For any business, generating leads is a top priority — and a tough one. According to a 2022 Content Marketing Institute Report, 85% of B2B companies believe lead generation should be their most important marketing goal, with the vast majority allocating huge fractions of their budgets toward it. But while gaining customer interest is critical, turning those potential buyers into actual paying customers is entirely more important; because, if you can’t, all the hard work and money you spent finding them will go unrewarded.
To ensure time generating new leads is profitable, and no interest falls through the cracks, you need an established customer base telling the world who you are and why they need your products or services — and to have that, you’ll need a solid digital marketing foundation from which to grow it.
And that’s where full-funnel marketing comes in.
Rather than focusing only on sales, full-funnel marketing considers all stages of the customer journey, from awareness (upper level) to consideration (middle level) to purchase (lower level). Combining brand-building with performance marketing, this method creates an optimal experience across every channel and customer touchpoint of the journey.
Full-funnel marketing is impactful, with lasting results — but it doesn’t happen overnight. Shepherding a lead from start to finish takes time and patience, but by thoughtfully nurturing better brand relationships your team can lay a foundation strong enough to support a loyal customer base who not only return but who also eagerly promote your business to their networks.
While the benefits of full-funnel marketing are long-term, marketers often find themselves encountering resistance from leadership who find the process drawn out. The good news? By taking a reverse waterfall approach and pairing lower-funnel tactics with upper- to mid-funnel tactics, businesses can test the waters and achieve full-funnel marketing performance without diving in head-first.
Paid search is a marketing tactic in which advertisers pay search engines for higher ad placement on relevant search engine results pages. This tactic can be leveraged throughout the entire marketing funnel, but by using it as a foundation for your digital marketing strategies you can:
While paid search is an advantageous tactic on its own, it can benefit from support from paid social, which refers to sponsored content on social media platforms that are supported by advertising budgets, as opposed to organic posting. By integrating paid search with paid social, your team can:
When constructing a house, homebuilders always start with the foundation, and not just because it supports the rest of the structure: a proper foundation also keeps out moisture, insulates against the cold, resists the movement of the earth, and — most importantly — lasts forever.
In the same way, laying a strong digital marketing foundation is key to the long-term stability of your business. Not only is it a place from which to attract the right personas, but also a place to convert quality leads and create engaged fans of your products or services. By embracing full-funnel marketing and pairing lower-funnel tactics with supportive upper- to mid-funnel tactics, companies can create a consistent and cohesive experience for potential new business — all while proving the sustainability of digital marketing to leadership through the supply of positive, short-term results.
It’s true that we discuss these ideas rather casually, but that’s because we do this all day. We have worked with many disparate B2B organizations in establishing a strong digital foundation from which to grow — increasing in digital marketing sophistication over time. Our approach to helping businesses enter the digital space is proven in showing short-term wins while building a platform for long-term growth.
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