How To Sell Digital Products With ClickFunnels (Step-by-Step)

You can build a complete digital product funnel in ClickFunnels in a single weekend. That is not a hypothetical. The full setup, from the sales page through the upsells, the downsells, the email capture, and the product delivery area, takes a few focused hours if you follow the steps without getting stuck choosing the perfect template. This walkthrough covers every step Alston walks through in the video above, with the key decisions explained so you know exactly what to do and why.

ClickFunnels is a sales funnel builder designed specifically for selling digital products without needing to hire a developer, manage a custom checkout page, or stitch together five separate tools. The order form, the payment processing, the upsells, the email capture, and the membership delivery area all live inside one dashboard. That simplicity is what makes it worth the monthly cost for sellers who want to move fast.

What You’ll Walk Out With

A clear understanding of why the membership funnel type outperforms a basic sales funnel for digital products
The correct order to build your six funnel pages: sales page, OTO, downsell, order confirmation, membership access, membership area
How the ClickFunnels editor works, including the one styling rule that trips up almost every beginner
How to connect Stripe and add your product so customers can actually pay you
The email integration setup that captures leads who visit but do not buy on the first visit
The pricing rule for upsells and downsells that prevents errors and keeps your funnel running
How to deliver your digital product or course through the membership area using Google Drive, Amazon S3, or Vimeo
How to find your right digital product idea using finder.platformproof.com

Why a Membership Funnel Beats a Basic Sales Funnel

When you start a new funnel in ClickFunnels and choose “Sell Your Product,” you get two main options: a sales funnel and a membership funnel. Alston recommends the membership funnel, and the reasoning is practical. A regular sales funnel delivers the product and then the relationship ends. A membership funnel creates a destination, a login-protected area where your customer goes to access what they bought. That area becomes a place you can build over time.

Inside your membership area, you can add affiliate links, buttons to your Facebook group, links to your YouTube channel, other products you are selling, and anything else that helps grow your business. Customers keep returning to the area if you give them reasons to, and that repeat traffic to your own domain is more valuable than the initial sale. Alston runs his courses, blueprints, and resource libraries through membership funnels for exactly this reason. Once the framework is built, adding more value is easy.

Step 1: Create Your Account and Start a New Funnel

If you do not have a ClickFunnels account yet, you need one before anything else. The video description links to a two-week free trial so you can follow along without committing money upfront. Once you are inside the dashboard, go to the ClickFunnels logo in the top navigation and click Funnels. This page will show your existing funnels or be empty if you are just starting. Either way, click Build a New Funnel.

A few options will appear. Select Sell Your Product, then choose the membership funnel option. Give your funnel a name. Something simple like the product name followed by “launch” works fine. You do not need a clever funnel name. Click Create and the funnel will generate in the background while you move on to the next step.

Step 2: Pick Your Membership Templates

ClickFunnels will prompt you to select templates for the membership access page and the membership area. There are six options for the membership access page. Pick the one that looks clean to you and move on. Do not spend more than two minutes here. Alston is clear about this in the video: there is no perfect template. Every option is fully customizable, so the choice you make now is not permanent.

Do the same for the membership area template. Pick whatever looks reasonable at first glance and click select. The goal in this step is to get the framework generated so you can start building the actual funnel pages that drive sales. Template selection is not the work; funnel structure is the work.

Step 3: Add All Six Pages in the Correct Order

With the membership pages created, you need to add the remaining funnel pages. Click Add New Step and create a page called Sales Page. Then drag it to the top of the funnel order. In the page type options, go to Sales and select a template. Again, pick something that looks reasonable and do not obsess over it. Your funnel will have this order when you are done: sales page at the top, then the one-time offer, then the downsell, then the order confirmation page, then membership access, and finally the membership area at the bottom.

For the sales page layout, you have two options. You can combine the sales copy and the order form on one page, which is how 60secondbusiness.com is built. Or you can have a separate sales page that leads visitors to a second-page order form, which is how 10daybusinessblueprint.com is set up. Both work. The combined layout is faster for customers with high purchase intent. The two-page layout gives you more room to build a longer pitch. Pick based on how much explaining your product requires.

For the one-time offer page, add it after the order form and before the downsell. If you plan to have two upsells, you can duplicate the OTO template instead of building the second one from scratch. Cap your upsell sequence at three offers. More than three and your customers get tired and annoyed, Alston says in the video. The goal is to increase cart value, not create friction. Add a downsell page after your last upsell, and then add the order confirmation page. Use any template that looks like a thank you page, drag it into position, and you have your six-page funnel structure ready.

Understanding the ClickFunnels Page Editor

Before you start editing your pages, you need to understand how the ClickFunnels editor is structured. Everything is built around four nested layers: sections, rows, columns, and elements. Think of it like a Word document. A section is an entire horizontal band that spans the full width of the page. Inside each section, you have rows. Inside rows, you have columns. Inside columns, you have elements, which are the actual things you can see and interact with: buttons, images, headlines, text blocks, countdown timers, and so on.

Here is the rule that every beginner needs to know: the lower level always takes precedence over the higher level for styling. If you set the section background color to black but the row inside has a blue background set at the row level, the row shows blue. If the column inside that row has a light blue set at the column level, the column shows light blue. And if the element inside the column has a red background, the element shows red. Alston walks through this live in the video, and it looks exactly as you would expect once you see it visually.

This matters because the most common editor frustration is trying to change a template color and having nothing happen. In almost every case, there is a color override at a lower level. If you cannot get the background color to change, check the element first, then the column, then the row. One of those layers has a color set that is overriding your section-level change. Find it and clear it, and your edit will take effect.

Step 4: Add Your Product and Connect Stripe

Once your funnel pages exist, you need to add a product so customers can actually pay you. Click on the Products tab inside your funnel dashboard. Click Add Product. You will be prompted to choose a payment processor. Alston recommends Stripe because it is the easiest to set up and the most widely supported. To connect Stripe, hover over your name in the top right corner, click Account Settings, and go to Payment Gateways. Click Add New Payment and select Stripe. You will need a Stripe account, which is free to create.

Back inside your funnel, select Stripe as the payment type when adding your product. Fill in your product name and set your price. If you are using an order bump, this is where you mark the product as an order bump. One practical note: do not write your order bump copy directly in the order bump field inside ClickFunnels. The text area is too small to see what you are writing. Write it in Google Docs or Microsoft Word first, get it right, and then paste it into the ClickFunnels field. This saves time and prevents formatting issues.

If you are setting up a subscription product, the process requires more configuration inside Stripe to handle recurring billing. For one-time purchases, the standard product setup covers everything. Click Save and Next through the product wizard, filling in the details at each step. You can skip the email fulfillment section inside ClickFunnels if you are using a third-party email provider, which is covered in the next step.

Step 5: Set Up Email Integration to Capture Non-Buyers

Most visitors who land on your funnel will not buy on the first visit. That is not a problem if you are capturing their email address. ClickFunnels lets you collect a visitor’s name and email before they decide whether to purchase, and then your email autoresponder handles the follow-up. To set this up, open the sales page in the editor. Go to Integrations in the top left navigation, then Settings, then Integrations. You can use ClickFunnels’ built-in email tool or connect a third-party provider.

The third-party options Alston mentions in the video include GetResponse, AWeber, and ActiveCampaign. Select your provider, add your campaign, and connect it to the right list. Once it is connected, any visitor who enters their information on your sales page gets added to your email list automatically, even if they never complete the purchase. Your autoresponder sequence follows up with them over the next several days. Alston recommends keeping triggered emails focused: send a confirmation when someone buys, and only send manual follow-up when there is a specific reason like a coaching call or group session. Let the sequence do the ongoing work.

Step 6: Configure Your Upsells and Downsells Correctly

Every upsell and downsell in your funnel needs its own product created inside ClickFunnels before the page will work correctly. Go into each OTO or downsell page, click on the Products tab, and add a product following the same process you used for the main product. One critical rule: the downsell price must be lower than the upsell price. If the downsell price is equal to or higher than the upsell price, ClickFunnels throws an error and the product will not save. Alston demonstrates this in the video by entering $200 for a downsell when the upsell was $127, and the system rejects it immediately.

Build your products in order: create the upsell product first, then the downsell product at a lower price. If you build them in reverse order, you may hit errors. Once both products exist, go into each page’s editor and connect the “yes” button to the right product. Click on the button, click Set Action, and assign the product. When a customer clicks that button, ClickFunnels charges them immediately with a one-click purchase. No second checkout. The “no” button on each page should have a pound-sign no-link set as the action, which moves them forward in the funnel without charging them.

Think carefully about what you put in your upsells. Each one should be a completely standalone product that adds genuine value for someone who just bought the main offer. It should not be a required component to make the main product work. Selling a partial product as an upsell is the fastest way to generate refund requests. Ask yourself: what is the next logical question someone who just bought my main product would have? That question is the upsell.

Step 7: Build a Dynamic Thank You Page

The thank you page is the page customers land on after completing their purchase. ClickFunnels thank you pages have a feature most people do not realize exists: they update dynamically based on what the customer bought. If someone accepts an upsell, the thank you page shows that product. If they decline, it only shows what they originally purchased. This happens automatically without any extra configuration from you.

Keep the thank you page simple. Confirm the purchase, tell the customer what to expect, and add a clear button that sends them to the membership access page to set up their login. Something like “Click here to access your product” works well. This button should link to the membership access step in your funnel, which is the next page in the sequence after the order confirmation. Customers who follow this button will land on the membership login page, create their account, and then enter the membership area where their product lives.

Step 8: Deliver Your Digital Product in the Membership Area

The membership area is where your customer gets what they paid for. The structure is simple: you create sections, and inside each section you create lessons. A section might be called “Module 1: Getting Started.” A lesson inside that section might be called “Lesson 1: Setting Up Your Account.” Click Add New Step inside the membership area, give the section a name, and then create a lesson inside it. You can choose between a video lesson and a resource list depending on what the lesson contains.

For downloadable files, link to Google Drive or Amazon S3. Upload your PDF, worksheet, or template to one of those platforms, get the shareable link, and add it as a button inside the lesson. For video training, Alston recommends Vimeo. Once you have your Vimeo video URL, go into the lesson editor, click on the video element, change the video source to Vimeo, and paste your URL. The process takes about thirty seconds per lesson once your videos are uploaded.

You can add as many sections and lessons as your product requires. If you are building a complete online course inside ClickFunnels, the membership area handles it. Alston has built full courses inside ClickFunnels and says the process is straightforward. You can also use the extra space in the membership area sidebar to add affiliate links, social media buttons, links to your other offers, and anything else that supports your broader business. The membership area is a living part of your business, not just a download page.

Why Vimeo Beats YouTube for Paid Course Videos

If you are delivering video training inside your membership area, Vimeo is the right platform to host those videos, not YouTube. The first reason is access control. Vimeo lets you set permissions on who can view each video, so only people you authorize can watch it. YouTube does not offer that kind of control on standard uploads. If someone shares a YouTube link to your paid course, anyone can watch it for free. Vimeo prevents that.

The second reason is appearance. A YouTube video embedded inside a paid membership area looks like something that could be found for free on any channel. Vimeo looks like professional, exclusive content. That difference in perception matters when customers are evaluating whether your course was worth what they paid. Vimeo also has no ads, no recommended videos pulling attention away, and a cleaner player. Upload your course videos to Vimeo first, then paste the Vimeo URLs into your ClickFunnels lessons.

Set Permissions So Non-Buyers Cannot Access Your Content

By default, anyone can register for your ClickFunnels membership area and access the content without purchasing. Most people do not realize this until they check their membership roster and find hundreds of free accounts. The fix is simple but easy to skip: go into the settings for each section in your membership area and turn permissions on. When permissions are active, ClickFunnels checks whether the visitor has a purchase record before granting access to that section.

If a visitor tries to access a permission-protected section without having bought the product, you can redirect them back to your sales page automatically. This keeps your content gated and your funnel working as designed. Set permissions on every section of your membership area that contains paid content. Any section you leave open will be publicly accessible to anyone who creates a free account.

Not sure which digital product to build before you start your funnel?

Answer five questions and get a personalized recommendation at finder.platformproof.com.

The Complete Eight-Step ClickFunnels Setup Checklist

Create your ClickFunnels account (use a two-week free trial if you have not yet) and go to Funnels, then Build a New Funnel
Select Sell Your Product, choose the membership funnel type, name your funnel, and generate it
Pick a template for the membership access page and the membership area without overthinking it
Add the remaining four pages: sales page (drag to top), one-time offer, downsell, and order confirmation page
Connect Stripe via Account Settings, then go to Products inside your funnel and add your main product at your chosen price
Open your sales page in the editor, go to Integrations, and connect your email provider so non-buyers are captured automatically
Add upsell products (create upsell first, then downsell at a lower price), then go into each page and connect the yes button to the correct product via Set Action
Build your membership area content with sections and lessons, host videos on Vimeo, deliver files via Google Drive or Amazon S3, and turn on permissions for every paid section

Find Your X

The funnel setup above is the delivery mechanism. What it delivers is the variable that determines whether you build something sustainable or something that stalls. If you are still figuring out which digital product to create, what price to charge, or which skills you already have that people will pay for, that is the right question to start with. Take five minutes at finder.platformproof.com to get a clear recommendation based on where you are right now.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does ClickFunnels cost?

ClickFunnels pricing has changed over the years and continues to evolve. The best approach is to check the current pricing page directly at clickfunnels.com. A two-week free trial is available, which is enough time to build your funnel, set up your product, and test the checkout flow before committing to a paid plan.

Do I need an existing website to use ClickFunnels?

No. ClickFunnels is completely self-contained. Your funnel pages, checkout, membership area, and product delivery all live inside the ClickFunnels platform. You do not need a separate WordPress site, a separate hosting account, or any custom domain to get started, though you can connect a custom domain if you want one.

Can I use ClickFunnels to sell an online course?

Yes. Alston mentions in the video that he has built complete courses inside ClickFunnels using the membership area. You can create sections and video lessons, host your videos on Vimeo, and use the membership area as your full course platform. You can also set permissions so only paying customers can access specific modules.

What payment processors work with ClickFunnels?

ClickFunnels supports multiple payment processors including Stripe, PayPal, and others. Stripe is the most commonly recommended option because it is the easiest to set up. You connect your payment processor under Account Settings, then Payment Gateways, before adding any products to your funnel.

How many upsells should I add to my funnel?

Alston recommends a maximum of three. More than three upsells in a single checkout sequence creates customer fatigue. People start saying no to everything, including offers they might have accepted, simply because they are tired of being asked. Two upsells with one downsell is a common structure that generates additional revenue without causing friction.

What is an order bump and how is it different from an upsell?

An order bump is an add-on offer that appears on the order form page itself, before the customer completes their purchase. It is usually a checkbox that says something like “Add this for $27.” A upsell appears after the initial purchase is complete, as a separate one-click offer. Both are designed to increase the average cart value, but they appear at different points in the checkout flow.

Can I host my course videos directly inside ClickFunnels?

ClickFunnels allows video embeds, but the recommended approach for paid courses is to host your videos on Vimeo and embed the Vimeo player inside your ClickFunnels lesson. Vimeo gives you access controls that prevent non-paying visitors from watching, and the viewing experience looks more professional inside a paid membership area than a YouTube embed would.

Do I need technical skills to build a ClickFunnels funnel?

No coding skills are required. ClickFunnels is built specifically for non-technical users. The page editor uses a drag-and-drop system with pre-built templates. The most technical thing you will do is connect your Stripe account and paste URLs into video embed fields. If you can use Google Docs, you can build a functional ClickFunnels funnel.

Sources

Alston Godbolt, How To Sell Digital Product With Clickfunnels (YouTube)
ClickFunnels documentation and platform (clickfunnels.com)
Stripe payment processing documentation (stripe.com)
Vimeo privacy and access control features (vimeo.com)