from Top of the Funnel Through Closed Won/Lost
definition Interstitial Content:
every bit of messaging and content that isn’t your foundational piece – the webinar, eBook, event etc. The in-betweener content.
Searching v Not Searching
Searchers: if your prospects are already searching for a solution like yours, that means they are at least aware of their pain, have quantified it in some way to have an idea what it’s costing them and are out scouting solutions – yours, your direct competitors, non-direct competitors who likely solve for the solution in some other way, and are definitely considering a DIY solution.
You, as a great solution provider, are one of many many many considerations for them throughout the entire buying process. It’s not a great position to be in and you must be on your game every step of the way.
Decent news is these folks will be more likely to remember why they are considering you when they run in to your interstitial content, but if your vibe is meh, they will feel that. And, dude, your interstitial content is nothing but meh.
Non-searchers: these are the folks who have pain, but it’s latent (of a quality or state existing but not yet developed or manifest; hidden or concealed) so they haven’t quantified it, nor are they searching for a solution.
Yet if they stumble upon a message that resonates for them, that makes them think “huh. Omg. yes. Sheesh that is absolutely what we are dealing with,” what an incredibly valuable first touch and first win for the team that bubbles up that pain for the prospect. When they dig in further and inevitably start searching themselves, the savvy org that first resonates with the prospect, stays in a valuable position.
If you don’t screw it up, these folks are gold.
Key Differences for CRO:
The Interstitial Content Leaks: Will they open the email, will they convert on the content, will they register for the event, will they show up for the event, will they review the event if they missed it, will they agree to an SDR call, will they show up to the SDR call, will they agree to handover to field sales/demo/whatever, will they show up, etc.
Searchers are more likely to be aware, when they bump in to your future interstitial content, of how it applies to them. Because they’re already thinking about their own problem and who/what can solve it. They’ll already be familiar with how the variety of ways the solving sector talks about their issue. In short, you can often get away with being a bit sub-optimal in addressing these folks (you shouldn’t, but you can).
You absolutely cannot afford to be sub-optimal with the folks you’ve been lucky enough to receive a stumble upon from . They’ve stumbled over you somewhere (good job targeting folks) and your message didn’t completely suck, so they did the next thing. Because they thought “huh. Omg. yes. Sheesh that is absolutely what we are dealing with.”
But here’s the thing. You got them in the feels, they converted, and then they moved on to the rest of their firehose day.
So. When your (likely) shite email shows up in their inbox, they’re likely not to engage. If you’re lucky enough that they click on a link in your email, when they move to that webpage … guys look you already know the numbers aren’t good.
And you continue to look at the wrong data points. And your wee % point improvement goals aren’t bold enough. You’re focused on the digital data and you’re not thinking enough about the humans and how your message resonates with them at every conversion opportunity.
What can you do?
To Improve Conversions, Always Optimize for the Non-Searchers
It will force you to improve on the interstitial content
for the Searchers so win win
You have so many opportunities to lose prospects along the way – you cannot afford to continue on this path.
You need them to convert on the ad, open the email, convert on the content, register for the event, show up for the event, review the event if they missed it, visit your site, not bounce, agree to an SDR call, show up to the SDR call, agree to handover to field sales/demo/whatever, show up, etc.
DO
- Objection/pain front and center always always
- Your lede: Latent pain (of a quality or state) existing but not yet developed or manifest; hidden or concealed)
DO NOT EVER
- Lead with you, your stuff, your features/functions
- Doesn’t matter where you are in the funnel or Opportunity lifecycle. Do. Not. Do. This.
Some Good News for your CRO Opportunity
Your competitors (direct and indirect): their interstitial content sucks just as much as yours. Even the big boys like Salesforce. I have an audit of their interstitials and it’s also bad. The global market leaders with global brand recognition can afford to be sub-optimal here. You cannot.
Our low conversion rates are due to the truly sub-optimal language every step of the way. Do an audit. You will be properly appalled.
You figure this out before your competition and you have a huge opportunity.
I can’t wait.
If you’d like a view on “Non searchers are gold” from the sales perspective, get Dave Brock’s view here: What If They Aren’t Looking?
