If you’re looking to drive more sales with your content, check out these types of middle of funnel content that will help you close the deal. I know from personal experience that creating the right kind of middle-of-the funnel content can be the difference between making a sale and losing out to a competitor.
When I was first starting my business, I didn’t understand the importance of this type of content. But after seeing how much it helped me close deals and grow my business, there’s no way I would go back to not having it!
What is Middle of Funnel Content?
Middle of funnel content is content that is created to generate leads and move prospects further down the marketing funnel.
This type of content is typically more educational and informative in nature and helps prospects learn more about a product or service before making a purchase decision.
Why Does It Matter?
Middle-of-the-funnel content is important for SaaS brands because it allows them to position themselves as the market leader in their category. This type of content is more detailed and contains targeted offers that can help solve a prospect’s problem.
When a visitor becomes a customer, 43% of companies use customer testimonials, 38% show product overviews, and 36% provide a case study.
Targeted Newsletters
This middle-of-the-funnel approach is targeted toward individuals who are still in the research phase of their buyer’s journey. By tracking user behavior, such as which emails they open and which pages they visit, you can provide them with more relevant content, increasing the chance of them converting.
Detailed E-Books
E-books are a fantastic way to generate leads at the top of your sales funnel. By providing rich information on a particular topic, you can deepen the relationship between you and your audience, and help them make more informed decisions about their purchase.
In addition to being embedded on blogs, e-books are also incorporated into a brand’s email newsletter. This allows for a more persuasive, data-heavy approach that can help deepen the relationship between you and your audience.
As a middle-of-the-funnel marketing tool, the focus is not on acquiring leads but on helping buyers in their decision-making process.
Case Studies
Showing, not telling, your prospects what you do is easy to do through case studies.
NuSpark’s use of case studies allows potential customers to see exactly how the company’s lead-generation tool can help solve their specific problems. By clearly outlining a client’s issues, NuSpark’s solution, and the end result, the company can show off the true power of its tool through the eyes of a user.
Case studies in your content marketing strategy can help you create a variety of different types of content for your blog, social media channels, newsletters, and more.
Fact Sheets
A fact sheet is an excellent way to communicate the most important information about a problem in your industry and why your company is the logical choice to address it.
For example, HP’s 2021 fact sheet does an excellent job of demonstrating industry leadership by identifying a current “state of the industry” issue and providing data on why its solution has a clear advantage over competitors.
Simple and to-the-point, a fact sheet directs the reader during a key moment in their purchase journey.
White Papers
A white paper typically looks like an e-book or long-form fact sheet on statistical overdrive.
The NCIA has done an excellent job in creating white papers on evolving cannabis policy. These papers provide entrepreneurs with data and actionable information for entrepreneurs on how to navigate the ever-changing landscape of cannabis legislation.
Integrated Email Campaigns
Emails should go beyond a weekly newsletter blast. They should be a strategic part of the mid-funnel.
In addition to a newsletter, education company Safari sends “Popforms” to team leaders and their members. These pop forms are sent out every week and are designed to help them have more productive one-on-one meetings with their team members.
The goal is to provide another form of value, strengthening the bond between brand and customer.
ROI Calculator
A return on investment calculator allows businesses to input their financial information and determine the initial investment needed to meet goals.
Remember that this is merely an example of what your mid-funnel marketing will look like. It will vary depending on how your different buyer personas fit into your goals.
There is no universal template for creating content for the middle of the funnel. Instead, you’ll need to use your creativity, knowledge of your prospect’s pain points, and any relevant data you have available.
How do content creators and publishers make money off of this specificity of their audiences?
Automation in the Mid-Funnel
Too many times, once businesses acquire leads at the top of the funnel, they immediately start pushing out generic or salesy content to their audience.
By not taking the time to understand audience behavior and tailor your message to their needs, you risk cheapening your relationship with your prospects.
An unfocused, generic, and non-targeted conversation with a prospect (e.g., a “blast”) usually sounds like this:
Brand: “You need this.”
Recipient: “You don’t know me. Bye, Felicia.”
Mid-funnel buyers are human, and they want to feel like you know them. This means you have to talk to your prospects in a direct and specific way.
This is where automation becomes your friend.
Marketers who excel at the mid-funnel stage create personalized content for unique audiences.
Email automation can simplify the process of segmenting your contact lists, and customizing the information you send to each individual.
The Customer Journey
A deeper understanding of customer motivation allows you to segment your audience more effectively and deliver content that resonates. This, in turn, builds brand loyalty and increases the likelihood of purchase decisions going in your favor.
By mapping out this journey, you can ensure that every touchpoint is working to convert them into paying customers.
It is essential to visualize the customer journey to create more loyal followers and customers. By understanding the steps your customers go through, you can better tailor your brand to their needs.
At first, I thought automation would be cold and robotic. I was wrong.
Organizing your audience into segments makes it easy to target them with personalized and engaging messages. Drip programs, lists, tags, rules in Pardot, and smart lists and snippets in Marketo make this process simple. This way, you can make sure that each segment of your audience receives the attention it deserves.
Act-On allows marketers to sort by company attribute, behavior, or timeframe. This makes it easy to find the right leads and target them with the most relevant content.
If you’re looking to automate your content marketing, you’re heading in the right direction.
Emails with automated workflows have a 119% better chance of being opened than broadcast emails while nurtured leads are 47% likely to turn into a big purchase.
Businesses are quickly adapting to the use of email automation software as it has been shown to increase qualified leads by 451% according to research by Oracle in 2022.
For further examples of good and bad emails, just take a look at your inbox.
You can quickly tell which companies have effectively automated their systems to respond to your behavior, and which ones just blast you with emails.
Lead Scoring
How do we measure the ROI of mid-funnel content that acts as a bridge between intrigue and sale?
The goals of your mid-funnel campaigns will determine which metric is most important.
If your goal is to offer an upsell or additional product, a subscriber who only opened an email and never clicked on any links holds less worth than someone who reads your entire email and downloads your e-book.
While the same prospect may have come from the same list, it’s wise to rate them differently based on their actions. This numerical score represents how close they are to making a purchase.
Each of the aforementioned marketing automation platforms has features for assigning values to your prospects based on one-on-one and segment-based engagements.
Organizing your lead-scoring system numerically allows you to assign points to prospects based on different variables. This results in a constantly changing number for each audience member, which can help you better understand who your most engaged customers are.
Mid-Funnel Checklist
While there are no hard and fast rules in middle-of-the-funnel marketing, here’s an overview of what you should know.
1. Make sure that your mid-funnel goals are aligned with your overall company’s revenue target.
The relationship between marketing and sales should be a close one. Marketing should provide sales with qualified leads to nurture, while in return, sales should supply their marketing team with valuable insights.
2. Automate your process with email software tools.
Don’t forget about segmenting, personalizing, and using behaviorally driven lists.
Segmenting your contacts allows you to personalize the content you send to them and tailor it to their specific needs. This makes them more valuable to you and keeps you from wasting money on sending them irrelevant information.
3. Keep track of how your prospects interact with you and respond in real time.
This requires marketing and sales to work together closely. Use metrics that are sophisticated and actionable, and make sense for your overall goals.
As a marketer, it’s important to understand how well your audience knows what differentiates your brand. This understanding will help drive conversions down the funnel.
Additionally, don’t underestimate the importance of content engagement metrics.
Both mid-funnel content and social media strategy are important to building your brand’s authority and reputation.
What Are Content Stages of a Sales Funnel?
Top-of-the-funnel content is designed to attract new leads and introduce them to your brand. This type of content is typically educational in nature and helps prospects understand your product or service.
Middle-of-the-funnel content is designed to nurture leads and help them move further down the sales funnel. This type of content is usually more targeted and focuses on helping prospects overcome specific objections.
Bottom-of-the-funnel content is designed to convert leads into customers. This type of content typically includes things like free trials, demos, or coupons.
What is Mid-Funnel Advertising?
Mid-funnel advertising is a type of online advertising that is designed to reach consumers who are further along in the purchase funnel, typically those who are considering a purchase or have already made a purchase.
Mid-funnel ads are typically more expensive than other types of online advertising, but they can be more effective in driving sales.
Conclusion
If you’re looking to drive more sales, creating middle of funnel content is a great way to do it. By understanding what kind of content works best at this stage of the buyer’s journey, you can create material that will help close the deal. So if you’re ready to take your business to the next level, start creating some amazing middle-of-the funnel content today!
