B2B marketing is a whole new ballgame that completely differs from B2C marketing. In B2B, businesses are dealing with other businesses, which means behind the scenes there are decision-makers and top executives that are needed to convert them into customers. One of the biggest challenges B2B marketers face is the inability to qualify leads despite their quantity. This is where the B2B funnel comes in. A B2B lead generation funnel is necessary to segment the leads and qualify them according to the buyer’s journey.

But what exactly is a lead generation funnel?

To put it simply, lead generation is the process of attracting potential clients and turning them into qualified leads that eventually end up in a sale. In a lead generation funnel, there are typically five stages to be aware of: awareness, interest, desire, confirmation, and conversion.

The awareness and interest stages belong at the top of the funnel. In this part of the funnel, a B2B company typically warms up their target audience and makes them aware of their product or services.

The middle funnel typically consists of desire and confirmation, where the B2B business focuses on the prospect’s interest in a specific product or service. The confirmation part involves convincing them that the service or product they are considering offers them the best value and that they should make a purchase.

Lastly, the bottom of the funnel is where the conversion stage lies, where B2B businesses close the deal by making the purchase.

Let’s get into the details of each funnel and how they work.

• Top of the Funnel (ToFu)

The top of the funnel is all about making your target audience aware of your business, what it is about, and what you offer. Here, your primary goal would be to generate traffic to the website or landing page from which you intend to capture your leads.

The initial stage of the lead generation funnel is creating quality traffic, and in order to do this, you must first discover the platforms where your prospects are spending the most time and establish an authoritative presence there.

• Middle of the funnel (MoFu)

After someone visits your website, you want them to stay there longer to browse around and discover more about the business and its products.

The initial conversion point to move a visitor to the next stage occurs when they arrive at the website. Due to the possibility of never regaining a lost potential customer, what happens now is crucial for the entire funnel.

Your goal should be to guide visitors through a journey and pique their interest in your offerings at this point. The simplest approach to achieving this is to lead them through the various website pages.

• Bottom of the Funnel (BoFu)

Finally, the last stage, which is the bottom of the funnel, is where you share their contact information. By this stage, your prospect might well be aware of your business and have shown interest as well. This is the best time to leverage lead magnets and showcase your expertise to convert them into customers.

Conclusion

B2B marketing differs greatly from B2B marketing, which is why a lead generation funnel is an essential part of a marketing strategy in the business-to-business space.