Top of the Funnel Offers
As content marketing and other forms of inbound marketing continue to grow at a rapid pace, marketers need to understand that all facets of a sales funnel still count in their strategies, not just the bottom of the funnel when the user is finally ready to become a loyal customer. However, more and more businesses are focusing their content, services, and marketing in an effort to drive the "buy" action and not as much making sure to maximize incoming lead volume at the top of the funnel.
One way of making sure people who are interested in your services or product, but are not yet ready to buy have the best chance to eventually become customers, is utilizing top of the funnel offers which initiate the interaction with your brand. These can come in many forms: eBooks, top ten lists, free offers, special promotions, demo, etc. But, which ones are the best top of the funnel ideas?
The Buyer Persona
First and foremost, any marketer knows that the key to capturing more leads is creating different buyer personas which define likely potential customers. Through market research and current customer analysis, you can uncover characteristics of who is interested in your business, what exactly they want, and why they enter your funnel.
Once you have a good understanding of buyer personas, then the top of the funnel offers are much easier to create and control.
Top of the Funnel Ideas
Now that you have your personas identified, it is time to dive into the ideas and inspiration for the best converting top of the funnel offers you can provide to these potential customers. Content is going to vary from business to business, but these best practices should get you started in the right direction:
It's all about the content! Make sure you have a fleshed out content marketing strategy that includes at least blogging, online articles, and images (two of the most popular forms of content marketing). Engage your audience and make sure to keep it specific to their persona. Create content that addresses a need that they have during an early stage in the buying process and ask them for their details in exchange for that content.
Keep data gathering simple. You don't need a customer's address, phone number, and other personal information right at the get-go. In fact, your main focus should be their email address. Once you have that, you have a method to entice them further with targeted and automated lead nurturing programs through email.
Inform your readers, there's no need to try to pitch them your product or service at this point. They are interested, but need to know more without a loosely masked sales pitch.
Once you have mastered top of the funnel offers, bottom of the funnel offers become a breeze. All it takes is a little content know how and a strategy for integrating it for your business.
As content marketing and other forms of inbound marketing continue to grow at a rapid pace, marketers need to understand that all facets of a sales funnel still count in their strategies, not just the bottom of the funnel when the user is finally ready to become a loyal customer. However, more and more businesses are focusing their content, services, and marketing in an effort to drive the "buy" action and not as much making sure to maximize incoming lead volume at the top of the funnel.
One way of making sure people who are interested in your services or product, but are not yet ready to buy have the best chance to eventually become customers, is utilizing top of the funnel offers which initiate the interaction with your brand. These can come in many forms: eBooks, top ten lists, free offers, special promotions, demo, etc. But, which ones are the best top of the funnel ideas?
The Buyer Persona
First and foremost, any marketer knows that the key to capturing more leads is creating different buyer personas which define likely potential customers. Through market research and current customer analysis, you can uncover characteristics of who is interested in your business, what exactly they want, and why they enter your funnel.
Once you have a good understanding of buyer personas, then the top of the funnel offers are much easier to create and control.
Top of the Funnel Ideas
Now that you have your personas identified, it is time to dive into the ideas and inspiration for the best converting top of the funnel offers you can provide to these potential customers. Content is going to vary from business to business, but these best practices should get you started in the right direction:
It's all about the content! Make sure you have a fleshed out content marketing strategy that includes at least blogging, online articles, and images (two of the most popular forms of content marketing). Engage your audience and make sure to keep it specific to their persona. Create content that addresses a need that they have during an early stage in the buying process and ask them for their details in exchange for that content.
Keep data gathering simple. You don't need a customer's address, phone number, and other personal information right at the get-go. In fact, your main focus should be their email address. Once you have that, you have a method to entice them further with targeted and automated lead nurturing programs through email.
Inform your readers, there's no need to try to pitch them your product or service at this point. They are interested, but need to know more without a loosely masked sales pitch.
Once you have mastered top of the funnel offers, bottom of the funnel offers become a breeze. All it takes is a little content know how and a strategy for integrating it for your business.
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