While top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) marketing activity has traditionally been left to our B2C cousins, more and more B2B companies are taking on the challenge of attracting prospects using inbound marketing – content marketing, engagement marketing, blogs, social media, video.

B2B marketing is branching out…and it looks good.

This TOFU stage of the funnel is all about building awareness with your B2B buyer, identifying their needs (not your wants) and introducing your company as a trusted and recognised brand.

Here’s our pick of the top do’s and don’ts to turbo-charge your top-of-the-funnel activity:

DO

Do identify your real B2B Buyer Personas using website visitor information

What industry are they in? How big is the company? What content do they enjoy reading on your website? By using data-driven buyer personas, you’ll create a clear view of the challenges, needs, and pain points of your B2B buyers, along with understanding their motivations and goals related to purchasing.

Use this information to build accurate data-driven buyer personas, fuel your marketing communications and deliver influential TOFU content to the right prospects.

DO provide value with relevant and educational blogs, guides and communications

B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month. At this stage, your blog content needs to cover industry news, reports and statistics that support (but don’t overly promote) your product or service offering.

We can’t say it enough: Give your buyer’s valuable, informative and educational content – and be promotional at your peril. Your B2B prospects may not be looking to buy something that day, but it doesn’t mean you can’t provide them with valuable insight.

DON’T

Don’t undertake any new TOFU marketing activity until you’ve forecast the best, expected and worst possible ROI outcomes.

According to the IDM B2B Barometer, 30% of marketers said “lack of budget” and “demonstrating importance” were their most significant challenges this year. And guess what? They both tie back to ROI.

Before you invest any money in top-of-the-funnel advertising or marketing activity, you need to understand exactly what results you need to drive in order to deliver a healthy return. Try benchmarking your performance with this tool to take the guesswork out of your TOFU marketing activity.

Don’t forget it’s a (very) long lead generation game

There can be a tendency in B2B marketing to over-fish the lower funnel, where prospects are closer to converting, but with a detrimental effect!

Take a long-term approach with your funnel strategy and focus on prospects who might not buy now, but in a year – two years’ time. Invest in TOFU activity to not only build your bottom line, but strengthen your brand awareness too.

Ready to turbo-charge your lead generation?

Download the Ultimate B2B Marketing Kit with four free templates to kick start your lead generation.

This blog was originally posted on the Lead Forensics website. Read the original article here.