When resources are used to acquire and nurture leads, acing your outreach and messaging to those identified as bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) leads can make the difference between a new customer or a lead lost in the nurture funnel. Whether you’re new to BOFU lead outreach or well into your years of lead generation, it’s important to always test new ideas and means of communicating with a lead to get your desired outcome.
Unlike top-of-funnel (TOFU) leads who are not yet demonstrating a high intent to purchase, BOFU leads have a greater likelihood of being actively in-market for a new solution. They’ve demonstrated signs of ongoing research within a specific category (i.e. intent signals), and may have even visited product review pages or requested information about a specific product (i.e. buying signals).
For these types of leads, every message counts to maximize your chances of capturing their demand and creating a new sales opportunity. This isn’t the time for generalized outreach or drawn out nurture sequences. It’s time to be specific, highly personalized, and to leverage the insights you’ve gathered to be as timely and relevant as possible – without scaring them away with high pressure sales tactics.
The keys to maximizing engagement in follow-up emails to BOFU leads who are demonstrating purchase intent are to:
- Create a personal connection. Let them get to know you, and make it clear that you’re here to help them get the information they need to make an informed buying decision.
- Be specific, timely, and relevant. Use the insights you’ve gathered about their buyer’s journey to-date to craft a timely message that aligns with their current interests and helps accelerate them along the evaluation process.
- Do your research and personalize. Take the time to learn a bit more about your BOFU leads and leverage key observations to hyper personalize your outreach and capture their attention.
- Share high value content that aligns with their needs at this stage. Don’t just go for the hard close, add some value right up front with relevant content that helps them take the next step in their buying journey. For BOFU leads who are demonstrating purchase interest, don’t be shy to share longer-form content that will aid in their evaluation process, such as buying guides (i.e. “how to buy an ABC product ” or “how to evaluate XYZ solution providers”), product comparison pages, customer stories, product demos, and pricing pages.
Explore the Do’s and Don’ts of BOFU Lead Follow-Up.
How, exactly, you go about creating connections, being specific and relevant, personalizing your message, and offering high value content will depend on a few different factors. For example, it may depend on what action(s) they took to become a lead in the first place, the types of insights you have about them, what you learn during your research, and what types of content assets you have available to share.
Below are a few sample emails that incorporate the best practices above for a variety of different lead scenarios. Leverage these as a starting point, but consider how to adapt these ideas to your own unique situations.
Jump to:
Scenario 1: Website Lead Who Downloaded BOFU Asset
Scenario 2: BOFU Lead from Lead Gen Provider
Scenario 3: BOFU Lead Showing Intent to Buy
Email Template 1 – Website Lead Who Downloaded BOFU Asset
BOFU Lead Situation:
- Solution Provider: HR & Payroll Solution Provider
- Lead Information: Roderick Usher, VP of Talent, Fortunato Pharmaceuticals
- Lead Source: Gated Content Download on Website
- Last Action Taken: Downloaded Building the Business Case for Payroll Automation Guide
- Previous Actions Taken: Recently registered for PeopleCon virtual event; visited company’s booth at industry conference last year
- Discovered During Lead Research: Fortunato’s employee headcount has grown by 26% in the last 12 months
Sample Lead Follow-Up Email:
Subject: Automating Payroll for Fortunato’s Team Members
Body:
Hi Roderick, congrats on the recent growth at Fortunato, it must have been a challenge bringing on so many new people over the last year!
I’ve been helping a few other People leaders in fast-growing businesses adopt payroll automation as a way to improve the employee experience while boosting HR and Finance efficiency.
In fact, a recent market survey showed that most companies realize a positive ROI from payroll automation once they grow beyond 500 employees. Given you’ve blown past that benchmark, I’m curious if you’re thinking about adopting a solution in the year ahead?
If so, this on-demand product demo video could be a great way for you to see how a payroll automation solution really works, how they’re typically priced, and what kind of ROI you can expect.
Is there anyone on your team who might be interested in seeing a more customized walkthrough?
Thanks!
Why It Works:
By addressing your lead by name and company, you’re already 1 step ahead in building rapport! While this is easily accomplished with a merge field in your email service provider (ESP) tool, greater customization will further enhance the rapport you are beginning to build with the lead and truly demonstrate you care about what is important to them. Do the due diligence of researching your lead and address the findings from your lead research – in this case, Fortunato’s quick company growth. The insights from the research fit neatly with the sender’s payroll automation solution, and the positive impact these types of solutions have on growing companies like Fortunato while also complimenting them on their recent achievement (“you’ve blown past that benchmark.”)
You’ll also find that this email template includes a link to a BOFU content asset – the product demo video – with a descriptor of what the lead can expect from viewing the video. Here, a video ties a neat bow on all the juicy information already shared in the preceding three sentences.
Finally, the call-to-action (CTA) in the final sentence of this email template opens up the conversation to get a live demo of the sender’s payroll automation solution booked with a decision-maker at the recipient’s company.
Email Template 2 – BOFU Lead from Lead Gen Provider
BOFU Lead Situation:
- Solution Provider: Cybersecurity
- Lead Information: Barb Howard, Director of Information Security, Vault-Tec
- Lead Source: Lead Gen Partner – Media Publisher
- Last Action Taken: Reviewed Threat Intelligence Product Comparison Pages
- Previous Actions Taken: Downloaded AI & Cybersecurity eBook; attended webinar on Avoiding Ransomware Attacks
- Discovered During Lead Research: They just joined their current company 4-months ago
Sample Lead Follow-Up Email:
Subject: Ransomware Threats at Vault-Tec
Body:
Hi Barb, how are you finding things at Vault-Tec after your first few months?
I suspect you may be in a challenging position as we’ve seen a lot of changes in the malware and ransomware space in recent months resulting from the rise of AI. In fact, last month there were more than 400 reported ransomware attacks in the U.S. alone, a 38% increase year-over-year, with 65 of them targeting companies in your industry.
What are your plans to defend against ransomware at Vault-Tec in the months ahead?
In case it’s helpful, I wanted to share The Complete Guide to Evaluating Ransomware Solutions. I’ve had countless customers tell me that it’s an incredibly helpful asset for navigating the current landscape.
Can I send you over a 3-minute video sharing how REPCONN, another business in your space, is evolving their cybersecurity strategy this year?
Thanks!
Why It Works:
The art of the subject line: How do you concisely share why you’re reaching out? We have an easy formula: [Timely Topic] at [Company Name.] While it may seem simple, this does require a data-driven approach: Observations like your lead’s job title and intel on the content they last engaged with can provide details that are relevant and timely to the lead based on their demographics and behaviors. It’s an effective start to grab the attention of your very busy lead!
We can’t stress enough the importance of learning about your lead! In this email, the personalized introduction addresses a recent career achievement: Barb’s new job at Vault-Tec. As a leader of information security who has engaged with Threat Intelligence and AI & Cybersecurity content, Barb is likely also thinking about how to prevent ransomware attacks. Identifying the lead’s pain point is an opener to share a relevant educational resource that may aid in the evaluation of solution providers.
Finally, the CTA in this email example entices the lead to learn more, asking if they would like to see the outcomes a similar company experienced. A follow-up response to this email can include this company’s testimonial, a strong piece of BOFU content!
Email Template 3 – BOFU Lead Showing Intent-to-Buy
BOFU Lead Situation:
- Solution Provider: IT Managed Service Provider
- Lead Information: Taylor Kelce, Founder and CEO, Swift Insurance
- Lead Source: Lead Generation Partner
- Last Action Taken: Completed a survey indicating a strong need for IT Systems Management
- Previous Actions Taken: Downloaded your Small Business, Big Problems eBook via lead generation partner
- Discovered During Lead Research: Website is running on outdated platform; technology use appears to be minimal and is clearly not a core competency
Sample Lead Follow-Up Email:
Subject: IT is a lot like Insurance
Body:
Taylor – as someone who’s been in the insurance space for more than two decades, you know how important it is for businesses to have a trusted partner like you who knows the industry inside and out.
IT Systems are no different. Countless businesses like yours are saving money, boosting productivity, and creating competitive advantages by partnering with IT Managed Service Providers (MSPs) who host and manage their website, business applications, IT security, and more.
Have you ever considered simplifying your business by working with an MSP?
In case it’s helpful, I wanted to share our online pricing page which answers the most common question we hear about MSPs: how much does it cost?
I’m actually based in the local area, could I buy you a coffee next week and learn a bit more about your business?
Thanks!
Why It Works:
When a lead is signaling intent to purchase, be it from their behavior on your website/content or based on qualifying questions in a survey or form, your goal should be to set your solution apart from others. In this email example, an effective way to do that is by sharing the benefits or outcomes they can expect (“saving money, boosting productivity”) from your solutions (“MSPs who host and manage their website.”)
Finally, offering content like a pricing page or comparison page drives the lead from evaluation to decision-making stage of the buying journey.
Parting Words, and a Parting Gift
Mastering bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU) lead outreach is pivotal in converting leads into customers, especially when they are demonstrating purchase intent. We’ve covered the key strategies for effective BOFU outreach across various scenarios, emphasizing the importance of personalization, customization, compelling content, and effective CTAs. By creating a personal connection, being specific and relevant, conducting thorough research, and sharing high-value content, your business can maximize engagement and move leads closer to conversion.
While we’ve provided a few examples of emails and how they would appear in practice across three scenarios, you’ll find these can easily be transformed into templates that will be customizable for your outreach needs. Use our parting gift to you as a practical starting point for crafting personalized and compelling outreach messages.
Download BOFU Email Templates Now!
By adapting these templates to their unique situations and leveraging insights from lead research, you can enhance BOFU lead outreach and increase the chances of converting leads into loyal customers. Start implementing these strategies today to elevate your lead nurturing efforts and drive forth business growth!
