In marketing, a sales funnel represents a series of steps designed to move a lead to a sale. The Wikipedia article on sales funnels does a great job describing the various elements and components of a typical funnel. This article describes seven different funnel structures built in WordPress, and provides examples of how to put each structure to use. Because sales funnels are built based on offers and pricing, and quality of leads, no funnel structure is guaranteed to produce results.
What Is an Example of a Sales Funnel?
A simple example is a lead generation funnel, A visitor clicks an ad and is taken to a page where they can enter their email to download a checklist. Visitors are then shown a thank you page and sent a follow up email that talks about a paid offer. The sequence of pages make up the funnel. No page in the sequence is the funnel.
A Simple Sales Funnel Model has 5 Stages: Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action, and Loyalty. People start at the top. They learn your business exists and may get curious about what you do. Later they develop a desire and take the action you ask of them. With time and repeated sales actions, they may move to the loyalty stage. We cover the model in more detail in our article about the five stages of a sales funnel. Since different authors use different names for the stages, donβt get too hung up on the names. Instead, use the stages to help you make sure each step of your sales funnel has a defined purpose.
7 WordPress Sales Funnel Examples
1. Lead Generation Funnel
Best For: Businesses looking to develop a leads list to sell a product or service.
How it Works: Lead generation funnels work best with a free offer. The free offer can be something of value like an eBook or checklist. People land on a special offer page and fill out a form with their email address. Once they submit the form they land on a thank you page and receive a confirmatory email.
Structure: Landing Page, Lead Capture Form, Thank You Page, Email Follow-Up
Pages Needed: You will need a focused landing page, lead capture form, thank you page, and a welcome email.
Example: A bookkeeper creates a checklist for business owners to help them prepare for year-end taxes. On the thank you page, the bookkeeper provides a link to the download, and an email with a welcome note.
What to measure: Conversion rate for landing page, completion rate for forms, and the percentage of leads that open the first email. We build these types of funnels for our clients, see our lead generation funnel service.
2. Service Business Funnel
Best for: Consultants, agencies and local businesses that sell to those that like to talk first.
How it works: A service landing page describes the problem, gives the benefits and provides proof. Interested visitors fill out an inquiry form or go to the booking page to make the appointment. Every lead that fills out an inquiry form gets a follow-up call.
Structure: Service Landing Page > Benefits and Proof > Inquiry Form > Booking Page > Follow-Up
How many pages: Service page, proof (case studies or testimonials), inquiry form and a booking page. The booking page is usually a scheduling tool embedded or linked from WordPress.
Example (hypothetical): A web designerβs service page has a brief write-up about who she works with and shows 2 client projects. Visitors can choose between a short form or a link to book a 20 minute call.
What to measure: Form submissions, booked calls and the percentage of booked calls that turn into paid clients. See our booking funnel service for this type of setup.
3. Ecommerce Product Sales Funnel
Best for: Online stores selling physical products.
How it works: A product landing page describes the benefits of the product and links to a detailed product page. The detailed product page has product images, reviews and description and ends with an add to cart button. This usually means using WordPress with WooCommerce. The goal is to remove unnecessary distractions for the user.
For example (hypothetical): The product landing page for boots has a short paragraph about the benefits. A button links to the detailed product page. The detailed product page has images of the boots, reviews, description and an Add to Cart button.
Structure: Product Landing Page > Product Details > Add to Cart > Checkout > Order Confirmation
Pages Needed: Product page, cart, checkout, and order confirmation pages. WooCommerce provides these. Check account settings as well. WooCommerce enables you to control guest checkout in Accounts & Privacy Settings, so customers donβt need to create an account to purchase.
Example (hypothetical): A shop with a variety of candles sends ad traffic to a product page showing scent notes, burn time, and delivery date. The page also contains an add to cart button.
What to Measure: Add to cart rate, checkout completion rate, and checkouts left behind. Analyze the checkout process step by step to see where the bottlenecks are. Our eCommerce funnel service helps with this kind of process flow.
4. Digital Product Sales Funnel
For: Ebook, template, or download sellers.
How it Works: Sales pages focus on benefits of the product. Buyers checkout to purchase, and then immediately receive the product.
Structure: Sales Page > Product Benefits > Checkout > Order Confirmation > Product Delivery
Pages Needed: Sales page, checkout, delivery page, and order confirmation pages.
Example (hypothetical): A designer sells editable social media templates. The sales page shows an example of the template and what the buyer will receive. The sales page has a direct link to the checkout.
What to Measure: Conversion rates on your sales page, checkout completion rates, and support/refund requests. Keep an eye on support requests as well.
5. Webinar Registration Funnel
Best for: High ticket or more complicated offers where the best way to teach is to have a presentation.
How it works: Prospects are given a landing page to sign up for a presentation (either live or recorded). Theyβre given a confirmation page and an offer after the presentation. The attendees who donβt buy are sent follow up emails.
Structure: Webinar Landing Page β Registration Form β Confirmation Page β Presentation β Offer Page β Follow Up
Pages needed: Registration, confirmation, and offer pages. Youβll also need a presentation and email software for reminders and follow up.
Example: A financial coach hosts monthly webinars on retirement planning and offers attendees a page to sign up for the next session.
What to Measure: Registration and attendance rates. The biggest loss in a weak funnel usually happens between registration and attendance. Need a service for this? Check out our webinar funnel service.
6. Online Course Sales Funnel
Best for: Course and training sellers
How it works: Prospects are given a course sales page that lets them know what theyβll learn, who itβs for, the expected results, addresses common objections with proof such as testimonials, and provides a call to action.
7. Course Sales Page, Email Nurture, and Sales Funnel
Best for: Businesses where the customer needs time to think about the purchase, like when the offer has a high price point or high perceived risk.
How it works: Set up a lead magnet landing page that captures an email. Then, send a welcome email to provide the lead magnet and set up a series of nurture emails to send over the next couple of weeks. Finish with an email to the offer page to make a purchase.
Structure: Lead Magnet Landing Page β Signup Form β Welcome Email β Nurture Emails β Offer Page β Purchase or Inquiry
What to measure: Pages where the offer is made, emails sent, and how many students finish the first lesson.
Example (hypothetical): A yoga teacher wants to sell an online course where she teaches poses. A lead magnet landing page offers a checklist of the poses. The lead magnet is sent via welcome email, and nurture emails are sent weekly for the next five weeks. The final email sends students to a page to enroll in the online course.
Pages needed: a landing page, a sign up form, a series of emails, and an offer page. You also need a WordPress plugin or service to automate the marketing emails.
This method can also be used to sell a service, like a one-on-one coaching program. You can create an evergreen sales funnel for a product or program by creating content to remind people to make a purchase.
What to measure: Sign-up rates, email open and click-through rates, and offer page conversion rates.
Discard or modify any emails that donβt get clicked.
How Do You Select the Ideal Sales Funnel for Your Business?
Match the Funnel to Your Offer
A low-cost product can sell directly from a sales page. A high-priced service usually requires conversation first. If your offer requires explanation, lead with a lead gen, service, or webinar funnel. If your offer is simple and low-risk, a direct sales funnel can work.
Think About How Your Prospects Make Buying Decisions
Consider how long your prospects typically take to make a purchase. Would they likely buy a $20 template in under 20 minutes? Maybe decide to hire a consultant in under 20 minutes and compare a few options? Longer decision processes typically mean more follow-up is needed, such as an email or booking step.
What Action Do You Want Visitors to Take Next?
In each funnel, determine the most important next action for a visitor to take. A page with a purchase, booking, download, and social follow buttons in no particular order leaves a visitor confused about the next action to take. Always address the most important action, and treat the rest as less important.
Are These Sales Funnels Available in WordPress?
Yes, all seven are possible with WordPress, but not all by itself. WordPress is great for content and pages. To take payment youβd add WooCommerce. To add email youβd add an email service. To add booking, webinar or course youβd add specialist tools. The work is in connecting them to pass the visitor to the next step.
What Your Funnel Pages Require
Each funnel page needs:
- A clear headline
- Exactly one call-to-action
- Only the info needed to complete that step
- To load quickly
- A mobile responsive design
- Tracking to measure how many reach that step
To read a report on funnel conversions in Google Analytics, visit the help pages. Our post on finding where youβre losing leads outlines the process when your conversion rate isnβt where youβd like it to be.
WordPress Funnel Plugins
WordPress funnel plugins allow you to create flows that consist of custom checkout pages and upsell/downsell pages. Plugins in the Sales Funnels category on WordPress.org include WPFunnels, FunnelKit, and CartFlows. You can browse the Sales Funnels category in the plugins directory. A plugin isnβt always necessary. You can create simple lead generation funnels with a landing page, a form, and an email tool. A plugin would be necessary for custom checkout/upsell flows.
If you arenβt comfortable with the technical side of creating a sales funnel, there are WordPress funnel builders that include pages, checkouts, and all the integrations.
When to Use a Ready-Made Funnel Template
Use a ready-made template if you want to speed up the time it takes to launch your funnel and it follows a common pattern. Keep in mind that you will still have to modify the copy, adjust the design, add your forms, and connect your emails and checkout. A ready-made funnel template is just that; a template. You can see if one of our templates suits your needs by checking out our WordPress funnel templates.
