Whether you’re looking to optimize your current email marketing plan or improve it, using a sales funnel template will not only save you money but also help you close more sales.

Below, you’ll find proven email sales funnel examples and templates that can help streamline your sales process for more success.

What is a sales funnel, and what are its stages?

A sales funnel is the journey potential customers take in moving from prospect to customer. The stages your potential customer goes through in the funnel are broken down into five steps:

Stage 1: Awareness

Stage 2: Interest

Stage 3: Evaluation

Stage 4: Engagement

Stage 5: Commitment/Purchase

Track your funnel performance with integrated analytics to see how effectively your email campaigns convert prospects into customers.

Most prospects won’t purchase after just one email. That’s why you need a funnel. Generally, your email marketing strategy will include a series of emails that do the following:

• Nurture a relationship with your potential customers/email subscribers
• Educate your subscribers on the benefits of your service or product
• Direct encouragement to buy services or products you sell

7 great sales funnel examples and templates

Different sales funnel templates work better for different business models and customer journeys. Here are some of the most popular templates for email marketing strategies. You might find that combining these templates or using different techniques for different customers is the most effective.

1. AIDA

The AIDA Sales Funnel template is one of the most popular models in the email marketing industry. Each letter stands for one of the steps you’ll lead your prospect through in every email.

• Awareness/Attention. At this stage, you’ll send urgent, personalized, special offers or any email to pique your prospect’s curiosity. It’s best to do this in the subject line . On top of that, you can also work with personalized explainer videos to get your recipient’s attention.
• Interest. Keep your audience interested with stories, pain points, jokes, and facts.
• Desire. Let your subscribers know the benefits of your product or service.
• Action. Make it easy to act with a clear call to action.

AIDA works well for email marketing campaigns because it’s straightforward to implement and consistently delivers results.

2. SaaS sales funnel

When selling a software-as-a-service (SaaS) product, you need to introduce your prospect to the product and explain how it works, often by giving them a free demo or trial period. SaaS sales funnels involve several steps due to the research and learning necessary to make a good purchase decision and because subscription-based products often require sales activities for both generating and retaining customers. SaaS companies typically use a model like this:

• Awareness of SaaS product
• Interested in learning about features
• SaaS product demo
• Business proposal
• Consideration
• Purchasing decision
• Client renewal

This comprehensive funnel approach helps customers feel confident about their purchase decision through strategic, value-focused email sequences.

3. AARRR

AARRR goes deeper than AIDA, taking you through the customer experience.

• Acquisition. Of course, you need to acquire a subscriber first. You can do this with freebies in exchange for an email. Send your new subscriber a thank-you email and maybe a nurture email.
• Activation. During this period, you want your prospect to realize the value of your service. This could be offered through a free trial, sample product, or free consultation. Ensure your email contains only one call-to-action button, allowing you to effectively track the success of your marketing efforts.
• Retention. Keep your customers’ attention through nurture emails.
• Referral. Encourage referrals with rewards and requests for testimonials.
• Revenue. Generate revenue from your AARRR funnel by encouraging subscribers to sign up for subscriptions, enter into contracts, or place orders.

AARRR Sales Funnel template is especially useful for SaaS businesses that may have a harder sell than other companies.

4. Three email funnel

This funnel is concrete and won’t bombard your prospects with emails.

• Value. Your first email needs to remind your prospect why they signed up. What value are they getting from reading your emails?
• Authority. Your second email should explain why you’re an expert in this subject and introduce your business.
• CTA. Your third email will be a sales email where you pitch your product or service to answer your subscriber’s pain points.

This streamlined approach keeps your messaging clear and your sales process efficient.

5. Flipped funnel template

You’ve read enough of these funnel templates to notice that most of them start with a large pool of customers by creating awareness, and gradually the funnel narrows to the target audience. The flipped funnel starts with high-value prospects (current customers) and goes from there.

• Create loyal customers. Keep your customers happy with a strong community, superior customer service, and exclusive offers through your customer-only email list. Make them feel special.
• Make it easy to refer to. Incentivize your customers to refer by asking for reviews and customer testimonials and offering bonuses when a new person signs up.
• Increase your customer base. Those referrals will become paying customers, and the funnel will repeat itself.

The flipped funnel maximizes the value of your existing customer relationships while efficiently growing your customer base.

6. Lead magnet funnel template

Customers are aware that companies often request their email addresses. Many potential customers want to see the value before handing over their email. Give your customers something for free with a lead magnet.

• Lead Magnet Opt-in. Customers sign up for a free product or service (like a limited version of your company’s SEO tool, a free consultation call, a downloadable eBook about healthy eating, or a blogging course ) directly on your website.
• Use this message to deliver your ebook, checklist, or webinar link right after a visitor opts in. Swap in a subject line that names your exact offer and drop a product image or cover graphic so the email feels made-to-order—not generic.
• This triggers an email sequence that includes what you do and sell, how it’ll help the customer, and a clear call to action.

Lead magnets streamline the process of building your email list by providing clear value to potential subscribers. Once your subscribers find value in your free lead magnet, it should entice them to trust you and make a real purchase from you. This automated welcome sequence post-lead magnet could offer a higher-priced product, such as a SaaS subscription or online course. You can view a number of different online course platforms to help you build one.

7. Product-based sales email funnel

Is your company selling products? In that case, your funnel is going to be different.

• Welcome email. After you get your potential customer’s email address, let them know you’re glad they signed up and what to expect next.
• Warm their interest. Track what your customers look at on your website, and send them an email about the benefits of an item they’ve reviewed or other related products.
• Make them feel confident. You can do this by incorporating testimonials and an email that addresses common questions and concerns.
• Don’t forget to buy. Just because it’s in their cart doesn’t mean you’ve made the sale. Remind your customers to finish their purchase with a friendly email.
• Email confirmation. Send an email that includes all pertinent information as soon as a customer makes a purchase.

This sales funnel is the tried and true method of many huge brands. It can work for your eCommerce business, too. 

3 sales funnel best practices to test

Make your email list easy to automate with some of the best Sales Funnel tools of the trade . Here are three things we use to make our Sales Funnel work for us.

Shorten the sales cycle

Personalizing your emails and streamlining your sales cycle with digital signatures can significantly improve efficiency. Personalize your emails and make your sales cycle shorter with an e-signature. Not only will you avoid constantly typing out your name or company name, but your subscribers will also appreciate the individualization.

Signaturely offers free online signatures for you to check out.

Build an email list

How do you get subscribers to open your email? Before we can even talk about the best sales funnel strategies and email headlines, you’re going to need subscribers who are interested in what you do.

Building a stable and interesting email subscriber list is the first step in a successful email marketing campaign. Having bad email addresses can negatively impact your marketing strategy and may eventually lead to email blacklisting.

You can focus on building your email list organically by creating valuable content and offering clear opt-in opportunities that attract genuinely interested prospects.

Lead-generating services like UpLead can help you find the current email addresses (and phone numbers) of prospects. They start with a free trial, so you can start building your email list without spending a dime. I’ve included some recommended free lead-generating software here .

Use an automated email system

Once you have your email sales funnel, you will want to design and automate your emails.

Services like Benchmark Email will do all of this for you. They’ll let you design your emails based on your skill set and offer multiple email campaigns and email template options for different types of leads.

Plus, with Benchmark Email’s robust tools and features, you’ll be able to personalize your email Sales Funnel, create campaigns, and track your open and click-through rates.

Creating a successful email marketing strategy doesn’t need to be complicated. By using a consistent sales funnel and planning your campaigns in advance, you’ll be able to enjoy the high ROI of email marketing with minimal time and effort.

Frequently Asked Questions:

How do I create an email sales funnel?

Start by mapping your customer journey: awareness, interest, decision, and purchase. Then craft emails that guide people through each step—like a welcome email, educational content, product highlights, and a strong call-to-action. Tools like Benchmark Email make this easy with drag-and-drop templates and segmentation so you can target the right message at the right time.

How many emails should be in my sales funnel?

There’s no magic number—it depends on your product and audience. A simple funnel might be 3–4 emails (welcome, nurture, offer, follow-up), while a longer B2B cycle might need 7–10. The key is quality over quantity: every email should move your reader closer to a decision, not just add noise.

What metrics show if my email funnel is working?

Watch for open rates (are people interested?), click-through rates (are they engaging?), and conversions (are they taking action?). Over time, keep an eye on unsubscribe rates and overall ROI—those are your reality checks. Benchmark’s reporting makes it easy to see what’s working and what needs tweaking.

Do I need different templates for each funnel stage?

Not necessarily, but tailoring helps. A welcome email should feel warm and inviting, while a decision-stage email might highlight testimonials or urgency. You can use the same base design for consistency, but adjust the tone, visuals, and calls-to-action to match where your customer is in their journey.

Start Building Your Sales Funnel Emails with Benchmark

Ready to put these templates to work? With Benchmark’s drag-and-drop builder and AI design assistant, you can customize every email in minutes—no coding required. Sign up for a free Benchmark Email account and start sending today.