What Is Lower-Funnel Marketing?
Lower-funnel marketing is when marketers use specific tactics to turn ready-to-buy people into customers.
It sits at the bottom of the marketing funnel—a model that shows how people move from discovering a brand to making a purchase.
Here’s how the funnel works:
- Top of the funnel (TOFU): Prospects recognize a problem and look for possible solutions. Educational articles, videos, and awareness campaigns attract attention here.
- Middle of the funnel (MOFU): Prospects compare different options. Webinars, product comparisons, and lead magnets build trust and keep them engaged.
- Bottom of the funnel (BOFU): Prospects decide what to buy. Free trials, testimonials, case studies, testimonials, and limited-time deals drive them to act.
Lower-funnel marketing supports this final stage. Its goal is to make your solution the clear and confident choice.
9 Effective Lower-Funnel Marketing Tactics
The best lower-funnel marketing tactics help marketers turn interested prospects into customers. Here are nine effective tactics you can use:
1. Create Conversion-Focused Content
Creating conversion-focused content gives potential customers the information and confidence they need to take action.
At this stage, your content should remove doubts, reinforce the value of your product or service, and guide people toward a clear next step.
Examples include landing pages, product comparisons, FAQs, pricing pages, case studies, and detailed demos.
For example, email marketing platform AWeber has a comparison page that helps potential customers see how it differs from Mailchimp.
The page includes feature details, customer quotes for social proof, and multiple calls to action (CTAs)—all leading to one goal: Try AWeber.
To create content like this, design a page that:
- Highlights your main offer
- Answers common buying questions
- Shows a clear next step (e.g., start a free trial, book a demo, or make a purchase)
You can build these pages easily with the Landing Page Builder app, which offers ready-to-use templates and a drag-and-drop editor.
2. Retarget Visitors with Ads
Retargeting ads help you reach people who visited your site or engaged with your brand but didn’t make a purchase.
These ads can appear when those same users browse other websites, scroll through social media, or use search engines.
For example, if someone views running shoes on your site but leaves without buying, you can show them ads for the same shoes through ad networks.
Here's an example of an ad from Made In, a cookware brand that retargets visitors who viewed its site but didn’t complete a purchase:
To run retargeting ads, add a tracking code to your website—usually inside the <head> section. This code helps ad platforms identify who visits your pages and what actions they take.
Then use platforms like Google Ads or Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram) to show follow-up ads to those visitors.
3. Send Personalized Promotional Emails
Marketers send personalized emails to make messages more relevant and increase the chance of conversion.
These emails are tailored to each recipient’s behavior, preferences, or purchase history. When messages feel more personal, people are more likely to respond and buy.
You can highlight products someone viewed, recommend related items, or offer a small discount to encourage them to return.
Here’s an example of a wine brand sending an email personalized to the recipient’s browsing history:
To create personalized emails:
- Segment your email list: Focus on users who viewed a product but didn’t buy
- Add dynamic fields: Include details like each person’s name or company to make the email feel customized
- Use automation tools: Most email platforms (Hubspot, Mailchimp, etc.) include built-in personalization features to simplify setup and delivery
4. Offer Product Demos or Free Trials
Offer product demos or free trials to help potential customers experience a product before buying. This hands-on experience removes doubts and builds confidence to make a purchase.
At the bottom of the funnel, people want to see exactly how a product or service works.
Many SaaS companies, including Semrush, provide free trials and personalized demos to support this stage.
And free personalized demos.
When choosing between offering a demo or a trial, consider what fits your business model best:
- Free trials work well when users can create an account and explore features on their own
- Live demos are better when your product requires more explanation or setup guidance
Promote your offer across high-intent touchpoints—like your homepage, comparison pages, marketing emails, and ads—so prospects can take action right when they’re ready.
5. Target Transactional and Commercial Keywords
Targeting transactional and commercial keywords helps you reach people who are ready to buy or are comparing solutions. These users are close to making a decision, so the chance of conversion is higher.
Today, these keywords also influence product recommendations in ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews, and other AI-powered search results.
Targeting them helps you expand visibility beyond traditional search rankings.
There are two main keyword types to focus on:
- Commercial intent keywords: Used earlier in the buying process when people research and compare options. Like “best crm for small teams” or “clickup vs asana.”
- Transactional intent keywords: Used when someone is ready to take action. Like “buy crm software,” “get crm quote,” or “free crm trial.”
Start with Google Keyword Planner to find these keywords.
Enter a term related to your product or service. Then review the results to find terms that include words like “price,” “trial,” “vs,” or “best.”
These signals usually mean the user is close to buying.
For deeper insights, use Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool.
Open the tool, enter a broad term related to your business, add your domain, and click “Search.”
Then, filter the keywords by selecting the “Intent” dropdown, checking the boxes next to “Commercial” and “Transactional,” and clicking “Apply.”
You’ll see keyword ideas alongside metrics like search volume and Personal Keyword Difficulty (a metric that indicates how difficult it will be for your exact website to rank for a term).
Choose keywords with decent traffic potential and low difficulty. They’re easier to rank for and still bring qualified visitors.
6. Showcase Customer Reviews and Success Stories
Showcasing reviews, testimonials, and case studies to build trust and reduce hesitation at the final stage of the buyer journey.
Reviews, testimonials, and case studies show that real people have had positive experiences with your product or service. This social proof reassures potential buyers and helps them make confident decisions.
Here’s how Gong features customer stories on its homepage:
To collect social proof:
- Ask satisfied customers for testimonials: Reach out to those who have had great results and request a short quote or a detailed case study
- Encourage reviews: Send follow-up emails or add review prompts on your website to gather feedback
- Use these assets strategically: Place testimonials, reviews, and case studies on landing pages, comparison pages, product pages, and even in sales emails—anywhere prospects might hesitate before buying. your site.
7. Use Limited-Time Offers
Marketers use limited-time offers to create urgency and encourage faster purchase decisions.
When someone is already considering a product, a time-sensitive incentive—like free shipping, a bonus gift, or a small discount—can motivate them to buy immediately.
Here's an example of a limited-time discount email from Ray-Ban:
To apply this tactic effectively:
- Identify hesitation points: Look for moments when buyers tend to pause, like on product pages or after adding items to their cart
- Add urgency signals: Use banners, countdown timers, or reminder emails to show that the offer expires soon
- Reinforce with retargeting ads: Combine your limited time deals with retargeting campaigns to remind past visitors about the deadline and bring them back to purchase
8. Add Live Chat Functionality to Your Site
Adding live chat functionality to your website helps potential customers get answers in real time and remove barriers to purchase.
Live chat gives buyers instant support for questions about features, billing, or shipping—small doubts that can delay a decision.
Here’s an example of a live chat feature on CrowdStrike’s website:
To set up live chat effectively:
- Choose a platform: Tools like Intercom, Tidio, and LiveChat make it easy to add chat to your site
- Decide how to manage it: You can respond manually if you have staff available, or use rule-based and AI-powered chatbots to handle common questions automatically
- Place chat strategically: Add it to high-intent pages such as product, pricing, or checkout pages—where visitors are most likely to need help before buying.
9. Partner with Review and Affiliate Sites for AI Visibility
Partner with review and affiliate sites to get their products featured in sources that AI platforms cite. This increases visibility in AI-generated recommendations for buyers ready to make a decision.
Visitors from AI search are 4.4x more valuable than traditional organic visitors, making this an important lower-funnel opportunity.
AI platforms like ChatGPT and Google AI Mode often reference trusted third-party articles when recommending products. If your brand isn’t included in those sources, AI platforms may overlook it in their responses.
To improve your AI visibility, start by identifying where competitors appear.
Open Semrush’s AI SEO Toolkit, enter your domain, and click “Analyze.”
Next, add a competitor to compare results.
Click on the “Narrative drivers” report and scroll to the “Breakdown by Question” section.
- Use the “Question type” filter to select “Answers | Non-branded,” so you only see prompts not tied to your company name
- Switch between different LLM platforms in the dropdown to compare how each one mentions brands
Review the list and note where competitors appear, but you don’t.
Focus on high-intent prompts, which are queries that show buying or comparison intent, like “Which is the best project management tool for startups?”
Run those prompts directly in the AI platform to see which sources are being cited.
Look for comparison sites, affiliate roundups, or industry publications,
Pitch to be included in those sources.
Share product data, customer success stories, or incentives that make it easy for editors to add your brand.
The more often you’re listed in trusted sources, the more likely AI tools will cite your product in answers. Putting you in front of buyers right as they’re deciding what to choose.
Further reading: Affiliate Marketing Guide: What It Is + Steps to Start
Lower-Funnel Marketing Example: A Deep Dive
Asana—a popular work management platform—is a great example of a company that does bottom-of-the-funnel marketing well.
It ranks in the top 10 Google search results for nearly 8,000 commercial and transactional keywords, according to Semrush’s Organic Research tool.
The site ranks for competitive phrases with a strong intent to buy or compare.
One of Asana’s high-ranking pages is a comparison against Monday. Which appears in the top 10 results for the keyword “asana vs monday.”
The page highlights clear feature differences and positions Asana as the more complete solution.
It includes multiple CTAs encouraging users to make a decision to try the platform for free.
Beyond publishing comparison pages, Asana allows visitors to look for information based on company type, team, industry, and use case.
This helps high-intent visitors quickly find the most relevant information based on their specific role or situation.
Asana’s pages also convert well.
According to Semrush’s Traffic Analytics tool, Asana consistently outperforms several of its top competitors in estimated purchase conversions—a metric that reflects the percentage of sessions resulting in a transaction or sign-up.
Clearly, Asana’s lower-funnel efforts help ready-to-buy visitors find what they need to make a choice.
How to Create a Lower-Funnel Marketing Strategy
An effective lower-funnel marketing strategy helps you convert high-intent prospects into paying customers.
Ideally, your bottom-funnel work connects to your full marketing funnel. But sometimes it deserves its own focus, especially if your brand is attracting awareness but conversions remain low.
Here how to create a lower-funnel marketing strategy:
1. Define a Baseline
Start by benchmarking your purchase conversion rate against competitors to understand what performance level you should target.
Open Semrush’s Traffic Analytics and add competitor domains.
Check out their “Purchase Conversion.”
Average those conversion rates to see what’s typical in your industry.
For example, Semrush data shows:
- Saas websites: ~0.10% average purchase conversion rate over the past 12 months
- Ecommerce websites: ~1.21% average purchase conversion rate in the same period
If you run a SaaS or ecommerce business, aim for conversion rates above these benchmarks. That should be your lower-funnel goal.
2. Do Competitive Analysis
Run a competitive analysis to find which keywords and pages drive conversions for competitors. This helps you identify content gaps and opportunities to strengthen your lower-funnel assets.
Open Semrush’s Organic Research tool and go to the “Positions” report for a competitor domain.
Use the “Intent” filter to see keywords with commercial and transactional intent.
And remove branded keywords using the “Advanced filters” option.
Review the keyword list and note which ones fit your business.
Click on any keyword to see the exact competitor page that ranks.
Visit those pages manually.
Pay attention to how they answer buyer questions, frame offers, and guide visitors toward the next step.
Record which assets you already have, which ones need updates, and which ones you should create from scratch.
Do this for multiple competitors.
This gives you a clear map of competitors’ tactics and a practical to-do list for closing the lower-funnel gap.
3. Create a Content Plan
Build a bottom-funnel content plan to close gaps and guide prospects from research to purchase.
Start by listing the BOFU assets you need based on your competitive analysis. This may include landing pages, comparison guides, FAQs, testimonials, or case studies.
Then, collaborate with internal teams to strengthen your plan:
- Sales team: Identify common buyer objections. Use these insights to create FAQ sections or product comparison pages
- Customer success team: Gather customer wins and turn them into testimonials or case studies
If you already manage a content calendar, Add these lower-funnel items to it instead of treating them as a separate project.
This ensures your bottom-funnel work stays aligned with your broader marketing strategy.
Download our free Content Calendar template to organize these assets.
4. Optimize UX
Optimize user experience (UX) on lower-funnel pages to make it easy for prospects to convert as soon as they’re ready.
A frictionless UX includes:
- Clear CTAs that stand out and guide the next step
- Simple navigation so visitors can move easily through your pages
- Fast load times and stable page layouts that reduce drop-offs
- Trust signals like testimonials, reviews, and case studies
For example, Asana’s Task Management use case page shows what an effective BOFU experience looks like.
The first fold clearly communicates the benefit. The headline highlights value, the subtext positions Asana as an industry leader, and two CTAs invite immediate action—without clutter or distractions.
As visitors scroll, Asana builds trust with social proof.
Stats demonstrate impact, and testimonials add credibility and reinforce the decision to sign up.
From a technical standpoint, the page earns a 100/100 SEO score in PageSpeed Insights.
But it fails the Core Web Vitals (CWV) assessment. This means users might still encounter layout shifts or delays that interrupt their buying experience.
In comparison, one of Monday’s use case pages performs well in PageSpeed Insights, with a stronger performance score overall.
But it lacks depth in content and conversion elements. The page doesn’t include real user testimonials. The templates are listed only by name—without descriptions or screenshots—while Asana adds detail and ends each section with a clear “Use template” CTA
More importantly, Monday’s page ends with blog posts instead of a purchase or sign-up CTA. This redirects ready-to-buy visitors away from the funnel instead of keeping them on the conversion path.
Your lower-funnel pages should deliver a smooth, reliable experience that helps visitors complete conversions without hesitation.
Work with your web design and development teams to:
- Refine layouts and checkout flows
- Create new landing pages where needed
- Add interactive conversion elements like popups or sticky CTAs
Finally, audit your site using Semrush’s Site Audit tool to find technical issues that may affect CWV or overall performance.
Open the tool, create a new project, and complete the configuration.
Once the audit is done, check the “Overview” report for a snapshot of your site’s performance.
Then go to the “Issues” tab to see errors and warnings across your site. Click “Why and how to fix” for guidance on resolving them.
5. Measure & Refine
Measure and refine your lower-funnel marketing results regularly to keep conversions improving.
Start by tracking conversion-focused metrics, such as:
- Sign-ups
- Purchases
- Demo requests
- Any other action that defines success for your business
Next, evaluate efficiency metrics to understand profitability, not just frequency.
Key marketing KPIs include:
- Cost per acquisition (CPA)
- Customer lifetime value (CLV)
- Lead-to-customer rate
Ecommerce teams should also monitor cart abandonment, whereas SaaS teams can track time to conversion.
Use tools like Google Analytics, your CRM, or ecommerce dashboards to measure results accurately.
Performance at the bottom of the funnel changes with seasons, promotions, and competitor actions. Review metrics frequently, test adjustments to your offers or CTAs, and refine your approach based on what consistently drives conversions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the stages of the marketing funnel?
The stages of the marketing funnel are awareness, consideration, conversion, and loyalty.
- In the awareness stage, people discover your brand and realize they have a problem to solve
- In the consideration stage, they research and compare potential solutions
- In the conversion stage, they decide to purchase your product or service
- In the loyalty stage, customers return for repeat purchases and become brand advocates
What’s the difference between upper-funnel and lower-funnel marketing?
The difference between upper-funnel and lower-funnel marketing is the buyer’s readiness to purchase.
Upper-funnel marketing reaches people who are learning about their problem and exploring broad solutions. It relies on educational content, such as blog posts or awareness campaigns.
Lower-funnel marketing targets people who already know what they want and are comparing products or ready to buy. It uses conversion-focused content like comparison pages, pricing pages, and case studies.
Improve Your Lower-Funnel Marketing Efforts
Building an effective lower-funnel strategy starts with understanding your audience.
Tools like Semrush’s Market Overview reveal key demographic, behavioral, and socioeconomic data. This helps you tailor your messaging, reach high-intent audiences, and convert more visitors into customers.
Try it today.