As B2B marketers, we’re no strangers to lead generation. Carefully crafting our ideal audiences, messaging, and content are primers for successful lead generation campaigns that attract, engage, and drive conversions. And while planning and execution at the acquisition and nurturing stages may occupy a majority of our work, special attention should be paid as we approach the final leg of the buyer journey: clinching the deal with the bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) leads.

Qu’est que c’est? Defining BOFU Leads

Let’s take a quick step back to answer: What qualifies a lead as BOFU, and when are they ready for outreach? You may be defining this based on your lead scoring criteria, or working with lead generation partners to purchase this highly desired set of leads. Signals that can help you identify BOFU leads include whether they are a demographic and/or firmographic fit, have engaged with your middle-of-funnel (MOFU) content, and qualifiers like BANT (budget, authority, need and timeline.) Regardless of how these leads are acquired and/or nurtured, they know who you are and are showing purchase intent. It’s at this point that we should be communicating (read: more nurturing) with the lead in a way that enables evaluation of your offerings and encourages them to schedule a call with your sales team. Let’s dig in to how to (and how not to) approach this follow-up and drive lead conversions.

Do This, Not That: BOFU Lead Follow-Up

DO conduct outreach that introduces yourself and your solutions, establishes rapport, and offers value.

You’ve captured the lead’s attention, now how do you keep it? It’s time to give your lead a little more, and a data-driven approach will be your best bet: You can boost conversions just by showing that you understand their pain points on an individual level and understand your buyer’s intent. You can learn a lot based on their search queries, behavior on your website, and the content they are consuming. Tailor that first, crucial outreach with this intel:

Give a freebie: Digital Natives now make up the growing majority of B2B buyers. Share unrestricted access to content that keeps you top-of-mind.
Show off a little: a case study is a great way to share how your solutions solves real-life problems for your customer.
Concisely share how your solution addresses your buyer’s challenges.

DO NOT conduct outreach using “You downloaded a whitepaper from {Company}…”

Everyday, the market becomes more and more saturated with content, and your buyers are likely consuming a large fraction of it. The quickest way to turn away your lead? Begin by telling them something they already know. This type of messaging quickly floods the inbox of your prospective buyer and most importantly, does not immediately provide value. Don’t bore your lead: We’ll explore the types of high-value content that will actually engage your lead later.

DO include the contact’s or company name in the email subject line, and treat every lead as a unique sale and prospect opportunity.

We will not be the first, or last, to let you know just how important personalization is. While it seems simple, including a merge field like the contact’s and/or company name in your lead follow-up adds a human touch, even if your follow-up comes in the form of an automated email cadence. Plus, it’s effective: nearly 72% of consumers stated they will ONLY engage with personalized messages. Basic personalization can make or break whether your lead engages with your follow-up, but ultimately leads to greater lead quality and conversion.

DO NOT overlook the importance of getting to know your customer.

Before hitting send on your email template, go a little deeper: What else can you learn about your lead? We already touched on using the data you acquired from your lead that helps you understand their buyer intent based on their behavior and engagement with lead nurturing tactics. In your BOFU outreach, don’t be afraid to get hyper-personalized. Do research on the company and your prospect, here are some examples to get you started:

Your lead’s company announced a new achievement or milestone: Give them props!
Maybe your prospect got a recent promotion or shared a new job announcement. Congratulate them!
You noticed on their LinkedIn profile that you have mutual interest: Chat about it!

Avoid the cold email both in the approach and tone. Remember: Personalization shows greater care and effort than a recycled email template with minimal customization. It goes a long way in guiding your lead to the next step in their BOFU journey.

DO include high-value content

Provide value to your lead, include high-value content: value, value, value. But what does this actually mean? Earlier, we mentioned that your outreach should include content that engages your lead in this stage of their buying journey. Studies have shown that nearly 70% of B2B buyers engage with at least 3 pieces of content before they make a purchase decision. The type of content that is shared can make the difference as your lead evaluates you against a competitor.

Earlier funnel stages are opportunities to share lead magnets like eBooks and white papers, along with videos, blogs, podcasts, and other forms of content that alert the buyer to your brand, drives traffic to your website, and ultimately showcases your company’s market and/or thought leadership. At the bottom of the funnel, consider including these formats in your outreach:

Comparison and Alternative Pages

How do your products or services stack up against the competition? Comparison pages are visual guides for leads who are evaluating you against a competitor, providing you the control of the narrative and establishing trust with the lead. Highlight product features your offering has that competitors are overlooking, and vice versa. This level of transparency attracts the most qualified leads and weeds out those who may not be a fit. Plus: comparison pages are essential to your SEO strategy since they’ll include relevant, high volume search terms (ex: your product vs. their product, or competitor product alternatives.)

Case Studies

One of the most impactful messages you can share is the outcome your offering had on a customer. Use case studies to share your customer’s story: Who is the customer, the company they work for, their role in the company? What were their goals? In the content, provide descriptions on the product/and or service that was recommended to address the customer’s objectives and most importantly, the results of their program. Case studies are a great way to demonstrate the impact of your offering by directly speaking to buyers with similar challenges, and can provide additional proof to decision-makers at the last mile of the purchase decision.

Testimonials

The best form of showing off is through social proof. Your case studies will likely produce juicy quotes that can be sprinkled across your website, landing pages, and social media channels. Use these testimonials to generate more interest in your offering by including the quote with a strong call-to-action (CTA), for example: reading the full case study, requesting a meeting, orsigning up for a free trial.

Testimonials can also come in the form of reviews shared via social media. These unprompted, user-generated testimonials are golden: Thank your customer for their positive feedback and reshare their review! Not only do testimonials give in-market leads an extra push to purchase, testimonials also drive more top of funnel leads who may be beginning their research and consideration of similar product/solution providers (read: more leads to nurture!)

Finally, the most powerful testimonial will be in the form of video. Text-based reviews are strong, but the message is amplified when you hear from the customer, in their own words, in a far more engaging and compelling format.

Product Demonstrations

We’ll say it again: Video is a powerful tool when demonstrating the impact of your offering to a customer. A testimonial can be incorporated into a product demo video, but you’ll ultimately want to share key features of your offering and its use cases. Close the video with a CTA, such as: Check out our product, visit our website, or sign up for a free trial.

Pricing Pages

As B2B buying evolves, led by how Digital Natives have transformed decision-making, much of what we provide to this new majority of buyers should be self-service and transparent. The days of gatekeeping pricing and a required phone call with sales to discuss products, packaging, and pricing are starting to become a thing of the past. Enter the pricing page: Help new age buyers, of whom nearly 60% consider pricing their first purchase criteria, to find the information they need to evaluate vendors quickly.

DO NOT use generic content

We already touched on how your email outreach should be personalized, and this also extends to the content you create to nurture your leads. All your prep cannot falter here: Content should be relevant to the lead on multiple levels. Ask these questions when you audit your content to identify relevant things to share with your lead, or address gaps:

Is the subject of the content relevant to their job function, industry, etc?
Does the piece address a real-life challenge/pain point experienced by the lead?

You’ll demonstrate that as a company, you’re an industry expert that is uniquely in tune with the needs of your buyer across multiple sectors and that are relevant to their role.

DO consider including video outreach into the mix

Augment your outreach by adding video into the mix. While we already discussed how impactful video testimonials can be at the bottom of the funnel, video can be utilized in the outreach to create a personable approach that truly grabs attention. Get personal: Mention your prospect’s name and address their challenges in a short clip that’s no more than 90 seconds long. Keep the subject of the video on your prospect and limit how much you talk about your product. Iterate and optimize this video over time to continually adjust to what works and what engages with your prospects.

Final Thoughts

Crafting precise audience targeting, messaging, and content are foundational to successful campaigns, but as we navigate the final stages of the buyer journey, attention to bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) leads becomes critical. Defining BOFU leads involves evaluating their fit, engagement, and purchase intent, guiding us to tailor outreach strategies accordingly. Effective BOFU outreach involves personalized, value-driven communication while avoiding generic approaches. Incorporating high-value content such as case studies, testimonials, and product demonstrations enhances engagement and drives conversions. Embracing video outreach and timely, personalized communication further solidifies relationships, ultimately leading to increased revenue. Following a strategic approach and leveraging data insights ensures successful BOFU lead engagement, setting the stage for business growth.