1. Top of funnel: These are people who are first time visitors to your website and they probably have never heard of your company and they do not know you or trust you. They are in the investigative stage of the sales funnel buying process and they almost certainly are not ready to buy from you or even contact you as a lead.
Think to yourself, how many times do you normally visit the website of a new company you have never heard of before you decide to contact the company as a lead or buy from them? 3 times? 5 times? 10 times? 20 times? More? Rarely will a person attempt to do business with a company the first time they visit that company's website.
Trying to immediately hard-sell new first time visitors to your website, or get them to complete your lead generation contact form, will rarely work. You first need to nurture them by providing them with valuable free content, which is the purpose of your blog and why you should write and promote at least one new blog post each week. You then remarket to them over and over to promote your new blog posts and new free content using Facebook and Google Remarketing. This is how you build a relationship and trust.
2. Middle of funnel: People in the middle of your funnel have visited your website at least a couple of times, and they are reading your blog posts and learning about your company. They may not be ready to contact you as a lead, but some may be getting close. At this point some are probably ready to sign- up for your opt-in email list IF you offer them something of value for free, such as a free eBook, free report, free white paper, free training webinar, etc. You need to stay in contact with them to build trust and brand name recognition by promoting your free content to them using Facebook and Google remarketing. Besides promoting your free content to them with remarketing, you can also show them remarketing ads to try and get them to opt-in to your email list, to register for your free webinar, and to complete your lead generation contact us form, or even call you on the phone. At this stage in the funnel you will begin converting some of these people into leads and customers.
3. Bottom of funnel: These are people who have been to your website many times and have read dozens of your blog posts. They may have signed up for and watched your free webinar and they may have subscribed to your opt-in email list. They know who you are and they probably trust you. These are the people who are most likely to contact you as a lead and become a customer.
Internet buying behavior research has shown that a person often needs to visit a website several times before they trust a company enough to contact them as a lead or buy from them. This is particularly true for companies that sell high ticket items that cost thousands of dollars. The people in your bottom of funnel are the people who are most likely to contact you as a lead and buy from you.