Tips to Align Your Press Releases to Your Sales and Marketing Funnel
Most businesses operate with some type of a sales funnel. The sales funnel is a term that’s used to define the process that prospects may go through once they become aware of your business. There are essentially three stages to a sales funnel. Each stage provides you with an opportunity to pull prospects further into your business and to sell more products or services. When content and marketing initiatives are aligned with the sales funnel, the results are notably stronger.
Stage One of the Sales Funnel – Lead Generation
At the very top of your sales funnel are all of the potential prospects out there. These are the people who may have an interest in your products or services. Pulling them into the sales funnel is often a direct result of marketing. They have to become aware of your business before they take the next steps.
Awareness is often created with content marketing tactics like email marketing, social media marketing and press release marketing. Press releases can be used to draw attention to the business by highlighting announcements, events, and big company news. Hold a contest and use a press release to announce it. Host an event, online or off, and use a press release to announce it. Social media press releases and press release distribution services are key here. They help expand your reach and create awareness.
Stage Two of the Sales Funnel – Lead Conversion
Once you’ve pulled a prospect to your site and into your funnel, the next step is to turn them into a customer. Buying behavior generally requires a few steps. The prospect has to learn to trust you and consider you a credible authority. They also usually need to like your brand before they’ll buy from you.
Additionally, the timing needs to be perfect. You want to be in front of your prospect when they need your products or services. This requires frequent interactions including email messages, social media touches, and press releases. In fact, a press release is a fantastic tool to help build that credibility and trust.
Share a case study from a client who has achieved success with your products or services and use a press release to announce it. Use a press release to announce new results or information in your industry. And reach out to your prospects by using press releases as part of your content marketing and announce new products, services, or promotions.
Stage Three – Upsells
The third stage of the funnel is where people generally move down further into the process by buying more expensive products or services or they move out of it. They no longer need your offerings. Press releases still play an important role here. They can be used to announce products and services and to further engage your customers by showing them how they can receive more value through your company. Press releases can announce new white papers, partnerships, and special offers.
The bottom line is that when your content marketing is aligned with your sales funnel, you achieve better results. Press releases are an important part of a comprehensive content marketing campaign.
