Middle of the Funnel Marketing
Every customer buying journey has similarities.
Something triggered them to visit your site, to look at your product or service. Then, at some point, they converted to a customer.
The problem? Most sellers struggle to bridge that gap between the top and bottom of the conversion funnel. This article is going to teach you about the middle of the funnel and how to patch leaks in your funnel.
What Is Mid-Funnel Marketing?
The middle of the marketing funnel is a crucial stage for various reasons. At this stage, potential customers will get a clear picture of what your business is offering. Mid-funnel reaches them in the middle of their buyer’s journey, right before they’re ready to buy.
Unlike top-of-funnel visitors, mid-funnel visitors already know they’re suffering from a problem. They are now looking for a way to solve it. They need a nudge.
A mid-funnel marketing strategy meets potential customers at that point. Then, it positions your product or service as a possible solution to the problem at hand.
Benefits of Mid-funnel Marketing
Targeting consumers in the middle of the marketing funnel is straightforward. These consumers have already shown they’re interested. They may not be ready to make a purchase today, but they’ll give you their attention.
You need to show them how you solve their specific problem during this time.
Mid-Funnel Marketing Tactics
Now that you know where the mid-funnel is. Here’s a list of middle-of-the-funnel content to engage consumers stuck at this stage.
Customer Case Studies
Customer Case studies are great for showing a consumer what to expect with your product/service.
Not only do they showcase your product. In addition, they build trust with potential customers who need the same problem fixed.
Let the consumer put themself in the case study. Let them imagine it’s they have already solved their problem.
Example:
You own a media buying agency.
Find and contact MOFU(Middle of Funnel) leads and share with them a case study.
Don’t rely on numbers. Instead, tell the story of your client’s problems. Share how the client first tried to fix the problem. Then, explain why their first solution didn’t work.
Then explain what happened when they found you. Share their initial hesitations. What was holding them back from trusting you?
And then finally, why did they go ahead and work with you.
This is where you boast about the results you got for them. Clearly show how you achieved a 300% ROAS(Return on ad spend) for the client.
Lastly, finish with where they are today.
“They have been able to expand their business by X% because of the growth we generated for them.”
Blog posts
Most sellers fall into the trap of thinking blog posts are ONLY for the top of their marketing funnel.
Blog posts are great at moving people through the middle of your funnel.
These blogs will focus on more specific problems.
Using a blog in the middle of the funnel is to target the problems you know your customers face and emphasize how your business can solve these problems.
Pain point – targeted blog posts help do that.
For example, you make a blog post about a recent event that happened, and in it, you focus on the specifics of the event. In the end, you mention what your business offers, tying it directly to the event. This would be different from a top-of-the-funnel blog, where there isn’t much emphasis on your business but rather total focus on the event. And suppose you’re covering a humanitarian disaster. It would be best if you refrained from making a sales pitch, as such can be considered poor taste.
Webinars
With a never-ending amount of products available on the internet, some people thinking about buying your product need to contact a person before making decisions.
Sure, a consumer can read blog posts and case studies. But, they might not feel understood until an actual human validates their needs and wants.
That’s where webinars come in handy.
For mid-funnel content, webinars can be a short video session that walks through a pain point your leads are experiencing. Then, the final few minutes of a webinar act as a sales pitch for your business. Finally, they position your product as the solution for their problems, hoping that they’ll take the next step.
The perfect example is close.com, which shows how B2B(Business-to-Business) companies can use webinars in their mid-funnel marketing strategy.
They understand that some customers feel overwhelmed with how much their CRM(customer relationship management) can do. So to mitigate those fears, the marketing team holds weekly “close for CRM Newbies” webinars.
Comparison Pages
Regardless of which industry you’re in, there’s a high chance that you’re constantly competing with other companies in a war for sales. But you can use competition as an advantage. That’s not always a bad thing.
Comparison pages compare your product(service) to a competitor’s.
While providing your competitor’s best services might sound ordinary, it’s your chance to prove why you’re better suited to mid-funnel audience members.
For example, suppose you’re running a watch repair business. In that case, you can compare your business to another local watch repair company, focusing on services, reviews, and other aspects that separate your business from the competition. Seek out the competition you have the edge over and point out the facts objectively; potential customers will be able to see who’s the superior of the two.
For example, if your business can repair high-end watches while the other can’t, you’d want to point out this distinction. But, again, it would be best if you refrained from making unrealistic comparisons, as doing so can backfire and make your business look petty and disingenuous.
Use – Case and Solution pages
Most customers need to be educated on a product before they’re ready to buy it. That’s where use-case and solution-specific landing pages come in handy. They’re individual pages on your site that help customers understand whether or not your product (or service) suits them.
A combination of all means you’ve got content ready for people when they have a concern about your product or wonder what it can do.
Here are some other points to keep in mind when using use-case and solution pages:
You need to address specific segments of your audience.
You need to show that what you’re offering is useful.
You need to show how what you’re offering is supposed to be used.
You need to point out the problems that you’re solving.
Mid-Funnel Marketing Concluded
It’s no secret that the top-of-the-funnel tends to get the most love and attention. The promise of reaching new people is appealing. Still, often, marketers and sellers forget to have a mid-marketing funnel in place to turn those first-time visitors into qualified leads.
The middle stage of the marketing funnel is a lot like when you hook a fish but still have to reel it in. At any point, while reeling it in, the fish can slip away and leave you disappointed, even though just moments before, it was as if the fish was in the boat. Focus on making your middle-of-the-funnel marketing strategy as strong as possible. An effective middle-of-the-funnel marketing strategy can make the overall process quicker and ensure faster lead conversion.