Get the Most Out of Bottom-of-Funnel Keywords

Introduction

The key to high-converting ad copy, email subject lines, headlines, and landing pages is targeting the right bottom-of-funnel keywords. They are also otherwise known as BOF keywords.

What does BOF mean in marketing?

When it comes to marketing, BOF means the bottom of the funnel. It is also known as BoFU. The bottom of the funnel is the 3rd or final stage in a typical sales or marketing funnel. You can read our article, Facebook Ads: Create a Sales or Marketing Funnel, to get an idea of the 3 basic stages of a sales or marketing funnel. 

In this article, we will focus on the bottom-of-funnel keywords. 

You can spend hours researching and testing keywords for your campaign. But with this shortlist of possible bottom-of-funnel keywords, you can jumpstart your campaign.

There are intricate ways to find and make the most of your bottom-of-funnel keywords. I like to keep things simple yet still effective.

You should read the entire article before implementing these bottom-of-funnel keywords to your campaigns, emails, or landing pages. 

What bottom-of-funnel keywords are

Regarding keywords, different types can be used depending on what stage of the buyer’s journey a person is in. Bottom-of-funnel keywords are used when a person is inclined to make a purchase. 

So if you want to increase your conversion rate, you need to use bottom-of-funnel keywords in your marketing. These are keywords that customers use when they are ready to purchase a product or service. These keywords are essential for driving sales and revenue.

The bottom-of-funnel keywords are typically more specific and include modifiers like “buy now” or “free shipping.”  

Bottom-of-funnel keyword modifiers

In addition, here are some examples of modifiers for the bottom-of-funnel keywords:

• Best price
• Buy
• Call
• Cheap
• Compare
• Contact
• Cost
• Coupon
• Deal
• Discount
• Find
• Free shipping
• Hire
• Nearest
• Near me
• Offer
• Order
• Price
• Pricing
• Promo code
• Pros vs. cons
• Purchase
• Ratings
• Register for
• Request 
• Sale
• Shop for
• Where to buy
• [Neighborhood/City/State]
• [Your brand’s specific product or service – ex. Immortal fleur 16 red preserved roses that last]

Long tail bottom-of-funnel keywords

Let’s also talk about long-tail keywords as search terms in this context.

A search term is what you key into Google, for example, to find something specific. Example: “buy red roses near me”

Long tail keywords are keywords (or key phrases to be more accurate) that demand something more specific than the usual search terms. Long tail keywords, in other words, are multiple words or phrases within the search term.

An example of a long-tail keyword based on the search term we had earlier would be: “buy 18 red roses with a free vase near me.”

Long-tail keywords are often used in remarketing. It can indicate the prospect’s intention in the buyer’s journey. The more specific the search term is, the closer they are to making the final decision of purchasing.

Though this isn’t nailed to something, it can be a strong indicator.

BOF keywords are not magic words

To succeed with BOF keywords, you need to understand their intent and what the customer is trying to accomplish. 

What do your potential customers need? In other words, what are their pains or problems? Similarly, how can you offer them real solutions to their problems or pains? Answering these questions will help you create content that resonates with your prospects and ultimately drives conversion.

The stages of the buyer decision process

It might be good to understand the buyer decision process to understand better how to use the BOF keywords. This is also another way of looking at the sales or marketing funnel.

In Wikipedia, there are 5 stages of the buyer decision process:

Stage 1: Problem/need recognition

The lead identifies a desire, need, problem, or pain that needs to be addressed.

• Why it matters: Know what the lead needs before you can entice the lead to the next stage and eventually take action to purchase your product or service.
• Examples of the keyword modifiers:
  • how to
  • want
  • help
  • need

Stage 2: Information search

The lead looks for more information to learn enough about the desire or problem and possible solutions to address the concern.

• Why it matters: Providing information to a lead builds your credibility. Therefore, the more your lead consumes your information, the more willing your lead will go for the next step.
• Examples of the keyword modifiers:
  • best
  • top
  • list

Stage 3: Evaluation of alternatives

The lead evaluates different products, services, or brands and finds choices to compare them. 

• Why it matters: Getting into the shortlist entails showing the lead why your product, service, or brand is much better: benefits, social proof, reviews, awards, etc.
• Examples of the keyword modifiers:
  • versus
  • pros and cons
  • alternative
  • compare

Stage 4: Purchase decision

When the lead purchases, the lead becomes a customer.  

• Why it matters: Remove all the friction at this stage. Make the leads’ or buyers’ experience as smooth as possible.
• Examples of the keyword modifiers:
  • buy
  • purchase
  • subscribe
  • shop
  • order

Stage 5: Post-purchase behavior

This is when customers match their purchase of the product or service with their experiences on whether they are content or discontent. 

• Why it matters: This is important to retain your customers.

How can we apply the bottom-of-funnel keywords to the stages of the buyer decision process we mentioned above?

Buying intent versus purchase decision intent

Buying intent keywords are any keywords that fall into the following stages of the buying process:

1. Problem/need recognition
2. Information search
3. Evaluation of alternatives
4. Purchase decision

The buying intent keywords cannot obviously fall into the fifth buyer decision process, post-purchase behavior. In contrast, purchase decision intent keywords solely fall into the fourth buyer decision process, and that is purchase decision.

The purchase decision intent keywords are the bottom-of-funnel keywords.

How to convert at the bottom of the funnel

BOF keywords are not enough. Again, they are not magic words that will bring you a fortune when used.

These bottom-of-the-funnel leads may reside in your CRM, email marketing automation or campaign, custom audience, ad sets or ad groups, remarketing, or a combination thereof.

Because the leads at the bottom of the funnel have reached this far within the funnel, they are highly motivated and inclined to take action. The bottom-of-the-funnel leads are the type that wants detailed information to address their specific concern or situation.

With that in mind, the leads at the bottom of the funnel may feel friction that prevents them from converting into customers or subscribers. 

The last thing you want is to add to this friction and lose them. 

Here are some tips to keep them motivated, sliding them down the buying process smoothly:

Address friction

This is easier said than done in my experience. Suppose you have the resources to segment your leads according to their pains and problems early in the funnel (i.e., from the top of the funnel). In that case, it’s easier for you to remove the friction or address their specific concerns at this stage.

Be direct

Give them the solution to their problem or pain. Tell them what they could get from your product or service. 

Point out why it should be your service or product

This is the time to show leads why they should choose your product or service and not anyone else.

Persuade them until they convert

Highlight your customer testimonials and reviews. Show them some social proof. Mention your awards and recognitions. Use the scarcity marketing technique. (Use this only when applicable. Don’t abuse this tactic, as it has repercussions for your credibility.)  

Give them the best offer

Make it hard to resist. This can be the deciding factor between a very close competitor. 

Customer support seals the deal

Customers may go through post-purchase tension or concern. It can be an emotional or psychological feeling that stirs up the question: Have I made the right decision? 

How painful can it be when customers dispute a refund after a purchase or subscription simply because of poor customer service or support? In other words, the purchase is not the end of the buying cycle.  You must build a worthwhile experience or relationship with your customer.

Using a specialist for the bottom funnel

The answer is yes and no.

Yes, because these specialists typically have proven strategies, tactics, and techniques built over the years. Hiring a specialist removes the guesswork. They can also provide you with essential metrics to achieve your goals.

No, because the specialist doesn’t know your business the way you do. You know far better than any specialist about the nature of your business. I suppose you know your customers’ needs and pains and your staff’s strengths and weaknesses. If by chance you are still not confident, then hire a specialist. You may book us for a consultation and we can help you.

How to find the bottom-of-the-funnel keywords

Use your existing data.

If you have been doing paid search or SEO campaigns while tracking conversion metrics using Google Analytics, then that would be my first choice for finding my bottom-of-funnel keywords. 

This will skip a lot of guesswork and experimentation.

Review your data and see which keywords convert to sales, subscriptions, bookings, or signups.

Research

In contrast, start your research if you don’t have any data yet.

There are several tools you can use to find the bottom of the funnel, but let’s not go there yet.

Step 1: Brainstorm 

I suggest you do some brainstorming without using any tools at first. Tools are essential, but doing this without a tool at the beginning is crucial for three (3) reasons:

1. As a business owner, I believe you know the nature of your business much better. You know your customers better than any machines, tools, or computers. You understand your customer’s intent and behavior.
2. You get to feel what your customer may feel and think if you put yourself into their shoes. You have human psychology and emotion, which I think a computer may not fully understand.
3. At this stage, metrics like search volume and keyword difficulty are not as relevant to the bottom of the funnel as when used for the top. Bottom-of-the-funnel keywords need relevance more than search volume. This is because they are already warm leads that you need to convert. Traffic is only a metric and won’t mean much at the end of the day if they don’t convert into sales.

Suppose you are a mother looking for red roses for your daughter’s 18th birthday. What might be your need or concern aside from knowing that you want red roses?

• What kind of red roses? What are the best types?
• How to keep them fresh? What do I need to preserve the roses?
• Shall I buy local roses or imported ones? Where can I get them? Where is the nearest florist in my area?
• When should I have them delivered? The day before? An hour before?
• How to buy fresh red roses?

The more questions you have, the more you put yourself into your customer’s shoes. The better you can also create bottom-of-funnel keywords.

You may have the answers to your questions or not, but it does not really matter at this stage.

Step 2: Google’s People also ask.

Next, go to Google and enter each question or answer into the search box. This might also give answers to your questions or more ideas regarding your entry. 

What I like most is Google’s People also ask section. (This is really handy when creating content across the different marketing funnels. Yet this calls for another article.)The results you get from Google’s People also ask can usually be applied as long tail bottom-of-funnel keywords, as mentioned earlier. You can also edit the results slightly for even more relevant long-tail bottom-of-the-funnel keywords.

Step 3: Keyword research tool

Here are some popular tools you may want to use, but not limited to these:

• Google Search Console (FREE)
• Google Analytics (FREE)
• WordStream
• Ahrefs
• Semrush
• Ubersuggest

As promised, I’d like to keep this as simple as possible yet still effective.

In the case below, I am using Ubersuggest (just a matter of preference).

1. Type your keywords with the modifiers above to jumpstart your keyword research. For this example, let’s just use 3 modifiers. Make sure to also set your target audience, language, and location.

2. Select the keywords you can use for the bottom-of-funnel keywords and add them to the list.

3. Save your list. You may also group your keywords according to modifiers after saving your list. That’s it. You got your bottom-of-funnel keywords.

Where to use the bottom of funnel keywords

The bottom-of-funnel keywords are used in many areas, disciplines, and marketing channels: SEO, advertising, copywriting on landing pages, emails, and even social media posts. They can be found on email subject lines, headlines, landing page content, sales pages, subscription or purchase buttons, ad copy, and so on.

Take note, though, there is a reason why they are called bottom-of-funnel keywords. This is because they are used for ad copy, email subject lines, and landing pages for the bottom funnel, and not on any stage of the funnel.

This stage of the funnel is where leads have been groomed and nurtured to convert into customers (during purchase or subscription). Bottom-of-funnel keywords are supposed to be for warm leads, not cold leads. (Though, at times, in marketing, cold leads can also convert to sales.)

Therefore, this boils down to the marketing strategy and tactics. There is no clear-cut answer on where to use the BOF keywords.

Possible questions to visualize your leads at the BOF

In addition, here are some questions you may ask as you visualize your leads arriving at the bottom of the funnel:

1. Where is this lead coming from? From your email campaign, Google/Facebook Ads remarketing, etc? In other words, what is the source and medium before the lead arrives at the bottom of the funnel?

2. What was their need or problem before they arrived at the bottom of the funnel? Is this also the appropriate content, email, landing page, or ad concerning their need and problem?

3. What would be the most appropriate keywords to address that specific need? 

4. Can you turn these bottom-of-funnel keywords into calls to action? Where else can you use them in the email, landing page, ad copy, etc.?

5. How can you strengthen the value of your bottom-of-funnel keywords? Can they go along with the following context:
   • Testimonials and reviews
   • Webinars and courses
   • Discounts and coupons
     
   • Social proof
   • Call to action
     
   • Awards and recognitions

Depending on how and where you’ll use these bottom-of-funnel keywords, sometimes CPC and paid difficulty as metrics may also matter. Ex. Remarketing ads. 

In many cases, landing pages also use noindex to ensure that only warm leads make it to the bottom of the funnel. Then you won’t have to worry about those metrics. Ex. a lead from an email marketing funnel automation from Top to Middle to Bottom of the funnel. 

Suppose your landing page is indexable to get organic traffic from those ready to purchase your product or service based on search intent. In that case, you may heavily consider the search volume and SEO difficulty as metrics.

Bottom of the funnel metrics

Finally, you need to track the progress of bottom-of-funnel keywords. 

The beauty of the bottom of the funnel is that the metrics are really straightforward. And this is actually what matters for your business in the end.

What is your goal? 

Is it to generate leads? If yes, this could be the number of human signups via your form. 

Is it sales? Then, the metric could be the number of purchases or subscriptions. It can also be revenue (if applicable).

Is it to book an appointment or call? Then, it’s the actual call or appointment.

Rinse and repeat

How can you improve your bottom-of-funnel keywords? Which ones are actually converting? 

Constantly monitor and tweak your BOF keywords. Monitor also your approach and how you can improve it.

Conclusion

As you progress through preparing and implementing your bottom-of-funnel keywords, you can further expand on all of the above. 

Above all, I prefer simplifying the process to make it as efficient as possible while maintaining effectiveness.