In the absence of a sales funnel, you’re simply walking your leads into an empty street. Same goes for a leaky funnel; your leads will pass through it, but they won’t convert. None of them good.
Most marketers talk about sales funnel, but they don’t seem to grab the concept right. So they end up struggling with lead conversion. If the bulk of the leads you’re generating don’t translate to sales — partly due to lack of nurturing, that alone is enough to reason to conclude that there’s something wrong with your sales funnel.
Any marketer worth their salt knows, driving traffic to your website is the most natural thing to do. The real challenge comes when you have to take advantage of the traffic you’re attracting and direct it to your landing page.
This just confirms that without a sales funnel all your marketing effort is futile. You need a point of contact between your nurturing portal and the customers you’re attracting. And that’s where a sales funnel comes in.
The most natural way to learn about sales funnels and how they work is by examples. For this reason, we’re pulling back the curtain on ten real-time examples of sales funnels for you to check out and maybe take a cue from.
These examples comprise of some of the biggest companies in the world, alternating with upcoming ones.
Now that out of the way, let’s just straight in:
Netflix Sales Funnel
We’ll start with the most obvious example, Netflix. For those who’ve never heard about Netflix before (doubt there’s any), this is one of the largest and most popular video streaming services around. It rivals YouTube, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.
As we speak, Netflix has more than 150 million active subscribers with the number expected to grow tenfold in the next few years. Its popularity is growing like a bonfire, and there a reason for this:
Netflix understands the value of Sales Funnel and Great content. And they’re not taking any chances with this.
They have a seamless sales funnel that we’ll be breaking down chunk by chunk.
Their Lead Page
Netflix boasts one of the most potent lead magnets in the world. This lead magnet is simple, but it serves curiosity — ‘see what’s next.’
This is followed by a headline that communicates availability with no commitment — watch it anywhere and cancel any time. This addresses all the fear that a potential customer might have — being forced to subscribe to something that will be holding them hostage.
And just below the headline, is their Course of Action (CTA) — which promises a FREE TRIAL. Users have the option to try out Netflix for free and see if it’s something worth investing in. That’s the best way to get a potential customer hooked in right away. Or who would resist that unless you’re not big on movies and TV shows?
Choose a Plan Page
This is where you’re directed next when you click on ‘JOIN FREE FOR A MONTH.’ This page is so simple — but make no mistake, it’s a stroke of genius.
It has three simple steps that show your progress while signing up. It also goes to remind you that Netflix won’t be charging you for that month. The kind of reassurance that customers need just in case they still have some doubts.
This is one page I can bet converts the highest number of customers. It addresses users’ concern in the best way possible, and that’s where Netflix wins it big.
The Price Plan Page
This page shows you their pricing plan in the simplest way possible. They’ve addressed their premium plan and even created a comparison chart to show you what lies in the different packages.Compared to the amount people pay for cable TV, their premium plan is a real bang for value.
Their Sign Up Page
After warming you up with their pricing plans and everything else, it’s time to lock you in. And Netflix knows the best way how.
All you have to enter is your email and password before hitting the ‘continue’ button. Netflix could have populated this page with a long-form with different entries. But they understood what’s at stake here.
People don’t like filling lengthy forms. So Netflix saw it fit to reassure their about-to-be customers in a paragraph they’ve placed below their headline.
“Just two more steps and we’re done.'” Now let’s continue.
Their Order Page
This is the final step of signing up with Netflix. It’s their payment page, and Netflix tries to make it as smooth as possible.
Netflix is well aware of the fear that their users have. And they have to keep on reassuring them that they won’t be holding them against their will. If they feel like cancelling their plan at any time, they’re free to do so.
It’s then that they proceed to ask you for your PayPal or credit card details. You can bet at this point that the number of people falling off at this last step will be at the bare minimal.
A Keen Analysis of Netflix’s Sales Funnel
If there’s one way to describe Netflix’s sales funnel then it is simplicity at its best. Netflix has shown us that you don’t need to overdo things. Stick with what’s relevant and keep it simple.
They also have one of the most natural registration processes. You wouldn’t even know that you’re in the process of signing up with them until you’re done.
They’ve embraced the Information architecture principle of less is more, and they’re making a killing with it.
Did it even occur to you that they have a six-step sales funnel process? Everything was so smooth that you glide through it all without knowing that you’re in the middle of doing something.
Netflix takes the hassle off the process of converting a customer. They make it appear like it’s so effortless. They also ensure they have collected your email. So in case you don’t make an order, they have a way to follow you up and get you to reconsider your decision.
SamCart Sales Funnel
Samcart is a web-based solution for selling your products and services online. It’s a simplified checkout platform that you could use to create a professional shopping cart page.
It can be integrated with a majority of email providers. Plus you could use it to create a sales funnel. But that’s not where we’ll be channelling our focus in this article.
We want to look at their sales funnel and break it down bit to bit. What makes it so efficient?
The first thing you see when you land to the samcart page is their two-column approach.
In the first column, they have a headline, a sub-headline, and two Call to Action (CTA) buttons.
It’s apparent their headline targets online vendors who are making serious money and are looking for a way to generate repeat sales. Their sub-headline reinstates the headline. It’s also not peppered in a way that warrants too much attention.
Coming next are their Call to Action (CTA) buttons. There’s the ‘TRY FOR FREE’ button, which takes you to the next stage of their sales funnel. And then there’s the second button, ‘SEE a DEMO’ that lets you preview their templates.
The ‘TRY IT FREE” button leads you to the next step of the sales funnel — and like you’d expect, it’s their pricing page.
The Pricing Page
Someone would argue that there’s nothing extraordinary about this page. But there’s something special to pick on.
Samcart tries to make the decision-making process a snap. They have two pricing packages, with a list of all the features to expect under each plan.
They have a pro and premium plan. Their pro plan goes for $99 per month while their premium plan goes for $199. Clicking on either of the plans takes you to the next step of their sales funnel, their order page.
Their Order Page
That’s where they unleash their 14 day FREE trial that you could use to test their products. They also assure you that there’s no contract to bind you to them. You can cancel the subscription any time.
Their order page is pretty long. But they have a way to get you locked in. In the last section of their order page, that’s where they unleash their one-click upsell — “YES, ADD CHECKOUT HACKS REPORT.”
You can tell this is one of their major conversion points.
A Careful Analysis of SamCart Sales Funnel
SamCart’s sales funnel only has three stages.
They have the lead or navigation page that gives you the option to check out their demo or head to the next step of their sales funnel by clicking on ‘TRY IT FREE.” This is the assurance that potential customers need to proceed to the next stage of the funnel. After all, they’ve got nothing to lose.
Samcart entices their leads with their FREE TRIAL, which they reveal in their price page, and unleash another surprise as someone opens their order page. This tries to minimize the number of people that are dropping off before completing their order.
Udacity Sales Funnel
Udacity is the platform to sign up with if you’re looking to learn a new skill. The platform has a vast range of education programs that you could use to build technical skills. They’re offering what’s widely referred to as a nano degree.
In other words, they have a series of courses that you can complete in less than a year and acquire proficiency. You want to learn about digital marketing, web development, or any programming language? Well, remember to check out with Udacity and sign up for one of their programs.
But that’s not where our focus is today. We want to study their sales funnel and find out why it’s so special.
Their Sales Funnel
Udacity’s lead page is off-the-wall. It’s unique, and you can tell there was some serious planning before setting it up.
They have a scarcity time limit that they use to lure customers into taking action. Their sought-after courses aren’t available on a full-time basis. They have a closing time that requires you to act fast or be left out.
Do you want to become a digital marketer? Enrol now, or you’ll be left out. That’s their primary marketing strategy.
Their Pricing Page
Once you click on ‘ENROL NOW’ you’ll be directed to their price page. Here they have two pricing plans — i) a one-time payment of $999 and ii) a monthly payment plan of $84 per month.
After choosing a payment plan that you’re most comfortable with, you’ll be directed to the order page.
Their Order Page
There’s nothing complicated about their order page, save for the part where you’ll be paying for their services via a third party called AFFIRM. You also have an option to pay using PayPal or credit card.
Detailed Analysis of Udacity’s Sales Funnel
Udacity’s sales funnel occurs in three stages. First is the lead page, where the bulk of your customers land. They’re then directed to the price page and lastly to the order page to complete a transaction.
The platform uses the power of scarcity to get their customers to take action. And we can bet, it works.
They also have three different payment options that capture the bulk of their sales.
Crazy Egg Sales Funnel
There’s no way we could have completed this list without mentioning crazy egg. They’re the real macoy in this, and it’s all for a good reason.
Crazy is an essential tool you use to find out how users are interacting with your website. It spies on you, but in a cooler way.
You want to find out what section of your website receives most clicks? Or create A/B testing and find out what the most converting web page is?
Well, the crazy egg got your back.
But let’s save the story for another day and focus on what inspired this post, their sales funnel.
Their Sales Funnel
Crazy egg kills it first with their headline. They couldn’t have come up with something better. You want to make your website better; let’s show you how.
The sub-headline created the much-needed reassurance. Of course, customers want to find out how many websites have benefited from this web tool. And crazy egg knows how to serve them with that kind of information right.
You can tell crazy egg tested that headline a couple of times, and they’re having a field day with it.
What also makes their approach interesting is that they request your website URL first. Others would have rushed to ask for your email. But crazy egg wants to build your trust first before they can go ahead and hook you in.
And their CTA is something else — show me my heat map. Well, in our opinion, I think they could have done much better with something like ‘show me how to improve my website.’ Remember, the plainer your language the betters chances you have at winning a prospect over.
Once you enter your website and click on their CTA button, you’ll be directed to their sign up page.
Their Sign up Page
Here’s some serious mind game. They have already built anticipation, and they know we won’t be going anywhere until we satisfy our curiosity. A smart move!
So you enter your email and password and click on ‘Try Crazy Egg for Free.’ At the bottom, they want to establish trust just in case you doubt them and want to bail out. So they remind you that more than 300, 000 companies have benefited from their services.
They also have a social proof where they list big company brands that have benefited from the tool.
Once you’ve signed up, you can click on ‘Try Crazy Egg for Free’ and you’ll be directed to their Pricing Page.
Their Pricing Page
Crazy egg’s pricing page has four tiers — with the cheapest one starting at $29 per month and their premium plan going for $189. Every plan lists what to expect.
So you click on the plan that you’re most comfortable with and click on ‘try my free trial.’
The next page that pops up will be the order page.
The Order Page
There’s nothing much going on with this page — just a lot of reassuring and social proof on some of the big companies that are using crazy egg.
Their CTA changes colour to green, which signals growth and health. This move speaks to your emotions, which compels you further to complete the action.
Keen Analysis of Crazy Egg’s Sales Funnel
We can say crazy egg has the perfect sales funnel for anyone in this line of business. First, they create curiosity and use it to get you to sign up with them.
They then reassure you in the price page by reminding you that more than 300, 000 companies use the tool. Why would you want to be left behind?
And lastly is the calmness they try to maintain in the last phase of the process. They’re done talking. They just want to talk to your emotion and let you complete the transaction on your terms.
The Final Thought
There you have it — a list of high-profile companies that understand the value of sales funnels. Study them, and you’ll realize that nothing they’ve done wasn’t as a result of careful planning.
So what next?
Go ahead and create your sales funnel. Or drop us a message at MediaOne Marketing and let’s see how we can be of value to your project.