Most B2B marketing strategies can utilize a three stage funnel:
There are three high level components to a marketing funnel. These three main levels correlate to the journey a buyer takes from knowing nothing about their problem, to understanding their options, and finally, understanding why a particular solution is the best.
- Top of the Funnel: "Awareness" - the visitor is aware that they have a problem and they become open to a better way of solving it.
- Middle of the Funnel: "Consideration" - the lead is comparing the various ways of solving the problem.
- Bottom of the Funnel: "Decision" - the lead is trying to understand if your company's solution is right for them.
This is a starting point and your funnel may look different based on other variables like your company's product, industry, pricing, audience and business model. Building B2B marketing funnels can be more complicated than others while some are simple. Some B2B customers may stay in the top of the funnel longer compared to others, whose customers stay in the middle of the funnel longer because they require more nurturing before they make a decision.
When you understand your customers and the journey they go on while pairing that up with your unique solution and process, you can create content that resonates and helps convert visitors to leads to a becoming customer.
Create Content for each level of the buyer's journey
Awareness
Content for the awareness stage usually takes the form of a high value blog post, ebooks, white papers, or anything that helps them become aware or identify with their current problem.
Consideration
When a lead makes it to the middle of the funnel they are looking for content that shows them how they can get rid the problem they identified. This type of content takes the form of how-to guides, interviews, and other resources that help them see a future after a solution has been found.
Decision
On its own, the bottom-of-the funnel offer is unlikely to turn a lead into a customer. Understanding how the other pieces of the funnel work together engaging and nurturing them to this final step is going to help make your solution compelling. The steps above should be looked at as a resource to help convince them that your are the right company to help them.
Start Small. Learn. Grow.
Your business should have a unique sales funnel created for your target audience and their unique journey. Starting off, your funnel doesn't have to be a complex masterpiece. Start small, observe and test, over time you'll find that you are building a marketing machine focused on educating your visitors and turning them into leads and customers.
