Ultimate Traffic Sources For Your Sales Funnel

What is probably one of the most important part of your sales funnel?

If you guessed traffic, you’re exactly right.

Although there are many core elements to your funnel that we can’t live without, traffic remains high on our priority list.

In other words, we should always have a list of traffic sources at our fingertips.

Additionally, these should be trusted, reliable sources that we can turn to whenever we need.

This lets us push eyes into our funnel, spread the word of our brand, and, convert, convert, and convert.

Yet, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how important traffic is.

It also doesn’t take a long list of data or statistics either.

In reality, the bottom line stays the same: traffic is the fuel for our funnel.

So why shouldn’t we pause for a moment and ensure that we have that list laid out in front of us?

Then we can keep coming back to it again and again, ramping up our funnels to max potential.

Well, never fear, I have exactly what you’re looking for.

Let’s cut to the chase, and look at your ultimate list of traffic sources for your funnel.

Search-Based Ads

Even if you’re new to funneling, you’re probably pretty familiar with text-driven advertising.

Simply put: when a person punches in a keyword, they’re shown ads that correspond to that term.

Interest is primarily driven by their active need related to the keywords, and this remains a popular way of getting eyes to your brand.

• Google Adwords – The heavyweight in the room is, of course, owned by the largest search engine in the world. Bidding has become more competitive, but it’s still one of the best resources out there by far.
• Bing Ads – Still, Bing’s network, owned by tech giant Microsoft, shouldn’t be discounted. And because it helps serve to new, alternative search engines like DuckDuckGo, it’s worth taking a look at for certain demographics.
• Looksmart – This one is a different approach to search-based advertising. Here’s how it works: Looksmart serves search-based ads, but also accompanying ads that pertain to the users interested. This helps truly maximize the experience.
• Affinity – While Affinity isn’t confined to just search, they provide some excellent solutions in this realm. From search engine to toolbar search and even search suggestions, this one is worth looking at if you’re already using Google Adwords or Bing Ads.
• 7Search – This lesser known resource is also good for certain niches. With over 700 English-speaking search engines within their network, they have a unique research that other choices may lack.

Social Media Ads

Of course, what’s an award-winning funnel without social media ads?

In recent years, several new social media marketing opportunities have arisen.

And in reality, these networks cater more toward certain demographics and content mediums, making them perfect for certain situations.

• Facebook Ads – What I love best about advertising on Facebook is that there is such a degree of control for targeting and retargeting. It also has a huge user-base and an easy to set up conversion pixel for your site.
• Twitter for Business – Once a more niche player in the business, Twitter has been getting more and more attention. It’s ads business is also attracting more attention at the same time. On the one hand, you can go for smaller promoted posts or if you need, a more expensive trends campaign that will generate huge results.
• Reddit Advertising – Reddit is a little different regarding advertising. Because the site gives people a place to gather for just about every niche under the sun, your ads might take on a different feel than other social media networks. But at the end of the day, it’s a wonderful avenue for engagement and conversions.
• LinkedIn Ads – This choice is especially good for B2B marketing or if you have a funnel aimed at professionals. In recent years, we’ve seen the sites advertising branch mature and begin to offer some decent choices for your sales funnel.
• Pinterest Ads – And finally, Pinterest. The site skews very heavily toward certain demographics, notably female and DIYers. Yet, there’s big potential here in presenting your brand in an easily shareable way.

ClickFunnels lest you set your retargeting/tracking pixels with ease. All you need to do is to Login to your ClickFunnels account > Go to your funnel > Go to the funnel step you want to add retargeting/tracking pixels to > Open Editor > Settings > Tracking Code > Paste your retargeting/tracking pixel > Save.

Pop-Up and Pop-Under Ads

Okay, this resource is going to be a little different.

These are called PPV and CPV based ads, and they can be somewhat confusing for newcomers.

These type of ads reside on a user’s computer and are served throughout their everyday use.

These are not spyware but are installed onto a machine willingly by users, often as part of another service.

Many brands use them for great impact.

• AdOnNetwork – This choice offers a few different formats, including separate window ads, but also in-text hyperlinking. They’ve also been around for a good deal of time and offer a good value for your funnel efforts.
• LeadImpact – This marketing service also offers a few other channels, but they really excel in the pop-ups category. Plus, once you add in geo-targeting and some other features, and you’ll be able to rock your funnel’s traffic quickly and effectively.
• Clicksor – With 196 countries covered, Clicksor does not mess around. I also love that they have customer service support at every hour of every day for the entire year. That’s right! Any time you have a question or concern, you’ve got a source. They’ve also been in the business for over a decade, so they’re a good route to take as well.

Photo Credits: AdRoll

Self-Serve and Site-Driven Ads

And we can’t leave out self-serve ads that are promoted on sites across the internet.

From banner ads to display exchanges, these resources are all about skipping a sales rep and setting up your campaign easily.

As you browse this list, you’ll be looking at some of the names that display ads across many of the popular sites you visit.

• SiteScout – For our choices today, this one stands out as a leader. While they excel at display campaigns, they also have the market cornered on mobile as well. Some of the other pros include real-time bidding for a range of delivery methods, truly granular reports, and some excellent targeting for your campaigns.
• AdReady – This choice has several other formats and options; however, they’re known for their display network. The best part is that a campaign can be set up in as little as a few minutes and without a ton of tech knowledge.
• AdRoll – AdRoll loves to say that you’re getting “ads that work.” And this is surely true. Over 25,000 across the globe use their services. One area is worth mentioning, though, and that’s the company is willing to work with any sized business. For us funnelers, this is welcome news, since we may just be launching a shorter lifespan funnel today, but a longer one next month or vice versa.
• Blogads – This one is exactly what it sounds like. With it, you can get impressions on some of the biggest blogs in the entire world. While many of the choices are somewhat niche, they are the perfect buy in for the right funnel looking to capture those eyes.

Photo Credits: Digital Warrior

Served Ads

Served advertising is almost exactly like our above choices, except for one minor difference.

Instead of self-serving your campaign, you’ll work with a more dedicated representative.

They also often cover a broader range of options for bigger projects.

Although this choice won’t be right for every Clickfunneler, there’s plenty of opportunity here to push a lot of traffic into your funnel.

Just like our self-serve options, these site-driven ads are powerful and wide-reaching.

• One by AOL – You might remember AOL as that internet provided from way back in the day, but today, they serve ads to people across the world. We’re talking TV, site-based, Internet video, and the list goes on and on. Their platform aims to be a one-stop-shop of marketing traffic for everyone.
• DoubleClick by Google – You thought AdWords was Google’s only venture into marketing traffic? Not a chance. If you’re part of a larger agency, this very well could be the choice you want to go with.
• Exponential – This company’s Deep Dive dashboard is excellent. With it, you can go beyond catch phrases like “big data” to refined and insightful measurements of your campaigns. This leads to marketing that’s modeled for highly-specific consumer behaviors and actions.
• Rubicon Project – Okay, one more served a resource for you. This one boasts a 1 billion person reach worldwide. That’s right… 1 billion people with 5 million requests a second. From algos to cloud-based solutions, Rubicon Project offers some novel ideas.

Mobile and App-based Ads

We all know how powerful mobile and app advertising has become.

So I wanted to ensure that you had some specific marketing choices for this area.

It seems like this part of the marketing world is still getting its wings and that not everyone is aware of which traffic sources to turn to.

But don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.

• AdMob by Google – Another lesser-known Google offering, AdMob gives you the ability to monetize apps. Many developers are already using it, but for us funnelers, it’s a prime opportunity in the waiting too.
• Inmobi – From remarketing to micro moments, this service has several choices for getting to mobile users. They take advantage of everything from location history to user app categorization, making the company truly remarkable.
• BuzzCity – Leveraging the power of mobile and globe, BuzzCity has some robust options. Their sign up process is quick and easy, and you’ll also find that they offer some affordable plans as well.

Protip: Which traffic source is right for your funnel? It all depends on, but do yourself a favor. At the very least, check out one of the sources from each category. This way, you’ll have a broader understanding of the market. It’ll come in handy for future funnels. Plus, check out our traffic strategy articles here and here for more ideas.

This list is pretty ultimate, but I love to hear about up-and-comers for traffic as well.

Add your favorite traffic source in the comments, and let’s get this list growing, growing, growing!