How To Make A Sales Funnel For Marketing Agencies
Marketing agencies face unique challenges in client acquisition, including establishing authority, demonstrating ROI potential, and standing out in a crowded marketplace. A well-designed sales funnel can help agencies attract ideal clients, showcase their expertise, and convert prospects into long-term retainer relationships. This guide will show you how to build, market, and implement a sales funnel specifically for your marketing agency.
If you're an agency owner looking to generate consistent leads and streamline your client acquisition process, there are several excellent platforms that can help you build effective agency-focused sales funnels without requiring extensive development resources.
The first step to making your marketing agency sales funnel is choosing the right platform. However, selecting from numerous options can be overwhelming, especially when you're focused on client work and agency operations. Keep reading this guide to see our suggested picks and a step-by-step guide to making a sales funnel for your marketing agency.
The Best Platforms For Marketing Agency Sales Funnels
When choosing a platform for your marketing agency sales funnel, you need specific features that address the unique needs of service-based businesses selling expertise. The ideal platform should include case study showcasing capabilities, ROI calculators, proposal delivery systems, and discovery call scheduling. It should also help you qualify prospects based on budget, timeline, and project scope. Based on these requirements, we've ranked the top 5 platforms for marketing agency sales funnels:
1. ClickFunnels
Get started with ClickFunnels (Free Trial) ๐
ClickFunnels offers marketing agencies a comprehensive solution with templates that can be customized to showcase services and results. Its drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create multi-step funnels that qualify prospects, deliver value-first content, and schedule discovery calls. ClickFunnels integrates with popular CRM systems and allows for creation of membership areas to deliver client resources. It provides a 14-day free trial to test all features.
2. Unbounce
Get started with Unbounce (Free Trial) ๐
Unbounce provides agencies with highly customizable landing pages perfect for promoting specific marketing services like SEO, PPC, or social media management. Its Smart Traffic feature automatically directs potential clients to the landing page variant where they're most likely to convert based on their specific needs. Unbounce excels at A/B testing different service offerings and messaging to optimize conversion rates.
3. Leadpages
Get Started with Leadpages (Free Trial) ๐
Leadpages offers user-friendly templates ideal for agency lead generation. Its alert bars and pop-ups are effective for promoting free audits, case studies, or discovery calls. Leadpages makes it easy to create lead magnets such as “Marketing Audit Checklists” or “ROI Calculators” that demonstrate your expertise while capturing prospect information.
4. Instapage
Get started with Instapage (Free Trial) ๐
Instapage provides marketing agencies with advanced personalization capabilities for different service offerings and target industries. Its collaboration features make it easy for agency teams to work together on funnel creation. Instapage's post-click optimization focuses on maximizing conversions after prospects click on your ads, making it especially valuable for paid traffic campaigns.
5. HubSpot
Get started with HubSpot (Free Version Available) ๐
HubSpot offers marketing agencies an all-in-one platform combining marketing, sales, and client service tools. Its free CRM, form builders, and basic automation capabilities provide a solid foundation, while paid tiers add advanced features like pipeline management and proposal tools. HubSpot's strength lies in its comprehensive approach to tracking the entire client journey from initial inquiry through onboarding and service delivery.
Conclusion
After evaluating multiple platforms, ClickFunnels stands out as the best choice for marketing agencies due to its comprehensive feature set, service showcase capabilities, and powerful qualification tools. While it requires a monthly investment, the potential return through converted high-ticket clients makes it worthwhile for serious agency owners.
However, if you're primarily focused on integrating your marketing and sales processes in one platform, HubSpot provides an excellent alternative with its robust CRM capabilities despite some limitations in funnel design flexibility.
Now that we have identified our top choice, let's show you how to make a marketing agency sales funnel using ClickFunnels.
How to Make a Sales Funnel for Marketing Agencies Using ClickFunnels
Building an effective marketing agency sales funnel involves demonstrating your expertise while qualifying prospects to ensure they're a good fit for your services. The following steps will guide you through making a funnel that attracts ideal clients and converts them into profitable, long-term relationships.
Step 1: Sign Up for ClickFunnels
Create your account and take advantage of the 14-day free trial to explore all features before committing.
Step 2: Define Your Agency Positioning and Ideal Client
Before building your funnel:
- Clarify your agency's specialization and unique value proposition
- Define your ideal client profile (industry, company size, budget range)
- Identify their key pain points and marketing challenges
- Understand their objections to hiring an agency
- Determine what success metrics matter most to them
- This clarity will guide your funnel messaging and qualification process
Step 3: Make Your Lead Magnet Strategy
Develop valuable resources that showcase your expertise:
- Industry-specific audit templates
- Marketing ROI calculators
- Benchmark reports for key metrics
- Strategy guides or playbooks
- Case studies with specific results
- Ensure each lead magnet demonstrates your approach while capturing prospect information
Step 4: Build Your Awareness-Stage Content
Using ClickFunnels' content tools:
- Create educational resources that position your agency as an authority
- Develop blog content or videos targeting your ideal clients' challenges
- Set up SEO optimization for organic visibility
- Create landing pages for paid traffic campaigns
- Implement conversion points throughout your funnel
- Add chat functionality to engage with site visitors
Step 5: Make Your Lead Capture Landing Pages
Create dedicated pages for each lead magnet:
- Add compelling headlines focused on specific pain points
- Include brief explanations of what they'll learn or gain
- Add social proof with client logos, testimonials, or result statistics
- Create simple forms requesting business information and qualifying questions
- Set up automated delivery of the promised resource
- Implement tracking to monitor which traffic sources produce quality leads
Step 6: Develop Your Prospect Nurturing System
Create automated email sequences that:
- Deliver additional value beyond the initial lead magnet
- Educate prospects about your methodology and approach
- Share case studies relevant to their industry or challenge
- Address common objections to hiring an agency
- Include soft calls-to-action for booking a discovery call
- Gradually demonstrate the ROI potential of your services
Step 7: Make Your Discovery Call Booking Process
Create a streamlined system to:
- Allow prospects to self-schedule based on your availability
- Include pre-call questionnaires to gather business information
- Set expectations about what the call will cover
- Send automatic reminders to reduce no-shows
- Provide preparation materials to maximize call value
- Create an agenda template for consistent discovery calls
Step 8: Design Your Proposal and Presentation Templates
Using ClickFunnels' sales tools:
- Create customizable proposal templates for different service packages
- Develop case study presentation templates highlighting relevant results
- Build ROI projection calculators to demonstrate potential value
- Design service comparison options for different budget levels
- Create contract templates with electronic signature capabilities
- Set up automated follow-up sequences for sent proposals
Step 9: Implement Client Onboarding Funnels
Develop systems for seamless client transitions:
- Welcome email sequences with next steps
- Client intake questionnaires and asset collection
- Kick-off meeting scheduling and agendas
- Access to client resources and educational materials
- Introduction to team members and communication protocols
- Expectation setting for timelines and deliverables
Step 10: Create Upsell and Retention Funnels
Design pathways for expanding client relationships:
- Service expansion recommendations based on initial results
- Quarterly business review templates and processes
- Client education webinars and resources
- Case study and testimonial collection systems
- Referral incentive programs
- Contract renewal automation with enhancement options
Step 11: Measure, Analyze, and Optimize
Track key metrics throughout your funnel:
- Lead magnet conversion rates by type and traffic source
- Email sequence engagement metrics
- Discovery call booking and show rates
- Proposal conversion percentages and time to close
- Average client value and lifetime value
- Service expansion acceptance rates
- Client retention and referral statistics
By following these steps with ClickFunnels, marketing agencies can make an effective sales funnel that attracts quality leads, demonstrates expertise, qualifies prospects efficiently, and converts them into profitable client relationships while setting the foundation for long-term retention and growth.