Tactics for Nurturing Leads in Mid-Funnel Marketing

Most marketers care a lot about getting new leads or closing deals, but there’s a huge opportunity right in the middle: mid funnel marketing. This is where your leads know who you are, but they’re still weighing their options. If you can win them over here, you’ll move deals faster, grow your pipeline, and convert more without pushing too hard.

This blog will help break down what mid funnel marketing looks like today and how you can make it work for your company.

What Is Mid Funnel Marketing?

Mid funnel marketing is all about the in-between stage. Your leads have shown interest, maybe by downloading something, but they’re not quite ready to buy.

Your job is to help them feel confident moving forward. This is the phase where you focus on educating, building trust, and showing them why you’re the right choice.

Typical goals in this stage:

• Turn Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) into Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)

• Use smarter lead scoring and segmentation

• Speed up the buying process by answering questions early

Position your brand as the go-to resource

Before you dive into tactics, it helps to zoom out.

Our guide, The BowTie Model: How & When to Pull the 4 Levers of Revenue Growth, shows you how to pinpoint the exact lever—Conversion, Volume, Retention, or Deal Size—that will actually move the needle in your funnel.

Whether you're trying to qualify better leads or speed up deal cycles, this model helps you focus your mid-funnel efforts where they’ll have the biggest impact. 

Get the guide 👇

How Demand Gen Fits In

Mid funnel marketing is a focused part of demand generation. While the top of the funnel builds awareness, the middle is where leads get serious about their choices.

You’re helping them:

• Understand your value

• Overcome doubts or hesitations

• Learn from other customers’ experiences

• Stay connected with your sales team

Mid Funnel Content That Drives Action

Let’s look at the best content types for this stage and how to use them.

1. Blog Content with Real Value

Your leads want answers. Create blogs that:

• Compare your solution with competitors

• Break down helpful frameworks

• Answer niche or complex questions

2. Comparison Guides and Product Pickers

These tools help your leads weigh their options, while you get to highlight what makes you better.

Include:

• Honest comparisons with other players

• Pros and cons that speak to your audience

• Clear CTAs for demos or free trials

3. Case Studies That Feel Relatable

Case studies are perfect for the mid-funnel stage. Just skip the usual marketing fluff.

Instead, show:

• The challenge your customer faced

• What you actually did (in simple steps)

• Real numbers and outcomes

• Why this matters for someone just like your lead

4. White Papers and Reports That Teach

If your solution is more complex, offer deeper dives that educate your leads.

• Quick summaries for email follow-up

• Key points turned into social posts

• Interactive versions 

5. Lead Magnets People Actually Want

Skip the generic checklists. Focus on useful tools your leads can actually use:

• Templates

• Frameworks

• Step-by-step toolkits

• Quizzes to assess readiness or gaps

Mid Funnel Marketing in Action

Let’s walk through what real execution looks like.

Smart Retargeting

You’re not necessarily trying to grab attention, you’re just reminding leads why they were interested in the first place.

• Show content based on what they already looked at

• Use testimonials and videos to build trust

• Tailor ads by industry, role, or pain point

Email Nurtures That Don’t Feel Like Spam

Your emails should feel helpful, not robotic.

A good nurture series:

1. Calls out the problem

2. Offers a method or framework

3. Backs it up with proof

4. Invites them to learn more (not just "buy now")

Using Social for Trust, Not Just Awareness

At this stage, use social to build credibility.

• Highlight customer wins

• Share review site quotes

• Give behind-the-scenes insights, like how onboarding works

  Allbound strategies ensure leads are influenced by every part of your GTM engine—not just marketing 👇
  

Sales Enablement at the Mid-Funnel Stage

Marketing and sales should be aligned here. Help your sales team with:

• One-pagers tailored to buyer personas

• Content that handles common objections

• Tools like calculators or checklists that help justify purchase

  
  

The Metrics That Matter

Don’t just measure how many leads enter the funnel. Look at:

• How deep they engage with content (scroll depth, downloads)

• Lead quality (fit and engagement score)

• How fast they move through stages

• Influence on pipeline and revenue

• Email performance and conversion paths

Why Mid Funnel Marketing Deserves More Attention

Top-of-funnel gets you on the radar. Bottom-of-funnel gets the deal signed. But mid funnel? That’s where decisions start forming.

Invest in this stage and you:

• Build real trust

• Speed up sales

• Set yourself apart from competitors