Insights From Our Experts

Full-funnel marketing is successful marketing. Why? It allows your PEO to engage customers at different points in the purchase journey and tailor your messaging to their unique needs and pain points. You won’t just secure sales. You’ll likely secure lasting relationships as well, setting you up for the long-term benefits of having loyal, satisfied customers who trust your PEO to handle all their HR headaches. 

So, what’s the recipe for a full marketing funnel that delivers your desired results? From carefully curated campaigns to new and improved brand personas, you may find yourself searching for the “secret ingredient” that will take your marketing and sales to the next level. Unfortunately, there is no secret ingredient. That’s why this article is written with the whole recipe in mind: all the elements your PEO’s marketing team needs to cook up a strategy that connects and aligns with the right customers at the right time. We’ll also discuss how you can seize missed opportunities you may have overlooked. 

Welcome to Liger’s kitchen for ripe, ready-to-use marketing tactics designed to help your PEO thrive. Let’s dig in: 

The Three Stages of Full-Funnel Marketing 

A marketing funnel is a model that visually represents a customer’s journey, from initial awareness of a product or service to becoming a loyal customer, helping PEOs and other businesses understand and optimize their marketing strategies at each individual stage. In short, it’s an effective, multi-tier lead nurturing strategy. 

What kind of marketing materials work best from stage to stage? What do leads look like as they move through the funnel? Let’s take it from the top:  

Top of Funnel (TOFU) 

This is the “awareness and interest” stage. Informative, engaging content such as blogs, social media posts, and infographics give you an opportunity to make a promising first impression on a wide audience. Digital PR and SEO optimization work well, too. 

What services can your PEO offer? What will make potential customers interested in learning more? These are the questions to ask yourself to give your PEO’s marketing funnel a strong foundation.  

Metrics: Keep an eye on unique visitors, click-through rates on designated TOFU content, social media engagement, downloads, and brand mentions to ensure your TOFU marketing strategy is firing correctly. 

Missed Opportunities: Without effective TOFU tactics, you’re invisible to a massive pool of potential leads who aren’t quite ready to buy but are actively seeking information. This stage is your chance to:

• Educate prospects about HR challenges, compliance risks, and business growth blockers
• Establish your PEO as a trusted authority, not just a vendor
• Build familiarity early, so when they are ready to buy, they already know and trust you

Don’t miss your chance! Startup founders, HR professionals, and business owners who are struggling to manage their employees are out there. You just need to reach them! Plus, giving the TOFU stage of your full marketing funnel adequate attention is the foundation of a lead nurturing strategy that sparks interest and allows you to reach customers before your competition does. 

Middle of Funnel (MOFU) 

When a potential customer reaches this stage, they’re hungry for more information. Whether you have them reading comparison guides or using cost savings calculators, the MOFU stage of the funnel is your opportunity to truly shine a spotlight on your products and services. Catch your customers’ attention at this point and you’re well on your way to convincing them that you’re the best PEO for their needs. 

Metrics: Email campaign and landing page engagement rates, click-through rates on designated MOFU content, and conversion rates for mid-funnel offers such as trials or classes can all be solid indicators of how well your MOFU tactics and processes are going. 

Missed Opportunities: Is your lead nurturing strategy helping you build meaningful relationships and turn the spark of curiosity into the spark of consideration? No? Sounds like the MOFU stage of your full marketing funnel is lacking. Here are a few examples of what you could (or should) be doing in the middle stage:

• Showing off your unique approach and client success stories
• Answering specific objections (e.g., how is a PEO different from other HR providers?)
• Highlighting your customer service, tech stack, or onboarding process in a meaningful way

If these opportunities aren’t presenting themselves to your team, there’s probably a missing link in the middle of your funnel. You know your customer’s pain points, but do your customers know how your PEO could solve them? Consider this your sign to make customers fully aware. 

Bottom of Funnel (BOFU) 

This is where the real purchase decisions are made. Potential customers in the final stage of the funnel are often interested in making a purchase but feel unsure about where to turn. The purchase itself could take a few minutes or a few weeks, but the bottom line is that your ability to provide personalized touchpoints, such as demos, use cases, and unique discount codes, can establish a direct, authentic connection with new customers that can then transform into an ongoing PEO partnership. 

Metrics: Purchase conversions, customer acquisition costs, your conversion-to-lead ratio, and your return on ad spend (ROAS) may shine a light on how well you’re performing in this stage of the funnel. 

Missed Opportunities: If you’re leaving your leads hanging, caught in the purgatory of the ultimate purchase decision, you’re hurting your ability to convert. Let’s explore what your BOFU tactics should be revealing to your future customers: 

• What it feels like to work with your team
• The human side of your service
• The success stories that make people say “I want that”

Your goal should be to close confidently, reduce tension, and elevate your PEO in the final stretch. Without the finishing touches at the bottom of the funnel, the glowing customer moments we’ve listed above simply don’t happen, causing your sales cycle to stall and your leads to feel doubtful and uneasy. 

Your PEO Marketing Solutions are Served

Get them while they’re hot! We’re serving full-funnel marketing strategies that support your PEO’s journey to address customer needs and drive measurable results. From SEO to website design and development, Liger is the only cook you need in your marketing kitchen. Contact us today to start learning about the best solutions for your organization.