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Funnel: a six-letter word that’s essential to run businesses but also very hard to plan unless you get a marketing funnel simulator to save time and money.
Before big companies made millions, they all started at the bottom and made a series of trial and error which eventually contributed to their success.
If you think about it, companies like Coca-Cola started advertising their products on painted walls, signs, napkins, and even clocks.
And that’s only for the sole purpose of raising interest in their beverage that’s now globally recognized and making millions every day.
The company planned its marketing strategies very well and the concept of sales funnels didn’t even exist during those times.
By the way, just to make sure that I’m not making things up, Coca-Cola first started in 1886 and the sales funnel was invented in 1898 by Lewis.
Today’s article isn’t about how you should advertise your products, but it’s about how you can initially plan your sales funnel before building one.
Why do you need a sales funnel for your business?
Having a sales funnel for your business visualizes your prospect’s journey and guides them throughout the process until they make a purchase.
In general, a sales funnel is a step-by-step process that encourages a potential customer to be interested in your offer and eventually buying it.
When you use the funnel marketing strategy for your business, it will be a lot easier for you to retain buyers since it also increases the lifetime value of your customers.
However, there are also plenty of things to consider to make a sales funnel work effectively.
What are sales funnel stages?
Understanding what’s inside a sales funnel is important since each stage is crucial to guide customers in their buying process.
To make it easier to understand, the AIDA model is used as a basis to create effective funnels
A (Awareness)
This stage is where your prospect becomes aware of what you’re trying to offer them.
It can also be when an audience clicked your ad or if they were researching a particular product or service on search engines and discovered your offer.
I (Interest)
The moment they find your brand interesting, they’ll start to gain interest and do more research.
Be careful though, sometimes when a prospect does more research on your brand, they might end up on someone else’s landing page and not yours.
Customers tend to compare products and services between different brands that’s why you should be extra careful when planning your funnel.
D (Decision)
After doing research, this stage is when your prospect decides if they want to grab your offer or not.
Some customers get too hyped up on your offer and abandon their cart right away.
When creating a funnel that converts, always try to get their email so you can send them more info and maybe another offer that saves them more.
A (Action)
Sales funnels exist to convert a prospect into a buyer, and this stage is where they make a purchase, join your newsletter, download a brochure, etc.
It’s basically where they interact with your brand and take the next step.
Do you finally realize how important planning a sales funnel is?
One tiny mistake is all it takes to lose a customer.
PS, even clicking ads without getting a conversion also costs a lot.
How do you visualize a marketing funnel?
Creating an effective funnel is every marketer’s primary goal and you can easily plan your funnel by visualizing things first.
You can simply draft everything on a piece of paper and it’s good to go!
This method is actually called “funnel mapping” and it’s a model that represents the entire marketing process.
But if you want to get a clear vision of how your idea works inside the funnel, you might consider using a simulator instead.
Why is it Important?
A marketing funnel doesn’t always mean that your business will generate millions in a year.
Although most businesses use this strategy to make a sale, using one doesn’t guarantee that your business will succeed even if you use the best tools out there.
And that’s exactly why you need to use a marketing funnel simulator to avoid spending too much money and making lots of mistakes.
What is a marketing funnel simulator?
A funnel simulator is a platform that we highly recommend using before building a sales funnel.
It has the ability to visualize how a funnel works by funnel mapping inside the software.
Each stage of your funnel is essential and funnel mapping with a simulator will help you understand each step that your potential customer makes.
This also gives you an insight if your marketing funnel will work effectively or not, so you can take necessary actions before a product launch.
Plus, when you use a funnel mapping tool, you’re also saving time and avoiding marketing mistakes that aren’t always cheap.
Here are three popular marketing funnel simulators that you can use:
GERU – The Marketing Funnel Simulator
GERU is a funnel simulator that lets marketers plan their funnels to avoid mistakes and grow businesses faster.
It’s also a cloud-based funnel mapping tool that guarantees their users a visual representation of how a strategy works.
The funnel mapping tool comes with impressive features that let you:
- Plan things smoothly
- Simulate by creating funnel maps
- Get automated results
- Generate Insights and Reports
- Simulate Traffic and Ad Campaigns
- Use their Blueprint Library Of Pre-Made Funnels
- Run the software on multiple devices
Pricing
As of this writing, GERU is priced at:
STANDARD LIFETIME $67
- Funnel Map Creator
- Simulation Engine & Optimizer
- Up to 10 “Active” Projects
- Up to 40 Objects Per Project
- 2 Scenarios
- Beautiful Insight Reports
- Video Tutorials & Training
- 15 Blueprint Library
PRO LIFETIME $164
- Funnel Map Creator
- Simulation Engine & Optimizer
- UNLIMITED Projects
- UNLIMITED Objects Per Project
- 3 Scenarios
- Beautiful Insight Reports
- Video Tutorials & Training
- 30+ Blueprint Library
- Custom Logo Reports
- Priority Support
Funnelytics
Funnelytics is a simulator that helps marketers interpret and get insights on the entire sales process that’s carefully planned before building funnels.
The funnel simulator also comes with eye-catching features that take user experience to a whole new level.
Here’s what you can get with Funnelytics:
- Advanced Data Tracking
- Get Real-time Data
- Personalize Marketing Efforts
- Strategize Data
- Simulation Forecasts
- Get Alerts
- Integrate Data with Other Platforms
- Email and Ad Tracking
- Free Plan
- Live Chat Support
- Funnel Templates
Pricing
Funnelytics has different plans for businesses and agencies that may require you to book a demo, however, we have a top-secret deal that you can’t find on any other website.
MarketPlan.io
MarketPlan is another funnel simulator that lets every marketer plan, design, analyze, and optimize marketing strategies.
Here’s what you can do on the platform:
- Team Collaboration
- Funnel Mapping and Planning
- Real-time analytics
- Campaign Tracking
- Use Built-in Templates
- Free Plan
- Live Chat Support
Pricing
Marketplan offers a free lifetime plan that’s ideal for 1 user and three other plans specifically, Starter ($9 for 3 users), Pro ($29 for 5 users), Agency ($79 for 15 users).
Which one is the best?
The Winner – FUNNELYTICS
Based on their features, Funnelytics ranks first among its competitors since the platform has a very user-friendly interface that’s easy to interpret data.
When it comes to usefulness, the platform is highly recommended for marketers who analyze data for their clients as part of their job.
In addition, the marketing funnel simulator also comes with the best tools that you can’t find on any other software.
Visualizing your buyer’s journey is also easier to understand since you can also track the traffic starting from the landing page until they reach the end of the funnel.
This makes it easier for marketers to determine if one stage inside the funnel isn’t effective enough to convert a potential customer to a buyer.
Funnelytics also has an excellent and responsive customer support team that is always thrilled to answer your queries.
Lastly, the platform also has this amazing ability to track product or marketing strategies in real-time.
If you’re interested to get Funnelytics, click here to learn more about a top-secret deal that you can’t find on any other website. Shhh…
How do you make a sales funnel?
If you’re done funnel mapping, then it’s finally time to build a sales funnel.
A funnel has 5 essential steps/elements that should be used in the correct order:
Landing Page (Awareness)
This is basically the page where your customer ‘lands’ after clicking an ad, webinar, or downloading an online file.
Valuable offer (Awareness)
The purpose of this page is to let the business or company interact with the prospect by giving them a valuable offer.
It’s also where customers trade their contact information (email) in exchange for something valuable.
You can make them want to give their email by offering exclusive discount codes, pdf files, exclusive access to a free webinar, and more.
Nurturing (Interest)
Now that you already have their contact information, this is where you can communicate with your prospects easily.
Start by sharing more information about another offer to spark their interest and eventually make them want to get to the next stage.
It can be a series of emails like, “How to Make Your First Quilt in 5 Days”, “How I Earn Three Digits A Day As A Beginner” or maybe a soap opera about your experiences to make the brand become successful.
The topic should be relevant to your brand so they’ll be more interested in what you’re trying to offer.
Upsells (Decision)
This stage is focused on upgrading a particular service or product that you’ve been working hard to sell to your prospects.
For example, you’ve been teaching them how to make their first quilt for 5 days already, don’t just stop there.
Instead, give them a new product to make them more interested.
It can be a new bundle that comes with more tools, lessons, and bonuses or lifetime access to your services.
Action Phase
Lastly, this part is where you see the results.
You can easily distinguish prospects who are interested to purchase another product at this stage.
You may build another nurture series for them in a few months while focusing on your new customers to determine their behavior.
Which funnel builder is the best?
When building a marketing funnel, if you want to get high conversion rates, you also need to use a good funnel builder.
ClickFunnels is an excellent platform to build effective funnels that convert and you can even test the platform yourself since they’re offering a 14-day free trial.
It’s an all-in-one platform that lets you broaden your business reach, launch your own affiliate program, and more.
Is Geru better than ClickFunnels?
GERU isn’t like ClickFunnels that lets users build websites and funnels on the software.
It’s more like a pre-requisite tool that you should use before even getting to ClickFunnels.
Interested to get Funnelytics? Click here to learn more.
