The buildup of a B2B sales funnel and content targeting
Source: B2Bsalesfunnel-770×515.jpg – https://www.zuzubik.com/industrial-marketing/b2b-sales-funnel-marketing-and-conversion-approach/
What is a B2B sales funnel and how can we profit from it if we know its structure and operation? How to create the right content for each section? What are the common tactics to build an effective B2B sales funnel? In our current article, we try to answer these questions.
In our previous B2B article, we presented the customer journey and its specific stages, as well as the content used in each stage. In this week’s blog post, we’ll continue to explore the components of B2B online marketing to provide a comprehensive picture by the end of our B2B article series for those – in this rather complex industry – who are participants of advertising, or just about to enter the business-to-business segment. Our article deals with the structure similar to the customer journey, but with a different B2B sales funnel in its functionality.
The changed B2B sales funnel and the challenges that come with it
The appearance of the internet and its online commerce has brought a radical change in the functioning of the sales funnel. B2B customers, and those in this segment – just think of the “Awareness Section” discussed in our previous article – have become extremely knowledgeable and have every opportunity to get relevant information as quickly as possible. Without wishing to be exhaustive, let’s look at the main changes:
- B2B buyers / market players already carry out a research and pre-education process themselves
- Thanks to the accelerated flow of information, they are easier and better informed than ever before
- Data protection concerns and data protection provisions have significantly reduced the role of “outbound marketing” and its process. For example “cold calls” or “cold emails”
- Today, our customers are now in complete control of their marketing processes
Covid outlook
The pandemic has also had a major impact on the online advertising market. The picture below shows the distribution of the different paid content in the first year of the coronavirus epidemic. It also shows the advancement of social media advertising and the growing role of PPC (Pay-Per-Click) ads, such as Google Ads. There is also a decline in the number of channels and tools that promote their own content (e.g. webinar, e-book)
Source: 2020_B2B_Research_PaidChannels.jpg – https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2020_B2B_Research_PaidChannels.jpg
These changes require B2B players to adapt to changed circumstances as soon as possible. The easiest way to do this is to:
- Use all digital marketing channels. This can also be called “omnichannel marketing,” which is a multi-channel communication designed to create a unified customer experience
- It follows from the above that we strive for unified communication on all channels, and thus for a unified experience.
- In our previous article on customer journey, we also emphasized the importance of displaying personalized content at every stage of the buying process, depending on what stage our potential customer is at. This is no different with the B2B sales funnel.
- In addition, it is important to be aware of the user behaviour process from the “sales side” as well, and thus help our prospective partner / customer through the sales funnel.
Stages of the B2B sales funnel
From the previous part of the article, we see the changes and challenges we face in a modern B2B sales funnel. But based on that, how do we build our own to generate as many leads, purchases, or deals as possible? How do we get quality leads? As with the B2B customer journey, it is essential to know the individual stages of the B2B sales funnel and to use the appropriate content in those stages.
Source: 54.4.jpg – https://stablewp.com/b2b-digital-marketing-funnel/
It can be seen from the figure above that the B2B funnel can be divided into three major parts:
- The Top of Funnel (TOFU), is the research / information gathering phase where marketing plays a key role
- The Middle of Funnel (MOFU), is the lead generation phase where both marketing and sales play a role
- The Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU), this is the “closing the deal” stage where sales play a key role
- We still need to list here a section that, while not part of the funnel, is at least as important as the ones above. This is the Customer Retention phase
Based on the B2B customer journey, we can conclude that the stages of the B2B sales funnel correspond to certain stages of the customer journey:
- Awareness Stage
- Consideration Stage
- Decision Stage
- Loyalty and Advocacy Stage
How to build up our B2B sales funnel effectively
For effective B2B online marketing, it is necessary to map the customer’s path to payment, i.e. the customer journey, as well as the goals of each stage, the content and offers, and the optimal marketing channels to reach potential customers and to get quality leads.
We can consider as a quality B2B lead if:
- Expresses interest in our product / service
- They need what we have to offer
- They have the budget to buy what we offer
- It influences the purchasing decision
Source: B2B-Marketing-Strategies.jpg – https://www.x-cart.com/blog/b2b-marketing-strategies.html
Based on all this, we can achieve the desired result with the right content and precise targeting. Of course, the classic three elements of the sales funnel (TOFU, MOFU, BOFU) also play a role in the “aftercare” of customers in the Customer Retention phase.
How to aim the different stages of the B2B funnel with ads and content
Businesses in the B2B segment are likely to want to buy products or services from a trusted and well-ringing brand. At the same time, it is necessary not only for the “reputation” to sell the product, but also to present the products and services offered with the appropriate industry professionalism or terminology. So we can say that B2B customers expect businesses to speak professionally without any circumlocution.
However, we’re used to the fact that online ads are often worded in a rather purposeful way, and it’s not uncommon to use messages like “Buy Now!” Or “Click and Drop.” This is not a viable option when writing B2B ads. Violent, intrusive messages have the opposite effect on this market and do not foster long-term commitment. Rather, we should target the customer intentions listed below with our messages.
Source: ActivateMarketingCharts-B2B-Demand-Gen-Content-by-Funnel-Stage-June2021.png – https://www.marketingcharts.com/customer-centric/lead-generation-and-management-117563
Top of funnel (TOFU)
At this stage, our prospective clients have encountered some problem, they want to get around it better before finding a solution. For searchers of your products or services, it is recommended that you use terms such as e.g. Defective, x replacement parts, x service replacement, x thing repair, x thing optimal operation. Finding a potential employee of our prospective B2B client with such messages will make it clear that they can contact us if you have a similar problem. And blogs, infographics, podcasts, e-books, and industry reports can be the most effective channels for targeting content to cold audiences.
Middle of funnel (MOFU)
As they already know at this stage what solution is needed to solve their problem, they do not know who they will be asking for help from. From a search perspective, using terms like … software, … device, … provider, … supplier will help. In this phase, the content should be delivered to users through channels such as industry reports, webinars, case studies, video demos.
Bottom of funnel (BOFU)
Even at this stage, they already know what solution they need to fix their problem, but they differ from the previous target audience in that they are already ready to buy or order the service. It is advised to address them on the search network – e.g. on the Google Ads Search Network – Use demo, request for quotation, offer, trial, trial, pricing as “decoy”. By describing the prices and the opportunity to try the product (for free), we can bring them closer to making their decision.
And it’s a good idea to show your content on channels or use tools like free trials, demos, tutorials, trainings, and customer references.
Source: 6-differences-between-strong-and-weak-content-marketers.jpeg – https://contentfac.com/6-big-differences-between-strong-and-weak-content-marketers/
In addition to addressing our B2B partners with just the right message for them, keeping in mind where they are in the shopping funnel, we’d add some more credibility to our ads:
Explain, we understand the problem they are facing. We have met it ourselves before and we know what it takes to solve it effectively.
Let’s be clear and specific, where we can, use numerical data. So they won’t think we’re just talking in the air. For example, a 14-day trial period, 8 solutions to a given problem, etc.
Let the message of our ad be unique, don’t give the same offer like any other competitor.
Provide evidence of others’ satisfaction with our service / product (verification element).
Retargeting is also vital. We know that 96% of our customers do not bring the decision at first in the B2B market. For this reason, we should always strive to make our offer visible again, even while browsing the offers of other competitors, and to provide relevant content even when our customer is not yet ready to make a purchase. We can’t expect someone to remember our company if we don’t address him over and over again in the buying process that can take months.
Summary
Nowadays, the B2B sales funnel has undergone significant changes and this is likely to continue. However, the three main stages of the funnel (supplemented by the fourth, customer retention stage) can be considered relatively constant. The key to advertisers in this segment is how they can adapt to the changing customer journey and sales funnel and select the right advertising channels and content for them. Although the task is not easy, we can create an effective B2B sales funnel for our business with the knowledge of our prospective customers / clients and the underlying mechanisms. If you are interested in the topic, you will find more related articles on our blog.