How to populate the top of the B2B marketing funnel
If you’re a marketer and work in B2B, you’re probably well-acquainted with the marketing funnel. The names of the different stages may vary slightly, but generally start with awareness of your business among your buyers at the top of the funnel, followed by their consideration, and finally the bottom of the funnel sees your buyers making a decision on who to purchase from. In this blog, we’ll be looking at some ways to drive activity at the top of the marketing funnel. 
Getting found online is the first – in most cases indirect – interaction between your business and your prospects or, as it is often referred to, the top of the sales funnel. It is the stage that is furthest away from the buying decision but is still crucial from a brand-building perspective. Driving a larger number of visitors to your website and raising awareness of your brand is closely linked to your online footprint and can be achieved through activities such as:
- On-page optimisation – incorporating keywords you would like to be found by in your meta description, titles, h1 headers and anchor text on your website.
- Off-page optimisation and link-building – third-party endorsement in the form of inbound links from high ranking websites will boost your chances of a better search engine ranking.
Creating, publishing and disseminating fresh content
This could be in the form of blogs, eBooks, videos – any fresh content you publish and promote on a regular basis will be viewed favourably by Google algorithms as proof that you have something important to say, and will therefore increase your visibility on the web.
A keyword tip for getting found online
While search-optimising your website and blog, you should opt for long-tail terms instead of generic keywords. This will increase your chances of attracting highly qualified visitors who are more likely to convert into leads as you will have provided the exact information they have searched for.
Social media interaction
With the rise of social networks and microblogging, it is important to be active on the relevant social media platforms where your audience hangs out. Facebook, for instance, has proven to be an effective lead generation tool for B2C companies, while LinkedIn, because of its professional networking focus, is the preferred social channel of B2B organisations. Research shows that IT buyers are 50% more likely to buy on LinkedIn than any other social network and two thirds are happy to connect with vendors on there. Social media interaction may be time-consuming but is critical for building your reputation and bolstering your visibility online. For more advice on driving awareness on social media, download our guide Pitching, Prospecting and Promoting on LinkedIn Download: Pitching, Prospecting and Promoting on LinkedIn
