// Tools

Funnel Planner: Calculate your funnel before spending your budget

Build your funnel, enter your own campaign metrics and see what a customer costs you and which buttons you need to turn on to make it profitable. Don’t know which funnel suits you? Answer four questions and the planner will create one for you.

This tool is built for the desktop. On your phone, choose a funnel and enter your numbers; dragging and connecting steps work best on a larger screen.
With all your data in it, via email, WhatsApp or AirDrop.

Move the steps by dragging them. From the dot, draw a line to the next step. Click on a step or percentage to adjust it.
The funnels in the planner, and when they fit

The 10 most commonly used funnels

Leadmagnetfunnel
A free download (checklist, guide, template) in exchange for an email address. Then follows a series of emails that lead to a paid offer. All 9 sources we looked at mention this funnel type. Works like this: your customer first conducts an initial search. With a free download, you build up a list and then sell it via email.
Webinarfunnel
Visitors register for a (live) webinar. In the webinar you build trust and make an offer. Those who do not watch the live event will receive a replay. Also useful for a workshop or open enrollment. Fits: Your offer asks for explanation and trust. In a webinar, you give both in one hour.
Launch funnel
First build a waiting list with content in advance, then a short period during which the offer is open. During that period, you send emails and retarget everyone who already showed interest. Fits: you sell in waves, with a clear start and a deadline, to an audience that you build up beforehand.
Tripwire funnel
After registration, a small paid offer follows immediately (from €7 to €47). Those who pay once are more likely to buy again. Order bump, upsell and downsell should pay for the advertising costs. Fits: a small initial purchase lowers the threshold. The profit comes from what buyers take afterwards.
Application funnel (high ticket)
For journeys costing a few thousand euros. A video explains the offer, interested parties fill out an application and schedule an appointment. The sale takes place during that appointment. Fits: you are selling a high-priced course. You close that sale in a conversation.
Quizfunnel
A short quiz or test with a personal result. For the result, the visitor leaves behind an email address. Then an offer is presented that matches the result. Fits when: your customer doesn't know exactly which product suits them. A quiz helps them choose and generates leads.
Webshopfunnel
The classic route from ad to product page, shopping cart, checkout, and order. Google Shopping captures the searching buyer, Meta warms up new buyers. Fits: your customer knows what they are looking for and buys quickly. The shortest route to an order works best.
Trial period and subscription funnel
Visitors try the product for free, receive onboarding emails, and become a paying subscriber. Common for software, apps, and memberships. Works well: your product will convince people as soon as they use it. Let them try it and then convert them into paying customers.
VSL funnel
One page with a sales video that tells the whole story, immediately followed by the order button. After the purchase, there are order bumps, upsells, and downsales. It fits: your story fits in one video and your price is low enough to buy immediately.
Direct sales funnel
The shortest route: advertisement, sales page, checkout, purchase. Works especially well for well-known problems with a clear solution and a price that is not much questioned. Fits: the problem is known and the solution is clear. There is little to explain, so you can sell immediately.

Very common in the Netherlands

B2B lead gen funnel (LinkedIn)
LinkedIn by function, sector and company size, with a Lead Gen Form so the lead doesn't have to leave LinkedIn. Then nurture via email, an introductory meeting and a long decision-making period. Fits: you sell to a specific function within companies and the decision takes months.
Local services (Google)
People search for a service in their city, land on a page and book online. For hairdressers, salons, practices and professionals. The money comes mainly from customers who return. Fits: your customers search for your service in their own city and book online.

Is your funnel correct on paper, but not in your account?

In the Customer Journey Advertising project, we run always-on campaigns over 8 weeks that follow your buyer’s journey on Google, Meta, or LinkedIn. Your own marketer builds the campaigns, and we provide guidance. Then you know what a customer costs and can intervene if things go wrong in your account.

View the route

Benchmarks are indications from public sources and are not a guarantee of results. Amounts are exclusive of VAT.

Your result in your email

With your own figures, the budget check, and the sources. This way you can send it to your colleagues.

We use your data to send you the result. Read our privacy statement.

// Next step

Looking at your funnel together?

Introductory call

30 minutes, free of charge

In a 30-minute consultation, we discuss your results.

Planning session

2 hours, €250 excluding VAT

Do you want to thoroughly examine your funnel? Schedule a funnel check: a 2-hour Planning Session. If you then start a workshop or a course, we will reimburse the amount.

// Method

That's how we calculate

Every funnel starts with traffic. Paid channels convert budget into clicks: with Google via the cost per click (CPC), with Meta, LinkedIn and YouTube via the cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM) and the percentage that clicks (CTR). Then that traffic flows through the steps. Each arrow indicates which part goes to the next step.

  • Clicks (Google) = budget ÷ CPC
  • Clicks (Meta, LinkedIn, YouTube) = budget ÷ CPM × 1,000 × CTR
  • people in a step = sum of (previous step × throughput%)
  • Cost per customer (CPA) = media budget ÷ number of customers
  • Break-even CPA = Revenue × Margin ÷ Number of customers

Your grades first. The planner calculates the numbers you enter yourself. When you choose a benchmark for a field, it calculates with a range: cautious, average, and strong. Benchmarks are averages over many accounts and branches; your market, offering, and pages determine where you end up. Calculate your budget conservatively; if it turns out better, that’s taken into account.

Budget check. Ad platforms learn from conversions. Our general rule per campaign is that the daily budget is at least one time the cost per conversion, preferably twice or more. If that doesn’t reach the main conversion, the planner will send you to an earlier step (for example, a lead), where the platform will receive enough signals. For LinkedIn, there is also a minimum threshold of €40 per campaign per day.

// Questions

Frequently asked questions

Click "Help me choose a funnel" and answer four questions: what you sell, what a customer gets, to whom you sell and how long the customer thinks about it. The planner then creates the best-suited funnel. You can also choose from twelve commonly used funnels, or build a blank one.

The cost per customer (CPA) is your media budget divided by the number of customers. What a customer costs (break-even CPA) is the revenue multiplied by your margin, divided by the number of customers. If the CPA is below this, the funnel will recover its costs.

Choose a benchmark for a field, or fill in all open fields at once. The planner then calculates a range: cautious, average, and aggressive. Compare your industry to the figures of companies like yours. Then overwrite them with your own figures.

Our rule of thumb per campaign: a daily budget of at least one time the cost per conversion, preferably twice or more. For LinkedIn, there is also a minimum threshold of €40 per campaign per day. If your lead conversion doesn’t meet that, then you first let the platform learn from a previous step, such as a lead.

Yes. With Save, you store it in your browser. With Export, you create an image (PNG) for a proposal or post, copy the numbers to Sheets or Excel, or save a funnel file that you can import later. You can also have the result sent by email.

The planner is built for desktop. On your phone, you choose a funnel and enter your numbers; dragging and connecting steps works best on a larger screen.

Sources