The 9 Things Your Parents Taught You About Content Marketing Funnel

A Content Marketing Funnel Explained

A content marketing funnel can help potential customers learn about your brand, discover solutions to their problems and become confident in purchasing from you. Content is best suited for every stage of the funnel.

Infographics, videos and checklists are effective in attracting attention, generating leads and keeping readers engaged. Templates and guides that are gated perform well in this stage.

Awareness

At this stage, consumers are simply aware of your brand and the solutions you offer. This stage is where content is created to educate and inform prospects about the problems that your solution addresses and also the differences from competitors.

To understand your content gaps at this point, think about the different types of keywords your audience uses to browse online. By conducting keyword research, you will find the terms your target audience is searching for and which suggest a need for your product or service. These data can be used to build a content calendar and decide the content pieces that are specifically targeted to these terms.

Additionally producing content for this part of the funnel will help you build your brand's affinity with customers. If your customers are more informed about your brand, they'll trust you more in your ability solve their issues. This results in greater conversion rates, whether that's purchase orders, newsletter sign-ups or click-throughs to your website.

A well-executed strategy for content will help you close this gap in conversion. For example, if you discover that the majority of your content is targeted at gaining awareness, but not enough of it is influencing buyers towards a purchase decision, you could increase spending on advertising campaigns to target keywords in the middle of the funnel.

Social media is another way to increase your bottom-of funnel conversion. Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook allow you to interact directly with your customers and give you the opportunity to show off your customer service. This can range from tweeting good reviews to promoting special offers.

You can also make use of existing content to push customers to the bottom of the funnel, such as blog posts or case studies. If you write a blog article explaining why your product is superior to a competitor's you can share it on social media and ask your readers to sign up for your email list to get more information. You can also encourage conversions at this stage by asking users to tag you on their social media posts once they have used your product. This will motivate other people to do the same, and will help spread the word about the brand.

Inquiry

A successful content marketing strategy includes the use of a variety of types of content to attract customers throughout the funnel. For example the brand awareness campaigns could contain ads, but they should also include blog posts and infographics that provide answers to common issues and objections. These pieces of content can be shared via email and social media to boost organic traffic.

As consumers progress through the decision-making process, they begin looking for specific product features that will help them make the purchase decision. This is a great time to create FAQ pages. Use keyword research tools like Ubersuggest or search popular industry hashtags to find the questions your readers are asking. Then, craft answers to these questions and then place them in your content funnel map.

At this point, it's important to provide a clear value proposition that demonstrates to prospective customers how your product or service can solve their issue and make them more money. This content should also highlight the distinctiveness of your brand compared to that of your competitors.

This is an easy stage to measure because the consumer is making a purchase decision. To determine whether you're getting it accomplished, look for metrics such as conversion rate or the number of payments made and click-through rates.

As consumers reach the stage of advocacy your brand becomes increasingly important to them. They will be sharing your content with their friends because they feel so passionate about it. This is a highly effective way to grow your audience. You'll need to create content that encourages people to share it, instead of simply looking at engagement metrics. Use Sprout Social, for example to track social shares that result from your content marketing efforts. This will give you an accurate picture of your influence.

Decision Making

At the point of making a decision, people are looking for content that confirms their purchase and outlines how to utilize the product. At this stage they want to be certain that the product will solve their problem and justify the cost. High-quality content is important at this point, such as product guides video, case studies, and customer success stories. Your customers want to have questions answered and get answers from your support staff. Offering them personalized emails and 24/7 customer support is a great way to please your customers and encourage them to share their experience with others.

You're hoping that by this point, the customer will be an advocate for your brand and promote it to their friends and co-workers. To turn these advocates into rave customers, you'll be required to provide them with relevant information that will help them make the most of your product or service. Personalized newsletters videos, tutorials free trial offers and loyalty programs are excellent methods to achieve this.

It's time to begin focusing on the retention of your audience after it has turned from leads into paying clients. The conventional content marketing funnel models tend to view revenue as the conclusion of the journey, however it's crucial to remember that customers will continue to engage with brands after they have made a purchase. It's essential to think of a funnel as a dynamic model that includes revenue, not an unchanging model.

While conventional content marketing funnels can help you plan your strategy, they don't account for the complexities of the buyer's journey. Instead thinking of the funnel in a loop model will assist you in developing an effective and holistic content marketing strategy. By planning for every step of the process you'll be able create content that will engage your audience and generate conversions. You can then use the data from conversions to optimize and test your strategy. Are you ready to see the difference that this strategy can make to your company? Contact us today to request a free content marketing playbook.

Retention

A content marketing content strategist funnel can be a valuable tool to help brands plan, execute and measure their strategy. It will also help them determine the areas where they are lacking in their strategy. If a brand has lots of content targeted at generating the public's attention but only few pieces aimed at middle of funnel, it should create linkedin content marketing specifically for this stage.

Utilize tools such as Ahrefs, which examine the average time on page and bounce rates of each piece to determine how targeted your content is. The higher these numbers are, the more efficient your content.

It's crucial to regularly keep up-to-date and relevant the content you create to ensure that you are at the top of your funnel. This will ensure that your audience is engaged and interested in your brand and the products or services it offers. This can be accomplished by creating new content which is focused on keywords, addresses questions that your target audience is likely to search for, and provides the most current information about your business or product.

As your audience enters MOFU, they will be looking for more information about your product or services, as well as solutions to their problems. It's important to build trust by providing honest reviews and demonstrating your worth.

The final step of the funnel for content marketing is where your audience will make a purchase decision. This is typically done via gated content that requires an email address or some other method of registration to gain access. The content is designed to convert the interest and awareness you've created at the top of your funnel into qualified leads. Your sales team can follow up.

You can still influence the journeys of your customers through your brand, even though your support and sales teams are the primary ones responsible for customer retention. Create content that will delight your customers throughout the entire process of content marketing. This could include helpful information, behind-the-scenes details and special deals that only your customers have access to. When you can foster loyalty with your audience they'll be able to serve as genuine advocates for your product and naturally reduce your sales cycle time.