The bottom of the funnel is where the metaphorical bases are loaded. You have the potential to score big with a well-executed bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) marketing plan.
But only 14% of marketers are making BOFU content, while 50% are making TOFU content. This means they miss a chance to convert their leads into sales.
So in this guide, Director of Product Marketing, Danny Conlon, will explain everything you need to know about creating and executing a top-tier BOFU strategy.
What is Bottom of Funnel Marketing?
Bottom-of-funnel marketing is a strategy focused on converting potential customers into paying customers. The idea is to implement targeted marketing tactics that engage and entice prospects to take action that leads to conversion.
Getting your brand in front of potential customers is the first step.
This could include retargeting campaigns, personalized emails, or offering special discounts to prospects close to purchasing. These tactics can help you keep your brand top of mind and encourage prospects to take the next step.
But bottom-of-funnel marketing isn’t just about getting customers to take action.
It’s also about delivering valuable content that excites prospects excited about your brand. This could include personalized product recommendations, customer success stories, or educational resources that address specific pain points or challenges.
By providing value at every stage of the buyer journey, you’ll build trust with your prospects and make it more likely that they’ll convert into paying customers. And once they do, you can leverage their loyalty to attract new customers, expand your business, and drive sustainable growth over time.
Goals of BOFU Marketing
At its core, bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) marketing is all about converting prospects into customers by providing content that speaks directly to their needs. It’s the final stage in the buyer journey, where prospects are evaluating specific solutions and looking for reassurance that your brand is the right choice.
To assist this process, BOFU marketing provides more specific content tailored to the user’s needs.
This might include product reviews, case studies, and free trials that showcase the value and benefits of your solution. This targeted content makes it more valuable and likely to drive conversions.
But BOFU marketing isn’t just about closing the deal. It’s also about building trust and connecting the prospect and the brand.
Content that addresses their pain points and demonstrates how your solution can help builds familiarity and rapport, making it easier for them to buy.
BOFU marketing also offers insights into customer preferences and interests. Tracking prospects’ engagement with content can help you better understand what motivates them to buy.
You can then use this data to improve the sales process in the future, create better content, and create more targeted campaigns that resonate with your audience.
Problem-Aware, Solution-Focused, and Outcome-Driven Strategies
When it comes to BOFU marketing, it’s crucial to be problem-aware, solution-focused, and outcome-driven. This means that your content should first address the specific problems your target customers are seeking to solve.
This will allow you to present them with a tailored solution. To illustrate, let’s take the example of a software company.
They could offer potential customers a trial period of their software and highlight how it can streamline their workflow processes. This would address the problem of inefficient workflows that many of their potential customers may be experiencing.
Next, the content should be outcome-driven, emphasizing the potential benefits customers can expect from using the product or service. For the software company, this could mean discussing how their software can increase efficiency and reduce costs, providing measurable outcomes that the customer can expect.
By taking a problem-aware, solution-focused, and outcome-driven approach to BOFU marketing, you can better connect with potential customers and show them the specific value that your product or service can bring to their business.
Types of BOFU Content
The types of content used for BOFU marketing vary depending on the customer, the product, and the campaign’s goals. Here are the most common:
Demos and Trials
Demos are bite-sized presentations or walkthroughs that showcase a product or service’s key features and benefits. They offer an overview of how the product or service works and how it can address the customer’s pain points.
In contrast, trials provide a more immersive experience by allowing potential customers to test the product or service for a limited period. This enables customers to assess its value and how it fits into their workflow, making it easier to decide whether to commit to a purchase.
Both demos and trials can be compelling, especially for complex or high-value products or services. They enable potential customers to see the product or service in action and better understand how it works in real-world scenarios.
For instance, a B2B software company could demo its project management software, walking potential customers through the platform’s features and demonstrating how it can improve their team’s productivity.
Similarly, a trial of the software could help potential customers gauge whether the platform is worth the investment and how it integrates with their existing workflows.
Webinars
Webinars are a powerful tool for businesses to showcase their expertise and connect with their audience. Whether live or pre-recorded, these online presentations offer a unique opportunity to engage with potential customers and provide in-depth information about products or services.
Webinars are beneficial for brands operating at the bottom of the funnel. Let potential customers know you’re an expert by demonstrating your thought leadership and answering questions.
What’s more, requiring registration before attending a webinar offers a chance to capture leads and follow up with interested parties.
Consider the example of a B2B software company seeking to streamline operations for businesses in a specific industry. A webinar will show how their product can help prospects and position them as a trustworthy solution provider.
And as potential customers near the point of purchase, the information provided in the webinar can help solidify their decision to choose that vendor over competitors.
Testimonials
Customer testimonials are some of the most potent forms of BOFU content. People want to hear from actual customers who have used the product before, as it provides an honest and unbiased opinion beyond the predictable praises of your sales team.
Thankfully, it’s easier than ever to collect (and feature) reviews using specialized software like Testimonial.to. This testimonial tool makes it easy to collect, manage, and feature customer reviews on your website, effectively leveraging the power of user-generated content.
Product Reviews and Competetive Analysis
Product reviews and competitive analysis hold immense value for potential customers since it aids them in making well-informed purchase decisions.
Reviews of a product or service provide a glimpse into the experiences of existing customers and help potential buyers gauge its strengths and weaknesses in practical situations. Social proof is another advantage of reviews, as peer opinions carry more weight than marketing claims.
Conversely, a competitive analysis will compare a product or service with its competitors, enabling potential customers to understand its value proposition and unique selling points. It can also help identify gaps in the market and how the product or service can bridge them.
For instance, consider a B2B SaaS company offering a project management tool. In this case, product reviews can provide potential customers valuable insights into the tool’s performance across various scenarios, and how it stacks up against comparable products in the market.
Bottom of Funnel Tactics
Specific tactics can make BOFU content even more effective. Let’s take a look at a few.
Product Comparisons
Comparing products or services to competitors is a powerful way for businesses to differentiate themselves and showcase their unique value proposition.
In the BOFU stage, product comparisons can give potential customers insights into how a particular offering stands out. It’s (almost) easy to sell a product or service when you effectively highlight its features and benefits.
Aside from informing purchase decisions, product comparisons can also address potential customers’ common objections. Directly addressing these concerns and showing how their offering solves them will help businesses dispel customers’ doubts.
For instance, a B2B software company could create a comprehensive comparison chart that compares its product’s features, pricing, and support options against those of its competitors. This comparison chart can effectively demonstrate how their product outshines the competition and highlight what sets it apart from others in the market.
Promo Codes, Special Offers, and Upsells
Promo codes, special offers, and upsells can be highly effective tactics for encouraging potential customers to take action and make a purchase, as well as increasing the overall value of their investment.
Promo codes, for example, offer discounts to entice potential customers to buy by providing them with a discount on their purchase price at checkout. Promo codes can be a highly effective BOFU tactic, especially for customers contemplating a purchase for some time.
On the other hand, special offers can come in various forms, such as bundling multiple products or services at a discounted price, providing limited-time deals, or offering free trials of premium features. These special offers are similarly effective at incentivizing potential customers to purchase.
Upsells are another strategy businesses can use to increase the value of a customer’s purchase by offering complementary products or services. They can provide customers with additional benefits that they may not have initially considered.
Imagine you’re a SaaS brand. You might offer upsells for premium support packages that include additional training resources.
Offer One-on-One Sales Attention
Offering personalized, one-on-one sales attention to potential customers is a highly effective BOFU strategy that can provide tailored solutions and support.
Sales representatives can offer potential customers valuable insights and address concerns about the product or service. Offering customized services based on the customer’s needs shows businesses care about delivering the best results.
This personalized approach can also help businesses convert potential customers into paying customers. Companies should establish a loyal customer base by building a relationship with the customer and going above and beyond to meet their needs.
For example, a B2B SEO agency could offer one-on-one consultation sessions with potential customers to discuss their unique needs and showcase how the agency’s services can help them achieve their business goals. This type of personalized attention can help build trust and demonstrate the value of the agency’s services to potential customers.
Build a Powerful Pricing Page
Pricing pages are essential for providing potential customers with detailed information about the cost of their products or services. An effective pricing page can help businesses convert potential customers into paying customers by providing transparency and clarity around pricing.
Here are some key elements that make an effective pricing page:
- Clear pricing tiers: Offer clear and easy-to-understand pricing tiers tailored to their customers’ needs. This can include different features or levels of service that customers can choose from based on their budget and requirements.
- Value proposition: A helpful pricing page should communicate the unique value proposition of the product or service. Highlight the benefits of their offering and explain how it can help potential customers achieve their goals.
- Social proof: Including customer testimonials or case studies on the pricing page can help build trust and credibility with potential customers. In addition, social proof can reassure that other businesses or individuals have succeeded with the product or service.
- Clarity around additional costs: Be transparent about any costs associated with your product or service. Include shipping costs, installation fees, or subscription costs.
- Call to action (CTA): Include a clear CTA encouraging potential customers to act. Try including signing up for a free trial, purchasing, or contacting a sales representative.
An effective pricing page requires testing different pricing models and options to discover what resonates with potential customers.
One possible alternative is offering a monthly subscription model with a free trial, which could be more effective than a one-time purchase option. Test various options and optimize your pricing based on what works best for your customers.
Cross-Channel Strategy
An effective cross-channel strategy is vital for businesses to capture potential customers at the point of sale. Leveraging different channels and strategies for each channel empowers you to bring potential customers from the top of the funnel (TOFU) to the bottom (BOFU).
For instance, a B2B software company can use organic search engine optimization (SEO) to attract potential customers at the top of the funnel who may be researching the product. However, potential customers may have different intentions when they reach the bottom of the marketing awareness funnel.
In this case, the company can leverage paid search campaigns to target potential customers actively seeking out their product. This also allows the company to implement more conversion-focused strategies, such as dynamic search ads, which tailor the ad copy to the potential customer’s search intent.
At the same time, the company can deploy email marketing campaigns to maintain those relationships with potential customers and keep them informed of any product updates or special deals. Finally, the company can leverage paid social media campaigns to stay top of mind with potential customers and help drive conversions.
Key Performance Indicators
Once you’ve implemented your BOFU strategies and tactics, track your performance using key performance indicators (KPIs). These KPIs will help measure your success and identify areas needing improvement.
The four KPIs companies should focus on are cost per acquisition (CPA), conversion rate, customer lifetime value (CLV), and return on advertising spend (ROAS).
- Cost per Acquisition (CPA): Measures the total costs of acquiring a new customer. It measures the cost of all marketing channels, including paid search and display ads, organic search, and email marketing.
- Conversion Rate: Measures the number of conversions out of total ad impressions. It helps businesses measure their campaigns’ effectiveness and identify areas where they could optimize their ads.
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Measures the total revenue generated from a single customer over their lifetime. Businesses can use this KPI to identify which customers are worth investing in and focus on maintaining long-term relationships.
- Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS): Measures the profitability of your campaigns. It calculates the return on investment of each campaign and helps businesses determine which channels are the most effective.
Each KPI provides businesses with insights into the success of their campaigns and helps them make data-driven decisions to optimize their marketing efforts.
Remarketing
One final tactic for maximizing the conversions of BOFU prospects is remarketing.
What Is Remarketing?
Remarketing is a powerful strategy that enables businesses to target individuals who have previously engaged with their website or marketing materials but didn’t complete the desired action. These can be people who abandoned their shopping cart or visited a specific product page but didn’t make a purchase.
This BOFU tactic is critical because it enables businesses to re-engage with potential customers who have already shown interest in their product or service. By using personalized messaging or special offers, companies can encourage individuals to revisit their website and take the desired action.
But that’s not all!
Remarketing also enables businesses to stay top-of-mind with potential customers who may not have been ready to purchase initially. Over time, you can increase the likelihood of conversion by consistently displaying their products or services to these people.
Moreover, remarketing allows businesses to target people with customized messaging or special offers based on their previous interactions with the website. This can be anything from offering a discount on a product left in the shopping cart to highlighting a specific feature the person showed interest in during their last visit.
How to Remarket Like a Pro
There are many ways to re-engage with customers and get more conversions through remarketing. Here are a few uncommon strategies to consider:
Use Influencer Marketing: Collaborating with influencers with a sizeable following and strong engagement can help businesses tap into their audience and re-engage potential customers. These influencers can effectively promote exclusive deals or offers to their followers, encouraging them to revisit the business’s website and purchase.
Leverage User-Generated Content: Integrating user-generated content (UGC) into your remarketing game plan can successfully reignite potential clients’ interest and elevate the likelihood of conversions. Using UGC as a marketing tool empowers businesses to create meaningful relationships with their audience, drawing on the experiences and opinions of existing customers to convey the value of their offering. It also provides a unique opportunity to showcase your brand’s authenticity and social proof, making it more relatable and trustworthy.
Offer Personalized Consultations: Personalized consultations can be a game-changer to remarket complex or high-ticket products or services. A one-on-one consultation with a product expert allows businesses to provide customized recommendations and address concerns or inquiries.
Personalization is key here; it sets this strategy apart from traditional, impersonal marketing tactics. Businesses can offer targeted advice, address customer pain points, and build trust with their audience by providing an opportunity to speak with a product expert.
Businesses can foster a sense of exclusivity by tailoring their approach based on customer needs, further motivating potential consumers to purchase. Moreover, a personalized consultation can provide valuable feedback to businesses, helping them optimize their products and services based on customer insights.
Leverage Chatbots
AI-powered chatbots provide personalized assistance and support to potential customers in real-time, nurturing leads toward conversion.
More specifically, they enable brands to engage with visitors that previously interacted with their website and offer customized recommendations and answers to their questions. This enhances customer experience but also re-engages potential customers, ultimately increasing the likelihood of conversion.
Create a Sense of Urgency
Creating a sense of urgency can be an effective remarketing strategy because it encourages potential customers to take action quickly.
For example, businesses can use countdown timers or limited-time offers to encourage individuals to purchase before the promotion expires. This can help re-engage potential customers who may have hesitated to purchase initially.
BOFU FAQs
Q: How can businesses maximize their conversions with BOFU tactics?
A: Businesses can maximize their conversions with BOFU tactics by leveraging remarketing, using influencer marketing, leveraging user-generated content, offering personalized consultations, using chatbots, and creating a sense of urgency.
Q: What methods can businesses use to re-engage potential customers effectively?
A: Businesses can effectively re-engage potential customers by leveraging remarketing, using influencer marketing, leveraging user-generated content, offering personalized consultations, using chatbots, and creating a sense of urgency.
Q: How can businesses use KPIs to determine the most effective channels?
A: Businesses can use KPIs such as Return on Investment (ROI) to identify the most effective channels by calculating the return on their campaigns. They can also use KPIs such as Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS) to measure the profitability of their campaigns.
It’s BOFU Time!
BOFU tactics maximize conversions and ensure businesses get the most out of their marketing campaigns.
Businesses can re-engage potential customers and increase conversions by using remarketing, partnering with influencers, leveraging user-generated content, offering personalized consultations, and using chatbots.
Businesses should also track their campaigns’ success using KPIs like ROI and ROAS, along with BOFU tactics. They can use this to discover which channels are working best and get valuable insights into their performance.
Using BOFU tactics and KPIs can help businesses optimize their campaigns and maximize their conversions over time, helping them achieve long-term success and achieving their business goals.
Now it’s time to get started! Get out there and leverage BOFU tactics to maximize your conversions and drive long-term success.