The hallmark of every successful marketing campaign is to get people to perform a desired action. That is why building marketing funnels is essential.

Marketing funnel refers to a system that guides prospects across the customer journey to turn them into customers.

The customer journey represents several stages that customers go through before they eventually become paying customers.

These stages include Awareness, Consideration, Decision.

1. Awareness: At this stage, customers become aware of their needs and start searching for a solution. 
2. Consideration: At this point, customers clearly understand their needs and start listing possible solutions.
3. Decision: Here is where the customer eventually decides to buy based on his research and analysis.

To ensure that your prospects move as further down the journey as possible, you must create the appropriate marketing funnels. In this article, we will look at the main types of marketing funnels and how you can maximize leads with each one. 

Types of marketing funnels

1. Free consultation funnel

With this funnel, the main goal is to eventually sell the product to the customer at full price.  The funnel works best for service businesses or high-value product businesses where the customer may need to discuss with the company before making decisions.

A free consultation is your first opportunity to provide customers with the value they cannot resist down the line.

How does it work?

As potential customers look through your pages and content, you offer them a free consultation. The nature of this consultation depends on your business. For instance, if you are a marketing agency, it could be a session about a long-term digital strategy.

Afterwards, you'll send them follow-up emails, showing them how to get the most out of their consultation. At this point, links to the products you want them to buy are helpful.  

If these first stages are successful, you can easily turn them into a paying customer.

2. Downloadable content funnel

Content is one of the best ways to nurture leads to a purchase-ready position. Through content, a brand can establish trust and consequently enhance brand loyalty.

The main advantage of using downloadable content is that you can exchange it for customer contacts. You can then use this information to send marketing messages.

Downloadable content includes case studies, eBooks, white papers, recipes, worksheets, etc.

How does it work?

Create a conversion form. As potential customers view content on your pages, they have a chance to "sign up" to download it. Depending on your goals, you may require them to input their contact information or share your content on their platforms. 

It is critical to ask for just enough information so as not to put off potential leads. To find the right balance, use different testing techniques to find out what the audience responds to.

However, your downloadable content will be useless unless the audience sees it. So, you must promote it heavily on your social pages, emails, etc.

3. Live demo funnel 

Live demos are effective B2B marketing funnels for drawing leads to your business. It is helpful in industries like software, professional services, eCommerce, etc. In these industries, products can be hard to explain in writing. Check out this demo from Zoom.

With a live demo, potential customers can understand firsthand how the product works. When the presentation is live, customers might also raise questions that you can address on the spot. This encourages engagement and enhances trust. 

Furthermore, demos also help to nurture existing customers, especially if they explain parts of the product. It enables the customers to make the most of their purchases which then increases loyalty.

How does it work?

You prepare a demonstration of your product on video, which you then stream or post as a file. It helps to create a dedicated page for your product demos so that potential customers can easily find them.

On the dedicated demo page, include links to your other product pages, as well as a sign-up option for future updates. With these contact details, you should follow up and further nurture the leads to purchase.

If the customers like what they see in the demo, they can always use the direct links to go to the purchase pages and possibly buy.

Like any other form of content, promotion is critical. You must heavily promote your demos to increase views and engagement. The bigger the audience, the higher the number of conversions.

4. Quizzes / calculator funnels

At any stage of the customer journey, users do not like to be sold to. Therefore, interactive content like quizzes and calculators can help attract more leads. 

This interactive content's primary purpose is to provide educational content to customers without sounding like a sales pitch. 

Quizzes give customers a range of questions to answer concerning their intended purchase. Calculators, on the other hand, provide customers with instant answers regarding costs, pricing, etc. 

These marketing funnels work best for professional services brands. With such offerings, customers can find it hard to determine which option provides the best value for money.

How does it work?

For the awareness stage, create quizzes about the customers' needs. Customers in this stage are still learning more about their needs, so that type of content is helpful to them.

In the consideration stage, customers are evaluating options to solve their problems. Your interactive content should therefore focus on answering their questions and guiding their decision-making process. 

This is a good stage to include a cost or value calculator. It helps customers gauge how much they would need to spend to get the most value.

At the decision stage, your content should promote your brand and provide value as well. It should indirectly show the customer the value they derive from choosing you.

5. New Client Welcome Sequences

It is one thing to attract potential leads and clients. It is another to start them off on a good note and develop that connection. This is where you need client welcome sequences. 

Usually sent as emails, these welcome sequences help you to introduce yourself and what you do. It also gives the reader a hint of what to expect from you. As a result, it is what determines whether they’ll stick around or unsubscribe.

Welcome sequences should contain a series of messages, evenly spaced out, of course. One way to ensure you do this most effectively is through marketing automation.

How does it work?

First, you need a lead magnet of sorts. With this, interested users have the option to “opt-in” or “sign-up.” Then, you can trade their contact information with your content. In some cases, it helps to have a separate landing page where people fill in their details.

Since you now have their contact information, send them an initial welcome message. It could include a thank you and a brief introduction.

After that, you must continue to guide them through the buying process by providing more beginner information they might find valuable.

You want to avoid directly selling to new potential clients since this might put them off. Instead, help them to get to know you as a valuable source.

Additionally, avoid long delays between messages. It is best to maximize that initial interest to move them further along the funnel.

Post-sales meeting drips

Much like client welcome sequences, post-sales meeting drips can increase leads for your business.

Drips refer to a series of marketing emails sent out on a schedule. In this case, your business sends them to customers already in the sales funnel. To convert such leads, you send several emails to emphasize the value that your offering brings.

As with all other email campaigns, you must space out your communications evenly.

6. Webinar marketing funnels

A webinar is an inbound marketing funnel that can help you drive lots  a lot of traffic and leads to your site. Statistically, most customers nowadays prefer video to written content. A webinar is thus a great way to provide value and present your product as a great choice.

How does it work? 

First, you must set up a webinar registration page for people to sign up. On this page, pay close attention to your headline, graphics, and promise.

• Headline: It must be clear and enticing, yet realistic. When people read it, they should be excited and drawn to sign up.
• Graphics: Your page must also have a captivating headline image or video. These help to boost conversion rates because it represents an assurance of good things to come.
• Promise: You should briefly tell the audience what to expect from the webinar. Why should they attend? Who should attend? What will they learn? etc.

When done right, webinar marketing funnels can drive a lot of subscriptions and sales for your business. 

It works best for businesses offering professional services and subscription services, among others.

7. Blog marketing funnels

The blog is the most effective inbound marketing funnel you can use. Through a blog, you can regularly provide the audience with valuable content and establish yourself as an authority. 

When they are delighted by what you offer, they are more motivated to purchase your product. 

The biggest advantage of inbound marketing funnels like blogs is that they drive more qualified leads.

How does it work?

Create valuable content on your blog. Such content typically addresses the audience's main questions and provides detailed solutions. 

Then, heavily promote and distribute the content to draw in more readers. You can do this via social media or even via email. With automation, it is possible to email your entire list every time you post new articles. 

Repurpose content every so often, especially those that draw the most traffic and engagement.

Final thoughts

There you have it, 7 highly effective B2B marketing funnels you can use to get leads for your business. Even with little knowledge of funnels, these are relatively simple to set up. Some of them can even be used together, such as blog subscriptions and email marketing funnels.

Not an expert? No problem. A powerful marketing automation solution like  FunnelBud can help you achieve your goals. We offer an all-in-one solution to help build marketing funnels to generate more leads for your business. Sign up for a free demo and we'll show you how.