I’ve worked closely with online businesses for years, and one thing is clear – sales drop not because of bad products, but because the customer journey isn’t clear.
When you guide people through the right steps, conversions increase, and your average order value grows naturally.
48% of marketers are now focused on improving their sales funnels to get better results.
From experience, most businesses think they need more traffic, but the real problem is usually inside the funnel. Without a clear sales process, potential customers lose trust, get confused, and leave before buying.
That’s where a well-built sales funnel makes the difference by showing the right offer at the right time. It helps move people smoothly through each stage without pressure or guesswork.
In this guide, you’ll learn 7 sales funnel types that work across different industries. Not every funnel will fit your business, but you’ll know which ones to use, how to apply them, and how to grow sales with confidence.
So let’s get started,
TL;DR – Quick Takeaway
- A sales funnel is a simple step-by-step system that guides people from discovering your offer to taking action.
- Using the right funnel can significantly improve conversions.
- These are 7 sales funnels you should use based on your goal:
- Tripwire Funnel – turn first-time visitors into buyers with a low-cost offer.
- Quiz Funnel – engage users and collect valuable customer data.
- Webinar Funnel – educate your audience and sell high-ticket offers.
- Membership Funnel – build recurring income with ongoing access.
- Conditional eCommerce Funnel – personalize offers based on user behavior.
- Product Launch Funnel – create urgency and drive bulk sales.
- Social Followers Growth Funnel – convert social traffic into leads.
- Every high-converting funnel follows the same journey: Traffic → landing page → engagement step → conversion → follow-up.
- Final verdict: Use WPFunnels’ prebuilt funnel templates to spin up the right funnel type quickly and compare performance
Now let’s get into the details.
What are Sales Funnels in General?
A sales funnel is a step-by-step process that guides potential customers from first learning about your business to purchasing while qualifying them at each stage to ensure they’re the right fit.
For example, as a business coach, you could use a lead magnet funnel to attract business owners by offering a free resource in exchange for their email addresses.
Each step builds trust and confidence, showing prospects why they need your service while filtering out those who aren’t the right fit.
7 Types of Sales Funnels to Boost Your Conversion
Now, as mentioned earlier, you have to plan a few sales funnels that will work to make your overall sales process successful.
A sales process can vary for different types of businesses. But, seven to be specific, certain types of funnels can be used by almost any business.
Let us explore these types of sales funnels you should consider using in the long run if you want to increase your revenue significantly.
| Proven Sales Funnel Strategies for Any Business |
|---|
| 1. Tripwire Funnel 2. Quiz Funnel 3. Webinar Funnel 4. Membership Funnel 5. eCommerce Funnels for Global Conditions 6. Product Launch Funnel 7. Social Followers Growth Funnel |
Each of them involves very specific funnel steps and tactics. In the next few sections, you will learn how each of them works and how you can implement them the right way.
1. Tripwire Sales Funnel
A tripwire sales funnel is a powerful strategy where you offer something valuable at a super-low cost to get your prospects to take the first step with you.
This initial offer, called the “tripwire offer,” is designed to deliver more value than they expect for the price.
The idea is simple: that small purchase builds trust. Even if you don’t profit from it, you’re showing your buyers the quality of what you offer.
Once they see the value, they’ll feel confident to invest in your main product or service when you present it later.
It’s all about creating a win-win—you earn their trust, and they get amazing value upfront
For example, suppose you are a Digital Marketing Consultant.
- Initially, you can offer a Basic Video Course on SEO at a low cost, maybe $50.
- Once people sign up, you send them a couple of more valuable pieces of content via email to nurture them and gain authority.
- After one week, once you believe the prospects have gone through the course, you can reach them with your service as the main offer, maybe at $500-$1000 for live, personalized coaching sessions.
Now, even if I call the initial offer a ‘Basic Course’, it has to be actionable and should provide real value; I am talking about a course that people would normally pay $100-$200 on a course portal.
After getting this high-value, low-cost resource from you, people will realize how good you are and find you credible.
And since the low-cost resource will provide real value, later when you make the high-ticket offer, many businesses who are struggling with Digital Marketing will consider taking your service, even if it is a bit expensive.
Your course has to win their trust in you so that you can offer your service in the long run.
The Tripwire Funnel is ideal for selling expensive products, monthly subscriptions, or long-term services.
A Typical Tripwire Funnel Journey
To devise a tripwire funnel, you need to prepare two funnels, one for the tripwire offer and another for the core offer. And you will need to set up a couple of email automation campaigns.
Steps in the funnel for the tripwire offer:
- A landing page with a sales copy for the Tripwire offer that focuses on highlighting the value for money the prospect will get.
- The checkout page is to accept the payment.
- A post-purchase upsell to offer the core service.
- A thank you page with a summary of the purchase and instructions.
Steps in the funnel for the core offer:
- A landing page with a sales copy focused on your core offer. An extra discount on the core service can be a good trigger in this funnel.
- The checkout page is to accept the payment.
- A thank you page with a summary of the purchase and instructions.
Email automation campaigns required:
- Set up two value-added emails to be sent out in the following week for people who purchase the tripwire offer but not the core offer in the first funnel.
- And then set the third email to be sent a few days after the first two emails, with a link to your second funnel to offer your core service.
- Set up a couple of more emails to be sent to people who have visited our second funnel but did not purchase. In these emails, focus on convincing the buyer to take the service and highlight the long-term benefits the business will get.
Summary of the funnel journey:
If the buyer does not take the upsell offer, run email automation campaigns to bring the buyer to your second funnel and convert them.
- Initially, you will bring in traffic to the landing page of the first funnel.
- Upon taking the tripwire product, offer your core service as an upsell.
- If the buyer does not take the upsell offer, run email automation campaigns to bring the buyer to your second funnel and convert them.
2. Quiz Funnel
A quiz funnel is a smart way to learn more about your prospects and guide them to the right offer. You create a quiz with simple questions, and based on their answers, you make personalized recommendations.
For example, if you’re a fitness trainer offering courses on weight loss, muscle building, or stamina growth, you could ask about their age, height, weight, and fitness goals.
From there, you recommend the course that fits them best.
This strategy ensures you make the right offer instead of wasting time on irrelevant ones.
Quiz funnels are one of the most effective types of marketing funnels, especially for businesses that offer multiple services in the same niche.
They’re also great examples of sales funnels that truly engage your audience and deliver high-converting funnels.
It is one of the best types of funnels to guide your prospects through the right offers based on their responses.
Planning a Quiz Funnel
When creating a quiz funnel, you will need a landing page with the quiz, and then you can create a sales funnel with dedicated offer pages for each of your services.
An email automation campaign is also required.
Let’s assume your quiz qualifies prospects for 3 of your services.
So, the steps you will need are as follows:
- A landing page with a quiz.
- Three sales funnels for each service with dedicated steps
– Landing page focusing on a service
– Checkout page to accept payment
– Upsell to offer added services
– Thank You page with confirmation and further instructions.
Email automation campaigns required:
- You will need 3 different email series of two emails for each of your services. Whoever completed the quiz but did not take your service, you can send two emails in the upcoming week and persuade them to take your service.
Summary of the funnel journey:
Run email automation campaigns to bring back the ones who do not take your service with persuasive emails. Run targeted Ads to bring traffic to your landing page with the quiz.
With the WordPress Quiz Plugin, you can easily create quizzes for your target audience, making your landing pages more interactive and increasing user participation.
After completing the quiz, take the prospect to the landing page of the funnel, which meets the requirements.
Upon taking the service, you can offer any added service as an upsell after checkout.
3. Webinar Funnel
Webinars are an excellent way for you to showcase your expertise to the right audience while building trust and closing deals.
They are one of the most effective types of marketing funnels, especially for high-ticket offers like online courses or coaching programs.
For example, if you offer an online course on productivity, your webinar could be titled “5 Proven Strategies to Double Your Daily Output.”
During the session, you’d share actionable tips and show your audience how your course dives deeper to help them achieve their goals.
By combining valuable content with a clear pitch, webinars not only engage your audience but also convert them into loyal customers.
Now, there could be different ways to use webinars.
- You can conduct a free webinar and offer your core service near the end.
- You can run a paid webinar series, which has to be of low cost to register, and then offer your core service at the end of the series.
- Or, you can consider hosting a free webinar, followed by a paid webinar series where you have to pitch your paid webinar during the free event.
Whichever approach you take, the main goal here is to impress your prospects with your expertise on the first webinar so that you can convince them to take your core offer.
The Webinar Funnel is the best for online coaches, digital course sellers, marketing coaches, or any long-term professional service providers.
Funnel Steps of a Webinar Funnel
As mentioned above, you can decide how you want to use webinars.
Let’s assume you want to run a free webinar and then offer your core service.
For this, you will need three funnels: one to promote your free webinar, a second funnel to host the webinar and make a core offer, and a third funnel dedicated to the core offer. You will also need email automation.
Steps in the funnel to register attendees in the webinar:
- A landing page with the registration form for the webinar; the copy should be focused on the benefits of joining the webinar.
- Thank you page with a confirmation message.
Steps in the funnel to host the webinar:
- A landing page where you will host the webinar
- A sales page focused on your service, along with an embedded checkout form to take your service right away
- The thank you page is to confirm the purchase ofthe service.
Steps in the funnel for the core offer:
- A landing page focused on your core offer **Try giving a good discount here to trigger more sales.
- Checkout page to accept payment
- Thank you page to confirm the purchase
Email automation campaigns required:
- Whoever registers, send them an email with a link to your webinar hosting page.
- For all attendees who do not take your service, you can send two emails in the upcoming week and persuade them to take your service.
Include a link to your core offer funnel to take the service. The landing page copy can work as a final push towards a sale.
Summary of the funnel journey:
For the ones who do not take your service, run email automation campaigns to bring them back with persuasive emails.
Promote the free webinar on social media or via Ads and get prospects registered.
In the webinar, deliver the best content and deliver a pitch for your service in a smart way.
Take them to your offer sales page immediately after the webinar.
4. Membership Funnel
This is a simple yet effective funnel type designed to sell memberships and take buyers from a lower membership plan to a higher one.
For example, let’s say you run a website with video editing resources, and you offer two membership plans: the Basic membership, which includes vector images, stock videos,
and After Effects 2D animations, and the Elite membership, which includes everything from royalty-free audio to 3D motion animations and presentation slides.
To maximize your profits, you’ll want most of your customers to choose the Elite plan. After a customer buys the Basic plan, you can offer the Elite membership at a discounted rate as a post-purchase upsell.
This is a great example of using high-converting funnels to increase revenue and guide customers toward higher-value offers.
Funnel Journey to Selling Memberships
All you need is two funnels, one where you offer the Elite plan as an upsell offer to the Basic plan, and another where you create a dedicated sales page for the Elite plan.
And then, you can link them to your plan CTAs on your website landing page.
Steps in the funnel for the Basic plan:
- A Landing Page focusing on the features included in the Basic Plan
- Checkout page to accept payment
- The Elite Plan is an upsell offer after checkout at a discount
- A Thank You Page to summarize the purchase.
Steps in the funnel for the Elite plan:
- Sales page to highlight the advantages of going for the Elite Plan
- The checkout page to accept the payment
- A Thank You Page to summarize the purchase.
Once you have these ready, link them to the respective CTA’s on the website landing page or the pricing page.
Email automation campaigns required:
- For anyone who doesn’t go for the Elite Plan in the first funnel, run an email campaign to send them three emails in the following month, highlighting the discount and the benefits. Include a link to your Elite Plan funnel.
Summary of the funnel journey:
- Drive traffic to your website landing page.
- If someone chooses the Basic plan, they will enter the first funnel and get a chance to take the Elite plan instead at a discount.
- Whoever doesn’t take the Elite plan, bring them to the second funnel via persuasive email campaigns.
5. eCommerce Funnels for Global Conditions
Typically, you are accustomed to setting up sales funnels for individual products in your WooCommerce store, assigning specific order bumps, and offering upsells to selected products.
However, now you can utilize one of the newest funnel types, which allows you to set up offers for a group of products based on specific conditions.
For example,
- You can offer a 10% discount for any purchases above $500,
- You can assign an upsell offer for all products that are in a certain category, or
- Maybe you can make upsell offers with a higher quantity of any products in the store, etc.
The concept here is to set up a funnel based on conditions to define a group of products. If these conditions are met, a buyer will enter the funnel when trying to complete the purchase.
In the funnel, you can offer discounts on the cart total or make relevant dynamic upsell offers after checkout.
The scope of planning such funnels is huge. The most logical conditions would be,
- Dynamic Upsell For A Single Category: Set a funnel for a single category so that anyone who wants to purchase a product from that category, he/she will enter the funnel. Offer the highest-selling product in that category as the upsell offer at a discount. Since the upsell product is from the same category as what the buyer was purchasing, it has a higher chance of conversion due to relevancy.
- Quantity-Based Offer: Create a funnel so that whichever product the buyer wants to purchase, they will enter the funnel. And after going through checkout, offer him to buy more of the same product at a discount. Let’s say five instead of one.
- Offer on a Target Amount Spent: Craft a funnel where the buyer will enter the funnel if they have more than a target cart total. You can then offer a dedicated discount on the cart total and later make upsell offers with the highest-selling product in-store.
These types of sales funnels are very effective because the offers are relevant to what the buyer is purchasing. Plus, an attractive discount is always loved by buyers.
Any eCommerce website can benefit from using similar conditional funnels.
Steps to creating a conditional eCommerce funnel:
- Set up conditions based on which you want to make specific offers and design a checkout page to accept the initial payment. Offer a discount on the cart total if you want to.
- Choose dynamic upsell offers to make the offers relevant.
- View a thank you page to give the order summary.
Now, creating such funnel types can be quite challenging on most eCommerce sites. But if you use WooCommerce, then you can use WPFunnels and its Global Funnels addon to set it up easily.
6. Product Launch Funnel
A product launch funnel is a powerful journey to create excitement and anticipation around your new product or major feature before it’s released.
For example, if you’re launching a new A/B Testing software, you’d start by creating a series of sneak peek videos to show your audience why your software is the next big thing.
You can promote an opt-in page where people can sign up to get early access and a special discount.
Once someone registers, you’ll send them a series of emails to build anticipation, showcasing the benefits and features of your software.
In the final email, you’ll provide a special early bird offer with a discount code, creating urgency and encouraging them to act fast.
This product launch email strategy is one of the unique funnel types that help boost excitement and conversions, turning potential leads into paying customers.
Planning a Product Launch Funnel:
To plan your Product Launch Funnel, start with an opt-in funnel to collect leads, then create a funnel for your special offer. To design high-converting pages, team up with a digital product design studio that can help you create visuals and experiences your audience will love.
Use landing pages to highlight product features and leverage email automation to send these pages throughout the campaign, keeping prospects engaged until the launch.
Steps in the funnel for collecting leads:
- Landing page to announce the upcoming release of a great product while highlighting what can be done with it. Include an optin form to collect leads of people who want the early bird offer when the product is launched.
- A Thank You page
Pages Involved In The Product Sneak Peek Series
- Create 3-5 landing pages, where, on each, highlight an important feature of the software. The copy should focus on why this is important, along with use case examples. And include a video to show how it can turn out. You can also add a CTA to mark the calendar with the launch date.
Steps in the funnel for the Early Bird Offer:
- A landing page with exciting copy regarding the launch. Highlight the special offer that the early bird users can get. It’s best to keep it limited, maybe to 50 or 100 potential buyers who are interested in getting a huge discount to purchase early.
- The checkout page to accept payment.
- Thank you page to inform what’s next.
Email automation campaigns required:
- For people who register, set up an email automation campaign to send emails with links to your sneak peek landing pages. (If you have 3 sneak peeks, then you will send 3 emails.)
- On the launch day, email these prospects the launch news. Include a link to your Early Bird Offer funnel landing page.
- For people who do not purchase the product, send them a series of three emails in the next couple of weeks to collect the discount before it expires.
Summary of the funnel journey:
- Promote your Early bird registration and upcoming launch via Ads, social media, and your existing email list to collect potential leads.
- Send these leads sneak peeks of your product to create excitement about what’s in store.
- Finally, make a good offer on the product as an Early Bird campaign to these prospects to get instant sales right on the launch.
This product launch funnel is one of the best types of sales funnels for driving huge sales right after the launch.
Even when your product is ready, it’s best to plan a Product Launch Funnel to create hype over your potential buyers before the release.
Once your product is ready, make a 2-week to 1-month plan to run a successful product launch funnel campaign.
This will help to get instant traction on the launch date and result in landing a few early sales really quickly.
7. Social Followers Growth Funnel
A Social Followers Growth Funnel is a great way to boost your social media presence and engage with your target audience.
It’s one of the unique types of marketing funnels that helps you grow your social followers while delivering value.
For example, if you’re a motivational speaker with a strong presence on Facebook and Instagram, you can offer a free giveaway of a small book you wrote.
When someone signs up to receive it, you ask them to follow you on social media for more valuable content and resources in the future.
This funnel helps you grow your audience and connect with more potential clients to whom you can later market your services. It’s a simple yet powerful strategy for increasing your reach
It works best for individuals who promote themselves for consultation or events. For example, motivational speakers, musicians, photographers, etc.
The Funnel Journey of a Social Follower’s Growth Funnel
This strategy involves two simple steps: first, people sign up for your free giveaway, then they go to a page to claim it and are asked to follow you on social media for more content.
You’ll also need email automation to send the giveaway and remind them to follow you. This helps grow your social following while providing value.
For this, you need to follow the steps below:
- Create a landing page to promote the free giveaway. Include an opt-in form to claim the reward.
- Prepare a page where the prospect can collect the giveaway, either by downloading or simply viewing it there. Also, promote the benefits of following you on social media on this page.
- Set up email automation to send the link to the reward page.
- Set up another email automation campaign of 3 email sequences to request the prospects to follow you on social media.
Summary of the funnel journey:
- Promote the free giveaway and collect leads.
- Follow up with a link to a page to collect the reward from and persuade them to follow you on social media.
- Send email sequences afterward to further request that they follow you on social media.
There could be several other types of sales funnels. These 7 have proven to bring high results whenever used properly. So you can choose to use them to grow your business as well.
More Specialized & Niche Funnels
Besides the main types of sales funnels we just covered, there are also Specialized & Niche Funnels you can use to level up your marketing.
These funnels are designed for specific goals, audiences, or product types, and can help you get better results in areas your standard funnels might miss. Some examples are listed below:
- Lead Magnet Funnel – Offers free value in exchange for contact details. You can grow your email list and start warming up new leads for future offers.
- Video Sales Letter (VSL) Funnel – Use a persuasive video to educate and sell before checkout. You can clearly explain your value and boost conversions without long sales calls. This works especially well with high-ticket sales.
- Self-Liquidating Offer (SLO) Funnel – Starts with a low-priced offer that covers ad costs. This lets you acquire buyers quickly while building trust for future upsells and promoting multiple products.
- Cancellation Funnel – Activates when users try to cancel or leave. It gives you a chance to retain potential customers with better-fit plans or incentives.
- Affiliate Funnel – Designed to convert traffic sent by affiliates. You can scale your reach fast while rewarding partners for real results, making it easier to handle cold traffic.
- Subscription Funnel – Focuses on recurring revenue through memberships or SaaS. This helps you increase customer lifetime value over time.
- Evergreen Funnel – Runs all year without live launches automatically. It keeps your sales consistent with minimal hands-on effort and works well as an automated funnel.
- High-Ticket Funnel (Application/Call Funnel) – Qualifies prospects before a sales call. It ensures you focus only on serious buyers and save time.
- Challenge Funnel – Engages users through a multi-day challenge. This builds trust quickly and naturally leads participants to a paid offer.
- Squeeze Page Funnel – Captures leads with a single focused page. You can convert cold traffic into subscribers efficiently.
- Upsell/Downsell Funnels – Increases revenue after the main purchase. It allows you to maximize average cart value with relevant follow-up offers through Upsell/Downsell Funnels.
Bonus Tips to Improve Your Sales Funnel Performance
Here are some handpicked tips that are proven for several types of sales funnels.
- Make exclusive discounts on Upsell products.
Discounts play a big part in converting buyers to post-purchase upsells. Make sure to offer a discount that the prospect who be able to get anywhere else on your website.
- Create personalized & persuasive copy for your Upsell.
On the upsell page, make sure to make the copy as personalized as possible. The prospect should feel this is a special offer just for him. For example, “Just for you, 50% off today!”
- Use the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) strategy.
Always make sure to run offers for a limited time or in limited numbers. And reflect the lack of time or the chance of missing this offer in your sales copy.
- Offer coupons now and then if you are running an eCommerce shop.
Coupon codes work like a charm for eCommerce products. Try to find creative ways to offer coupons to drive more sales. For example, a discount coupon for a target purchase amount can help to increase order values.
How to Create a Sales Funnel without Any Complications or High Expenses?
Different types of funnels explained in this guide are truly worth investing in. However, it is important to have the right tools at hand to execute them.
You will find tons of tools out there that promise you the best funnel-building experience. However, here’s what we believe you should go for:
- Use software that requires minimal studying of documentation.
- Try to get a funnel builder that gives you a visual journey representation.
- Consider using a tool that makes it easy to design the funnel pages.
- Look for a solution that has all the elements required, such as forms, checkout, A/B testing, funnel offers, email automation, etc.
- Choose a tool that will allow you to get a higher ROI.
Considering all these requirements, your best investment would be to go for the following combination:
- Use a WordPress site to have more control and less expense.
- Get WPFunnels for a visual funnel-building experience with forms, native page builder integration, custom checkouts, post-purchase offers, and pre-built templates.
- Consider using Mail Mint to collect leads, segment them, and set up the email automation workflows for your funnels
- Use WooCommerce to host your products to be sold in your funnels.
This combination will ensure you have all the features required to craft high-converting sales funnels without spending a fortune.
Trust me, you will be spending less than $70 a month while earning hundreds or even thousands.
Conclusion
These 7 types of sales funnels are designed to deliver real results by targeting the right audience through automation.
You can think some won’t fit your business model, and that’s okay. Just start with the ones that align with your goals, and you’ll still see better results than before.
Yes, it takes effort to create compelling content, but it’s worth it. Take the time to build quality content, and your funnels will work for you for years to come.
So, start planning your sales funnels today to boost your sales and grow your business. And try WPFunnels to make it easier and more affordable.
** FAQs **
How can I understand what my visitors want before selling?
A survey funnel with interactive quizzes helps you see what your visitors really want. Asking the right questions at key points in the sales funnel stages lets you qualify leads early. This way, you can guide people naturally toward taking action.
How do I justify higher prices for my service?
A case study shows real results and product use cases, which builds trust for your service online. It works well for high-ticket sales with custom prices and shares nicely on social networks. Your prospects feel confident and informed, not pressured.
How do I turn traffic into qualified leads?
Specialized funnels using an online form builder or quiz maker help separate serious prospects from casual visitors. Leads can be organized into clear sales pipelines, so you can focus on people most likely to act. This keeps your funnel efficient and targeted.
How can I increase engagement on my funnel?
A personalized surveys calculator builder makes your funnel interactive, while quizzes keep visitors engaged. Every step feels relevant. It helps them move smoothly through the sales funnel stages. Engagement goes up, and visitors stay longer.
How do I manage long B2B buying journeys?
Funnels built around specific pipeline stages match how B2B prospects make decisions. Using different types of sales funnels aligns your messaging with their buyer journeys. This keeps your approach product-led without relying on constant promotions.
