The SaaS sales funnel is a highly complex, multi-stage process. To make the most of your conversion optimization process, it’s crucial to understand SaaS pipeline stages and the common traits of each stage. Armed with this knowledge, you’ll be better prepared to make the most of your efforts and increase the likelihood of a successful close.

Sales Funnel vs. Sales Pipeline

Sales funnel and sales pipeline are two different things. Sometimes they overlap, but they’re not the same thing.

The sales funnel is a marketing concept that describes the process a visitor takes from first discovering your brand to becoming a customer.

On the other hand, the sales pipeline is a sales concept that refers to the process a salesperson takes to move a lead through the sales process and into a sale.

Both the sales funnel and sales pipeline are processes that occur on a continuum, with no clear beginning or end – despite their funnel shape, which is why many now avoid using the term “funnel” and instead use the phrasing “cycle.”

Source: ResearchGate

The SaaS Sales Pipeline: What Is It?

The SaaS sales pipeline is a series of stages through which a lead progresses from the initial discovery of your brand to closing a deal by taking a desired action. The goal of each stage is to progressively increase the lead’s level of interest and commitment until they’re ready to move forward to the next step in the process.

The SaaS pipeline stages are often broken down into six to eight stages, with each subsequent stage building on the knowledge and skills learned in the prior one.

How a SaaS Sales Pipeline Works

The SaaS sales pipeline is designed to maximize the number of sales-ready leads and minimize the amount of time spent closing sales that aren’t a good fit.

The SaaS sales pipeline is a continuous process, not a one-time event. Sales reps must be prepared to adjust tactics, processes, and strategies as leads progress through the pipeline.

SaaS Pipeline Stages: Utilizing Your Content to Propel Leads Forward

If you’re a B2B marketer, you know that content is the lifeline of your business. You are responsible for creating high-quality, informative content that helps customers solve their problems.

Unfortunately, creating content isn’t enough. It must be strategically distributed by your marketing and sales team to ensure maximum exposure. It needs to be optimized to capture and propel leads forward through the SaaS pipeline.

The key to a successful SaaS marketing and sales campaign is to understand the purpose and role of each stage in the SaaS sales pipeline and to tailor your content to meet the needs of each stage.

Source: Moz

Let’s break it down based on one of the most frequently utilized SaaS pipeline models:

Prospecting

This is the first stage in the SaaS sales pipeline and is characterized by the discovery of your brand by a potential lead. At this stage, a lead is just exploring their options and is typically unaware of your brand or what it offers. Even if they’ve heard of you, they may not be ready to take action in the form of a purchase or contact.

This stage requires a lot of brand awareness and education on your part to generate qualified leads. The key to success at this stage is to create high-quality, relevant content that answers your customers’ questions and addresses their needs and frustrations.

You also need to be prepared to participate in all the major marketing channels, starting with organic and paid search, social, and content marketing.

Lead/Account Qualification

The second stage in the SaaS sales pipeline is lead/account qualification. At this stage, a lead has become aware of your brand and is starting to explore what you have to offer. They’re beginning to learn about your company culture, your products and services, and the people behind them.             

They’re also beginning to move beyond awareness and education and into the consideration phase. They’re starting to ask questions, look into pricing and scheduling, and do some research to better understand what you do and why they should choose you.    

This is a critical stage in the SaaS sales pipeline. At this stage, you’ll need to be prepared to share your value proposition, explain the benefits of your product or service using case studies, testimonials, and success stories, and demonstrate the results your customers are achieving.

Demo/Meeting

This is the third stage in the SaaS sales pipeline and is characterized by the opportunity for a face-to-face meeting or demo of your product or service.

At this stage, a lead has started to form a preliminary opinion of your brand and is starting to get a sense of whether they would like to pursue a deeper relationship or not.

The key to success at this stage is to be prepared to go beyond sales pitches and presentations and connect with your leads on a personal level. This can be accomplished through in-person meetings, phone calls, and video demos.    

Proposal

The fourth stage in the SaaS sales pipeline is the proposal. This is the culmination of the relationship that has been building over the course of several interactions.

At this stage, a lead has formed a favorable opinion of your brand, clearly understands what you offer, and is ready to move into a contract phase.

Content that could prove beneficial at this stage includes pricing information, product or service overviews to help you continue building rapport and trust and other materials that help you educate your potential customers and build anticipation for the next stage in the relationship.          

Negotiation and Commitment

The fifth and final stage in the SaaS sales pipeline is negotiation and commitment. This is the point in the relationship where a sale is almost complete, a contract is being signed, and money is being exchanged.

While it may seem like the end of the journey – that couldn’t be further from the truth. The SaaS sales pipeline is a continual process of building and strengthening your relationship with the lead/account.

You’ll want to make sure you are nurturing the relationship by providing value, answering questions, and providing additional education and information as needed to ensure your new account has what they need to get started.     

Opportunity Won

At this point, you’ve won the opportunity. You’ve demonstrated your value, built a relationship, and earned the trust and commitment of your lead. This is the point where you can move into the delivery and implementation phase of the SaaS sales pipeline. You’ll want to take this opportunity to ensure you’re prepared to meet the needs of your new account and continue building value that will help you secure a long-term relationship.

Post-Purchase

The final SaaS pipeline stage is the post-purchase stage. This is the point in the relationship where you’ve delivered on promises, helped your customer solve their problems, and are delivering value.     

The most important thing you can do at this stage is to ensure you’re providing the right level of ongoing support, so you’re able to continue building a strong relationship with your new customer. This will allow you to transition into the SaaS sales pipeline’s retention and referral marketing phases.

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Hushly’s adaptive content hubs let you create the perfect experience for each stage of the SaaS sales pipeline. With just a few clicks, you can design a content experience that is targeted, relevant, and helps you build trust and rapport. This will help you make the most of every moment with your leads.

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The primary metrics that matter for B2B marketing teams are conversion rates, but measuring them correctly can be tricky. That’s because the metrics that used to be important — like the number of website visitors — are no longer the determinative factor in whether a lead ultimately becomes a customer. Today, the most crucial B2B conversion metrics measure the completion of a given action, not just the number of visitors that come to the site. Therefore, modern B2B website conversion metrics include average deal size and marketing qualified accounts (compared to marketing qualified leads).

Before diving into the website conversion metrics your team should be monitoring, it’s essential to understand what these modern metrics look like and why they are becoming increasingly important.

What Do Modern B2B Website Conversion Metrics Include?

In the past, the primary goal of B2B website conversion optimization was to increase the number of website visitors. The theory was that if more website visitors came to the site, the chances of a lead becoming a customer would increase.     

However, this thinking is no longer the case. When it comes to B2B marketing, the goal is no longer to get as many website visitors as possible. Research shows that 30% of B2B marketing teams believe that the overall quantity of leads provides valuable insight into content performance. In comparison, 69% stated that website engagement provided the most insightful information, closely followed up by overall conversions (67%).

Source: Content Marketing Institute

That said, the new goal is to get as many of the right website visitors as possible. This means that modern B2B website conversion metrics now focus on account-based metrics, not just those that measure the number of website visitors.

Why Do These Modern B2B Website Conversion Metrics Matter?

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, so do the most important B2B website conversion metrics. B2B marketing teams are focused on optimizing their website to generate leads/accounts that turn into customers rather than just website visitors.

Today, the most important B2B website conversion metrics measure the number of accounts that are either marketing qualified or have turned into customers.

The significant advantage of account-based website conversion metrics is that they force B2B teams to think about the customer’s decision-making process. This is important because, without the ability to build empathy for the customer, B2B teams will always struggle to close the gap between lead and customer.

5 Website Conversion Metrics You Need to Start Monitoring

Website conversion metrics can help you to better understand your visitors’ needs and the decision-making process from their perspective. This, in turn, will help you to close the conversion gap and increase the number of marketing qualified accounts that turn into customers.

Not quite sure where to begin? Here are five modern website conversion metrics your team should start monitoring moving forward:

1. Marketing Qualified Accounts

Marketing qualified accounts are those accounts that have been flagged as a good fit for the company’s products or services. This can include opportunities that have been identified as a fit through a marketing or sales outreach campaign. Marketing qualified accounts help B2B teams understand the customer’s decision-making process.

So, what makes this metric a valuable website conversion metric? Marketing qualified accounts provide B2B teams with the opportunity to understand what stage of the decision-making process the customer is at. This is valuable because it helps B2B teams understand how to best position their messaging to the customer to motivate them to take action.

2. Influenced Pipeline

The influenced pipeline is the group of customers that have been influenced by the company’s marketing efforts to some degree, and they are either ready to buy or have expressed an interest in learning more.

This can be considered a vital website conversion metric for B2B teams because it helps them understand which marketing efforts resonate with their audience. It also allows B2B teams to understand how their marketing efforts are helping to influence their customers’ purchasing decisions.

3. Deal Close Rate

The deal close rate is the percentage of accounts that have been converted into customers after a sales lead has been identified. This is an important website conversion metric for B2B teams because it allows them to understand the scope of the opportunity, which can help them better prioritize their outreach activities.

4. Average Deal Size

The average deal size is the amount of revenue that a customer has generated after being converted into a customer. This is an important website conversion metric for B2B teams because it helps them understand how much money is being generated by the pipeline. This can help B2B teams better comprehend the financial feasibility of their growth plans, which allows them better prioritize their growth initiatives.  

5. Sales Cycle Length

The sales cycle is the amount of time that has passed from the first point of contact with a potential customer to the point where a deal has been agreed upon, signed, and closed.

This is an important website conversion metric for B2B teams because it helps them better understand the pace of their sales process, which can help them prioritize their outreach activities better.

Monitoring the sales cycle length also enables B2B teams to identify trends, such as the percentage of accounts closing in X number of days, which can help them better understand the type of messaging that performed better and the effectiveness of their outreach efforts. 

Source: Marketing Charts

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Content is the fuel of any digital marketing campaign. You need to have a solid content strategy in place to maximize your efforts and push your bottom line forward. However, when it comes to creating successful content, 87% of B2B brands understand that they need to be prioritizing the audience’s information needs over their sales/promotional message. When it comes to conversion optimization, that means your brand needs to be prioritizing the right bottom-funnel content that helps your visitors find the information they need and get them closer to converting.

Source: Content Marketing Institute

If you’ve been simply creating and sharing content with little to no regard as to when it should be distributed to your audience, then you could very well be missing out on those all-important sales. The content you present at the bottom of your sales funnel is your final opportunity to influence your visitors – making it a vital part of your conversion optimization strategy.

What is Bottom-Funnel Content?

Bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) content is the content that you share with your visitors after they’ve already taken a significant amount of time to find the information they need. This means that your visitors have already invested in the content journey and are now ready to take the final step towards converting.

This final step is where your visitors will experience the value of your brand and the products or services you have to offer.

Just How Important is Your Bottom-Funnel Content?

Bottom-funnel content is essential for several reasons. It’s the last opportunity you have to influence your visitor and get them to experience the value of your brand.

It’s also the last opportunity for your visitors to find the information they need and turn into a customer. It’s crucial to note that the content you present at this point will make or break a B2B customer’s decision – so you need to make sure this content is highly personalized to their unique needs and focuses on benefits to them that they can’t find elsewhere.

Just remember – this isn’t an opportunity to push a promotion. Don’t tell them they need you, show them and let them come to that conclusion themselves. 

8 Examples of Bottom-Funnel Content that Converts

Content comes in dozens of different formats. So, it’s understandable that many B2B sales and marketing teams have different perspectives on what would be considered the most valuable assets to include as bottom-funnel content.

In a recent study by Content Marketing Institute, in partnership with MarketingProfs and On24, B2B marketing teams were asked which content assets produced the best results – and here’s what the numbers had to say:

Source: Content Marketing Institute

So, if you’re still struggling with what type of content you should be creating and distributing in the final stages of your marketing and sales processes, then consider these eight excellent examples of bottom-funnel content:

1. Research/Case Studies

One of the most effective ways to show off your depth of knowledge and authority is through research and case studies. These two content formats are specifically designed to help your visitors understand the value they can get from your brand and products.           

The best part about these formats is that you can tailor them to your visitors’ unique needs and preferences. Show them the benefit of your brand, and then provide them with the research evidence to back up your claims.

2. Product MicroSites

A product microsite is a single-page website designed to show off a single product or service. Every aspect of a product microsite is designed to help your visitors understand the value that your product brings to the table. This can include product or service descriptions, a list of features and benefits, user reviews, a price comparison, and more.

3. Vendor Comparison Pages

One of the best ways to help your visitors understand the value that you bring to the table is by providing them with a comparison page. This allows them to compare your product or service against your competitors in a visual format, making it easier for them to understand your strengths and weaknesses.  

4. Product Comparison Pages

A product comparison page is another single-page website designed to show off two or more of your products or services. The purpose of this format is to help your visitors decide what options are right for them and reduce their decision-making process to a single page.

5. Use-Case Pages

Use-case pages are a great way to showcase the specific ways that your product or service can be used. This provides your visitors with a clear understanding of how your product or service can help them achieve their goals, which helps to build a stronger connection and drive a higher level of intent.

6. Testimonials/Reviews

Use-case pages are a great way to showcase the specific ways that your product or service can be used. This provides your visitors with a clear understanding of how your product or service can help them achieve their goals, which helps to build a stronger connection and drive a higher level of intent.

Source: G2

7. Video Demos

As the power of video continues to grow, so does the value they bring to the bottom-of-funnel. Video demos allow you to showcase the value of your product or service clearly and concisely. This is a great way to help your visitors understand the value you bring to the table, which helps to reduce their level of uncertainty.

8. Trial Offers

One of the most effective ways to close the deal at the bottom of the funnel is through the use of trial offers. These trial offers are a great way to allow your prospects to consider the pros and cons of your product/service for themselves, without you having to “sell” to them. Instead, you offer them the option to give your solution a try at no risk, allowing them to make the final call for themselves.

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Content marketing is an excellent strategy for connecting with your target audience. But if you want to convert the leads you generate, you’ll need to learn how to use top-of-funnel content to your advantage.

If you’re not too familiar with top-of-funnel content, then you could be missing out on a huge opportunity to improve your client acquisition. Read on to learn all about top-of-funnel content and how you can use them to drive great leads.

What is Top-of-Funnel Content?

Top-of-funnel content is the type of content you share with your audience when they have little-to-no prior knowledge of your company. The goal of top-of-funnel content is to educate your audience and build credibility.

When you’re sharing top-of-funnel content, you’re building a relationship with your audience. As they become more familiar with your brand, they will move down the funnel and become more qualified leads.

Source: TechTarget

What Roles Does Top-of-Funnel Content Play in Conversion Optimization?

Conversion optimization is the process of influencing how people behave to drive revenue. This involves using customer data and analytics to optimize conversions through various strategies, including content creation and distribution.

However, it’s crucial to remember that your content and how you’re distributing it amongst your audience can significantly impact conversion rates.

In the context of conversion optimization, top-of-funnel content is the type of content that helps you build and grow your audience. It’s not a stand-alone strategy for acquiring leads. It is, however, a great way to increase lead quality and frequency.

Top-of-funnel content is crucial because it’s a great way to educate your audience about your brand, product, or service. It increases the likelihood of continuing down the funnel and becoming qualified leads.

How Does Top-of-Funnel Content Work?

You can use top-of-funnel content to increase engagement, build loyalty, and strengthen your brand’s authority. It’s an ideal type of content for building relationships with your audience.

When you share top-of-funnel content, you’re providing valuable, actionable information that your audience can use to make informed decisions. The key is to create content that aligns with your target audience’s needs and interests so you can drive them down the funnel.

To do this, your content needs to:

Answers Specific Questions

If your primary goal is to acquire new leads with your top-of-funnel content, you need to be sure that you are using the content to answer specific questions or address particular pain points that your ideal customer is struggling with.

While this level of content should be introductory, that doesn’t mean you can’t provide more in-depth content that gives your audience an answer or some additional guidance. It just means that you have to be sure to provide value by giving your audience more than just a quick answer. This will help build your audience’s trust in you as an authority, which is a great way to attract and convert leads.

Engages Your Audience

You don’t want your top-of-funnel content to be bland or generic. This means that you’ll need to find a way to personalize it by diving into a topic that’s relevant to your audience. This will help to build your audience’s trust in you.

You can also use top-of-funnel content as an opportunity to learn more about your audience. As you learn more about their needs and challenges, you can use that information to create more targeted and relevant content.

Builds Brands Awareness

Finally, your top-of-funnel content needs to build awareness of your brand. This can be done in several ways, including providing background information about your company or sharing the stories of customers who have benefited from your products or services. This helps to humanize your brand, which is a great way to build trust and authority. Remember, the goal isn’t to start pushing products here; it’s to educate and build confidence.

5 Examples of Top-of-Funnel Content to Help Generate Better Quality Leads

Top-of-funnel marketing strategies are some of the most important when it comes to generating quality leads and boosting conversion rates.

Not quite sure where to begin? Here are five excellent examples of top-of-funnel content to help you generate better quality leads:

1. Microsites

Microsites are a powerful tool for b2b marketers. They allow you to create dedicated landing pages optimized for a specific audience and purpose.

This makes them a great piece of top-of-funnel content for b2b marketers because you can target a specific audience with a particular message. You can also make sure your content aligns with the stage of the buyer’s journey that they’re in so that you can generate better quality leads.

Source: Hushly

2. Blog Posts/Articles

One of the most common ways that b2b marketers use top-of-funnel content is to share blog posts or articles. This is a great way to create content that aligns with your target audience’s needs and interests.

Your blog post can be about a specific topic or a broad topic. Just be sure that it answers relevant questions or addresses pain points that your ideal customer is struggling with. When approached correctly, 43% of B2B marketing teams found that articles and blogs were among the top-performing assets in content engagement.

3. Video Content

Another top-performing top-of-funnel asset is video content. Statistics show that 70% of business marketing teams say video content shows a positive ROI. They are used for various reasons, especially when it comes to top-of-funnel content and lead generation.

Source: MotionCue

4. Podcast

Podcasts are another great way to share top-of-funnel content. They are especially effective for marketers who want to provide additional depth to their messaging. Podcasts can be used to address specific concerns and address pain points. It’s also an excellent opportunity to share thought leadership content and create interviews with industry leaders.

5. Infographics

Infographics are an effective top-of-funnel content format that can communicate complex concepts and messages. They’re also a great way to highlight statistics, trends, or best practices visually. Infographics are a quick and efficient way to generate top-of-funnel content that is highly likely to be shared.

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Content is one of the essential elements of digital marketing. You need to be able to write content that converts and know precisely where to implement it into your strategy to create the most significant impact. That’s why it’s crucial to understand the conversion funnel and the difference between top-of-funnel content vs. bottom-of-funnel content.

Having a solid understanding of the conversion funnel and its role in conversion optimization is crucial to your B2B digital marketing strategy and success. It will help you improve your conversion rate, increase conversions, and ultimately increase your bottom line.

Ready to get started? Let’s dive in.

What is a Conversion Funnel?

Before you can start breaking down the difference between top-of-funnel content vs. bottom-of-funnel, it’s essential to understand the whole picture – the conversion funnel.

The conversion funnel is a model that illustrates how users interact with your website and your digital marketing strategy to successfully complete a purchase or take any other desired action.

The goal of the conversion funnel is to move users from the top of the funnel to the bottom where they can complete their desired action. Each step in the funnel represents a change in the user’s mindset.

Source: Autopilot

These steps create a cascade effect, which is why it is so vital to ensure that information in each stage is clear and focused. It also helps to have a clear transition point from each step to the next. This way, when a user arrives at the last step, they can make a well-informed decision to purchase your product or take any other desired action.

With that in mind, it’s essential to understand what is expected at each level of the funnel to improve your conversion optimization.

Top-of-Funnel

Top-of-funnel content is the first impression your users are presented with when they arrive on your page or website. It sets the tone and determines the direction they will take once they scroll down and begin to read.

The top of the funnel is meant to draw the reader in and immediately grab their attention. It also provides some background and context so that the reader understands the value proposition you are offering and the problem you are trying to solve.

This is a crucial step in the entire conversion funnel because it sets the stage for everything to come next. This content needs to be broad, but not too broad. There needs to be enough information to communicate the main point, but there’s also room for the writer to provide additional details that would help move the reader down the funnel.

Middle-of-Funnel

The middle of the funnel provides more value and establishes a relationship with the reader. This is where you can provide more in-depth information, answer questions, and provide additional benefits and resources.

This content aims to make the reader trust you and your product. They need to see that you know what you’re talking about and provide credible information that solves a problem.

At this point, the reader is starting to become interested in what you have to offer, so you need to continue to provide value and ensure that you keep the reader engaged. This is when you want to include blog posts, case studies, product reviews, and any other content that you think is valuable to the audience. You also want to have a clear call to action.

Now, it can be challenging to determine which type of content to include in this step of the conversion funnel, and the reality of it is that this will come down to your audience. However, research shows that some of the top-performing content for B2B audiences include:

• Demos – 46% engagement rate
• Product Tours – 44% engagement rate
• Articles – 43% engagement rate
• Magazines – 41% engagement rate
• Video Content – 40% engagement rate

Bottom-of-Funnel

The final step in the conversion funnel. It’s the last opportunity to provide value to the reader and make them feel as though they’re making the right decision.

At this point, you’ve weeded out the leads that simply weren’t ready to make a purchase or weren’t even interested in making a purchase. You’ve addressed the fundamental objections that were stopping your readers from buying, and you’ve created an experience that is designed to make the reader feel as though they’re making the right decision.  

Now, it’s time to close.

The content you provide your audience at this stage needs to focus on closing the deal. This could mean providing additional benefits and features, a limited-time offer, or anything that would make your audience feel like they’re getting something great for their money.

You also want to make sure that you include a clear call to action and any other elements that would help close the sale. This could mean providing a contact form or a way for the reader to get more info, offering a trial, or offering an incentive. You want to make sure that the reader is ready to make a purchase.

Source: Medium

Top-of-Funnel Content vs. Bottom-of-Funnel: Is One More Important Than the Other?

There isn’t a clear answer when it comes to the great debate between top-of-funnel content vs. bottom-of-funnel. Both are critical to the success of your conversion optimization efforts, but which is more important will depend on the goals that you’re trying to achieve.  

In general, top-of-funnel content is more about providing value and establishing trust. It’s about getting the reader to trust you and your product. Since this content is often broad in hopes of generating more leads in the initial stages of the consumer journey.

Bottom-of-funnel content is about closing the deal. It’s about providing value to the reader and making them feel like they’re making the right decision. The audience you are addressing at this stage is looking for very personalized, highly relevant information. They’ve already gone through the initial information provided, and they are ready for the hard-hitting facts that prove you are the right expert to assist them with whatever their pain point is.

So, when it comes to top-of-funnel content vs. bottom-of-funnel content – neither is more important than the other. They are both crucial to the success of your digital marketing strategy.

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Do you feel like your sales funnel is not working as well as you’d like it to? Are you spending too much time or money on marketing when it could be put to better use? If you’re struggling with your funnel, you’re not alone. Research shows that your customers only spend roughly 5% of their time interacting with a sales rep throughout their buying journey, and without proper sales funnel optimization, you could be losing out on a significant potential profit.

Source: Gartner

But when you understand how sales funnel optimization works, you can start eliminating the waste and increasing your conversion rate. So, let’s look at sales funnel optimization and how it can benefit your brand.

What is a B2B Sales Funnel?

A B2B sales funnel is a visual representation of every step a buyer takes from the first discovery of your business to their signing off on a purchase.

Your B2B sales funnel is a series of touchpoints that a buyer experiences with your business throughout their buying cycle, and it can help you understand what they are looking for at each stage. It’s a way to make sure you’re providing the information they need when they need it and in a way that’s most engaging for them.

The Difference Between a Marketing Funnel and Sales Funnel

A B2B sales funnel is different from a B2B marketing funnel in a few ways. A B2B sales funnel focuses on the steps your buyer takes to become a customer. On the other hand, a B2B marketing funnel focuses on the many educational steps a buyer takes before buying. The two are closely related, but they are not the same thing.

Source: Magenest

One of the reasons many B2B teams fail to achieve their sales funnel goals is because they focus too much on the marketing steps and ignore the sales steps.

While it’s true that your sales and marketing teams need to be working in tandem to ensure that your audience is getting the information they need to make an informed purchasing decision, it’s vital to understand that the goal of the sales team is to inform and convert them into paying customers, while the purpose of the marketing team is to get them to know your brand and its services and how they can use them.

If you look at the breakdown above, the journey to “buyer” is relatively short compared to the sales funnel. That’s because building brand awareness is a lot easier when your primary goal is to inform and encourage a prospect to make a conversion.

However, when it comes to your B2B audience, they want more than just proof that your products/services work. They need to be nurtured and convinced that your products/services will help them achieve their objectives. In other words, you need to build a case for why your prospect should buy from you instead of your competitors.

Remember, the goal of the sales funnel is to guide your prospects through the stages of the buying process, helping them find the information and reassurance they need to make a decision. That way, when it’s time to make that purchase, your sales team will have done their due diligence to ensure that the customer can move forward with confidence.

B2B Sales Funnel Optimization Best Practices

If you’re going to make the most of your B2B sales funnel, optimization is an absolute must. You want to attract the right audience, engage them at the right time, and help them make a successful purchase. But without the right tools and processes in place, your efforts will be in vain. 

Here are some of the top B2B sales funnel optimization practices you can implement to enhance your sales pipeline:

1. Understand Who Your Audience Is and What They Want

One of the essential steps in creating a solid sales funnel is to make sure your team has a solid understanding of who your audience is and what they want.

Your sales team must understand what the buyer is looking for at each step of the sales funnel to provide the information and reassurance that the buyer is looking for.  

This is where buyer personas come into play. Buyer personas are detailed profiles of your ideal buyer that provide your team with a clear picture of what they want, what they are looking for, and what motivates them to take action. That information is invaluable to your sales team. They can use it to help them make targeted offers that will get a response, and they can use it to educate your prospects so that they are better able to make a decision.

2. Nurture Relationships

When it comes to building a successful B2B sales funnel, it’s important not to view your role as simply pushing products and services down the pipeline. Instead, your goal should be to build a strong relationship with your prospects over time, helping them understand why their business needs are essential and why they should buy from you instead of your competitors.              

The key here is to focus less on pushing products at specific points in the sales funnel and focus more on nurturing relationships over time. The best way to do that is to focus on providing value to your prospects over time. That’s how you build trust and a sense of urgency. Your sales team can then use that to their advantage when making offers and closing deals.

3. Produce/Share the Right Content for the Right Stages

This is where your marketing and sales team needs to unite. Marketing needs to create the right content to attract your ideal buyer at each sale funnel step. Your sales team needs to know exactly what’s being produced so they can optimize their pitches and deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time.

4. Eliminate Friction Points and Improve Efficiency

Eliminating friction points is key to a successful B2B sales funnel. Friction points are anything that gets in the way of your audience completing their buying journey.

Some common friction points include:

• A confusing website, an unclear sales process,
• Too many steps
• Too many offers at each step of the sales funnel

Whatever the case, your goal should be to remove as many friction points as possible so that your audience has no reason to hesitate.

5. Don’t Forget the Importance of Follow-ups

One of the most critical B2B sales funnel pieces that many companies overlook is the importance of including follow-ups into the funnel. Without a solid follow-up strategy in place, you run the risk of losing the interest of your prospects or missing out on opportunities to close the deal.        

The best follow-up strategies are those that are automated, personalized, and continue to provide value to your prospects. 

If you don’t have a follow-up strategy in place, then you run the risk of losing out on valuable business opportunities in the form of referrals and continued dialogue between your brand and your recent customers.

Optimize Your Marketing Funnel with Hushly’s Lead Form Builder

Sales funnels are an essential piece of your B2B marketing strategy. They allow you to build stronger relationships with your prospects over time, which is crucial to your company’s success. The key to a successful B2B sales funnel is to optimize it for maximum results.

One of the best ways to do that is to use a lead form builder to help you personalize your offers, eliminate friction points, and improve your efficiency. This will help you attract and convert more qualified leads into customers.

Curious how our Smart MicroForms can help you yield higher quality leads and increase conversions? Book your demo today!

The future of content marketing is here – it’s no longer about writing a blog and waiting for people to find it. B2B marketers are creating content that is smarter, more useful, and more engaging. AI and machine learning are being used to create intelligent, engaging, and relevant content for your audience. AI content creation is an excellent solution for B2B marketers looking to increase the effectiveness of their content marketing programs.

But what are the best AI content creation solutions for B2B marketers?

How can you identify the best AI solution for your business?

What are the key benefits of AI content creation for B2B marketers?

Before answering any of those questions, it’s crucial to understand just what AI content creation is.

What is AI Content Creation?

It’s an exciting time to be in the B2B marketing industry. One of the biggest trends impacting B2B marketing is the rise of AI content creation.

AI content creation is the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to create high-quality, engaging content. Most commonly, this refers to the use of AI to write blog posts, but it can also be used to develop other forms of content, including email marketing, social media posts, and web content.

AI content creation is fabulous for B2B marketers looking for a solution that can help increase the effectiveness of their content marketing programs.

Should Your B2B Team Invest in AI Content Creation Solutions?

Artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize B2B content marketing in the coming years. Businesses of all shapes and sizes have already begun investing in various AI-based solutions, resulting in the market predictively growing at a rate of 35.4% from 2019 to 2026.

On average, 88% of B2B audiences engage with business content online at least once a week. Another 47% of B2B buyers say they consume an average of three to five pieces of content before engaging with a salesperson.

So, what does that mean for your marketing team?

Content creation is more relevant than ever. In fact, despite the complications from the global pandemic (such as cutting budgets and having to minimize staffing), in 2021, approximately 40% of B2B marketing teams had a documented content marketing strategy, with 66% stating that they believe their B2B content marketing budget will increase in 2022.

Source: Content Marketing Institute

With more emphasis on B2B content creation, you must create high-quality, relevant content that your audience will want to engage with. Luckily, AI content creation solutions make this process a lot easier. By leveraging AI to write your content, you can create engaging blogs, newsletters, and other forms of content in a fraction of the time it would take you to do it yourself. In addition to saving time, AI content creation solutions can also help you create high-quality content automatically optimized for your target audience.

Benefits such as these contribute to an increased interest in investing in AI content creation tools for B2B marketers.

Source: Content Marketing Institute

However, just like any other investment, you’ll want to do your research before deciding whether or not to implement AI content creation solutions into your content marketing strategy.

Where Does Artificial Intelligence Fit into Your Content Marketing?

Artificial intelligence has many uses in content marketing. Most marketing teams already use it to help them collect audience data to help them grow their audience and track their content performance post-creation. However, a growing number of businesses are using AI in the content creation process.

If you’ve been considering the benefits of AI content creation, then it’s essential to understand that AI-based solutions can be used throughout the content creation and distribution process, including:

AI-Powered SEO Tools for Generating Content Ideas and Optimizing Content

One of the most popular uses of AI in content creation is in the form of AI-powered SEO tools. These tools use machine learning to identify the most relevant topics to write about based on the content that has performed well for your target audience in the past.

This allows you to generate content ideas that resonate with your audience and improve your content performance. In addition to helping you generate content ideas, AI-powered SEO tools can also be used to optimize your existing content.

An excellent example of an AI-powered SEO tool used by content creators is Semrush, which gives users the ability to audit existing content, complete competitor analysis, and get detailed keyword and content suggestions.

AI-Powered Editing Tools for Writing High-Quality Content

Another widespread use of AI in content creation is in the form of AI-powered editing tools. These tools use machine learning to analyze content that has already been written and determine how to improve its quality.

One common example of an AI-powered editing tool used by content creators is Grammarly. This tool uses natural language processing to identify grammar and punctuation errors and provides a list of suggestions on how to fix them. This can be a godsend for busy content marketers who cannot spend hours each day editing their written content.

AI-Content Creation Tools

There are many AI-based content creation solutions available that can be used to automate the entire content creation process. There are dozens of paid and free AI content creation tools available to help writers create fresh content in minutes.

Tools such as Jarvis and HyperWrite use natural language processing to generate high-quality blog posts, webpages, eBooks, social media posts, and more.

Once you’ve fed some vital information into the software, such as topic, keywords, and writing style, it will use its AI algorithms to generate a high-quality piece of content. From there, all you need to do is review the content and make any necessary edits in quality and accuracy. Once you’re confident in the piece, you can go ahead and add it to your content calendar!

Get Started with AI-Powered Content Solutions Today

Here at Hushly, we understand just how powerful AI content creation and delivery can be. Not only can AI content tools be used to help you create content that your audience will devour, but they can also help ensure that your content distribution is hyper-personalized to everyone who comes to your site via solutions such as adaptive content hubs and self-nurturing landing pages.

Ready to put Hushly’s AI-based solutions to work for your brand? Then book your demo today!

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