We recently zeroed in on the best affiliate marketing tools and a standout category on that list is landing page tools. Landing pages can simplify buyer journeys for customers but managing them can sometimes be a chore for marketers. Between building the pages, linking campaigns, updating landing pages that have gone stale, A/B testing, design, and copywriting, there is a lot of work that goes into custom landing pages.
Great tools can simplify this process so you can focus more on content and hopefully increase your conversion rate. In this piece, we will look at Unbounce vs ClickFunnels to find out their differences and key features. Whether you are in affiliate marketing or more traditional marketing and sales, a powerful landing page builder is an essential tool for building high-converting sales funnels.
What is Unbounce?
Unbounce
Unbounce is an intuitive landing page builder for marketers, e-commerce stores, agencies, and anyone looking to convert customers. The company launched in 2010 and boasts billions of generated leads, sales, and signups for its customers. Users can choose from two easy-to-use builders, the classic builder and the smart builder, powered with AI and over a decade of conversion data (more on this below).
Unbounce landing pages create a simple path to purchase for customers in your marketing funnel. Whether you are using search, social, or direct email, Unbounce lets you build custom landing pages about specific products or services. The reason this matters in the sales funnel boils down to the fundamental difference between landing pages and websites. Websites are designed for browsing, landing pages are optimized for purchasing.
Unbounce: At a glance
Key features: Smart builder, Optimized templates, Mobile responsive design, Smart Traffic, Drag and drop page builder, Stick bars and popups
Best for: eCommerce, SaaS companies, Agencies, SMBs, Professional services
Cost: Plans start at $99 per month
Read Unbounce reviews from the community
Pros of Unbounce
AI Smart Builder
Unbounce has been around for more than a decade and they’ve been collecting a trove of conversion data to build their AI algorithms. Unbounce brings experience and expertise to the table which is a great place for beginners to jump into landing page software they can trust.
The Smart Builder is your no-code option powered by AI. Simply provide some information about your campaign and watch Smart Builder suggest layout options that resonate with your audience. The tool can also generate copy for your page with some gentle prompting on your part. Complete the page by connecting no-code apps to your page and go live in no time.
Mobile-friendly designs
More and more, web traffic is shifting from desktop to mobile and your landing page needs to be optimized for that. Whether you are driving traffic from social or email marketing, there is a good chance your audience is on their phone when they land on your page. Unbounce offers mobile-responsive designs that look great no matter what device your customers are using.
Unbounce
App and template library
There are lots of great apps in the Unbounce arsenal. You can connect your email client, Calendly, google analytics, Shopify, Typeform… the list goes on. Explore the apps and integrations list to see where you have overlap with your existing tools.
The template library in Unbounce is one of the key time-savers in your workload. Unbounce has more than a decade of data that informs the design and user experience on its template. The hard part will be deciding which one you like best. And if you can’t decide, test a few!
Smart traffic
AI does it again with even more powerful split testing that makes A/B testing look like child’s play. Smart Traffic analyzes user attributes and funnels users to the landing pages that are best for people like them. With traditional A/B testing, you optimize for the majority. You can typically only test one variable and you need a LOT of traffic and data to get statistically significant results.
This can be tricky for smaller businesses with lower traffic and you risk losing people in the early testing stages. Smart Traffic automatically detects which landing pages are best for your individual visitors with unlimited variants. Test away!
Cons of Unbounce
No built-in email-marketing tool
You won’t find a built-in email marketing tool within Unbounce but this might not be a dealbreaker for you if you are already set up with another email client like Mailchimp, Kaviyo, or AWeber. For those looking to streamline their solutions into one, Unbounce might not be the one for you.
Customer support can be slow
Users often rave about Unbounce’s powerful features but a common theme of reviews across the web is the slow response time from customer service. If you are on a tight campaign timeline and you need immediate support, you might not get it in time.
A way to get around this issue is to stick to the templates and use the Smart Builder when you can but marketing campaigns can change at the drop of a hat and you should be prepared for those instances.
Limited customizations
Unbounce has a generous template library of high-converting landing page designs. But templates often come with design limitations. This can either be a good thing or a bad thing depending on you manage your brand.
If you don’t have coding skills, you will be limited to the Smart Builder templates and if you do have coding skills, you will spend precious time adjusting and fiddling with the page builder to get exactly what you want. The choice is yours. Some brand managers might want full creative control so Unbounce loses a few points for limited customization.
No mobile-app
Remember when we said marketing campaigns change at the drop of a hat? Sometimes the hat drops when you’re on a beach or far from your computer. In those cases, you won’t be able to make changes to your campaign on a mobile app because Unbounce only works on desktop computers.
What is ClickFunnels?
ClickFunnels
ClickFunnels is a sales funnel builder popular among social media influencers, email marketers, sales professionals, and coaches. The tool has a landing page builder, email marketing client, and the ability to host webinars directly on the platform.
The tool works for many types of business and it’s loaded with features to help you sell to your unique audiences. It’s a great option for entrepreneurs who want to start from scratch and build a website and grow an email list on one streamlined platform. Let’s explore this in more detail below.
ClickFunnels: At a glance
Key features: Website builder, Built-in email marketing, Membership sites, Webinar hosting, Analytics
Best for: Coaches, New businesses, Professional services, Affiliate marketers
Cost: Plans start at $99 per month
Read ClickFunnels reviews from our community
Pros of ClickFunnels
Website builder
ClickFunnels has all the bells and whistles and all the basics, too. The website builder might not seem like an important tool but if you look holistically at where you are in your business journey, if you are just starting out you can save a lot of time and money using an all-in-one tool like ClickFunnels to build a site, create memberships, design landing pages and build email lists in one centralized platform. The website builder has templates you can use.
Webinar hosting
Information marketers can leverage the webinar hosting services included with ClickFunnels. This feature can be used to host live webinars or webinar replays (one stone, unlimited birds!).
ClickFunnels
Membership sites
Recurring revenue is a beautiful way to build your business and this is another great feature information marketers can use to sell their knowledge. You can create an exclusive members-only experience on your website and offer a variety of content from ebooks, courses, and webinars.
Cons of ClickFunnels
Not great for physical products
Many of the features in ClickFunnels are wonderful but they are geared toward information marketers and affiliates. The ecommerce use case isn’t nonexistent but it’s not the strongest aspect. It’s also worth asking yourself if you need all the extra features for information marketing when you only want to sell physical products on an ecommerce store.
High learning curve
With so many features to learn, it can be overwhelming to get started with ClickFunnels. They have customer support if you need it but it is often criticized for being slow. It might take you a while to get fully trained on all the tools and features and that is time you could be spending building your business in other ways. It is worth leveraging a free trial to see how the platform works for you before committing to it.
Pricey
ClickFunnels is a little expensive with pricing plans ranging from $97 to $2970 per month. Ouch! If you don’t need all the features in ClickFunnels you have to decide if it’s worth paying for things you won’t use, especially if you have an existing business, website, and email list you already built up.
ClickFunnels
What are the similarities between ClickFunnels and Unbounce?
The similarities of Unbounce and Clickfunnels include drag and drop editors, analytics tools, app integrations, and beautiful templates to build sales landing pages with ease. Landing pages on Unbounce and ClickFunnels can be optimized for lead capture or sales conversion depending on your goals.
The best part of these tools is you can get started quickly with little to no coding experience. Both platforms can create sticky bars and pop-ups for your landing pages and both tools can A/B test templates to measure which design and user experience is best for your audience.
Unbounce vs ClickFunnels: Which is better?
The better tool between Unbounce and ClickFunnels will strongly depend on your products and audience. Unbounce is lighter on features than ClickFunnels but it’s the better tool for ecommerce businesses selling physical products.
ClickFunnels is better suited for information markets and influencers trying to sell digital products and experiences. While Unbounce is more focused on the landing page builder, ClickFunnels casts a wider net for more comprehensive sales funnels.
You need to decide if your business requires a tighter focus or a broader set of tools to convert customers. Some businesses require more robust tools such as ClickFunnels and other businesses need a more simplified option such as Unbounce. Both ClickFunnels and Unbounce offer free trials so it’s worth dedicating time to each platform to see which one you like best.