Chances are, you already know what a sales funnel is.
A sales funnel, also called “sales process,” represents the entire customer journey. It would help that you imagine a typical funnel when talking about a sales funnel:
In a sales funnel, a person starts out as a visitor at the top of your funnel. After he goes through a series of interactions with you, he ends up at the bottom of your funnel - and becomes an actual customer.
Here's a further explanation of the three parts of the funnel...
- Top of Funnel (TOFU) - This funnel stage represents people's first encounter with your brand. They're simply looking for information online until they develop awareness of your website content, social media post, or guest post.
- Middle of Funnel (MOFU) - In here, you are trying to warm up your prospects. You’ll want to introduce the value of your product or service by offering free ebooks, case studies, and sending them emails.
- Bottom of Funnel (BOFU) - This is the last stage where a purchase is made. For prospects to convert into customers, you need to show them content that closes the deal. Such can be webinars, training videos, and even more specific offers.
What Is Funnel Mapping and Why Is It Important?
You might assume that a sales funnel has a linear path based on the sales funnel diagram as shown above.
In reality, the modern funnel isn’t so simple.
Consumers are bombarded with information. When people come across your product, they may try looking for other options first.
Sometimes it takes weeks and even months before people can come back to your funnel and convert. People tend to check what other websites in your niche offer as well. Because things can get pretty messy over time, it would help to map out your sales funnel.
Funnel mapping is creating a diagram or visual representation of your sales funnel. This visual model lays out everything in your marketing process - traffic sources, stages of your funnel, customer touch points, landing pages, and more.
You need a tool to help you easily map out your sales funnel. Funnel mapping tools come in handy because of their benefits:
- Enable you to make changes in your sales funnel by adding or removing components.
- If you work with a team you can share diagrams to keep everyone on board.
- Team members can actively contribute to the development of the funnel.
- Avoid misplacing your diagram (because you wrote in on paper).
- Present to your clients a professional blueprint of their sales funnel and explain it to them.
- Keeps your funnel ideas organized and systematic.
10 Funnel Mapping Tools You Should Consider
1. MindMeister
Mindmeister enables you to create mind maps of anything. If your current marketing funnel has many moving parts, this tool will organize your ideas.
Why you’ll love it:
- Ready-made and customizable templates
- Build a sales funnel from scratch
- Choose from unique shapes, colors, and fonts
- Upload your own images
- Collaborate with your entire team
- Leave comments
- Share your sales funnel to your social platforms
Free version: Yes
2. Funnelytics.io
Funnelytics is the go-to solution if you want to map out your funnels faster and more efficiently. This tool eliminates what a marketer would consider a hassle: deciding what shapes, colors, and labels that best represent sales funnel parts.
Why you’ll love it:
- Specific icons of traffic sources, pages, and offline channels
- A vault that contains free templates for inspiration
- Premium templates are modeled after successful campaigns
- Share your funnel with your audience
Free version: Yes
3. Google Drawings
Google Drawings is Google’s diagramming software. It’s the most basic way to get started for free when mapping out a sales funnel. You’ll be able to perform simple functions such as choosing shapes, colors, and arrows, as well as adding text.
Why you’ll love it:
- Collaborate with your team members
- Leave comments
- Upload your own images
- Add links to supplement sections with more information.
- Share your funnel with your audience
Free version: Yes
4. Sketchfunnels.io
Sketchfunnels.io is a web-based software that lets you sketch your funnels instantly with its drag and drop functionality. There are a ton of options to choose from to present your sales funnel as beautifully as possible.
Why you’ll love it:
- Specific icons for landing pages, sales pages, order pages, webinar pages, launch pages, affiliate pages, traffic sources, and follow-up methods
- Create templates that you can re-use in the future
- Resize, add text, and drag and drop icons
- Export your sketches
- Share your sketches with another Sketchfunnels.io member
Free version: Yes
5. Lucidchart
Lucidchart is for the marketer who’s okay with a funnel mapping tool that features standard shapes, lines, and labels. But what makes Lucidchart stand out is that it’s collaborative and has many integrations.
Why you’ll love it:
- Add links to supplement sections with additional information.
- Protect your diagrams with a password
- Export your sales funnels
- Integrations with top apps (Dropbox, Slack, Amazon Web Services, etc.)
- Simple interface
- Check spelling errors
Free version: Yes
6. Funnel Flows
Funnel Flows is a tool dedicated to creating sales funnels. Whether you’re presenting funnels to your team or clients, this tool makes sure that your sketches look professional and personalized. It’s very intuitive and friendly even to first-time users.
Why you’ll love it:
- Specific icons for traffic sources, landing pages, sales pages, webinar pages, order pages, and more.
- Basic and advanced shapes
- Add links to supplement sections with additional information
- Upload images
- Choose very specific colors for your shapes, text, and background
- New elements added
Free version: Yes
7. Sketchboard.io
Sketchboard.io is a diagramming tool designed for teams. Its sketchy icons that add flair to your work will certainly capture your eye. Your team can map out the exact funnel based on their ideas - thanks to this tool’s versatility.
Why you’ll love it:
- Over 400 sketch shapes to choose from
- See your team members sketch in real-time
- Leave comments
- Daily backups
- Create multiple boards
- Integrates with Slack, GitHub, Google Drive, HipChat, and Flowdock
- Freehand drawing
Free version: Yes
8. Creately
Creately is a good alternative to Microsoft Visio if you want an affordable app to map out your sales funnel. Known users of Creately include PayPal, National Geographic, and Adobe.
Why you’ll love it:
- Thousands of templates
- Allows for team collaboration
- Draw shapes and connect lines faster
- Custom themes and colors
- View history of all changes
- Manage and access your sketches on a mobile device
- Work offline
Free version: Yes
9. AWW App
AWW App is an online whiteboard tool that combines simplicity and functionality. At a first glance, your impression would be that AWWW App is way too basic. This whiteboard actually allows for sharing and team collaboration.Why you’ll love it:
- No registration required
- Touch-friendly
- Upload image, PDF, and PPT
- Chat with collaborators
- Use keyboard shortcuts
Free version: Yes
10. Caccoo
Caccoo is another great alternative to Visio. As an online diagram maker, it allows you to create, save, and share your diagrams on the go. Caccoo has so many templates that it would be impossible for you not to create the perfect sales funnel for your goals and audience.
Why you’ll love it:
- Share and collaborate with your team and clients
- View your revision history
- Export your diagrams - SVG, PDF, PPT, PostScript, PNG
- Check activity notifications
- Multiple shapes, lines, colors, and objects
- Leave comments
Free version: Yes
11. Geru
Do you have a campaign in mind and want to visualize its potential traffic, profit, and conversion rate? Geru is one-of-a-kind because not only does it allow you to map out your funnels, but it also calculates numbers in your funnels.
Why you'll love it:
- Generate reports for personal use or to show to your clients
- Calculate anything - cost per click, lifetime value, and more
- With over 30 sales funnel blueprints
- Complete video tutorials for beginners
- Drag and drop function
- Brandable - you can add your logo
Free version: None
Final Thoughts
Have you figured out your sales funnel already? By now, you understand how important the first point of contact your customer has with you.
If you’re trying to explore the best ways to make that first encounter happen, one of them is to run a social media contest.
UpViral, our viral marketing platform, helps you launch a successful contest from start to finish. With UpViral, you can:
- Create a contest landing page
- Feature great incentives or rewards
- Split-test landing pages
- Attract more participants through a unique invite link
- Send follow-up emails to contest entrants
When you’re finally ready to map out your sales funnel, don’t miss out on any of these 10 tools. Let me know your thoughts if you’ve used any of them or recommend something else! 🙂
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