Clickfunnels

What is ClickFunnels

ClickFunnels is an online software platform that helps businesses market, sell, and deliver their products and services. It is designed as an all-in-one solution, which means you do not need to rely on many different tools. The main purpose of ClickFunnels is to let people create marketing and sales funnels easily. A sales funnel is a series of steps that guide a potential customer towards a purchase. The company was co-founded by Russell Brunson and Todd Dickerson and is a product of Etison LLC. It is very popular among entrepreneurs, small businesses, and online marketers who want to grow their business without needing a technical team to build websites and integrations.

ClickFunnels Features

ClickFunnels offers a complete set of tools to manage an online business. Here are its main features:

• Drag-and-Drop Funnel Builder: You can create professional sales funnels without any coding. It has a simple visual editor to build pages for lead capture, sales, order forms, and upsells.
• Pre-built Funnel Templates: The platform gives many templates for different goals, like generating leads, selling products, or hosting webinars. This helps you start quickly.
• Smart Shopping Cart: It includes a shopping cart with one-click upsells. This feature helps to increase the average value of each customer order by offering additional products after the initial purchase.
• Email Marketing Automation: You can create email lists, send email broadcasts, and set up automated email sequences to follow up with leads and customers.
• Membership Site Creation: You can build and manage membership areas to sell online courses or exclusive content. This creates a source of recurring revenue.
• Affiliate Management Platform: ClickFunnels has a built-in system to create and manage your own affiliate program. You can recruit affiliates to promote your products and track their sales.
• CRM Functionality: The platform includes a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to manage your contacts, track sales pipelines, and schedule appointments.
• A/B Split Testing: You can test different versions of your pages, headlines, and offers to see which one performs better. This helps to improve conversion rates.
• Analytics and Reporting: It provides detailed analytics to track the performance of your funnels, including page views, conversion rates, and sales.

ClickFunnels Pricing Plans

ClickFunnels typically offers several pricing plans to fit different business needs. These plans are structured in tiers.

• Basic Plan: This plan is for individuals or small businesses starting out. It usually includes a limited number of funnels, pages, and contacts. It provides the core funnel-building features.
• Pro Plan: Aimed at growing businesses, this plan offers more funnels, pages, and contacts. It also includes additional features like the affiliate management platform and email automation tools.
• Funnel Hacker Plan: This is the most advanced plan, designed for large businesses and serious marketers. It provides unlimited funnels and pages, supports multiple users, and gives access to all features and advanced training materials.

ClickFunnels Free Plan

ClickFunnels does not offer a permanent free plan. However, it provides a free trial period for new users. This trial, which is usually 14 days long, gives you full access to the features of one of its paid plans. This allows you to build funnels, test the platform, and even make sales before you decide to subscribe to a monthly plan.

How to use ClickFunnels

Getting started with ClickFunnels is a direct process. Here are the typical steps to create and launch a sales funnel:

1. Sign Up: First, you need to sign up for the free trial on the ClickFunnels website.
2. Choose a Funnel Type: Inside your dashboard, you choose the goal of your funnel. For example, you can choose to collect emails, sell a product, or host a webinar.
3. Select a Template: ClickFunnels will suggest a variety of pre-built templates based on your goal. You can pick one that you like.
4. Customize Your Pages: Use the drag-and-drop editor to change the text, images, and colors of your funnel pages. You can add or remove elements to match your brand.
5. Add Your Products: If you are selling something, you will add your products and set the prices. You can also add order bumps and one-click upsells to increase revenue.
6. Set Up Integrations: Connect your payment gateway (like Stripe or PayPal) to accept payments. Also, connect your email marketing service if you are using an external one.
7. Configure Automation: Set up email sequences that are sent automatically when someone signs up or buys a product.
8. Launch Your Funnel: Once everything is set up, you get a unique URL for your funnel. You can then start sending traffic to this URL from social media, ads, or your blog.

Pros and Cons of ClickFunnels

Pros

• All-in-One Platform: It combines many marketing tools in one place, which can save money and reduce complexity.
• User-Friendly: The drag-and-drop editor makes it easy for people without technical skills to build professional-looking funnels.
• Focus on Conversions: The entire platform is built to help you convert visitors into customers, with features like one-click upsells and A/B testing.
• Strong Community and Training: ClickFunnels has a large, active community and provides a lot of training materials, including webinars and tutorials.

Cons

• Cost: It can be more expensive than using separate, specialized tools for landing pages or email marketing.
• Learning Curve: Because it has so many features, it can take some time for new users to learn how to use everything effectively.
• Limited Customization: While the editor is easy to use, it may not offer the same level of design freedom as a dedicated website builder like WordPress.
• Platform Dependency: Your entire business funnel is built on their platform. If you decide to leave, migrating everything can be difficult.

ClickFunnels integrations

ClickFunnels integrates with many popular third-party applications to extend its functionality. You can connect your funnels to payment gateways, email autoresponders, webinar platforms, and more. Here are some common integrations:

• Payment Gateways: Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net, Keap (Infusionsoft), NMI.
• Email Marketing Services: Mailchimp, AWeber, ConvertKit, GetResponse, HubSpot, ActiveCampaign.
• Webinar Platforms: GoToWebinar, WebinarJam, EverWebinar.
• Shipping and Fulfillment: ShipStation for e-commerce stores.
• Other Platforms: It also connects to hundreds of other apps through Zapier, which acts as a bridge between ClickFunnels and other software.

ClickFunnels Alternatives

There are several other platforms that offer similar features to ClickFunnels. Here are a few alternatives:

• Systeme.io: This is an all-in-one marketing platform that is known for its generous free plan. It offers sales funnels, email marketing, website building, and affiliate program management, making it a strong competitor for those on a budget.
• Leadpages: While it started as a landing page builder, Leadpages now offers full website and sales funnel capabilities. It is often considered easier to use for simple funnels and is more affordable than ClickFunnels.
• Kartra: Kartra is another all-in-one platform that is very similar to ClickFunnels. It includes features like video hosting, helpdesk support, and calendar booking, which are not all native to ClickFunnels.
• Groove.cm: This platform offers a suite of marketing tools, including a funnel builder (GrooveFunnels), email marketing (GrooveMail), and an e-commerce store (GrooveKart). It has a free base plan that provides limited access to its tools.

ClickFunnels API

Yes, ClickFunnels provides a RESTful API that allows developers to integrate the platform with other applications and create custom solutions. With the API, you can programmatically access and manage data such as contacts, funnels, products, and sales.

To get your API key, you need to log in to your ClickFunnels account, go to your Account Settings, and find the API Keys section. There you can generate and manage your keys. The API documentation is available on the ClickFunnels developers' portal.

Here is a simple example using cURL to fetch a list of funnels:

# Replace YOUR_EMAIL and YOUR_API_KEY with your credentials

curl -u "YOUR_EMAIL:YOUR_API_KEY" -X GET "https://api.clickfunnels.com/api/v1/funnels.json"

ClickFunnels Affiliate Program

ClickFunnels has one of the most popular affiliate programs in the software industry. Affiliates can earn recurring commissions by promoting ClickFunnels subscriptions. When someone signs up for ClickFunnels using your affiliate link, you earn a percentage of their monthly payment for as long as they remain a customer. The commission rate is typically between 20% and 40%.

To join, you need to sign up on the ClickFunnels affiliate page. Once approved, you get access to an affiliate dashboard with your unique links, promotional materials, and tracking tools. Payments are usually made monthly through payment platforms like Tipalti, once you reach a minimum payout threshold.