In the last couple of posts, we’ve been talking about marketing funnels (or sales funnels). The first post covered the definition of a marketing funnel, and the most recent one gave examples to help with the top of the funnel. Top of funnel is all about brand awareness. People can’t buy from you or support you if they don’t know you exist! In this post, we’ll discuss middle of funnel, including what goals you should have and how to reach them.

Before we get started, some marketers abbreviate middle of funnel to be MOFU. Just like I wouldn’t change top of funnel to TOFU, I will not use this abbreviation. It just seems too much like I’m calling you something really rude.

Middle of Funnel Goals

So what goals should you have for this part of your marketing funnel? Well, that depends. On a high level, the middle of funnel objective consists of educating and engaging prospective purchasers. How that looks depends on your type of business.

In most cases, moving users to the middle of your funnel entails getting them to give you their contact information. Then you can use that information to nurture leads and establish trust. Let’s look at a couple of examples.

Middle of Funnel Methods

Most of these methods are examples of lead magnets, which you can read more about here. Loosely defined, a lead magnet offers something useful to the website visitor in exchange for an email address or other contact info.

Newsletter/Blog Subscriptions

You’ve undoubtedly been to websites that ask you to sign up for newsletters and updates. This is probably the simplest way to have website visitors give you their information. Most people have average results with this method. Potential customers are more likely to give you their contact info if you give them something in return. Often times, visitors find simply signing up for a newsletter too broad. Make sure you give specific reasons and tell them exactly what benefit they will find in subscribing.

Content Upgrades

If you have a popular blog post or piece of content that gets lots of visitors and engagement, you should leverage that! Popular content lends itself perfectly to content upgrades. Content upgrades are kind of like “bonus content” that you offer to site subscribers. You definitely want to be hyper specific with these. What topic originally drew the visitor to view that blog post? A content upgrade should be directly related to and expand upon the original material.

Examples of content upgrades include checklists, infographics, quizzes, eBooks and anything else you can think of that would expand upon what the user learned in the original content. They enter their email, receive the content in their inbox, and you have someone who has moved forward in your funnel. Boom!

Webinars

Just about everybody has attended webinars at this point, especially during the time of quarantine when in-person training practically ceased to exist. In fact, we can probably all say that we’ve attended both good webinars and those that left something to be desired. Either way, they likely left an impression.

A well planned webinar can absolutely skyrocket your email list. Every person who registers has moved to the middle of your funnel, even if they don’t actually attend. By registering and providing their contact information, they have added themselves as a prospect for your business. Webinars don’t execute themselves, however. They require planning and good marketing for success. Here are a few tips to remember, borrowed from the sales funnel certification course at ClickMinded.

• Start marketing your webinar at least 6 weeks in advance. Focus not on what YOU will do during the class, but what THEY will get out of it. Present this as a solution to a common pain point.
• Consider having a guest expert and ask them to promote the webinar to their contacts.
• Offer a small bonus or “insider” info to people who invite a friend to attend with them.
• Ask registrants ahead of time what they hope to learn to help them stay engaged, then include what you can in the content.
• Offer useful, actionable information during the webinar.
• Give attendees/registrants a special offer or coupon for any products related to your content.
• Follow up with a temporary recording of the session for those who registered but couldn’t attend.
• Gather feedback from attendees to help you learn for next time.

Mini Classes

Mini classes differ from webinars in that users can complete them on demand. While a webinar has a set time and date, you can offer a mini class either via video or email for the user to complete at his or her convenience. The platform largely depends on your preference and that of your audience. I tend to prefer email courses with small, digestible bits of information delivered over several days. Just make sure that each lesson has actionable content that the user can apply to his or her unique situation. Some people prefer video lessons. Truthfully, it depends on your comfort level and where your strengths lie.

Benefits of mini classes include establishing yourself as a knowledgeable, trusted source in your field. You can also use simple worksheets to measure engagement. With this information, you can decide how likely this person is to respond to your paid offering and pitch to them accordingly.

Other Middle of Funnel Examples

Again, your middle funnel offering should fit your business. This is definitely not a “one size fits all” situation. If you offer memberships or software, signing up for a free trial could work. For those who have a physical or online store, a coupon or special offer may entice users to enter an email address. For the most part, you have to figure out what will entice your visitors to give you an email address. Whatever that is, leverage it in appropriate places on your website with clear calls to action.

I’d love for you to comment below with your favorite examples. Perhaps you have something that has worked in your own situation. Alternatively, you could remember something someone else offered that helped you. Comment with those below, and keep swimming along!