Boosting top-of-the-funnel demand is a big challenge for digital marketers to attract visitors and convert them to leads. Only 3% of B2B marketers say that their lead generation campaigns are effective, according to research from the 2014 Enterprise B2B Demand Generation Study by ANNUITAS.
There are various channels, content types and technologies that digital marketers can use to help in their demand generation exercise. Here are 5 Effective Top Funnel Marketing Strategies.
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Look at where your traffic is coming from.
Know who your customers are by doing research on the marketplace. Try and meet as many people as possible and speak to those who have already selected your product, those who chose one of the competitors, and also those who have not considered a product in the category. Try and understand what information resulted in their decisions and what prompted them to make the decision they did.
Also, take a look at the core traffic focus areas. According to Content Marketing Institute, the majority of B2B marketers are getting their traffic from social media followed by newsletters, blogs, articles and events.
Buyers use social media to research brands and gather helpful information. By sharing relevant content with users through various social platforms, one can catch the attention of prospects and lead to conversations.
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Content Marketing
At the top of the funnel, buyers are trying to solve a problem they want to fix or a goal they want to achieve, they are not looking for a specific product. They are looking to get educated and for information that will help them reach the best solution. As most people at the top of the funnel begin their buying process online, one of the most powerful strategies for attracting visitors and converting them to leads to create keyword-rich content.
Also, using content to build credibility as a leader on the topic and helping potential customers reach a decision, helps. Make sure the content shared are in the formats that your buyers would prefer, whether they are research reports, whitepapers, webinars, infographics or assessment tools. And also make sure that the content is everywhere where your buyers are present before they are in the market.
Become an expert in getting them to think about making a change (regardless of their situation) and accordingly create the content to make it appealing to them.
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Search Engine Marketing
Majority of B2B buyers begin their buying process by searching online, making Search Engine Marketing (SEM) one of the best and the most effective strategies for attracting the visitors. By using paid placement and contextual advertising, SEM will help increase one’s brand’s visibility in search engine results. So, when the buyers are searching the Web to learn more about topics related to one’s product, they are sure to come across you.
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Email Marketing
Email marketing is another effective strategy for moving prospects deeper into the sales funnel. At this point, the lead is still in the research mode; therefore make sure that one creates content based on their interest and goals. For example, one can include a link for the prospect to download the latest case study or a white paper on another business that has had success with the product.
- Enable the sales team
The buyers are engaged with the brand because of a certain message driven by Marketing has appealed to them. One should make sure that message continues to resonate throughout the selling process. The message that you’re using in the content and the nurture streams should continue throughout the sales process; so that consistency ensures that the customer does not feel that a switch has occurred. Keep training the sellers in what is important to the customer and provide them with questions and conversation beginners about the topics that the buyers care. Help them to become more credible and provide them with additional contents that align with the marketing content which can be used during the sales process.
Credits: hoovers, Hubspot, Marketingprofs, Crazyegg
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