With this, you will be able to study and improve the conversion rate and performance of each element. This way you will be able to keep the ones that work best.
This is how you will gradually shape your sales funnel and is also a good reflex to have, because sometimes it doesn’t take much to make a big difference.
What software should I use to create a sales funnel?
For starters, you have plugins for WordPress that handle this, including Thrives leads for pop-ups.
It’s the best of its kind in webmarketing because it has the advantage of being subscription free.
Complete solutions such as Clickfunnels, Learny box, Builderall or Systeme.io also offer it.
You can also do it with a WordPress theme. Notably the bestseller Optimizepress 3.
It allows you to create complete sales funnels with your sales pages or pop-ups. It has different forms and payment methods.
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 has many advantages :
- The complete creation of your sales funnels (form, page, payment, …)
- Autoresponder included.
- Member area for your customers.
- Hosting of your digital products.
- Affiliate program for your products.
- Automation systeme.io for sending behavioral emails.
- Creation of a blog.
- Marketplace.
- In 5 languages.
For the sales funnels, you are dealing with a software that is ergonomic and easy to understand. It is used by moving elements by drag and drop directly on the page.
So, if you are a novice or if you are 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.
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