A sales funnel is a marketing term that describes the journey that potential customers go through on the way to making a purchase. It gives sales teams key insights into the customer’s needs, problems, and decision-making process.
The goal of content marketing is to guide your prospects through the sales funnel with content that is relevant to their needs at each stage of the buyer’s journey.
A sales funnel is organized into three distinct stages:
In the middle of the funnel, prospects that still remain are usually your “ideal customers.” They have named and defined their problem and their questions are more specific.
When salespeople talk to these prospects to see if they are a good fit for their offer, these leads become qualified. They are then nurtured through gated middle-of-the-funnel content and encouraged to interact with the SaaS company for more information.
Middle-of-the-funnel content such as pros vs cons lists, comparison lists, checklists, and in-depth guides have the following characteristics:
With middle-of-the-funnel content, SaaS brands position themselves as the market leader of their category to solve the prospect’s problem. The scope of the content is more detailed and contains targeted offers.
A survey showed that when a website visitor becomes a lead, 43% of marketers leveraged success stories, 38% used product overviews, and 36% employed case studies to coax them into converting.
Middle-of-the-funnel content provides in-depth information about your product in alignment with the needs and challenges of prospects. Let’s explore the different types of middle-of-the-funnel content in detail.
Why it works:
Honest and comprehensive comparisons between your product and competitors’ products make it easier for buyers to make a purchasing decision. Such pages help you rank for branded queries (that have less competition). E.g. “brand vs brand,” “competitor + alternative.”
Best practices to create product comparisons:
Tools to create product comparisons:
Research your brand and who you’re being compared to using Google autosuggest. Type your brand name or product name and “vs” to get a list of your competitors. Use Keywords Everywhere, Ubersuggest or LiveKeyword to get data on search volume and cost per click.
Comparison chart makers like Visme, Piktochart, or Canva can be used to build product comparison grids.
Why it works:
Case studies are a powerful way to show your prospects the process of solving a problem and the outcomes achieved. They are real-life examples of how your product helped customers get the results they want. 46% of B2B buyers find case studies most valuable in the middle stages of the buying process. They “prefer more practical content such as case studies and examples of what people have done with something.”
Best practices to create case studies:
Tools to produce case studies:
Case study design software like Venngage, Visme, Piktochart, and Xtensio offer a variety of templates to create visually appealing and engaging case studies.
Why it works:
Prospects typically search for “listicles of alternatives” when they’re unhappy with the product they’re currently using and looking for other options. Or they’re conducting research wherein they’re aware of one brand and they’re searching for alternatives to compare before they make a purchasing decision.
A list format helps readers quickly find out other options for the product they want to buy. Creating content to rank for “[Brand name] alternatives” is valuable because you’re capturing search traffic for terms that people are already searching for. E.g. ClickUp’s article on Trello alternatives.
Best practices to create listicles of alternatives:
Tools to create listicles of alternatives:
Keyword research tools like KWFinder by Mangools or SERPChecker by SERPWatch to find low-volume keywords.
Use infographic tools like Venngage or Visme to build an overview table of each product’s features.
Why it works:
Prospects who arrive at booking demo landing pages are aware that they have a problem, have evaluated their options, and are now poised to make a purchase decision. Thus, such pages have longer lead capture forms to collect more detailed information that the sales team can use for the sales process. The average SaaS landing page conversion rate is 4.6%.
Best practices to create booking demo landing pages:
Tools used to create booking demo landing pages:
Landingi, Instapage, and Swipe Pages are great tools to build a SaaS demo landing page.
Why it works:
Courses provide a series of lessons sequentially on a relevant topic in detail. Prospects would be willing to share some personal information like email and contact information in exchange for valuable course material. A good course helps establish industry expertise and encourages word-of-mouth marketing.
Best practices to create free courses:
Tools to create free courses:
Camtasia, Screenflow, Canva, and Teachable are popular tools to create online courses.
Why it works:
Whitepapers discuss your product’s features in great detail and provide in-depth data to explain how your product can solve your prospects’ problems. This content format ranks high (#2) among B2B buyers as an aid to understanding the product better.
Whitepapers could be a long-form fact sheet about your product or company or an analysis of industry trends. The purpose is to generate new leads, demonstrate your value, build your email list, and position yourself as a thought leader.
Best practices to create whitepapers:
Tools to create whitepapers:
Adobe Spark, Lucidpress, or FlipHTML5 are used to design and publish whitepapers.
Why it works:
Just like case studies, webinars boost brand authority and provide an extra opportunity to collect information about your prospects. 57% of B2B buyers found webinars as the most valuable visual and audio content to help them make a purchasing decision.
Best practices to create webinars:
Tools to create webinars:
Infusionsoft, EverWebinar, WebinarJam, and Demio are some excellent webinar platforms with the necessary marketing tools to help you sell during the webinar.
Why it works:
Cheat sheets provide the key points of a topic in an easy-to-understand format within 1-2 pages. It is a popular content type and typically attracts significant social media shares. Cheat sheets can be created by pulling out the major points from a longer piece of content like blog posts or e-books.
E.g. This Marketo for Financial Services cheat sheet is meant to provide an overview of the product’s capabilities in the FinServ space.
Best practices to create cheat sheets:
Tools to create cheat sheets:
Cheat sheets can be created by building a layout in Microsoft Word and exporting it as a PDF file.
Alternatively, you can use software like Canva, Visme, or Venngage that have pre-built cheat sheet templates.
Why it works:
Checklists comprise a series of actionable steps that help prospects reach the desired outcome. They are easy to create and promote and provide valuable information. They can be integrated into blog posts or shared on social media for greater reach.
E.g. Pipedrive shares this five-part checklist to reduce the impact of firing a salesperson. You can also have this checklist emailed to you.
Best practices to create checklists:
Tools to create checklists:
Build visually appealing checklists with Canva, Creately, or Adobe Creative Cloud Express.
Why it works:
Demo videos offer your prospects an immersive experience that enables them to understand how your product works and what they can expect once they sign up. They build on the brand trust that you’ve gathered and extend it to product trust.
E.g. take a look at this Xero Projects product demo.
Best practices to create demo videos:
Tools to create demo videos:
Adobe Captivate, Demo Builder by Tanida, Vyond, and SnagIt by TechSmith are excellent demo video creation tools.
Why it works:
Drip email campaigns or marketing automation send pre-written emails or “drips” to prospects and customers over a length of time.
You can send personalized messages to segmented email lists to nurture leads and build trust. For example, you can send welcome emails to prospects who have downloaded a digital asset or have visited a particular landing page.
Autoresponders have an open rate of 26.47% and a click-through rate of 3.6%.
Best practices to create drip emails:
Tools to create drip emails:
Mailchimp, Flodesk, and ActiveCampaign are good tools to create simple or advanced drip campaigns.
Why it works:
FAQs are usually web pages but can be repackaged into email courses, content hubs, or guides. By tracking which questions get the most clicks and views, you can use the FAQ page to rank for your core keywords and increase your conversion rate.
Best practices to create FAQs:
Tools to create FAQs:
Plenty of good-quality FAQ software is available in the market: Helpjuice, Document360, ProProfs, SupportBee
Why it works:
When prospects see paid ads, especially display ads, on third-party sites, they’re more likely to engage since they’re aware of your brand.
Paid ads can also be used in retargeting campaigns to attempt to engage prospects who have interacted with you previously in some manner, such as signing up for a webinar or clicking on your ads.
You can also promote your case studies and whitepapers with paid ads.
Best practices to create paid ads:
Tools to create paid ads:
Saas companies use Google Ads, AdRoll, Adzooma, or AdExpresso to manage paid advertising campaigns.
Why it works:
Trial period landing pages can not only get prospects to sign up for a free trial but also excited about using your product. Since they have to pass through several steps before they can experience your product, such as entering their email address and clicking the CTA button, your landing page should motivate them to go through with it.
Best practices to create trial period landing pages:
Tools to create trial period landing pages:
SaaS marketers use Unbounce, LeadPages, or Instapage to create trial period landing pages.
Why it works:
Success stories are powerful resources that provide proof about the capabilities of your product and boost your credibility. 43% of marketers believe that publishing success stories work best to drive sales. They can become evergreen content that attracts targeted traffic from search engines.
HBR’s Erica Keswin says, “Stories make us all pay closer attention to what matters.”
E.g. ConvertKit shares customer stories around its product.
Best practices to create success stories:
Tools to create success stories:
Use Typeform and SurveyMonkey to gather information from customers to build success stories.
Canva, Ceros, Uberflip, and Infogram can be used to create visually attractive success stories.
Why it works:
Original research is the #1 content format for B2B buyers researching their purchases. They drive lead generation, build trust and credibility, and demonstrate your industry expertise.
Original research is usually in the form of industry benchmarks, “state of” reports, trends reports, analysis of public data, or online surveys. You publish them on your website and distribute them through various marketing channels.
Best practices to create original research:
Tools to conduct original research:
Use survey tools like Pollfish, SurveyMonkey, and JotForm to conduct surveys in specific demographic categories.
LucidPress, Flipsnack, and DesignCap can be used to design the reports.
Why it works:
Sharing media placements featuring your brand or product is an excellent way to build awareness and trust with your audience. It gives your claims more credibility and allows you to leverage the brand recognition associated with the media outlet.
Tools to share brand recognitions:
Also, social monitoring and listening tools like HootSuite Insights, Talkwalker, and Nexalogy monitor social media platforms and the broader web for brand mentions that you can amplify on your socials.
Why it works:
SaaS marketers can demonstrate their knowledge on online Q&A forums like Quora, Reddit, LinkedIn Groups, and HighTable. These forums provide a captive and engaged audience that is ready for a solution to their problem that your product can provide.
Best practices to answer questions on social media:
Why it works:
SaaS podcasts offer prospects key industry insights and help establish industry expertise.
Some of the best SaaS podcasts are The SaaS Revolution Show by Saastock, The Inside Intercom podcast, and Demio’s SaaS Breakthrough.
Best practices to create podcasts:
Tools to create podcasts:
Riverside.fm, Zencastr, and Buzzsprout are excellent tools to create high-quality podcasts and promote them.
Why it works:
Facebook groups help you build brand awareness and expand your audience while collecting useful information. Groups offer a sense of community and bring together like-minded people. SaaS marketers can post content directly in a group and analyze the response without spending any money.
For example, Krisp runs a Facebook group called Productivity Tips where it shares tools, tips, and tricks about productivity.
Ahrefs Insider is a private Facebook group meant only for customers to learn more about the product and how to get the most benefit out of the SEO tool.
Best practices to create Facebook posts:
Tools to create Facebook posts:
You can design Facebook posts using Adobe Creative Cloud Express, Canva, or Pablo by Buffer.
Engaging with a middle-of-the-funnel audience is a delicate exercise because prospects are deliberating between you and your competitors. Ensure that your approach to content at this stage supports the buyer’s research and evaluation.
Middle-of-the-funnel content should be well-researched, thorough, and data-rich. Prospects should feel compelled to share your content with their network.
Prospects are already aware that they have a problem and you are a potential solution provider. Encourage them to find out more about you by talking about your brand, your offerings, and your success stories in your content.
In the middle of the funnel, you’re talking to leads, prospects, and future customers so your content should revolve around how your product solves their problems.
Buyers are considering whether they should choose you over your competitors. So highlight your differentiating factors in your middle-of-the-funnel content.
If you throw generic information at your prospects, it will not convince them that you’re the perfect solution to their challenges. Do your research, select your buyer personas, and target your content to specific audiences.
Don’t take a “me…me…me” approach to talk about your product’s features because it will put off your prospects. Instead, address their pain points and challenges and how you can offer a solution.
By aligning with the goals and vision of your prospects, your content is gently nudging them towards the decision stage of the buying process.
Here are some common mistakes you could be making when producing middle-of-the-funnel content:
To be convincing and competitive, your middle-of-the-funnel content has to be solution-oriented. You have to position yourself as the answer to your prospect’s problems.
Remember that buyers are considering your product in the middle of the funnel and are looking for further information to determine if you suit their needs. Don’t go overboard with highlighting your services.
Buyers are looking for guidance, not a sales pitch. Talk about your product subtly.
To offer a compelling alternative to prospects, support your claims of being better with facts and figures.
Create middle-of-the-funnel content from the perspective of the customer. Talk about how your product will benefit them if they switch to you from their existing solution.
Back up your claims with evidence that your product can solve industry-specific problems. Outline actual strategies used and results obtained.
Middle-of-the-funnel content serves as a bridge between high-level concepts that you talk about in blog posts and the value your product can provide to prospects. Thus, you should devote resources to creating content like whitepapers, case studies, and “alternative to” articles, too.
Without effective CTAs, you won’t be able to rope in qualified leads into your marketing funnel and you’ll lose out on valuable customers.
Let’s explore some CTAs most often used in middle-of-the-funnel content to encourage prospects to part with their information.
In the middle of the funnel, prospects are in the consideration stage and are aware of your brand. Your job is to convince them that your product is the best choice for their needs.
Middle-of-the-funnel CTAs encourage prospects to exchange their information for in-depth content that will tell them more about the merits of using your product. The content highlights your unique selling point and transfers knowledge and trust to readers.
Here’s a list of the prominent middle-of-the-funnel CTAs:
SaaS content marketers often make the mistake of devoting more time and resources to creating top-of-the-funnel content like “how-to” articles. However, it is the middle of the funnel where information-rich content supported by hard facts and customer testimonials will convince prospects that you are the better choice.
When you communicate with buyers at this stage, you need to be in step with their needs and aspirations at that time. Provide solution-focused content with social proof and you’ll find prospects taking notice.
Image Sources – PixelMe, Semrush, Automizy, HubSpot Blog, Storychief
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