Sales funnels, click funnels, StoryBrands, no matter what the buzzword is, creative and strategic goal-oriented landing pages are hot. So what are these pages? How effective are they? And how should you use them in your marketing strategy? No matter what you call them, these funnels and landing pages have specific goals to help you close sales. 

Sales Funnels

Sales funnels are the journey people take as they interact with your marketing promotions, ads, emails, and/or social media, on their way to make a purchase. You use these tools to drive people to landing pages, give them options to make a purchase, and then convert them into customers. 

Click Funnels

A click funnel is a series of landing pages ads or social media posts that lead people to a landing page for a free download, product, service, or event to subscribe to. They typically don’t have a monetary sales goal.

StoryBrand 

A StoryBrand is a landing page or home page that identifies and solves a problem or opportunity a potential customer may have by telling an enriching story about how to solve that problem with the help of your services or products. You are positioned as the one who can solve their problem, illustrate how you can solve the problem, how you are different from competitors, and then close with a call to action, plus share customer success stories.

You may notice, each of these are landing pages or pages on your website. Every website is capable of being a sales funnel, click funnel, or StoryBrand. How you set up your website and landing pages, comes down to your goals. And it all comes back to the core question, what do you want your website to do? 

A sales funnel ends with a conversion point, turning a visitor into a customer, and results in you getting paid. Plain and simple. So what should a sales funnel look like?

Let’s start with the landing page itself. It should be easy to understand what you want the user to do. When someone gets there, what is your goal? What do you want them to do? If you are selling an item or event, you should explain the value of it, give specific details about how it works and what it costs, and explain why someone would want it, such as what value it will add to their life. For example, a mini session sales funnel might go like this:

• Banner graphic at the top of the page

• Event details, including when and where

• Description of the event, the cost, and discussion about the exclusivity of the spots available to reserve for the event

• Show example images to help people learn what to expect from the event, such as sample images in the same location or from a previous event with a similar theme

• A form to have people book a time, provide their information, and pay for the mini session

Once the page is set up, it’s time to drive people to the page by advertising the event. You could create graphics highlighting the event, share them on social media, run ads, and send emails. 

Your sales funnel is the steps it takes to get people to the page where they can make a purchase. Following the example above, a sales funnel could look like this:

The more direct the path to a sale is, the better. Be careful not to distract people from the goal or showcase things that could pull them away from the intended goal.

Click funnels are similar to sales funnels, however, the goal might not be a monetary conversion. Instead, it might be to get people to complete a form for a free sign-up, place a phone call, or send an email. The funnel may involve multiple touchpoints to guide people to the main goal. It is also important to have side or secondary goals to pursue if they don’t bite at the main goal. 

Click funnels are about having multiple options and solutions to attract people to choose something. 

It might start with a freebie offer to help get them into your funnel and give you a chance to offer them something later. 

Even though click funnels are less direct than sales funnels, the multiple choices allow people to chart their own path. For example, here's how a click funnel may work to get someone to sign up for a holiday photoshoot:

• Banner at the top of the page drawing people in

• A call to action for a free holiday shooting guide

• People complete a form in order to get the guide, which collects their email address

• You follow up with people who get the guide with a reminder or separate promotion about something else they may be interested in

• Then a form to sign up for the holiday photo shoot, collect information, and possibly pay for the event

• CTA with alternative route see other events coming up

• Options for them to book for other events

• Option for them to return to the previous event to book

A click funnel can have many, many steps and even be circular (to return to previous options) because it gives many options to convert. For example a click funnel can go like this:

A StoryBrand style website focuses on how your business can solve a problem for a customer. I’ve discussed in the past how a website’s homepage is your ‘brochure page’ and one of your core pages to focus on. It should give a clear picture of who, what, when, where, and why your business or product exists. It should show off your very best content, images, and testimonials. 

StoryBrand takes this same information and makes it into a narrative, thus the name StoryBrand. You are telling the story of your products and services and how they relate to the needs of the people reading it.

I like to call this the ‘infomercial style’. You play up a common problem, showcase how you can solve the problem, show the results of said product or service, highlight how it’s impacted others, and hopefully turn the user's want into a need.

“Uh oh! If only I had a table!”

The main goal is to push the person to discover how this is something that is needed to fulfill a goal or enrich their lives. For instance, if you're a home or commercial cleaner, showing before and after images of a carpet that was cleaned can push a person to call or book you. If you're a photographer, beautiful images capture a moment of a family that the user can project themself onto: “That could be us!”

StoryBrand is a landing page style with multiple touchpoints to guide people to make contact or make a purchase using a narrative structure. It acts as a ‘best of’ page. 

A StoryBrand style page can flow like this:

• Banner above the fold displaying product or service with headline and call to action

• Details about what you offer:

• Problem

• Solution to the problem stated

• Information about how the product or service adds value (I photograph quality fairytale style images for your wedding … I capture your personal spirit unlike any other person can … I capture the perfect moment with your family that you’ll remember forever …)

• Showcase the value

• Display images of the product or service in use

• Share testimonials

• Present a call to action for people to make a purchase, book a service, or go deeper into valuable pages (testimonials pages, experience pages, investment pages, galleries, etc.)

• Story ending hook (leave them wanting more)

• Showcase one of your very best images or results

• Repeat the call to action for your goal (booking, contact, or purchasing)

A StoryBrand style funnel can be multifaceted. It is made to get a result any way you want. And, it can be as short or long as you want it to be. For example, it could be like one of these funnel paths:

Each type of landing page we’ve discussed can be effective. 

Sales funnels are great because they are very direct and to the point, but sometimes they may not give the user enough to make a decision right away. 

Click funnels are great because they give people options, maybe they won’t choose the most direct option, but they will get into the funnel and convert further down the journey. 

StoryBrand style pages are great for when you want to direct people through a narrative breakdown of why they need your product or service to elevate their life. It may be a long journey, but it can be very convincing. This style is great for homepage and investment pages.

What style you choose, comes down to what you’re pitching. When it comes to a service or product, I always like more direct options. If you want to give people choices that is great too. It can be valuable to do some testing with different styles and see how people react. 

Want to learn more about landing pages? Join us for our Creating Effective Landing Pages workshop. It focuses on optimizing your homepage and setting up click funnel and sales funnel type pages. While you’re at it, check out all our upcoming events. 

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