B2B Demand Funnel Model - 5 Steps to Restructure

Today's buyers conduct extensive online research before making a purchase. You need to meet them where they are to build trust and offer value. Demand generation funnel content plays a crucial role throughout the entire funnel, including re-engaging lost opportunities.

The Importance of a Demand Generation Funnel in B2B

A B2B demand funnel model provides a clear, visual representation of the customer’s journey, making it easier to understand the various stages of the process. This clarity ensures that marketing and sales teams stay aligned and focused on their objectives. By combining their goals, messaging, and insights, both teams can work together more effectively.

Without a B2B demand funnel in place, you might reach the right leads but at the wrong time. By tracking the customer journey, marketing, and sales can nurture leads based on their specific stage in the funnel. This approach prevents wasting time and resources on leads that aren’t ready or interested. Ultimately, a large number of leads doesn’t necessarily translate to a large number of conversions.

Let us understand 5 stages that can modify your existing demand funnel and build advocates for your B2B business.

Stage 1: Focus on Long-Term Value

B2B Demand generation is a time-intensive process, so don’t expect to see the results right after the campaign. This stage of the B2B demand funnel model revolves around delivering valuable content to attract the right customers. Focus on the words useful and right - unlike aggressive sales tactics, demand generation builds trust and rapport over time, aligning with the modern B2B buyer's preference for thorough research before engaging with sales.

Adapt to Modern B2B Buyer Behavior

The traditional way of converting a prospect to a customer would be to provide them with some valuable resources for free and procure their email IDs to push the actual product. Today's B2B buyers are well-informed, conducting up to 70% of their research before contacting a sales team. Therefore, providing substantial value upfront is crucial, enabling buyers to make informed decisions. This approach fosters trust and positions your brand as a valuable resource.

Avoid Common Mistakes

The new B2B demand funnel model requires you to avoid using outdated KPIs for new strategies. Instead, focus on content engagement metrics to gauge the success of your demand generation efforts. Optimize paid media for impressions and content visibility to build brand awareness and top-of-funnel engagement. By focusing on long-term value and understanding customer behaviour, you can build a demand-generation strategy that drives sustained success.

Stage 2: Identify real buyer personas as opposed to creating a new one

ICPs are hypothetical. But instead of running behind a fictitious character, a better plan would be to focus on identifying your existing customers who face the problem that your product can solve. Use a mix of quantitative surveys and qualitative research to understand and validate your actual buyers and decision-makers.?

How to ensure your buyer personas don’t go wrong

• Updating existing buyer personas: Regularly update your buyer personas to reflect changing customer priorities and market conditions. Collect feedback through polls, real-time feeds, and reports to ensure relevance.
• Taking a holistic view: Include all stakeholders in the buying journey to avoid alienating any decision-makers. Expand and validate personas through thorough interviews and research.
• Personalizing messaging according to the end reader: Customize your messaging for different personas. Executives need to understand financial benefits, while employees need to see how the product improves their daily tasks. Tailor your messaging accordingly.?

By accurately identifying and continuously refining buyer personas, and tailoring messaging accordingly, you can effectively address the needs and motivations of your target audience.

Stage 3: Research on your target audience to make valuable content

Content creation is central to demand generation, attracting and retaining buyers. This stage is ongoing and revisited as you refine your product, buyer personas, and strategy.

Conduct a primary research

Interview the customers you want more of, focusing on segments with low CAC or high Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV). Use owned data to identify patterns in roles and solutions used by your best customers. Involve the sales team in selecting interviewees. Ask customers about their achievements with your product, pain points, and desired information that would have expedited their decision. Understand why they chose your product, their preferred content types, what they share most, and their industry interests. Record interviews and use their language in your content to resonate better.

Avoiding Over-Reliance on Sales Calls

Sales calls represent a tiny fraction of the buyer journey and provide a limited perspective. Conduct real-time customer interviews to understand the broader context and needs of customers throughout their journey. By grounding your content strategy in thorough customer research, you can create engaging and relevant material that effectively attracts and retains your target audience.

Stage 4: Creating Content for Demand Generation

Content drives awareness and relevance, which in turn drives demand. Understand that in the B2B demand generation funnel, the customer journey is non-linear, and much of it is hidden. Experimenting with various content themes is vital to determine what resonates best with your audience. This process involves testing different topics, formats, and tones to see which ones drive the most engagement. Blog posts are particularly useful in this regard because they are versatile and can be repurposed across multiple channels, such as social media, email newsletters, and even video scripts.

Mistakes to avoid while creating content for the B2B demand generation funnel

• Channel Focus: Trying to be everywhere can thin out your efforts and dilute your message. Alternatively, focus on creating high-quality content that addresses the needs and interests of your audience, and then distribute it through the most effective channels.
• Competitor Focus: It's easy to fall into the trap of constantly monitoring competitors and trying to outdo them. However, obsessing over what your competitors are doing can distract you from your strategy. Instead, use their feedback sections and customer reviews to gain insights into common pain points and needs that you can address.
• Keyword Obsession: Keywords are important for SEO, but an overemphasis on them can lead to content that feels forced and unnatural. Instead of fixating on keyword density, focus on thoroughly answering the questions and concerns of your customers. This approach not only improves your SEO rankings but also builds trust and authority with your audience.
• Virality Obsession: While viral content can generate a lot of attention, it often reaches a broad audience that may not be interested in your products or services. Instead of aiming for virality, concentrate on creating content that your target audience finds valuable. This targeted approach is more likely to drive meaningful engagement and demand.

By focusing on high-quality, customer-centric content and leveraging customer insights, you can effectively drive demand.

Stage 5: Make the buying process seamless

After successfully attracting and engaging potential customers, the final step is to make the buying process as seamless as possible. Ensure your website is user-friendly, with clear calls to action and straightforward navigation. Offer multiple purchasing options and provide ample support to assist buyers in their journey.

Make sure all necessary information is readily available to help buyers make informed decisions. This includes detailed product descriptions, pricing, case studies, and testimonials. Providing this information upfront can significantly reduce friction and increase conversion rates.

Enhance Customer Support

Offer robust customer support through various channels, such as live chat, email, and phone. This ensures that any questions or concerns are promptly addressed, enhancing the overall buying experience. By making it easy for potential customers to buy, you can effectively convert engaged leads into loyal customers, completing the demand funnel model.

Conclusion:

Building an effective demand funnel model requires a strategic approach that focuses on long-term engagement and value. By targeting the right metrics, identifying and refining buyer personas, creating content based on thorough customer research, and maximizing content distribution, you can drive sustained demand and growth. Remember, the ultimate goal is to make the buying process as seamless as possible, ensuring that your engaged leads smoothly transition into satisfied customers.