Sales Funnel Personalities - What's Your Type?

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Your company blog is a platform to share your expertise and build authority, but it also provides an opportunity to attract leads and convert them into customers. As you develop content for your blog, consider the different stages of the marketing and sales funnel, sometimes referred to as “the buyer’s journey”. One key aspect to this process is defining personality types. Let’s find out what yours is, and why it’s important.

Differentiate Content According To The Buyer’s Stage

The widest part of the funnel is the awareness stage (also referred to as top-of-the-funnel). Site visitors in this stage of the funnel have identified a problem and are searching for information (not necessarily a solution). Therefore, you can attract more leads by producing content that provides information about the identified problem.

As the funnel narrows, leads move into the evaluation/consideration stage (also referred to as middle-of-the-funnel), and these leads are now prospects. People in this stage consider potential solutions to their identified problem. As the funnel narrows even more, prospects move into the decision/purchase stage (also referred to as bottom-of-the-funnel). Here prospects may convert into customers.

An effective content marketing strategy will ensure that appropriate content is available for your audience at each stage of the funnel, effectively guiding them through the journey from lead to prospect to customer.

How good is your content? Contact periscopeUP at (443) 475-07787 or online to learn more about performing a content audit.

Differentiate Content According To The Buyer’s Personality

When developing a content marketing plan, it’s also important to remember that site visitors have different personalities. One piece of content may resonate very differently for visitors in the same stage of the funnel. For this reason, it can be helpful to have several types of content for each stage. Remember: content is not “one size fits all”.

There are many different assessments to define and categorize personality types. One of the most well known is probably the 16-type Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, but there are several more general classifications as well. For this post, we’ll use a simple four groupings indicator (there are several four-type models: DISC, The Four Temperaments, ABCD, etc.) to consider personalities.

Although every potential customer is different, most can be broadly classified into one of four groups. Here are some characteristics of each basic personality style:

Analytical people are organized, detailed, deliberate and sometimes cautious. They enjoy structure and information that is presented logically. This group often avoids commitments, so ungated content can be helpful in attracting and retaining analyticals particularly in the early stages of the funnel.
Drivers are decisive, direct, results-oriented and sometimes demanding. They have a high internal motivation to succeed, and often enjoy the thrill of a challenge. Creating a sense of urgency or scarcity around your content can be helpful in attracting this group. Concise content has the best chance of holding this group’s attention.
Amiable people are dependable, patient and easygoing. They are warm, friendly, empathetic and generally avoid conflict. This group is collaborative, so content that references specific examples of companies or individuals often resonates well.
Expressives are outgoing, animated, energetic and sometimes impulsive. They generate lots of ideas, but may not see them through to completion. This group tends to be most influenced by public opinion, so social proof is very important.

Consider Your Audience’s Personality Types

Of course, many generalizations are made when lumping people into just four basic personality types. In reality, most people’s personalities are made up of traits from each of the four types. In addition, life stage as well as current or past job function may influence the balance of these traits within an individual’s personality. Still, for most people, one of the four types will be dominant. Curious about your own personality type? Take our short five-question quiz:

1. How do you start your day?

A. Check your stats

B. Take a 20-mile bike ride

C. Check your email in case someone on your team needs something

D. Check your social media feed

2. Let’s say it’s lunchtime on Tuesday, what are you most likely to do?

A. Order the same sandwich you get every Tuesday – it’s your favorite.

B. Eat an apple and a protein bar before your next meeting – who has time for lunch?

C, Order the daily lunch special – the deli guy recommend it, and it sounds good.

D. Poll everyone in the office to find out what they’re getting, deliberate between a few choices, and finally select a menu item that you haven’t tried before.

3. The WiFi goes out in your office, what do you do?

A. Set-up a hotspot from your phone.

B. Commandeer a prime seat at the coffee shop next door and work from there for the remainder of the day.

C. Order in lunch and host a team meeting to get some (off-line) internal planning done.

D. Make a couple phone calls to customers and then head home early.

4. Your coworkers would describe you as:

A. Controlled

B. Competitive

C. Considerate

D. Charming

5. Which sounds like the better vacation?

A. A guided tour through Florence

B. Shark cage diving in Australia

C. A flexible ecotour through the Galapagos Islands

D. A beach and dance club adventure in Ibiza

Scoring: Mostly A = Analytical, Mostly B = Driver, Mostly C = Amiable, Mostly D = Expressive

Tailor Content To Both Personality And Buying Stage

By having a variety of different types of content for each stage of the funnel, you’ll create opportunities to engage with a wider audience and increase the likelihood of successfully nudging your audience through the funnel. Here are some content suggestions for each personality type and each stage of the buyer’s journey: