The internet can assist in the process of generating new leads in numerous ways.
Creating certain materials can make people aware of you and draw them closer. Other content builds trust and directly triggers leads. Eventually, it is noticed that particular items of information affect certain segments of the process.
The structure of the content is crucial in determining the result for both you and the people visiting your site. Different kinds of content such as blog postings, webinars, case studies, and list articles all have different marketing results.
Format follows function.
Therefore, the content marketer can decide wisely which formats to use and make content tailored to strengthen the different steps of the sales process.
Let’s investigate the particular kinds of content and how they coordinate with different points in the sales funnel.
Stages of a Sales Funnel: Two Perspectives
It is often shown as one straightforward four-stage visual, but today’s salespeople should consider two different kinds of funnels from the perspectives of both the purchaser and the seller at the same time. These should be seen at different points in the process.
1. Awareness Stage
Buyer Perspective
At this point, likely purchasers have noticed areas of distress and are commencing to do preliminary studies about potential products in the market.
The most expansive part of the funnel serves to increase a brand’s exposure and show expertise by providing prospects with resources that emphasize their values in the beginning stages. The focus is visibility and domain authority.
Seller Perspective
For those in business development, taking a potential customer from being aware to showing interest necessitates knowledge that is more comprehensive than the regular company particulars, like who is at the helm and what the position is in the company, as well as a company’s type, such as how large it is.
Instead, deeper insights about a target account are required:
- Does the organization outsource key components of its business?
- What technologies does the organization use?
- How many employees sit in the particular job function a solution supports?
- Does the organization have multiple locations?
Gaining insight into sales can naturally divide business needs, concerns, and ultimately help develop customer groups. Its made up of the following:
- Total Addressable Market (TAM): The entire spectrum of prospective buyers who could potentially use a product — even the outliers. Once you’ve calculated your TAM, you can start to narrow it down.
- Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs): An ICP is a categorical description of a potential buyer that would benefit significantly from an offering. The micro-segment inside a TAM represent prospective buyers that are likely to hold the high Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).
- Buyer Personas: The average size of a B2B purchasing committee is quickly approaching double digits. Needless to say, while accounts buy, ultimately, people decide. And just like an ICP can be segmented into various cohorts, go-to-market teams should understand how to engage various stakeholders, influencers, decision makers and – gasp – gatekeepers involved in the purchasing process. Keep in mind, each may represent a different department, with various — or even competing — agendas.
Content Format To Use
Search optimized blog articles
You may have a few of these already. They draw in a great deal of visitors for extended periods. There is no doubt that these viewers benefit the brand’s recognition; hence, their “share of search” is equivalent to 83% of the brand’s “share of voice.” In other words, having visibility in search engines is the same as having presence in the marketplace.
Let’s be frank, if the page is ranked for a keyword determined to provide factual information, then the visitors will have very little intention.
Social media videos
The social platforms love video. Since video content grabs people’s attention and holds it, social media algorithms prioritize social media posts in everyone’s news feeds. Videos which are amusing at once or regular over the long haul can bring about a great deal of perceivability, particularly useful advice and different perspectives.
Keep in mind that being seen and the amount of visitors to a website aren’t always the same. Never expect high click through rates from social.
Infographics
These visuals have both aesthetic and practical benefits, both of which contribute to an increase in sharing and engagement. Graphics are more easily interpretable than texts, making it more probable for visitors to come and check them out. When you join forces with a bit of investigating and interaction with others, it can also have a positive effect on being mentioned in the press and having links to your website.
Guest posts
They have already assembled the target demographic you want to reach. Rather than taking the time to construct a new fanbase, use an existing foundation by creating content for those publications. In addition to being easily noticed, having guest posts increases your number of followers on social media platforms and fruitful links for search engine optimization.
Spend some effort to cultivate relationships with editors, and that single post you made can blossom into a lasting association (a recurring feature). That implies a large amount of visibility, even if it doesn’t always result in website traffic eventually.
2. Interest Stage
Buyer Perspective:
At this point, the potential customer is searching for ways to enhance their business results. Learning the level of involvement a potential customer has can be assessed with help from third-party intent data, like an increase in web searches and taking in information regarding certain areas related to a product or service.
In contrast, first-party data involves patterns of behavior resulting from a company’s own sales and marketing initiatives, for example, an expansion of anonymous web page visits from particular firms, as well as the capacity to document and link behavior to conversions like downloading an eBook or subscribing to a webinar.
Seller Perspective:
Keep in mind, by this point in the process, a potential customer already knows they have a problem and is actively searching for a solution on the market. The focus of the interest stage is to maintain enthusiasm for the solution. To be successful now, go-to-market teams must figure out what communication channels and messages will transform potential buyers into purchasers. It is critical to comprehend these conversion points because it can specify when and in what manner sales representatives should intervene.
In order to maximize efficiency in sales during the interest stage, sales representatives ought to know the information that made the lead credible in the beginning. Basically, the individual in charge has had proper training in the practice of purchasing. Get in their head with the following data-driven insights:
- Intent data: When it comes to intent data you can analyze either internal or external.
- Internal intent data refers to the campaigns a company is running, and who is responding to them. What actions has a prospect taken on your company website? What kind of content are they downloading?
- External data, on the other hand, refers to the relevant topics a company is researching online.
- Social Media Data: Another kind of data that often gets neglected is social media behavior. Has your prospect followed you on social channels? What content are they engaging with and how can you then use that information to tailor content that matches their interests?
Content Format To Use
How-to articles
When blog topics are linked to the services you provide, they occupy an important position in the funnel. Many people are drawn to these places to take care of matters for themselves.
But they see your expertise. You’re now a valued resource. They may abandon the attempt to complete it by themselves and return. Eventually they may hire or refer you.
How-to videos
Similar to articles, but in a more engaging format. Visuals are more personable, more unforgettable, and more apt to create confidence. Mix search engine optimized posts with your YouTube plan and you will have guaranteed success.
Original research
Research is the one methodology that truly makes the website the main fountainhead of novel knowledge. This format is an effective way to get recognized, gain publicity and create backlinks.
It is powerful when it is done on a regular basis every year and heavily advertised. Eventually, your website becomes an important industry resource. The mid-funnel is focused on establishing a consistent flow of visitors to your site and building trust.
Gated guides
Content gated for the purpose of marketing automation is created to take a visitor from the top of the funnel to the bottom. Offer something of value to them and they will provide their email address in order to receive more.
A downloadable long form guide is often the impetus to start this transaction.
Welcome series email
The next format in the process is email. After they give you their address, send out a sequence of emails containing links to extra content, as well as a straightforward sales message. It all happens automatically. The service is organized within the marketing automation platform or the email supplier.
These are excellent for increasing involvement since the new subscriber just now had an interest in something you posted. Use the opportunity to promote your hardest working content.
3. Decision Stage
Buyer Perspective
At the end of the sales funnel process, potential customers understand the issue they are dealing with, what the best way to resolve it is, and are ready to choose the vendor to buy from. At the examination stage, vendors are mainly wanting to discover what will give them the most value for their money.
Seller Perspective
Business development professionals must strengthen the belief that their solution can surpass the competition in solving a customer’s problem when it comes to the final stage of the funnel. Regardless of outcome, with sound data-driven practices, your funnel can improve exponentially through the following:
- Product Data: As prospects consider purchasing, an implementation plan will be discussed. Here is where prospects will start asking the nitty gritty questions, trying to find holes in the solution. Extensive product knowledge is a given for business development professionals, but here is where you can identify blind spots hidden further up the funnel.
- Final Proof of Concept Content: While moving prospects from the top of the funnel requires content, the bottom funnel should take the same approach — with even more hyper-targeted messaging. Presumably, the sales side will have a sound understanding of what the prospect needs. Forward-thinking business development teams marry fact finding exercises with proof of concept content to underscore how its solution helps the prospect.
- Feedback Loops: The decision stage is when organizations must take the time to synthesize data amassed at the preceding stages of the funnel in order to recognize trends that can influence future performance. By connecting insights from closed won and closed lost sales, you can 1) identify similar accounts to go after and 2) recognize what led to a closed loss decision.
Content Format To Use
Sales enablement articles
It could be possible that this is similar to the sorts of articles discussed before. But not always. These articles are written for one specific purpose: sales.
When prospects tend to inquire about the same matters, create thorough articles with visuals which include your best answers and display the information on sales calls or drop it off in an email afterward. That’s the basic idea behind “sales enablement” content. Support the sale.
This is a great connection between sales and marketing which negates the importance of the quantity of traffic and pageviews. This is designed exclusively for the audience that matters most to your business, your existing customers, and sent directly to them.
Your story
Your visitor is making a tough decision. They’re unsure about your company as an option. They don’t yet feel a connection to your brand. That’s when they visit the About page.
People viewing your About page are frequently engaged in thoughtful consideration. Now, not only do they know what you are doing, but they want to understand your identity and your convictions. How it all started. What you are for and against. They’re looking for your story.
Your About page visitor may be close to making their final decision, but they need some final push to make it happen. Share your history, your people and your values. When they feel that connection, they feel validation. They’re now far more likely to commit.
Landing pages
Essentially, any page that you come to on a website constitutes a landing page, but in this discussion, we are referring specifically to pages that are created for a campaign.
A landing page is an effort to forego the funnel process entirely and make the visitor take an immediate action upon their initial arrival. Frequently, the conventional header navigation is taken away so the visitor won’t be diverted.
Service pages
People speak of what you do, demonstrate the steps needed to achieve it, provide evidence that you do it well, and offer to assist the visitor. The product or service page is the main page that carries out the work of the entire website. It is commonly referred to as the sales page, or the “money page.” It combines a set of a dozen or more elements, but it really comes down to three things:
- Answers to top sales questions
- Evidence to support those answers
- Clear, specific calls to action
When a sales page is structured specifically for the purpose of achieving results when a person conducts a search with an intent to buy, potential customers can be steered toward the site. Despite this, they are still essentially content at the end of the funnel.
Testimonials
Not like any other type of content, testimonials switch the speaker, exchanging in an individual from the crowd. The text becomes a testimony. The copy turns into evidence. The style is more genuine than any composition you could ever produce.
“Putting quotation marks around something is the strongest punctuation you can use on your typewriter or computer.”
It has the greatest impact when it is placed close to the statement it reinforces. Calls to action are less successful when they are located in spots that are not easily seen, like on pages with customer reviews or in sliding panels. Upgrade to the video testimonial for maximum impact.
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