3️⃣ Identifiers to Focus on BOFU Audience Building for TOFU

Like many B2B marketers, I am very versed in the gated MQL model. Luckily for me, I came across a very prominent digital marketer who opened my eyes to the power of audience building to increase demos through LinkedIn.

Although many B2B marketers find success in the traditional MQL model, there are many times in which the MQL model can be difficult to optimize and/or track success when you are a TOFU contributor. Thus leading to strategic pivots in head count and/or top of funnel (TOFU) programs to increase Bottom of Funnel (BOFU) engagements.

Before these massive shifts happen, there are 3 strong identifiers that will let you know if you need to slowly start shifting your focus from TOFU Form Fills to audience building for BOFU engagements:

1️⃣ Demo Conversions are almost non existent 🚫:

You simply cannot get demo conversions. Not only are you struggling to get demo conversions, but the organization itself struggles to get demo conversions. This is a great identifier to let you know that your audience is not ready for you. Hence the importance of focusing on audience building for the purpose of driving BOFU engagements.

2️⃣ Nurture is struggling to produce Point Accrued MQLs from your channels 💪 😤:

1,000 leads are sent into your nurture, only 5 MQLs come out of it. You are told the nurture will take 3-6 months to optimize. Unfortunately, you will need to make a strategic pivot to start nurturing your own audiences while this potential overhaul takes place.

3️⃣ Point Accrued MQLs sent over to sales struggle to convert into opportunities 🚪🚫:

No matter what MQL you send over, nothing converts to an open app, let alone Closed-Won. Yes, they have filled out several forms, opened a few emails, attended a webinar, however, they are still not filling out a form for demo. This will be your last big identifier letting you know that you need to start building audiences within your platforms to generate more BOFU engagements.

Why this is a great situation to be in as a Top of Funnel Contributor 🗣🔝 :

Although sending your leads into a system that struggles to convert them is not ideal, it is also a great opportunity for you to expand your audience building skill set. There will always be a necessity for audience building for bottom of funnel engagements across your career.

When faced with the above scenarios, it is vital to look within what you can do within your platforms. Segment audiences by engagement and look to create an audience that will drive demos, as well as MQLs. The sooner you realize this, the better you attribution reporting will reflect your individual contributions.

Feel free to like and share the LinkedIn post where this blog originated from.