A successful marketing strategy aims to generate brand awareness, traffic, and loyalty to your business, but one of the most critical phases is, at the very end, customer conversion. Potential customers will arrive at the decision point in their purchasing journey by unique avenues over varying lengths of time, but what if we told you there was a way to maximize the probability that customers choose your company purely through the type of content you produce?
Bottom-of-the-funnel content marketing is essential to any successful content strategy, ensuring that those all-important marketing dollars lead to what you need most: sales. From the experts here at Beyond Blue Media, here is all you need to know about bottom-of-the-funnel content and how to make it.
What is Bottom-of-the-Funnel Content?
Every potential customer is at a different phase of their purchasing process. From discovery and research to consideration and conversion, these customers are all working their way down the metaphorical ‘funnel,’ leading towards an eventual sale at the bottom. Concerning content marketing, it’s essential to realize that all your potential customers are in these different phases; therefore, you should create content that targets each separately rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach.
Bottom-of-the-funnel content is marketing content produced to target customers closest to converting into a sale. Also known as the conversion funnel or end-of-the-funnel, this content should target a relatively minor number of customers with high value and high intent as potential leads.
Importance of Bottom-of-the-Funnel Content
Bottom-of-the-funnel content ensures that all your hard-earned money spent through your marketing budget realizes the best possible results. Right at the finish line, when a customer is aware of a problem that needs solving and the available solutions, bottom-of-the-funnel content makes the difference in deciding on your company over a competitor.
Bottom-of-the-funnel content must do two things:
- Encourage a sale with your business specifically
- Encourage a customer to purchase as soon as possible
This content should continue to add value like other stages of the marketing funnel, such as brand recognition, trust, and value. Still, it’s essential to realize that customers at this phase have usually already decided to make a purchase, but they just don’t know when and where their various options are the best for their needs.
Details You Must Know
You must know specific information about your business and customers to make the most effective bottom-of-the-funnel content possible.
On the business side of things, you should know your company’s unique selling point, expert technical details of the product and service, details about your company and its competitors (what is similar, what is different), the company’s story, and the profile of an ideal customer. Understanding an ideal customer means knowing their most significant pain points, frequent questions and concerns, and what led them to find a solution through this product or service in the first place.
In summary, any good bottom-of-the-funnel content comes from knowing the company’s niche, the fine details of its products and services, the ideal customer profile, the pain points that led the customer on their search, and what competition is out there. If you know these details, effective bottom-of-the-funnel content is ready.
Types of Bottom-of-the-Funnel Content
Digital marketing includes various content, the most common being articles produced on a company’s website, social media, and video content. Here are four types of bottom-of-the-funnel content that work for any business size, industry, or customer base.
1. Direct Comparison
Direct comparison content is made to put your product or service head-to-head with the closest competitor. This allows you to drive home your unique selling point, establishing your brand above the next possible choice a customer may be contemplating.
Another form of direct comparison content is called “Alternatives to X.” Many customers might know about the most popular business in an industry. Still, before blindly deciding on their product, they often do their own industry research.
Customers may look up “alternatives to Xbox” or “alternatives to American Airlines” on a search engine. Your content will be the article customers click on, and this is your opportunity to let your company shine against all of the competition, highlighting substantial aspects and unique selling points.
2. Use Cases and Case Studies
Another great way to create successful bottom-of-the-funnel content is to demonstrate expertise in your field. By creating articles around case studies of using your product and its benefits, you can specifically target people with general knowledge of the topic who want to see what your product looks like in practice.
Furthermore, using cases and case studies allows potential customers to see what a success story is and what it would be like to be an actual customer. An example would be an article detailing successful ways your product was implemented or used.
Helping potential customers envision themselves using your product successfully is the perfect way to encourage them to pull the trigger.
3. User-Generated Content
Similarly to the above, user-generated content effectively puts your existing customers before potential ones. From reviews to testimonials, this type of bottom-of-the-funnel content provides proof to potential customers before purchasing. The best part is that customers create content for you! Furthermore, content made by your current customers helps bolster your company’s credibility and trustworthiness, increasing the likelihood that a potential customer will convert into a sale.
4. Video Information
Video content drives bottom-of-the-funnel sales by educating your audience while demonstrating expertise (through “how-to” videos and tutorials). Video content also provides a face for customers to relate to inside the company, encouraging genuine connection rather than just a webpage with text. This can be integrated with the user-generated content discussed above, as short-form content and visual storytelling on social media are becoming the most popular forms of content consumption.
Bottom-of-the-funnel: No Time to Waste
Bottom-of-the-funnel content marketing is a critical component of any content strategy. At the end of the day, this type of content converts your marketing budget into sales, so be sure to integrate it thoroughly into your content pipeline.
The digital marketing world can be complex and daunting, but you’re not alone on this journey! Reach out to our team of friendly experts to get your business on the fast track to marketing success.
