ClickFunnels Review – Is It Legit or a Scam?
Welcome to this ClickFunnels review.
If you're looking to learn more about the popular sales funnel builder platform, you're at the right place.
ClickFunnels has seen a huge growth in their user base over the last several years. The tool has been the first choice for entrepreneurs since it makes the daunting task of lead gen look easy.
In this review, we shall cover how ClickFunnels works, and pretty much all the things you need to know - pros, cons, comparisons and much more.
ClickFunnels Review
Feel free to skim through the various sections of this ClickFunnels review using the following table of contents.
What Is ClickFunnels?
ClickFunnels is a platform that was launched in 2014 by an online marketer named Russell Brunson. The founder has had a fair share of success in the internet marketing space. He even reveals all his strategies in his US best-selling books namely Dot Com Secrets and Expert Secrets.
Both books cover a lot of ground and can help one scale their online business to the next level. Expert Secrets is more about creating a mass movement and getting people to pay for your advice.
Here's a quick-video that explains how ClickFunnels has an edge over its competition:
At the core of the product, you'll find ready-to-go marketing funnels that you can use right away, and edit as per your needs. Starting from scratch is never the recommended approach - why even reinvent the wheel?
The simple 'drag and drop' page builder is easy to use, and requires no technical skills.
Should You Use ClickFunnels?
The short answer is - it depends. If you have a service/product to sell, it could be a good fit for you.
Does any of these apply to you?
If you answered in yes, then you would definitely benefit from using ClickFunnels. If you're new to online marketing/funnels, you can always begin with the basic plan and upgrade when needed.
With CF, you can always upgrade/downgrade your subscription plan depending on your business requirements.
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ClickFunnels Review - Key Features of the Landing Page Tool
Sales funnels are intended to maximize the value per visitor, and ClickFunnels makes the entire process a breeze. With guesswork out of the equation, it's sure to maximize your revenue and save time.
ClickFunnels Reviews
Whether your goal is to generate leads or get sales or host a webinar, you can accomplish it all with the suite. Click Funnels will not falter if your goal is to save some time or maximize your business revenue/profits.
With the all-in-one marketing suite, you can pump out high-quality funnels in no time, which requires no coding skills. If you sell a product, you'll definitely enjoy one-click upsells as well. The visitors can purchase an upgrade without the need to go through the checkout process again.
While there's a lot to like about Click Funnels, here are some of our favorite features of the platform:
Huge Library of Templates
There are hundreds of high quality templates which you can use to create your funnel in minutes. Simply select a template, make edits and it's ready to go.
ClickFunnel Reviews - Templates
All that's needed is to select your campaign's goal and relevant templates will pop up in your dashboard. Make use of conversion-optimized pages instead of starting from scratch.
In case you change your mind, you can also ditch one at any instant of time and start all over again.
The Funnel Components
A funnel inside of ClickFunnels is merely a collection of pages and comprise of various 'steps'. Most funnels start with a squeeze page, also known as optin page and capture page.
Click Funnels Reviews - Generate Leads
The goal of the opt-in page is to get the user to opt into your funnel. This can either be name, first name, a collection or both, or other info about the visitor. Apart from squeeze page, you can also create these pages:
Customization With ClickFunnels
This is where ClickFunnels truly shines. With a huge library of templates and easy to use drag and drop feature, the possibilities are endless. If you can dream of customizing a part of the funnel, you actually can.
Click Funnels Review - Visual Page Builder
The drag and drop builder does most of the heavy lifting with which you just have to drag an element onto the page. If you're an advanced user, you can also write custom CSS code for styling elements.
From color to padding/margin customization, it's all made possible - which require no technical skills. Most Click Funnel reviews acknowledge this, but don't cover it in depth. However, this one will.
A page inside of ClickFunnels page editor is comprised of various sections. A section includes rows and columns where you can drag and drop various elements as you please. The individual elements can be edited with the pop-out sidebar and text directly as you would with an old-school word editing tool.
Building a Funnel
For building a funnel with the platform, you'll have to pick your own path.
ClickFunnel Review - To get started, select one of the options
You can opt between the guided cookbook builder process or the classic funnel builder. The latter uses more of a do-it-yourself approach which is preferred by people who like more control over everything.
Cookbook Builder
It was introduced in the recent times. With it, you can create a funnel based on your industry. You're also free to select the goal of the campaign via the 'type of funnel' option.
ClickFunnels Review - Cookbook Builder
As of this writing, the following industry options are available:
Depending on your goals, you can also sort the results to only show the relevant templates:
Classic Funnel Builder
It's the recommended option if you prefer more design control. It will prompt you to choose your goals:
ClickFunnels - Various Types of Marketing Funnels
Depending on the scenario/marketing goal, you would want to create something that best fits your requirements. With ClickFunnels, you certainly won't have to do the heavy-lifting. Simply select your main goal, a ready-made design, and you're ready to roll.
You may want to build an e-mail list of people interested in something, or sell a product/service to an audience or perhaps, do both? Here are the different funnel types you can create with the cloud-based application:
- Lead generation funnels for building an email list.
- Sales funnels for selling a product/service.
- Event funnels for hosting an event (like a web-based seminar also known as webinar).
#1 Lead Funnels
As the name suggests, lead funnels are used to capture 'leads' or 'subscribers'. You build an email list, provide value via an autoresponder followup sequence, and later on sell a product.
This is how the process looks like: capture page (captures the visitors' info) -> redirect to a thank you page.
ClickFunnels Review - Lead Funnels
Alternatively, you can set up a more sophisticated lead gen funnel as well. Start with a reverse squeeze page, collect their info, get them to fill a detailed form and then redirect to the thank you page.
That's where Application funnels come to the rescue! This is how it looks like:
#2 Sales Funnels
If you're looking to sell a product right off the bat, a sales funnel should be on your mind.
With it, you'll collect the visitors' information, and then send to a sales page which will do all the selling for you. With CF, you can also make use of one-click upsells to maximize your order value per customer.
You can also integrate leading payment processors like PayPal and Stripe to your funnel.
Click Funnel Reviews - Types of Funnels
To serve the purpose, you can select between:
A product in the range of $7-17 works best since it doesn't ask for a lot. Once the user has made their first purchase, redirect them to the one-time-offer page. It can be an e-book or a case study or something simple.
You can also use elements like countdown timers for discounts to further improve the conversion rate. All these elements are readily accessible from the ClickFunnels elements library.
#3 Event Funnels
Hosting an event online can be a great way to build connections, and grow your audience.
ClickFunnels offers a dozen of ready to be deployed webinar funnel templates. You can stream live events with webinar funnels by connecting with platforms like YouTube or Zoom.
Via the webinar signup page, you get the visitors to register. The visitors will then be added to your streaming platform from where they can select a time slot.
Re-targeting is also possible with webinar funnels. You can do so with an email followup sequence and a webinar replay link for those who miss the live event. If you have a presentation ready to go, you can instead use an autowebinar funnel to host your pre-recorded webinar. To sum things up:
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Membership Site
With Click Funnels, you can create a fully-fledged membership site. You can host private training or even offer a coaching program through it. Once you grant access, your customers will have their login credentials for the site.
There's also an option to offer content via a drip-feed mode in case you don't want to let it all out in one go.
ClickFunnels Review - Membership Website
Once a membership website is created, you'll have a secret login for admin access. Through it, you can create/manage user accounts on demand.
This can turn into a decent monthly cash flow stream as it's possible to set up recurring billing for your program.
Prevent Cart Abandonment
With the built-in order forms, you can prevent card abandonment and increase your revenue.
One-page forms work great, but if you intend to collect multiple fields, use a two-step order form instead. With it, you'll only collect the prospects' email/name or FB messenger info on the first step. If they happen to abandon the cart on the second step which collects more data, there will always be a way to re-connect with them.
Add cherry on the cake with the one-click upsells since they won't have to go through the checkout process again.
Recruit and Manage Affiliates
Using Backpack, you can run your own affiliate program. It's possible to set custom commission plans and do mass payouts. You can also provide the necessary promo tools to affiliates like banner ads/email swipes for the product.
If a user sends you a prospect, they will get the credit. ClickFunnels will track every step of the visitors' journey with utmost precision.
However, Backpack is only available with the flagship plan. There are some who say you should stay away from ClickFunnels scam because they don't find Backpack in the starter plan, and this explains why.
Retargeting Prospects With ClickFunnels
If you've captured a lead, you may want to get a quick notification via email. You may also want to thank them for subscribing, or send a welcome email.
From the automation section, you can automate the chores and get notified when someone signs up through your funnels. Scheduling a welcome email to go out at a specific time is also an option.
If you're interested in sending a series of automated emails, you may want to look into Actionetic's Follow-up Funnels. It's ClickFunnels' in-house autoresponder program. Simply connect it with an SMTP of your choice and your email campaigns should be ready to go. Here are a few advantages of using Actionetics:
The higher the Action Score is, the better. It may also be a good idea to regularly remove the inactive leads. Here's what determines the score:
- When did the leads join the list
- How often they interact with your content
- Purchase behavior compared to other leads
- Social media checks - how active they are on social sites
Product Delivery
Regardless of whether you're selling physical or a digital goods, fulfillment will be a breeze with the platform.
If it's a digital product, the buyer will get instant access to the members area from where they can access their purchase. If it's a downloadable product and not a course, instead send to a thank you/download page.
On the other hand, if you sell physical goods, enable the ShipStation feature for your funnels. It will seamlessly integrate your account with hundreds of e-commerce and drop-shipping sites.
Managing inventory doesn't have to be a nightmare!
A/B Split Testing on Landing Pages
Also known as bucket testing, with A/B tests, you can make slight changes to the page and test them out.
ClickFunnels Review - A/B Split Testing
Sometimes, a little change like a button color change makes all the difference, You wouldn't know unless you put them to the test. You can conduct a range of tests with:
- Headings
- Sub-headings
- Text on page
- Images
- Button text
- Button colors and much more.
Clone an existing page, make slight changes as you please, and enable the split test. It will evenly distribute the traffic between the set of pages and determine the winning page (with the better conversion rate).
ClickFunnels Support
The company has a decent support team, expect to get your queries answered within 12 hours on business days. The only thing they lack at this moment is a live-chat option which may be added moving forward.
The product has little to no flaws, and usually you won't run into issues. However, if you do, create a ticket and wait for a response. You will get an email notification for the same when it's answered.
There's definitely some room for improvement as 24/7 chat support is something a lot of people will appreciate. If you're looking for a prompt fix, use the community FB group instead. There's a fair chance a user can help you out.
Documentation
If you get stuck, you can always get a hold of the support team. If not, you can fix the problem(s) on your own using their extensive documentation.
ClickFunnels Review - Documentation & Helpdesk
The docs cover everything - from step-by-step tutorials to general guides to troubleshooting tips. If you're feeling adventurous and don't mind getting your hands dirty, it won't hurt to go through the docs.
Whether you are looking for a specific feature or want a quick getting started guide, this is the place to look.
ClickFunnels Pros and Cons
ClickFunnels is one of the more popular marketing suites out there, and for a good reason. It has helped people generate millions of dollars in sales online.
The platform happily connects with dozens of other services, and with their page builder, you don't need to write a single line of code. You can have your own membership website up and running in no time. Yet, it isn't perfect.
However, if you look at the bigger picture, it does make things look easy, which would otherwise be daunting.
ClickFunnels Pros - Things We Liked
ClickFunnels as a platform has come a long way over the years. Here's what we really like:
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ClickFunnels Cons - Things We Didn't Like
There's some room for improvement as well:
ClickFunnels Alternatives
There are a lot of rival tools out there for building funnels. Not all of them are marketed as funnel-building tools though. Some of them are rather classified as page builders.
Some of the popular competing programs include:
- Thrive Themes
- Kartra
- LeadPages
- Infusionsoft
- BuilderAll
- Unbounce
1. ClickFunnels vs Thrive Themes
Thrive Themes is an excellent all-in-one software suite. In fact, this website is also powered by Thrive. It can be used to build landing pages as well, but only does a part of what ClickFunnels does.
Thrive only works with WordPress (and you must have a website ready to go to be able to use it), and it only makes pages. It doesn’t include an autoresponder or some of the other advanced features you’ll get with Click Funnels.
If you do have a WordPress website, and an autoresponder service, then Thrive can be an alternative, but it is only designed for making pages, rather than funnels, so it lacks a lot of the features that ClicFunnels has.
Thrive Themes Pros
Thrive Themes Cons
2. ClickFunnels vs Kartra
Kartra is a SaaS (software-as-a-service) product similar to ClickFunnels. It's also marketed as an all-in-one solution for online marketers.
From building an email list to creating complete funnels, it's all possible with Kartra.
Kartra Pros
Kartra Cons
3. ClickFunnels vs LeadPages
Like Thrive Themes, LeadPages is a tool used for building landing pages, rather than complete funnels, so it’s not a like-for-like comparison again.
LeadPages also lets you build good looking landing pages that are mobile responsive, but LeadPages is really all about producing single pages, rather than linking them together to create sophisticated funnels. ClickFunnels is focused on building funnels, not just opt-in pages.
Comparing it with ClickFunnels is like comparing apples to oranges.
LeadPages Pros
LeadPages Cons
4. ClickFunnels vs Infusionsoft
Infusionsoft, is quite complex and overpriced for what it offers.
Expect to pay $300 per month, and it is notoriously difficult to use. You may have to hire someone to manage it for you since it's far from beginner-friendly. That’s the bad bit over.
Infusionsoft is capable of building very sophisticated funnels too. It's still used by a lot of B2B companies for managing huge email lists.
Infusionsoft Pros
Infusionsoft Cons
5. ClickFunnels vs BuilderAll
BuilderAll is a cheaper alternative to ClickFunnels but it’s very limited, and the platform is not half as polished.
It can be a good starting point for those on a budget. But, if we were to use one tool, we would use and recommend ClickFunnels any day. If you're interested in checking out ClickFunnels alternatives, definitely recommend you check out this article as well.
It's overall a decent platform, but their email marketing tools aren't amazing either. You get what you pay for!
BuilderAll Pros
BuilderAll Cons
6. ClickFunnels vs Unbounce
Unbounce is a great product as well, and comes with a lot of top-notch funnel templates.
Apart from landing pages, you can also build custom sticky bars and popups. It can be integrated with WordPress sites via plugins too.
Unbounce Pros
Unbounce Cons
ClickFunnels Pricing Plans
ClickFunnels offers two pricing plans:
- ClickFunnels Standard - $97 per month
- ClickFunnels Platinum - $297 per month (formerly known as Etison Suite)
The flagship Platinum/Etison Suite plan can be had at a huge discount if you opt for Funnel Builder Secrets. Simply pick a copy and select either 6 or 12 months to avail a special price.
FREE 14-day trial
Standard Plan:
This is the cheaper plan, which is also the recommended option if you're just getting started. The basic plan comes with all the goodies except for a few advanced features namely Follow-up Funnels and Backpack.
Prior to re-branding, Follow-up Funnels was formerly called Actionetics. It's ClickFunnels' own autoresponder system for email marketing automation. Backpack is used to set up your own affiliate program so you can hire and manage affiliates. These are advanced features and are only offered in the $297 package.
The number of funnels and pages you can create with this membership plan is also capped. Here's what you get with the standard plan:
- Create up to 20 funnels with up to 100 pages in total
- Access to all the built-in templates
- Share funnels to share your funnels with other people
- A/B split testing for optimizing your ongoing campaigns
- Unlimited contacts (if you intend to use a lead gen funnel)
Platinum Plan (Formerly Known as Etison Suite):
ClickFunnels Platinum is the company's high-end offering at the moment. It removes all the limitations of the standard plan, and comes with a few additional perks.
You can have unlimited funnels/pages, and send as many visitors as you like each month. Here's what you get with ClickFunnels Platinum:
- Follow-up funnels (formerly known as Actionetics) for automation in email marketing.
For reference, here's a complete chart highlighting the differences:
ClickFunnels
$
97
/mo
ClickFunnels Platinum
$
297
/mo
FREE 14-day trial
ClickFunnels Review - Discount
Regardless of the plan you select, you can get a FREE 14-day trial. During the free trial period, you can use the product without limitations. Why not take the Platinum plan out for a spin since you won't have to pay a dime.
If you're looking for Actionetics, you may want to sign up for the higher-end plan instead. Some of the features are exclusive to the Platinum plan. Same goes for Backpack, with which you can run an affiliate program.
Opt for a 6-month subscription, and receive a FLAT 50% discount on the Platinum plan.
With a 6 or 12-month subscription plan, you also get the following bonuses for free:
Is There a Guarantee?
The platform offers a free 14-day trial, but if you stay after the trial period is over, there are no refunds.
However, if you opt for a 6-month or a 12-month plan (here), you will get a 30-day full money back guarantee in case you change your mind. To cancel, open a support ticket and simply ask for a refund.
During the free trial, your card won't be charged. You can always test drive the product to see if it's a good fit.
ClickFunnels FAQ/Frequently Asked Questions
Following you can find some of the frequently asked questions about ClickFunnels:
Q. I already have an autoresponder. Do I still need ClickFunnels?
A. If you have an email automation tool, you can sign up for the basic plan instead which doesn't come with Actionetics/Backpack.
With it, you can still build sales funnels and integrate with your existing email marketing platform.
Q. Will I make money with it?
A. No one can guarantee results. Whether or not you'll be successful, that really depends on a lot of factors:
- Quality of your product/service
- Effectiveness of your sales letter's copy
- Sales funnel's quality
- Traffic quality/source
Q. Do I need multiple funnels?
A. Testing multiple approaches at a time won't hurt, and eventually will get you to a stage where you'll get decent conversion rates.
The goal is to keep testing, and shortlisting the funnels which perform best. Scale the best ones, get rid of the rest.
Q. Can I connect my website with ClickFunnels?
A. ClickFunnels happily connects with WordPress websites with a plugin. However, it may be a bit of a headache trying to connect it with Squarespace sites.
Q. I'm not tech savvy. Can I still use ClickFunnels?
A. Absolutely. You don't need to be tech savvy to be able to use the software suite.
That being said, if you're technically sound and can write code, CF won't limit you in any way. Whatever you'll build, it will be mobile-friendly out of the box like with any page builders today.
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ClickFunnels Review - Is ClickFunnels Legit?
That brings us to the conclusion of this in-depth ClickFunnels review.
It's a good match for the right businesses and sure is a legit software platform. Whether or not it's worth it depends on many factors. There are dozens of ClickFunnels.com reviews, and whether or not you need it depends on your requirements and most importantly your goals.
Take a free 14-day trial and see for yourself. Share what your favorite features of the iconic page builder are!
Did you learn something new about the platform today? Is it a good fit with what you do?
Or did we miss anything?
Either way, let us know by leaving a quick comment down below.