As content marketers, we do all those critical marketing exercises, right? We build the personas, obsess over keyword research, map those customer journeys, write and revise on-repeat, and live and die by our funnel analytics.
Yet, turning prospects from leads to sales remains a struggle. Traffic is up, marketing qualified leads (MQLs) are pouring in, but conversion rates are low. Execs shake their heads, questioning: is our investment in content marketing even working?
Whenever I’ve been in this scenario, I take a step back and acknowledge: we’re crushing our TOFU content, but we’re doing something wrong at the bottom of the funnel.
It’s time to pivot our content strategy to better convert MQLs to sales qualified leads (SQLs) by focusing on high-value engagement and purchase intent signals – proving to execs that content fuels all stages of our sales funnel.
Why do MQLs and SQLs require different content strategies?
SQLs have different needs and engage more urgently than MQLs, frequently sharing information with their buying committees. In fact, 71% of B2B buyers downloaded and consumed multiple assets to help with the decision-making process, and an equal number said they shared content with their team members.
MQLs are engaged, curious visitors in the preliminary research stage. They may not be in-market for a solution, desperate to solve a problem now, or have the budget to solve it at all.
For MQLs, your content must answer:
- Do others in my industry have this problem, and how do they solve it?
- What types of solutions are available and how do they work?
- Is this company credible and successful at solving this challenge?
- What is the risk of doing nothing to solve this problem?
An MQL is defined by a combination of factors, like demographics (matches the ICP), recent activity (frequently visits the website), or engagement (downloads an educational white paper).
SQLs, on the other hand, are in-market to solve their problem and have a defined budget.
They’re asking more concrete questions, like:
- How does this solution solve my specific issues?
- How much will this cost, and what’s the expected return on investment (ROI)?
- How disruptive will implementation be for my team?
- How will this solution integrate with the rest of my techstack?
SQLs are defined by more advanced signals indicating a readiness to buy – frequently visiting high-intent pages (like pricing pages), downloading Implementation Guides or case studies, or requesting a product demo.
But remember, customers will criss-cross between TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU content to address questions and curiosities. They might read an article 10 times in a month and never reach out, or they may book a demo without engaging with any of your content.
If you’re like me, you’re impatient. Let’s look at six ideas to elevate your BOFU content and marketing strategy to help customers overcome analysis paralysis and become sales qualified faster.
6 ideas to elevate your BOFU content marketing strategy
Instead of staking your flag in a one-size-fits-all approach, experiment with a mix of content strategies, measure successes, and double down on the tactics that work best to engage and convert SQLs. Here are six ideas to improve your BOFU content strategy.
- Embrace the pain (points) – talk to customers
- Reconnaissance – capitalize on competitors’ problem areas
- Refresh BOFU content – target intent over traffic
- Involve your team – founder-led content
- Build a conversion machine – reach and retarget SQLs
- Get them over the finish line – optimize the sales handoff
1. Embrace the pain (points) – talk to customers
If your BOFU content is themed around the same “industry pain points” your team compiled at last year’s off-site, at best, your list’s outdated and at worst, it’s completely wrong.
This disconnect between what actually pains your customers and your team’s executive talking points explains why your content is underperforming.
Instead, talk to your customers every chance you get. Listen to customer service calls and sales discovery sessions, then talk one-on-one to sales and service reps for common concerns or complaints they hear supporting clients and leads.
Run both traditional surveys and in-app micro-surveys to capture customer sentiment over time. Schedule regular user groups, and then set your ego aside to embrace the pain – positive and negative feedback – to truly understand their needs and concerns.
Ask customers open-ended questions, like:
Continuously refresh your BOFU content to show how your product resolves these common pain points, while preemptively addressing complaints or misconceptions.
2. Reconnaissance – capitalize on competitors’ problem areas
I encourage you to take a more methodological approach to analyzing the industry and competition, and then reverse-engineer those themes in your BOFU content strategy.
Look at your competitors’ user reviews on peer-to-peer review sites, like G2.com. Look for common complaints or themes to use as a comparison point for your products’ strengths, particularly related to the post-purchase experience.
For example, you find common complaints about your competitors’ inadequate or confusing onboarding. Write SQL-focused content on how user-friendly and streamlined your own implementation process is, incorporating customer testimonials and time-to-value metrics.
SQLs are determining how disruptive solution implementation is going to be for their teams. Comparing setup ease against your competitors is a great thread to pull. Check on your competition regularly to find and pull more threads.
3. Refresh BOFU content – target intent over traffic
It takes SME interviews, meetings with product marketing, and deep industry and competitive research to properly cover decision-making content, like product comparisons or “how to buy” articles. The writing and reviews process is longer, with more cooks in the kitchen.
The best (cough: worst) part? BOFU content is never really “done.”
Our customers and the competitive market is always changing, and our content requires regular refreshing before it gets stale or outdated. Treat every major product update, industry shift, or competitor move as a content refresh trigger.
A few steps I take include:
Use Google Search Console to understand high-intent search queries and then optimize BOFU pages to better match search intent. Look for long-tail keywords that are transactional (ready to buy) or commercial (almost ready to buy). Remember, our goal is conversions – purchase-ready leads, not high volumes of traffic.
Use tools like DemandJump to compare keyword phrases and “People Also Ask” questions side-by-side. Refresh content to completely address relevant search questions related to buyer concerns or hesitations.
Finally, use Mouseflow to see exactly how people interact with BOFU pages – where they get stuck, stop scrolling, or rage click a broken button – to improve the on-page experience and reduce frustration.
Regularly update existing BOFU pages by:
- Optimizing for long-tail keywords
- Strengthening CTAs and streamlining webforms
- Revising visuals and photography
- Improving lead magnets, offers, and incentives
- Updating information, recommendations, and comparison details
- Refreshing customer quotes and examples
Focus on the themes that SQLs care about when shopping for a new product: security, control, team disruption, and day-to-day impact, and weave these themes into your narrative.
4. Involve your team – founder-led content
When I think about my last software purchase, I think about the company founder. I saw him at a conference, bought his book, and started engaging with his LinkedIn content.
I’m not a raving fan, just passively interested in his marketing approach. But, he was still top-of-mind when I was ready to solve this particular problem, and I felt I had all the evidence I needed to start talking to his sales team.
Founder-led content is the perfect compliment to our zero-click marketing environment, enabling founders, SMEs, and team leads to share strategies and success stories from their personal social profiles – establishing authority and brand recall, while influencing buying decisions.
To get started with founder-led content, you first need a willing founder, SME, or team lead; an individual with enough hands-on experience and credibility to speak from a place of authority.
From there, build frameworks that address specific pain points – similar to social or content pillars, defining the types of topics you’ll post about, frequency, and formats.
Offer a behind-the-scenes look at processes, internal systems, onboarding, vision, competitive comparison, product roadmap, and success stories to speak directly to SQL considerations, without being salesly or corporate.
Founder-led content can help you beat the algorithms by maximizing social engagement in real-time, while driving SQLs off-platform to check out complementary content pieces on your website.
5. Build a conversion machine – reach and retarget SQLs
Don’t waste all your ad spend on TOFU lead generation. Instead, tailor your paid media and marketing automation strategy to attract buyer-ready leads when they’re in-market for your solutions, then guide them through the decision-making process.
Start by running targeted paid ads focused on high-intent, bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) keywords, moving leads to information-rich content pieces, like product comparisons or product demos.
Test to see which paid keywords convert most frequently, then organically incorporate those keywords and phrases into your BOFU content.
Launch a layered retargeting campaign, follow-up with SQLs based on their previous engagement. For example, if a visitor downloads your “cost optimization guide,” retarget them with ads or emails for your ROI calculator.
From there, use progressive profiling or data enrichment tools to capture a more complete profile of each lead over time, to continue delivering hyper-personalized follow up content specific to industry, personas, or pain points.
This structured, multi-channel approach strengthens engagement and moves SQLs closer to conversion, without inundating them with irrelevant content.
6. Get them over the finish line – optimize the sales handoff
When your improved BOFU content strategy is bringing in buyer-ready leads, a smooth sales handoff makes or breaks conversion success.
First, build lead scoring models to “bubble up” SQLs, as they interact with your website and share these leads with sales for personal follow up.
I typically use a combination of firmographic (e.g., company size, industry), demographic (job title, seniority), and behavioral (website visits, downloads, demo requests) data as the baseline for lead scoring models.
Depending on your business, adding technographic (type of CRM or website platform) or intent data is helpful to nail down your ICP, and data enrichment tools can supplement far richer lead profiles.
Second, arm your sales reps with detailed playbooks for more consistent and valuable follow-up, based on specific ICPs, verticals, or engagement triggers.
I also recommend putting together a list of SMEs that reps can pull into sales conversations with high-value leads to better answer questions and shorten sales cycles.
A defined playbook removes the guesswork, but gives your sales reps enough flexibility to have genuine, consultative conversations with SQLs.
Finally, create hyper-personalized landing pages and nurture campaigns to re-engage SQLs that fail to convert. Weave in product benefits, self-qualification tools, case studies, customer testimonials, and other proof points tailored to their role or industry to reinforce your solution’s value and guide SQLs toward conversion.
Together, these strategies help you attract, nurture, and convert customers by creating elevated BOFU content and optimizing the sales and marketing process.
But, what types of content support the high intent, sales qualified lead?
10 content ideas for Sales Qualified Leads
B2B marketing has a bad reputation for dry, dense, and disappointing content. Throw in generative AI dribble, and there’s a lot of unhelpful and repetitive material out there.
Banish bad content and get inspired with 10 content ideas that your buyers actually want to read and share with their teams
But first, meet MotivateHQ – a fictional SaaS company offering businesses an employee rewards software. We’ll walk through how MotivateHQ uses different content formats, and how they measure success for each.
1. Product or company comparisons
Product or Company Comparisons help SQLs objectively evaluate one SaaS product or company versus others on the market.
Motivate HQ has a head-to-head comparison webpage, “See How Motivate HQ Compares” that explains unique features, use cases, price points, support options, integrations, loyalty programs, customer ratings, and other important factors, against others in the market.
Metrics to measure
- Demo Requests from Comparison page visitors
- Time spent on-page
- Search rankings for comparison or competitor keywords
- Organic traffic
- Bounce rate
- Scroll data
2. Product demos
Simulated, interactive, or pre-recorded Product demos enable SQLs to get their hands dirty and experience the product’s user interface (UI) and popular use cases, without having to engage a sales person for a Live demo.
MotivateHQ offers an interactive demo of their rewards software that is preloaded with dummy data and a free $5 offer. Users send and receive their free $5 reward, simulating the gifting experience with the added benefit of a fun incentive.
Metrics to measure
- Demo conversions
- Incentive reward completions
- Engagement rate (time-in-demo)
- Live demo or sales rep meeting request
- Scroll or in-app activity data
3. Client case studies, reviews, and testimonials
SQLs want to see evidence that your solution has worked for other businesses, particularly those similar in industry, size, or team makeup. Client case studies and peer review websites offer this social proof, showing how other customers successfully used your solution.
MotivateHQ features a series of client case study videos, featuring HR leader testimonies on how the reward software improved employees satisfaction survey ratings and decreased turnover by 30%.
Metrics to measure
- Case study page visits or Video views
- Case study downloads or webform submissions
- Conversions (request a demo or sales rep meeting)
- G2 reviews, activity, accolades, and conversions
- Social shares
- Clickthrough rates
4. Industry Trend reports
Industry Trend reports show buyers their issues are common in the marketplace, while sharing data to make the case to higher ups and positioning your software as the solution.
Plus, industry trend reports are excellent for brand building and link building, supporting search, PR, and larger marketing initiatives.
MotivateHQ releases an annual report, “The State of Employee Retention,” sharing data on employee churn and sentiment across five verticals, and showing how employee recognition improves employee retention.
Metrics to measure
- Report downloads
- Media mentions and backlinks
- Social shares
- Webpage visits
- Referral traffic
5. Customer survey results
Customer survey results show user satisfaction, ROI, valuable features, and your software’s business impact – data from real users to validate SQLs’ decisions.
Unlike general research reports, customer surveys provide first-hand insights and aggregated opinions; data SQLs seek out to validate their decisions. Plus, marketing and sales can use this data to follow up with customers and address any concerns or opportunities to upsell/cross-sell revealed in the survey.
MotivateHQ conducts an annual customer survey, asking questions related to customer turnover, satisfaction, reward giving, and other company culture initiatives. They use this data to generate media interviews and mentions, write thought leadership pieces, and publish their industry report “The State of Employee Retention.”
Metrics to measure
- Survey completions
- Survey downloads
- Media mentions, interview requests, and backlinks
- Click through rates to product demo pages
- Social shares and comments
6. Interactive tools (ROI calculators, digital assessments, benchmarks)
Interactive tools (like ROI calculators, digital assessments, and interactive benchmarks) let customers input their data to get a personalized projection for using your tool, like quantifying ROI, performance improvements, time savings, and more.
These can generate incredible amounts of data to inform the sales process and future marketing strategies.
MotivateHQ offers an interactive Employee Retention ROI Calculator. HR professionals input information about their employees (like turnover, number of employees, salaries, and time-to-hire), and the calculator quantifies annual cost savings of improving retention – making the financial case to buy Motivate HQs employee rewards tool.
Metrics to measure
- Tool completion rates
- Conversion rates to the demo request or contact us page
- Demographic data, trends, and other insights from customer inputs
- Lead quality
- Sales meeting quality and close rates
7. Webinars and expert panels
People buy from humans at the end of the day. Webinars and expert panels offer a memorable format to show expertise, calm concerns, and answer questions in an authentic and human way.
MotivateHQ hosts a live webinar, “How Rewards Programs Improve Employee Retention” for different verticals. They invite their customers to share industry-specific challenges solved by their SaaS product, resulting in improving employee satisfaction and decreased churn.
Metrics to measure
- Registration and attendance rates
- Post-webinar conversion rates – demo requests or sales meetings
- Engagement (webinar or event questions, comments, feedback)
- Recording downloads
- Follow up engagement (opening emails, reviewing follow up content).
8. Implementation Guides or Checklists
SQLs are weighing costs and benefits. Implementation content helps them understand the roadmap for onboarding the new solution: how long it will take, requirements for their existing infrastructure or team, typical challenges, and how your team mitigates them.
Downloading an implementation guide is a huge green flag that this customer is serious, in-market, and ready to make a decision.
MotivateHQ offers a detailed Employee Rewards Program Implementation Guide that breaks down every step of the implementation process, including timelines, roles and responsibilities, goals, best practices, success KPIs, and “quick wins” to help customers feel comfortable they’ll have a smooth implementation.
Metrics to measure
- Downloads
- Time spent on-page
- Conversion rates (download to demo request)
- Referral traffic
- Follow up feedback and questions (to update the implementation guide ongoing)
These different content types support SQLs buying decisions and differentiate your company from others on the market.
Takeaway
Your content strategy gets buyers from point A to B – answering lingering questions, calming concerns, getting MQLs excited and motivated to take that sales call or start a product trial.
Take the time to better understand these engaged customers and experiment with different strategies and formats of revenue-critical BOFU content to make SQL’s buying decision easier.
Then, continuously analyze results and optimize your content to be more compelling, helpful, and profitable for your business.
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