What is ClickFunnels?

If you have landed on this article I would assume it’s fairly safe to say you are likely in business or looking to create a business. More specifically your business probably involves marketing as it seems to be the new buzz word taking the world by storm and you probably keep thinking to yourself what is Clickfunnels.

Well let’s dive straight into the action.

Clickfunnels in short is a Marketing Software however when you lift the bonnet so to speak it is much, much more.

Clickfunnels is an online sales funnel builder that helps businesses, market, sell and deliver their product or services online. Clickfunnels is an extremely beginner friendly tool as it all drag and drop to build the sales funnels, because of this it allows beginners with absolutely no previous experience in building funnels make beautiful and highly converting sales funnels in a very short time frame.

Clickfunnels is armed with a whole host of functions and tools that assist in everyday marketing, with things such as progress bars, countdown timers and animations all available at the click of a button it really is one of the most user friendly yet effective tools.

Traditional sales funnels used to involve websites, landing page builders, email responders and payment gateways and often they were all from different companies or suppliers. This meant that often trying to get them to all sync with each other and work flawlessly was so few and far between it was always an uphill battle to stay on top of everything.

ClickFunnels wanted to put a stop to this by offering all the tools in one helpful programme.

With Clickfunnels, you get everything from sales funnel builders, landing page builders, webinar hosting, payment gateways all the way to membership site builders. On top of this this offer what’s called the Clickfunnels Cookbook which helps business find the right funnels for their industry.

The reason it is called the cookbook is because it puts together all the ingredients required to build a successful funnel in your particular field or industry. To build a highly converting sales funnel is much like baking the perfect cake, you need the right ingredients in the right order and with the cookbook ClickFunnels offers this is taken care of for you.

However it is worth noting that this is obviously offered to everybody with a clickfunnels account so it is important to take their templates but edit them to suit your product or brands image.

What is a sales Funnel

I realise I have jumped the gun slightly here I am talking about Clickfunnels and throwing around terms like sales funnels for fun, but some of you may be thinking what actually is a sales funnel.

Well Funnels are a marketing principle/ strategy that are designed to maximise the profit potential/ cart value of each customer that purchases. A traditional sales funnel would be a landing page which would show the product/ service they were originally looking for, once entering the credit/ debit card details and making a purchase they would then get taken to another page that would often have a small upsale, not too dissimilar to what Amazon do with their frequently bought together section.

The beauty of a sales funnel especially when using clickfunnels is that as they have already put in their payment information this upsell can be a one-click upsell/ purchase, the small upsell would often be a small ticket item that makes the customer think it is such a small amount of money, why not get it.

From the upsell page they would get sent through a 2nd sales page however as customers move through your funnels with each page you have another touch point, in short this means your customer become more trusting and warm to your brand, because of this the last page is often a high ticket/ premium upsell.

Again as the customer entered their payment information on the landing page again this premium product/ upsell can be purchased with one click thus reducing the barriers that often prevent people parting  with money. 

Hopefully you are starting to get an idea of just how powerful funnels can be and why clickfunnels has become one of the fastest growing companies in the world. With no funding clickfunnels in its first 3 years was able to go from zero to over $100,000,000.

Now I have talked a little bit about what sales funnels are and why they are the future it will allow me to better explain why ClickFunnels make the statement ‘your website is dead’ see the below comical ad in which they talk about dead websites.

Even if the message didn’t resonate with you i’m sure you can agree the advert is comical if nothing else and you have to take your hat off to Clickfunnels marketing team as they always do a fantastic job.

I’m sure you will agree that websites can be extremely confusing and sometimes it feels like you have so many obstacles blocking you from what you actually want to see that you eventually get fed up and leave the site. Unfortunately this isn’t an isolated issue and in fact traditional websites just aren’t the most effective things when it comes to selling.

A good example is Canon’s website, one of the leading companies in manufacturing cameras both beginner level and high end professional, however if you go on their website in search of a particular camera, good luck, you have to go through endless menus and tabs just to find the product you want and when you get there you still have no idea what the price is or where you can buy it from? 

Now Canon certainly aren’t the only culprate and to be quite frank, it’s not even anything canon have done, the website looks and functions brilliantly it’s just confusing for the everyday person to navigate and locate what they are often on a traditional website and i’m sure you know the saying ‘a confused mind never buys’. Have a traditional website operate this way is costing these companies hundreds or thousands. Luckily for you and your business, it doesn’t have to be like that because you have access to sales funnel builders and landing page builders.

Who are ClickFunnels competitors

Now as I said you business doesn’t have to die a horrible death like the clickfunnels ad portrays because you have access to landing page builders and funnel builders, so with that being said, what options do you have and who are Clickfunnels competitors?

Well there is no short fall when it comes to clickfunnels competitors however there is a massive shortfall when it comes to how they compare to ClickFunnels.

Just to name a few clickfunnels competitors are as follows;

• Samcart
• LeadPages
• Instapage
• Convertri
• Thrive

So you may be thinking well what’s wrong with all of these platforms/ softwares? And well to be honest nothing is wrong with them, they all have good points and they all have flaws much like anything else. The reason that I say ClickFunnels is superior is because of the aforementioned softwares are simply landing page builders and don’t offer anywhere near the same functions that Clickfunnels does.

If you are in the market for a simple Landing page builder and nothing more than I honestly encourage you to check out the above options as ClickFunnels does come with a premium price for offering so much more. If you want a more indepth review where I compare the softwares above to clickfunnels then click the below relevant software name to see the review. (Coming Soon)

How Much Does ClickFunnels Cost

I know you are still thinking about that line above where I said ClickFunnels comes with a premium price tag, so just how much does ClickFunnels cost?

Well they have two advertised/ displayed plans and what some called a secret 3rd option which is much cheaper than the other 2.

The most expensive plan is called Clickfunnels Platinum and it costs $297.00 a month.

The Next option is the basic plan which comes in $97.00 a month.

The last option or the ‘secret option’ is called the sharefunnel plan and costs $19.00 a month.

$19 Share Funnel Plan

The reason it is called the shared funnel plan is because it only allows you to use funnels that are shared (I will go into what this means later). The reason it is known as the secret plan is because it is pretty much not advertised anywhere and for the most part is not public knowledge.

You can access this plan using two methods, the first method is if you have an active clickfunnels account on either the basic or etison plan and go to cancel, when you click on cancel plan Clickfunnels will ask why you want to cancel and offer some multiple choice options.

If you click on the option that states ClickFunnels is too expensive in a bid to keep you as a customer they will offer the share plan. The other way in which you can get on this plan is by signing up using a share plan link that another clickfunnels member sends you.

If you are particularly strapped for cash and want a clickfunnels account although the shared funnel plan may seem like a good option be warned. It is extremely limited, so much so that you can only use funnels that have been shared to you and even then you can only have 3 funnels at a time.

You are unable to edit them to any great degree and can’t personalise them at all. I feel this was plan was probably created to allow companies to share their funnels across the other offices or sister companies without having to buy a complete membership.

Below is a table showing the Clickfunnels pricing structure and what is included within each package.

$97 ClickFunnels Basic Package

The next plan that Clickfunnels offers is the Basic Package which is their most popular plan.

With the ClickFunnels Basic Package you get access to everything you need to be successful in marketing.

With Clickfunnels basic you get access to 20 sales, 100 pages, 20,000 monthly visitors and unlimited contacts.

As you can see with over 100 pages and over 20 funnels you have more than enough ammunition to make an impact

Now we get on to the top tier plan. 

$297 ClickFunnels Platinum.

Now prior to September 24th ClickFunnels Platinum used to be called Actionetics which included their email marketing software Actionetics.

Now to be honest I didn’t really go much on the email software which considering the price jumped $200 for the privilege it was a tough talking point.

However on September 24th ClickFunnels celebrated 5th birthday and with this they made some much needed changes to their top tier plan.

Actionetics was rebranded to represent the top plan and was name was changed to ClickFunnels Platinum.

ClickFunnels decided it was time to go back to their routes and make sure they retain the crown as the best sales funnel builder on the market.

With this came the addition of some fantastic new features and actionetics was placed in maintenance mode. 

What this means is that if you previously had access to ClickFunnels Actionetics, you would still have access to all features it offered but anyone who signed up after September 24th would no longer have access and there was to be no more additions or fixes to the software.

Now lets get into these new fantastic features.

So there is really three features that require addressing, these are as follows

1. Daily Virtual Hackathons
2. Funnel Flix
3. Funnel Hacker Forum

Daily Virtual Hackathons

So if you have ever seen Funnel Fridays on the ClickFunnels youtube channel, this concept will sound somewhat familiar to you.

With daily virtual hackathon you get a series of virtual trainings which are geared around teaching you everything that goes into a successful sales funnel. From headline positions, context to conversion optimization.

The best thing about these trainings is that they are all geared around different industries and niches so you will be sure to find something just right for your business.

Funnel Flix

The stand out feature by a country mile is Funnel Flix.

Funnel Flix is Netflix meets business and honestly it is packed full of useful content.

On Funnel Flix you can find documentaries, training series and even behind closed door looks as seminars and conferences hosted by the likes of Russell Brunson that the attendee’s had to pay in excess of $10,000 to attend.

I’m sure you can already imagine some of the secrets you will learn in something that valuable.

Funnel Hacker Forum

The last feature is a well needed touch and I will explain why.

If you look at the ClickFunnels Facebook group, you will notice there is over 200,000 members.

Now this may not seem like a lot of members however when you compare that to the 100,000 paying customers ClickFunnels has you can the disparity in numbers.

With the Funnel Hacker Forum you get access to a closed group of paying clickfunnels members.

This can be extremely helpful in networking, getting answers to your problems and getting a source of accountability from an array of like minded entrepreneurs.

Now before September 24th I would have recommended to go with ClickFunnels Basic.

In fact, you may even be able to read back some of my old articles to see I am telling the truth.

However with the amount of value provided in the new ClickFunnels Platinum features I honestly feel that the top tier plan is an absolute steal for the money.

What Businesses would Benefit from Using ClickFunnels and is ClickFunnels right for my Business?

I’m just going to come out and say it, if you are serious about marketing your business effectively and efficiently then you need a tool like ClickFunnels. I remember Russell Brunson (Founder of ClickFunnels) being asked this question and his response has stuck with me ever since.

When asked his reply, “You only need to get ClickFunnels if you are trying to do 2 things. Number 1 trying to get new leads, Number 2 get more sales” Now I don’t know about you but that sounds like every single business in the world to me and if they aren’t your focuses I have some bad news for you.

But all joking aside ClickFunnels is absolutely right for any business but I will say that it thrives in online marketing and software more so than your everyday items.

ClickFunnels Affiliate Marketing

I know that there will be some affiliate marketers reading this as ClickFunnels is the new kid on the block when it comes to affiliate marketing and honestly I can see why. There affiliate program is  of the highest calibre and you can see they really want their affiliates to thrive and be successful.

I remember watching a video on youtube about one of their affiliates collecting the 2 comma club award (Click the link to learn more).

After they had collected their award they were just vlogging on the way back to their room and they said “I honestly don’t think I have ever met a company and more specifically an owner of a company so much more passionate about making you money then they are their own business” Now this is a very bold statement but let me break down why they said this.

With a whole host of training all geared around training affiliate marketers produced by one of the best marketing companies in this current day it just goes to show you how willing they are to see their affiliates be successful.

Not only do they offer heaps of free training but they also pay 40% commission on every sale and this 40% is monthly recurring, This means if you get one customer to sign up to the etison suite you as an affiliate would get $118.80 every single month that the customer remains using clickfunnels so you can see just how quickly this can multiply if you are determined to succeed.

I mean lets be honest it’s a great mantra to have because ultimately it is free advertising for them and the better they train their affiliates the more LTV (Lifetime Value) they get from them as a customer and all the people they refer to the platform.

I get it 40% of every sale as mouthwatering appealing as that sounds you may be a bit skeptical and think how can any business afford to give away 40% of every sale they get to affiliates?

Well the answer is pretty simple, because their product is a software it is instantly and infinitely scalable.

Unlike physical products such as hoodies for example, everytime a company who makes clothing sells a hoodie they have to physically make and print that hoodie, this means they have to consider all these different overheads, whereas software companies simply make the program or software and just issue a new license key which costs almost nothing in comparison.

This is how ClickFunnels and to be honest most software companies can offer much larger commission to their affiliates.

ClickFunnels Integrations 

So the last thing I want to touch on is ClickFunnels Integrations because I understand that if you already set up or you are in the process of setting up, you may have already purchased certain tools or softwares. Well ClickFunnels have thought about this already and allow an extremely large number of external tools and softwares to be immediately integrated with the click of a simple button. If you already have some tools and want to know if they will work with ClickFunnels please see below table showing integrations they currently have.

You can probably tell I am a huge fan of ClickFunnels, it is easy to use, jam packed with helpful tools and informative videos on how to set everything up and it allows me to really maximise my profit.

If you are interested in giving ClickFunnels a try I have some good news if you click the below link you can get a 100% Risk FREE trial started right now that will allow you to sink your teeth in and get to know the software for a full 14 days.

You will need to enter in some payment information but ClickFunnels are very transparent and give you plenty of notice and opportunity to cancel the trial before they take any money, if by some chance you don’t want to continue using ClickFunnels and you don’t spot that you trial has ended simply contact their customer service which again is brilliant and they will happily you.

Get Your 14 Day Free Trial Here

So that’s it, that’s all I have to say for now. Be sure to check out some of the other articles on my site and leave any comments or article suggestions.