A Content Marketing Funnel Explained

A content marketing funnel is a way to let potential customers learn more about your brand, find solutions to their issues, and feel confident about buying from you. Different types of content work better in each phase of the funnel.

At the top of the funnel, infographics, videos, and checklists attract attention, create leads, and keep customers engaged. Guides and templates that are gated work well at this stage.

Awareness

At this stage, consumers are simply aware of the existence of your brand and the solutions you offer. At this point, content is meant to provide information and help prospects about the issues your solution solves, as well as how it differs from competitors.

To understand your content gaps at this stage, you must consider the different types of keywords your target audience uses to search online. You can use keyword research to find out what terms your target audience is using when they search online content marketing. This will aid you in determining if your product or service is required. These data can be used to build a content calendar and then decide which content pieces are specifically targeted to these terms.

The creation of content for this phase of the funnel will also aid in building brand loyalty with your customers. The more your consumers know about your brand, they'll have more faith in your ability to solve their issues. This leads to greater conversion rates, whether that's subscriptions to newsletters, purchases or clickthroughs to your site.

A well-planned and executed content strategy can aid in closing the conversion gap in this stage. If, for instance you observe that the majority of your content is targeted at raising awareness, but not enough influence consumers to make a buying decision, then you could increase your spending on marketing campaigns that target middle-funnel keywords.

Social media is yet another method to boost your bottom-of-the-funnel conversion. Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook let you interact directly with your customers, giving you the opportunity to showcase your customer care. This can range from tweeting good reviews to promoting special offers.

You can also utilize content that already exists to help buyers move through the funnel, like blog posts or case studies. For instance, if write a post about the advantages of your product than one from a competitor, you can post it on social media and ask readers to subscribe to your mailing list for more details. You can also encourage conversion at this stage by asking your customers to include your name in their social media posts after using your product. This will encourage others to follow suit and spread the word about your brand.

Then there is the consideration

A well-planned content strategy marketing strategy should include a variety of content types that attract customers at every stage of the funnel. For example, brand awareness campaigns might include ads but they should also feature blog posts and infographics that address common objections and concerns. These content pieces can be shared via email and social media to boost organic traffic.

As buyers move through the process of considering, they begin looking for specific product features which will assist them in making an informed purchase decision. This is the perfect time to make use of FAQ pages. Utilize tools for keyword research such as Ubersuggest, or search popular hashtags within your industry to discover questions that your audience asks. Create answers to these questions and include them on your content funnel map.

During this stage it is crucial to present an unambiguous proposition that shows the way your product or service will solve their problems and generate more revenue. The content should also emphasize your brand's uniqueness compared to your competition.

This is a relatively simple step to measure, as consumers are making a decision whether they want to buy. Consider metrics like conversion rates, payment numbers and click-through rates to determine whether your efforts are producing results.

As they reach the stage of advocacy your brand is becoming increasingly important to them. They will share your content with friends because they are so passionate about it. This is a highly effective method to increase the number of people who follow your brand. But you'll have to focus on creating content that inspires people to share it, instead of focusing on only engagement metrics. Utilize Sprout Social, for example, to track social shares as a result of your content marketing efforts. This will give you a more accurate picture of the impact you have.

Decision

At the decision stage the buyers are looking for content that confirms the purchase and explains how to utilize the product. At this point, they want to be confident that the solution will resolve their problem and make the investment worth it. At this stage it is essential to provide high-quality content, such as product guides, case study videos, and customer success tales, is essential. Your customers also want to be capable of asking questions and receive answers from your support team. It is a great way to delight your customers and to encourage them to share their experiences.

At this stage you're hoping that the customer will become a brand advocate and will recommend your product to their friends and colleagues. To turn these advocates into enthusiastic customers, you'll be required to provide them with relevant content that allows them to make the most of your product or service. Personalized newsletters, tutorial videos and free trial offers and loyalty programs are all great ways to do this.

It's time to begin focusing on retention after your audience has changed from leads to paying clients. The conventional content marketing funnel models tend to treat revenue as the end of the process, however it's important to remember that consumers continue to engage with brands after they have purchased. Therefore, it's important to reimagine the funnel as a loop model rather than an unchanging structure that ends with revenue.

The standard funnels for content marketing can be useful in making your plan, but they do not consider the complexity of the buyer's journey. Instead, reimagining the funnel as loop models can assist you in developing an effective and more holistic content marketing strategy. By planning for every step of the journey you'll be able develop content that will engage your audience and increase conversions. Then, you can use the information from these conversions to improve your strategy and ensure it is working effectively. Ready to see the difference this approach can make to your company? Contact us today to request a no-cost content marketing guidebook!

Retention

A funnel for content marketing is a useful tool that can assist brands plan their strategy, execute it and measure its success. It can also provide an understanding of the gaps in their strategy for content that need to be filled. For instance, if a brand has a large amount of content that is geared towards the public's attention and interest, but only a few pieces that are geared towards the middle of the funnel, they should prioritize creating content geared towards this stage.

An excellent way to determine how on-target your content is is to utilize tools such as Ahrefs to analyze the average time on the page and bounce rate of each piece. The higher these numbers are, the more effective your content is.

It's important to update and keep relevant the content you write to be at the top of your funnel. This will ensure that your audience remains engaged and curious about your brand and its products or services. The best method to accomplish this is to create fresh content that focuses on specific keywords, answers questions that are likely to be searched by your audience, and highlights the most current information regarding your industry or product.

As your audience steps onto the MOFU stage they'll be seeking more information on your product or service as and ways to resolve their problems. It's important to build confidence by giving honest reviews and demonstrating your worth.

The final step of the content marketing funnel is when your customers will make a purchasing decision. This is usually done through gated content that requires an email address or some other method of registration to access. The purpose of this content is to convert the awareness and engagement that you've cultivated at the top of your funnel for content marketing into qualified leads for your sales team to follow up with.

While customer retention is largely into the hands of your sales and support teams, you can influence the customer's experience with your brand by creating content that delights customers throughout the entire marketing funnel. This can include useful information, behind-the-scenes information, and special offers that only your audience has access to. If you can establish a relationship of trust to your customers, they will be your greatest advocates and will help reduce the time to sell.