Significance of Bottom-Of-Funnel Content

Your highest converting content is probably invisible in AI-generated answers. And if you’re still optimizing for SEO alone, you’re missing a bigger shift: Buyers are bypassing search and going straight to ChatGPT. At 2X we’re seeing a new behavior pattern emerge across our enterprise client base: Marketing leaders are asking LLMs high-intent, decision-stage questions like: • “What’s the most efficient way to scale a B2B marketing team without increasing budget?” • “Compare outsourcing vs in-house marketing cost and ROI.” • “Which provider can help me transform my marketing org fast?” And they’re expecting accurate, context-rich answers—immediately. But here’s the problem: Most BOFU (bottom-of-funnel) content—your comparisons, case studies, solution pages—isn’t structured in a way LLMs can parse, retrieve, or prioritize. It’s human-convincing, but not machine-readable. That’s what we call the BOFU + LLM gap. ⸻ Here’s how we’re solving it—for ourselves and our clients: 1. Identify your “decision-stage” content Look for pages built to help buyers make a choice: • Solution overviews • Cost calculators • Case studies and proof points • Competitor comparisons • ROI/value frameworks 2. Analyze real buyer prompts Don’t just guess. Use data from search, chat logs, or sales convos to extract the actual questions your buyers ask tools like ChatGPT. 3. Restructure for dual readability Your BOFU content must serve both humans and machines: • Use clear H2s phrased as questions (e.g., “What’s the ROI of outsourcing marketing?”) • Add bullet points, tables, and structured comparisons • Embed schema, semantic keywords, and context markers like “for enterprise CMOs” or “fast ramp-up time” 4. Reinforce signals of trust LLMs prioritize: • Specific outcomes • Quantified proof • Clear audience targeting • Expert voice (and consistency across content) ⸻ We recently reworked one of our own high-intent pages meant to help marketing leaders understand how to transform their operating model. After applying these principles, we began seeing: • Higher LLM visibility • More buyers referencing insights they “got from ChatGPT” • Stronger engagement with lower-funnel content The impact? BOFU content became both a lead magnet and a sales enabler, across both human and AI-led research. If your decision-stage content isn’t showing up where decisions are now made, it’s time to rethink your content ops. #CMO #AI #SEOx

Not all website traffic is created equal. If your goal is to generate qualified leads, chasing traffic at the top of the funnel is a fast track to frustration. I've worked in Content Marketing for over 15 years and time and time again, I see my clients make this mistake: They focus on getting a lot of clicks and impressions, targeting broad topics like “what is content marketing” because it promises thousands of visits. But that’s a trap — those visitors? Most of them aren’t ready to buy. Instead, if you want leads that convert, start at the bottom of the funnel. Focus on high-intent topics like: 🔑 “Best content marketing agencies for real estate” 🔑 “How to choose a content marketing partner” 🔑 “Content marketing ROI for B2B SaaS” Why? Because these searches aren’t casual. They’re from people who are actively evaluating their options—people ready to make a decision. Sure, you won’t get as much traffic. But traffic isn’t the point.  Less traffic. More intent. Better leads. Once you’ve nailed the bottom of the funnel, then you can work your way up to broader content that builds awareness. But if qualified leads are your goal? The bottom is where the magic happens.

There's a persistent myth in content marketing that you should focus on top-of-funnel traffic and then "nurture" those visitors into customers. Here's the math problem with that approach: If 5% download your whitepaper, and 2% of those eventually request a demo, your actual conversion rate is just 0.1%. Meanwhile, we've measured conversion rates for bottom-of-funnel SEO content between 1-5%, with many pieces converting at 10%+. That's visitors immediately converting to product CTAs - starting trials or requesting demos. Why the difference? BOFU content targets people already looking for solutions like yours, rather than trying to manufacture buying intent. The most valuable metric isn't traffic or email sign-ups - it's leads. And knowing which specific content generates those leads gives you a blueprint for scaling what works.

Here's what I've been telling my clients: Let’s get your content to do the heavy lifting — including closing those deals. 💪 If you want more demos and free trials, it’s time to focus on BOFU (bottom of the funnel) content. Sure, BOFU content doesn’t always rake in the biggest traffic numbers. But the people who do visit are serious buyers. These are your most qualified prospects. BOFU content helps you: ✨ Differentiate your solution. Show them why you’re better than the competition with detailed product comparisons and feature breakdowns. ✨ Build trust. Case studies, testimonials, and client logos work wonders in making them feel confident in their choice. ✨ Accelerate decisions. At this stage, prospects are ready to make a move. Your BOFU content speeds up the process and makes it an easy yes. Here’s what you need more of... 👉 Product feature pages: Go deep. Show them why your solution is *the* solution. 👉 Comparison pages: Help them see why you’re a better fit than the competition. 👉 "Alternatives" pages: When they’re looking at other options, be the one they can’t ignore. 👉 Integration pages: Let them know how easily your solution fits into their existing tools and systems. 👉 ROI calculators: Help them visualize the impact and savings from your product. These aren’t just nice-to-haves — they’re must-haves if you want to move prospects from “thinking about it” to “sign me up.” So, if you’re not already publishing BOFU content, now’s the time. The right content at the right time = more demos, more trials, and more customers. 🚀

A recent conversation with a client reminded me why "bottom funnel first" is such a powerful approach to content strategy. We were balancing their Q2 content portfolio using a mix of sales call insights, topical authority gaps, product strengths, and search volume. When I pitched a few BOFU topics with minimal search volume, they didn’t flinch. “That’s ok,” they said. “We know our prospects are asking for this information, and our sales and CS teams can use this, too." That right there is the magic. So many B2B companies default to an awareness-first strategy—going broad, chasing high-volume keywords, hoping to build an audience that *might* convert later. But high-intent, bottom-funnel content meets people as they actively search for a solution like yours. These pieces help potential customers compare options, evaluate your product, and compile consideration sets for their team or boss. (And it's on us to make that easier.) And yes, that means search volume shouldn't always dictate your decisions. If prospects repeatedly ask your sales team something, it deserves a dedicated piece of content—whether it's a comparison page, a case study, or a deep dive into a key feature. Start with the content that drives conversions. Let it do the heavy lifting early. Then build out top-of-funnel content to fuel long-term organic growth. BOFU first = impact first.

How I 25x'd my client's engagement...WITHOUT posting platitudes or cheap engagement bait: (and how it translated into actual business development) This particular client brought me on to run his LinkedIn and X accounts, and I'll admit right off the bat: We weren't aiming to go viral. And we weren't putting a heavy focus on growing followers. Which is why this approach worked...and why we DID go semi-viral a couple times. First off, we killed the idea of posting ANY engagement bait or platitudes whatsoever. Not an option. My client runs a "high trust" offer -- he's building and managing CRM systems for complex companies. His prospects have no time or desire to read posts designed to get "likes". And they don't want to hire someone who spends time posting nonsense. They want to hire a talented expert with the technical skills required to build and maintain their most important software ecosystems. So we went against almost all the so-called "conventional wisdom" surrounding Content Marketing: We started with sophisticated, bottom-of-funnel content. And we posted this for a long time. Almost 3 months. After a few months focusing on bottom-of-funnel? We started to pepper in more top-of-funnel stuff. Why? Because we'd seen great results with the bottom-of-funnel content...even though engagement was still relatively low. But wait... How could we possibly "see results" if engagement was low? Simple: My client runs multiple acquisition channels (as should every good business). He sent out a cold email? They'd check his LinkedIn. Then...they'd book a call. Because his content positioned him as an expert. NOT as a "content creator" posting a ton of platitudes and throwaway nonsense. Back to the process: Once we saw results this way -- and added around 25% top-of-funnel posts -- engagement started to go up. A lot. . This is normal. Now, he was getting more exposure... But since his timeline was now populated with a TON of bottom-of-funnel content? The exposure was 10x more valuable if we'd started by posting junk engagement bait. We built a foundation of content...THEN we ramped up traffic. This is the way. And there's a lot more to this story... Including how we launched his newsletter in a seemingly "dry" niche... And leveraged it as yet another channel to book qualified meetings into his calendar (crazy, right? Aren't newsletters just for low-ticket products? Turns out the conventional wisdom ain't so "wise" after all...). Wanna learn more about how I've used organic social and newsletters to build organic acquisition systems for my B2B clients? Click the link in my bio and join my list. And if you want similar results for your B2B biz or consultancy? Shoot me a DM and we'll solve your problem.

When our clients rank higher in Google, they show up more in ChatGPT and Perplexity. That’s not a guess — it’s what our data shows. We analyzed 400+ bottom-of-funnel keywords across 16 clients, and here’s what we found: - If a client ranked on Google’s first page, ChatGPT and Perplexity mentioned them 67–77% of the time. - If they ranked in the top 3, that rate jumped to 72–82%. Same keyword. Same brand. Higher ranking → higher AI mention rate. That doesn’t prove causality — but it strongly suggests these tools are picking up on overlapping signals: domain authority, backlinks, brand mentions. The stuff that also improves your Google ranking. In other words: ✅ SEO is not dead. ✅ Your investment in high-quality, bottom-of-funnel content still pays off. ✅ You don’t need an entirely separate “LLM optimization strategy.” Just do SEO right. (That’s what we help our clients do.) Full write-up with graphs + analysis: https://lnkd.in/gdQdpi33