Getting The Content Right For Your Sales Funnel
The words in the headline may seem like types of cheese, but they are far from being cheesy in the world of marketing. Digest that!
Whether you talk about giving your customers a delightful experience or build a brand name, a sales funnel is the driving force of all of it. When Steve Jobs said, "Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realise it themselves," we literally related it to the stages of the sales funnel -- ToFu, MoFu and BoFu – in content marketing.
Marketing has seen a sea change over the years. Today, it is not just television or newspaper advertisements that attract audiences. With the advent of the digital era and growth marketing in the form of inbound strategies and more, the sales funnel is divided into three categories -- top of the funnel (ToFu), middle of the funnel (MoFu) and bottom of the funnel (BoFu). The focus here is on the sales funnel for lead generation. Irrespective of the content strategy you plan, it is imperative that the content is relevant enough to target the right audience present in the sales funnel stages. With this, you would also want to approach the shifts from ToFu to MoFu to BoFu by getting the content right for each stage.
Each time your audience moves down the sales funnel; for eg: From ToFu to MoFu or MoFu to BoFu, your content takes a new shape. Simply put, the search behaviour of the audience changes and when they move down the sales funnel stages your content must be just right.
Let Us Understand What Kind of Content Suits the 3 Different Funnel Stages:
* ToFu - Awareness to Generate Traffic
Of course, the kind of content produced in ToFu is specific to your buyer persona, but it caters to a wider audience. For eg: If a user wants to explore marketing automation and has heard about HubSpot, s/he will search for “HubSpot.” This is where you would provide content on the features of HubSpot that would benefit a business in general.
Tone of content: The content tone in ToFu is generally easy to understand, has less of jargons and witnesses an effort by brands to be in the sight of their audience always.
Some examples of ToFu content are:
- Website home page
- Guest blogs, awareness level blogs – both on page and off page (SEO)
- Videos
- Images
- Infographics
- E-books
- E-guides
- Whitepaper
- Events
- Webinars
* MoFu – Answer Their Intent to Generate Prospects
By now, your lead is on the way to becoming a prospect. This is the stage where your audiences are crystal clear with their intent/consideration. They know exactly what they are looking for and what they need. But, at this point they are looking for a few solutions that can solve their challenges. Your ability lies in whether you can give them what they need. For eg: If a user wants to explore HubSpot integration specifically, s/he will search for “agencies + HubSpot integration.” This is where you could tell them about what kind of integrations you can take up or how you have successfully implemented it for your customers.
Tone of content: This is the stage when you produce slightly technical content but just enough to not indulge in information overload before the lead is all set to become a prospect. Long-format content in the form of tools and solutions in use would help a great deal in MoFu.
Some examples of MoFu content are:
- Case studies
- Reviews
- Product guides
- Advanced E-books
- Downloads
- Webinars
* BoFu – Prepare to Sell
By now, your most-aware prospect is all set to make a purchase. This is when you tell them why they should opt for your product/solution among many others in the market. What is it that is different about your brand to set you apart from the rest? For some industry types, content at this stage is not necessary as prospects are willing to connect one-on-one. We believe otherwise. Content, for most part of the sale and after sale, is important from start to end.
Tone of content: This is the stage when you produce content to get rid of any obstructions to a sale by displaying testimonials, demos and more to just enough convince them to purchase your product/solution.
Some examples of BoFu content are:
- Customer reviews/testimonials in video or written format
- Demo
- Consultation
- Free trials
- Events
Bottoms Up
Many also believe that BoFu content should be given priority. Technically, even though your ToFu content garners page views, it is not of any use unless they lead to sales. Businesses are taking efforts to ensure that their brands show up in the search results that are keyed in with intent. These users already know what they need. They just don’t know which brand to go with. That’s where your content can make a mark and the focus should be on sales funnel for lead generation.
Looking for help to produce relevant content at every stage of the sales funnel? TransFunnel’s inbound strategies driven by compelling content are a sure shot way of turning your ROI around.
