Creating top of the funnel offers is an art that embraces the idea of generic but targeted mass marketing. Sounds as if it were the very antithesis of inbound marketing but it’s actually quite effective. However, rather than using the traditional mass marketing concepts we infuse specific topics into each generic segment. Creating various top of the funnel offers allows us to accomplish a mass marketing campaign while still embody the idea of segmented leads within the inbound marketing funnel. Here are some ideas on great top of the funnel offers you can create for your inbound marketing campaign.
Ebooks R’ Us
Who doesn’t like an e-book right? After all, some of the most popular mobile devices and platforms are made primarily for ebooks– just take a look at Sony Reader, Kindle, and Nook (You might want to check out some of our eBooks ). They’re testaments to literary demand. Creating an e-book doesn’t have to be an overly complex task. You don’t necessarily need custom software to do it. In fact, you can create a simple .pdf file and implement best information design practices. You can vary the ebook topics or you can also consider segmenting your campaign based on visitor preference. For example, do my website visitors prefer ebooks, recorded webinars, or live webinars?
Exclusive Reports
Proudly dubbed the “Exclusive Report,” this is a chapter in an e-book that can hold its own. It makes an excellent top of the funnel offer. Reports are less time intensive however if you do plan on using reports consider increasing the output frequency.
Newsletters
Newsletters are an excellent method for improving opt-in quality. When considering a newsletter be sure to implement the double opt-in requirement. Essentially, instead of retrieving downloads immediately, users will be required to provide a valid e-mail address. This gives you an excellent opportunity to immediately verify your subscribers e-mail address with a large possibility that they will actually participate in the double opt-in process.
Video Tips
Subscribers might prefer video over e-books. A short 30-45 minute video is an excellent opportunity to offer valuable information to your potential clients and it also gives you an opportunity to introduce your business in a very entertaining light. For example, if you operate an insurance blog your clients may be interested in learning how to “Cut Your Insurance Premiums By More than 50%”. When it comes to video there are so many options.
Video Bootcamps
Video bootcamps are basically Video Tips on overdrive. They give you an opportunity to use lead nurturing strategies during the top of the funnel offer delivery. In this instance you would provide a series of tips spanning between 7-28 days teaching your leads about for example, “How to become a saavy insurance consumer: 28 Industry Secrets the Big Boys Don’t Want You to Know”. This top of the funnel offer can actually take you throughout the entire inbound marketing sales funnel, which of course takes some fine tuning, but in the end it’s an amazingly simple but effective strategy.
Membership Sites
Membership sites are almost better than e-mail–why you ask? Consider the amount of e-mails an individual receives per day. According to Pingdom, in 2011 of the approximate 1.8 billion email users, the average message per day totaled to 294 million of which more than 80% are assumed to be spam. However, membership sites embrace a different concept: stepping away from spam kingdom into what we like to call login frequency heaven. Membership sites are probably the most underused top of the funnel offers because quite frankly they are a lot more time intensive and costly but still very profitable. Some examples of companies that embrace the “membership site” concept are Freelancer, 99Designs, and Facebook. I’m sure your wheels started turning when you read “Facebook”. After all it is one of the most highly trafficked sites on the internet. Granted you’re not expected to create a full-on social network but it’s an excellent case study of marketing created by community, supported by e-mail, and intensified by new offers.
Product/Service Discounts
Some website visitors are consumer focused an provide and avenue to support the consumer-driven mentality is essential. According to Consumer Shopping Intelligence, “94% of shoppers conduct online research before they buy.” Therefore, if your site is optimized for search engines it’s likely that a percentage of your website visitors are in the market to buy. Why not provide them with a product or service discount to spark a relationship of consumer-client loyalty?
Free Trial Offers
If you are a SAAS business providing a free demo or free trial that’s always a plus. It indicates confidence in the service provided and always allows users to become more confident with your service without depending on internet variables like product reviews. Some of examples of successful online companies are Rhapsody and Netflix.
Live Webinars
Many website visitors will register for an online webinar because they prefer the live aspect of a webinar. They want to be able to ask questions or perhaps learn directly from the source. Consider offering a weekly training webinar to get the ball rolling.
Recorded Webinars
While many website visitors may opt-in to a webinar, more often than not a large percentage will not make it on time for one reason or another. Don’t be deterred– instead use some good old ingenuity and capitalize on the webinar by recording and offer a replay to your subscribers. You can introduce a sense of urgency by including a message like “Special Offer Inside Limited Availability” or you can take an evergreen approach and make it available in your library.
Training Series
A training series is a kin to a package of information similar to Hubspot kits. The idea here is to provide immense value in exchange for information (Check out IMPACT’s 7 Day Inbound Marketing Course!).
Social Media Enabled Offers
Social networking is one the rise and the fact that Facebook has an open source makes it a whole lot easier to integrate your campaigns into social media. Some visitors are not easily convinced to share their information with you but they might be more willing to share their Facebook information. Integrating a “Login with Facebook” to receive one of your top of the funnel offers can increase subscriber rates. There are a number of ways to utilize social media with offers, but making sure your social media is where it should be is step one.
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If inbound marketing is something that you are interested in but don’t know how to get started, contact us today to schedule your free marketing analysis.
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