For B2B companies, the ultimate question is, “How can I get more prospects into my B2B marketing funnel and move them down the pipeline?” This blog will not only provide you with tips to attract and engage with prospects but will also highlight what your B2B marketing funnel might look like, what marketing efforts should support each stage and the benefits of a well-defined funnel.
To get started, it is important to understand the three primary stages of the funnel and how each plays a role in the movement of prospects to becoming a buyer.
Top of the Funnel
The top of the funnel is where people go as they first become aware that they have a business challenge or obstacle they need help overcoming. These are the potential buyers who are in very early stages and are the least ready to make a purchase. While they know they have a business challenge, they are just starting to search for potential solutions. At this stage, it is important to increase brand awareness and recognition across marketing channels.
Middle of the Funnel
Once a prospect has accepted they need a solution to their challenge and they are now actively searching for a solution, they have moved to the middle of the funnel. While still not ready to buy, they are getting closer to being a lead with higher buying intent. You can think of this stage as the browsing stage, where prospects are identifying options, so it is critical that your product offering stands out. Showcase your unique value proposition and highlight why your product is the best one for them.
Bottom of the Funnel
At the bottom of the funnel, you have the prospects that have a high buying intent. They have made their way through each stage and are now ready to make a purchase. At this time, prospects have likely narrowed their options down to a few products and are making last comparisons to choose the right product.
How to Create Your B2B Marketing Funnel
With a general understanding of how leads move through the different funnel stages, it is now time to support that funnel with key marketing efforts. In general, here are a few guiding strategies:
- Identify the Most Effective Activities for Each Stage. There are specific marketing efforts that match each funnel stage best and will support the goals of each. Here are a few to consider:
- Top of the Funnel: Blogs, articles, videos, infographics, social media, paid social media and Google ads, search engine optimization (SEO)
- Middle of the Funnel: White papers/reports, eBooks, webinars, email marketing, retargeting ads, Account-Based Marketing (ABM) campaigns
- Bottom of the Funnel: Product videos, free trials/demos, case studies and testimonials
- Outline What Success Looks Like for Each Stage. Are you going to aim for a certain conversion rate? What about leads generated per marketing channel? There are many ways to define success at each funnel stage. For the top of the funnel, it might be how many leads are generated. For the middle of the funnel, it could be the number of assets downloaded. At the bottom of the funnel, it will likely be the purchase or conversion rate. Consider what your goals are at each stage and define metrics that will show that success.
- Reduce Barriers to Conversion Throughout the Funnel. At each funnel stage, there are going to be barriers to conversion. It might not be explicitly clear at first, but as more time goes by, you can analyze marketing efforts and your success metrics to see where things are thriving and where things are lacking. Swiftly identifying any barriers allows you to quickly address them.
Advantages of a B2B Marketing Funnel
Using a B2B marketing funnel can be advantageous to your organization in many ways. Below, we highlight a few of the advantages.
- Provides Greater Insights into Your Ideal Audience. When you create a marketing funnel, it tells you how prospects move from one stage to the next, which informs your marketing strategy and efforts. You know what each stage is focused on, whether it is awareness, consideration or a decision, and you have the information you need to keep prospects moving forward into a conversion. Plus, with a full view of who your audience is and what they are looking for, you can make adjustments in the marketing efforts at each stage to ensure you are delivering the right content and campaigns at the right times.
- Improves Brand Awareness and Recognition. As you continue to produce content and campaigns and utilize them across the marketing funnel, you are likely drawing more awareness from your audience. When your content or campaign content is distributed throughout different marketing channels and you consistently feed those channels, more eyes are on it. When your audience knows who you are and sees your brand consistently, they take note. It can help shorten the time to conversion, bringing you more customers, more quickly.
- Builds Stronger Relationships with Prospects and Customers. When nurturing prospects through the funnel, it will often be over a considerable period of time. Delivering content, information, news and helpful tips to the audience supports strong relationships. It can evoke a sense of trust between your brand and the audience if what you are delivering is of value to them. Doing this consistently strengthens those relationships, increasing your chance of a conversion. Even an email nurture cadence every two weeks can be something that audiences look forward to as they know they will receive the latest content with strategic and actionable tips they can use in their teams or organizations.
- Supports Overall Marketing Goals. Your business has goals and so does your overall marketing team, and these should be intertwined. The marketing activities that take place at each funnel stage help contribute to the goals you have. Is one of your those to generate a certain number of qualified leads every month? Use your funnel to help make this happen. One example would be to elevate your paid campaigns at the top of the funnel to generate and push more leads to the consideration or decision stage. Another could be creating more gated content to use in the consideration stage.
- Increases Return on Investment (ROI). One thing that marketers and business leaders are always worried about is ROI. A marketing funnel itself does not improve ROI, but it gives you the recipe you need to improve it. It outlines what content and marketing efforts are needed at each stage of the funnel and provides insights into who the audience is and what they are looking for at each stage. You have more opportunities to increase revenue by simply outlining what is needed to generate leads and move them to a conversion.
Building a B2B marketing funnel can seem like a large task to take on, so let the B2B marketing experts help! Request a free marketing consultation or contact us today to get started on reaching your ideal customers at the right time and with the right marketing tactics.
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