Many content marketing tactics focus on prospects who are in the top of the funnel—or the Awareness Stage of the buyer's journey. But what happens when prospects progress to the middle of your sales funnel and start evaluating the various solutions available to them?
The good news is: your content marketing doesn't have to stop there. The right content delivered to prospects at the Consideration Stage can help effectively accelerate the sales pipeline and drive your potential customers to the Decision Stage (or the bottom of the funnel.)
In this article, we'll look at how to create marketing content for prospects in the middle of the funnel (MoFu) and what you can do to increase its effectiveness.
Goals for Targeting a MoFu Audience
At this point, you've used content designed for the top of the funnel to help your audience identify their problems and start associating your products or services with the solution they need – essentially moving them from the Awareness Stage to the Consideration Stage.
However, you probably need to build more trust before your audience is ready to buy from you. The goal of your MoFu content is to cultivate this trust by providing value and deepening the relationships.
At the Consideration Stage, your audience wants to learn more about the potential solutions to their problems so they can assess their options. Content designed for an audience in the middle of the funnel should focus on the solution they need and show them how your product or service delivers results.
The nature of MoFu marketing content is often more detailed or technical and touches upon the unique features of your products or services. But it's not just about touting special features and functionality. It's important that you connect what you offer to the prospects' pain points and needs.
5 Types of Effective Middle-of-the-Funnel Content
There are many types of content you can use for MoFu marketing, some of which you're probably quite familiar with. But others may not be immediately apparent. Here's a look at five content marketing techniques that tend to drive movement in the sales funnel:
1. Case Studies
Case studies are among the most valuable content assets you can create. High-quality case studies and customer stories showcase how your products or services perform in the real world. They demonstrate to your readers how people just like them get amazing results specifically from doing business with you.
Plan on investing time and resources into creating case studies because the process involves multiple steps, such as interviewing the customers, writing and editing the copy, and laying that copy out in an appealing, digestible design.
Get as many specific metrics as possible to illustrate results and gather different perspectives of the same story – for example, in addition to the client's perspective, you can include the team's point of view for a "behind-the-scenes" look or to demonstrate your employees' commitment to excellence.
2. Blog or Website Content
Long-form and high-value blog posts are a staple for many content marketers. Even though most use them to attract top-of-the-funnel audiences, the right blog content can also be very effective to progress prospects along the sales funnel at the Consideration Stage. For instance, a how-to guide that targets a particular problem your services address or an expert interview that covers some technical details about your products could both serve this purpose.
You can also use information on your website to address audiences at the Consideration Stage. A couple examples would be a FAQ page or a product comparison chart that provides additional information about your offerings.
3. Demo Videos
Many prospects may be reluctant to make a purchasing decision because they don't know enough about how a product works or how it actually solves their problems. A demo video can be a very effective way to showcase your product in action and demonstrate its relevance to your potential buyers.
Make sure that your demo videos replicate the desired user experience, address common challenges, appeal to both visual and text-based learners, and empower the viewers so they feel like they can achieve similar success with your products.
Also, consider featuring actual users or customers to show the audience that "people in their shoes" can use your product and realize the outcomes their looking to achieve.
4. Product Webinars
Webinars offer an effective way to engage your audience, hold their attention for a relatively extended period of time, and facilitate real-time interactions that help build trust and relationships with the attendees. Moreover, product webinars are specifically targeted to an audience at the Consideration Stage – and focus on how your product can be applied to address their challenges.
The webinar content should respond to common questions and objections prospects have about what you're selling. You can also include details and data to show how your products are benefiting your customers' businesses.
As an added tip, include a Q&A component so you can answer prospects' specific questions during the event and accelerate them down the sales pipeline.
5. Product Descriptions, Data Sheets, and Pricing Information
They may sound dry, but such factual information is likely to get your prospects to further engage with your brand and consider making a purchase.
Product descriptions should be succinct and start with the most important information, addressing the possible concerns that prospects at the Consideration Stage commonly have.
Data sheets should be easy to scan and highlight the key features of your products, while the pricing page should communicate more than numbers by anchoring the prices, highlighting the best options, and creating a sense of urgency.
How to Increase the Impact of Your MoFu Content
Just like any other kind of content, you need to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time to maximize your ROI. This entails having a content promotion plan in place.
Target your MoFu content at prospects that are already familiar with your brand using tactics like:
- Remarketing ads: show retargeting ads to people who have visited specific pages on your website.
- Social media marketing: promote your MoFu content to your followers or custom audiences that already have a relationship with you.
- Email marketing: send out emails to your subscribers to promote your content, webinars, or new product features.
In Conclusion
When you create your MoFu marketing content, make sure to keep your business objectives in mind. Whether it's providing product details, showing your products in action, or addressing some typical questions – your content should focus on offering the information your target audience needs to know in order to move along your sales funnel.
Last but not least, just like any good marketing content, don't forget to include a call-to-action that will get your prospects to take the next step!
