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3 Tips for Optimizing Your B2B Marketing Funnel

by Britney Schroeder •

Your business and marketing strategies are unique. Still, there are general methods you can follow to optimize your business-to-business marketing funnel. The process of going through the marketing funnel is pretty clear – starting with lead generation, followed by nurturing the lead, and eventually ending with completing a sale. However, what occurs during each of these phases can get a little foggy. So, how can you ensure the B2B funnel is seeing 20/20? Let’s discuss 3 tips for optimizing your businesses flow through the marketing funnel.

  1. Utilize Your Existing Traffic
  2. Perfect Your Lead Magnet Strategy
  3. Track Conversions Through the Bottom of the Funnel

These 3 tips cover key points which identify areas within the funnel you should be taking advantage of and ways to leverage your existing strategy. It’s important to be aware of the benefits of search engine optimization (SEO), generating quality leads and qualifying those leads at the top, and continuing to track conversions through the end.

TIP ONE

Utilize Your Existing Traffic

Before you look at spending additional dollars to drive traffic to your website, make sure you’re taking advantage of the “free” traffic you’ve already earned through either SEO, referrals or direct visitors. Oftentimes, websites aren’t well-optimized for conversion, therefore leading users to bounce or move to a less relevant area of the site.

There are ways to set yourself up for success and allow your target clients to find the information they’re looking for.

Start by checking your Google Analytics. Google Analytics provides extremely helpful information which can allow you to optimize your visitor’s experience by providing them with more value. Of course, this can, and should, ultimately lead to them providing you with more value too – a true win-win. Google Analytics helps you answer important questions: What proves to be the biggest draw to your site for new visitors? How can you incorporate this strategy in other areas? Once they enter your site, where are visitors clicking? How many pages do they view and for how long? What’s the last page they see before leaving? Did they take the actions you’d hope for, such as entering an email address, downloading an ebook, or requesting a consultation?

By looking into these simple data points, you can identify areas to improve your content, leverage your existing traffic, and generate more quality leads.

For Example:

  • If you’re finding visitors come directly to your homepage, but then leave without taking any action – you’re navigations and calls-to-action (CTAs) may not be aligned with the information they’re seeking. In other words, your CTAs aren’t providing them with enough value, which means you’re not receiving enough value from this visitor.
  • If your visitors are bouncing from page to page, but still not converting into a lead there are a few actions you can take to increase your chances.
    • Make sure you’re creating compelling content (remember… provide value!), following SEO best practices, and incorporating keywords throughout your site.

It’s also important to ensure your site visitors can understand your mission and envision your culture, to see if it aligns with theirs. Businesses are likely to work with others whose mission and culture closely fits their own. By providing this insight upfront on your website, you’re able to use the first point of contact to increase awareness and build trust. So, make sure you have information on your website which speaks to that and includes tailored messaging to those businesses that may be considering partnering with you.

Remember, when these elements are in place, it puts you in a better position to turn a simple site visit into a quality lead.

TIP TWO

Perfect Your Lead Magnet Strategy

Speaking of leads, your lead magnet strategy is important. It’s one that can be perfected through testing and targeting. Again, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel here – begin by reviewing what you already have in place. What do you have that you can leverage? This can be a great angle so long as you make sure you aren’t “putting lipstick on a pig,” as they say. Lead magnets are super important when it comes to qualifying users at the top of the funnel. So, you need to be sure you’re attracting the right users the right way.

For Example:

  • Let’s think about value again. If a potential customer is researching SEO best practices and researching what you offer, don’t present them with a CTA asking them to sign-up for a white paper on advertising design tips. In the context of this unique site visit, where is the value in that? This perpetuates adding insufficient leads into the funnel.
  • Now, let’s consider a different scenario. This same potential customer is instead presented with a CTA covering the value of SEO and a detailed list of SEO best practices. While the information provided in both scenarios may be equally accurate, it’s the latter scenario that leaves the visitor with a positive experience, resulting in a quality lead for your business.
    • Remember: Leave them feeling confident in what you provided, without giving away everything you can offer. Be sure there’s the opportunity for them to seek out more from your business.

Identify the possible topics and deliverables your visitors are looking for. And keep testing those lead magnets or CTAs. Start with A/B testing two different lead magnets. You’ll need to measure down to the main conversion point to see what’s actually converting. Through these testing efforts, you’re able to use specific targeting strategies. Practices like these can fill the pipeline with quality leads, while also building value and trust with those leads.

TIP THREE

Track Conversions Through the Bottom of the Funnel

Okay, so your target user has flowed through the stages of awareness, interest, and consideration, all the way to the bottom of the funnel to intent, evaluation, and purchase. Tracking conversions through the bottom of the funnel allows you to dissect users who are continuing to purchase, and identify those who may be leaking out during the evaluation step. If you don’t have proper attribution set up to see where your high-quality leads are coming from, you’re most likely working 3x harder than you need to be.

Increase your efficiency by focusing your efforts on the channels that are truly driving high quality leads at the top of the funnel.

For Example:

  • By continuing to track users through the bottom of the funnel you’re able to keep providing relevant information and reinforce the benefits of your service. But don’t stop there! Track what converted those customers through the stages of intention, evaluation, and eventually purchase. It can be easy to call it a win and let your leads flow naturally through the funnel. Don’t go for the easy route. Continue to monitor those leads and how they progress through each step of the funnel. You’ll be able to check in on email click-through rates and identify returning users. You can then continue to specifically target those users, nurture those relationships and solidify their loyalty.

Yes, we used a lot of buzzwords: optimize, lead magnet, conversion, marketing funnel, strategy, SEO, and probably several more! But, amidst all that, there are tips which remind us all to take advantage of the information we do have. Yes, one might flow through your marketing funnel with no “push”. But, keeping tabs on those within the funnel and continuously working on building relationships with your leads can make a true difference – achieving both a completed transaction and a satisfied customer. So, if you’re wondering how you can improve your B2B marketing funnel from top to bottom, look to these 3 tips for optimizing the strategies you already have in place. You’ll be seeing clearly in no time!