91% of B2B marketers use content marketing to attract prospects. In addition, most of them planned to spend at least one-third of their marketing budgets on content marketing alone.
As people have repeated throughout the years, content is king. And that’s not going to change anytime soon.
But what exactly is the role of content in the marketing-sales cycle?
In this article, we’ll discuss how sales funnels and content marketing strategies go hand-in-hand.
Top of Funnel
93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. Because of this, you want to be there for consumers at the very beginning of their customer journey.
The best way to do so is by having great top-level content that gets your brand name in front of them. Content at this point informs consumers about what services and/or products you provide. This usually consists of a blog and social media posts, as well as infographics and e-books but if you want to really step up your game we would recommend video obviously.
Middle of Funnel
At this point, people know who you are and what you do. They may be interested in your services but aren’t quite sure if they really need them. This means you’re getting qualified leads through the funnel.
Here, you can show them what your unique value proposition (USP) is. This is what sets you apart from your competitors. It goes without saying that video, once again is one of the best ways to tell this story.
You can also use this part of the digital marketing funnel to keep building trust and rapport with your prospects by providing them with the information they need. Typically, you’d use case studies, webinars, marketing newsletters, buying guides, explainer videos or consultations.
Bottom of Funnel
At the bottom of the sales funnel, you won’t have as big as an audience as at the top. However, these are all very highly qualified and hot leads that will almost certainly commit to purchases.
In this stage, your content will consist majorly of support pieces you can give your sales team to drive conversions. For example, you might create pitch decks or sales videos. Additional case studies and customer success stories will be majorly beneficial here as well since it’ll prove to prospects that you were able to address others’ pain points and successfully help them.
In addition, you want to facilitate loyalty after they’ve decided on your company. Content that can help boost loyalty include support documents, follow-up emails, and how-to articles.
Make Sure You Have Quality Content for the Sales Cycle
As you can see, without quality content, you’ll have a tough time moving prospects along in the sales cycle. Marketing and sales funnels are very intertwined, as your marketing team is the support your sales team needs to keep things flowing.
From the moment prospects learn about your brand to the moment they commit to a purchase, you can bet that content’s been there every step of the way to influence their decisions.
