A Content Marketing Funnel Explained

A content marketing funnel is a way to assist potential customers to learn about your company, find solutions to their problems and then feel comfortable buying from you. Different types of content are more effective in each stage of the funnel.

At the top of the funnel, infographics, videos, and checklists draw attention, generate leads, and keep customers interested. Gated content, such as templates and guides, also is effective at this point.

Awareness

At this point, consumers know that your brand exists. They are also aware of the solutions you provide. This is the stage where content is created to educate and inform potential customers about the problems that your solution addresses as well as its differences from competitors.

Consider the keywords that your audience uses when searching online. You can conduct keyword research to determine the terms your target audience is using when searching online. This will aid you in determining if your product or service is in demand. These information can be used to build a content calendar and decide the content pieces that are targeted at these terms.

As a bonus producing content for this phase of the funnel can help you build your brand affinity with your customers. If your customers are aware about your brand, they'll have greater confidence in your ability to solve their issues. This leads to higher conversion rates for newsletter signups and purchases as well as clickthroughs on your website.

A well-planned and executed content strategy can assist in closing the gap in conversion at this stage. If, for instance you observe that the majority of your content is targeted at raising awareness, but nothing influence consumers to make a buying decision, you may increase the amount you spend on ads that target middle-funnel keyword phrases.

Social media is a different way to boost your bottom-of-the-funnel conversion. Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook let you interact directly with your customers, providing you an opportunity to showcase your customer service. This can include everything from retweeting reviews to promoting special offers.

You can also make use of existing content to push buyers to the bottom of the funnel like blog posts or case studies. If you write a blog article explaining the reasons why your product is superior to that of a competitor, you can share it via social media and ask your customers to join your email list to receive more details. You can also encourage conversions at this stage by asking users to tag you on their social media posts after they've used your product. This will inspire other users to follow suit and spread the word about the brand.

Inquiry

A good content marketing strategy includes various types of content to engage customers at every stage of the funnel. For instance, brand awareness campaigns might include ads but they should also feature blog posts and infographics that provide answers to common issues and objections. These pieces of content can be distributed via email and social media to increase organic traffic.

As consumers progress through the decision-making process they begin to search for specific features of the product which will assist them in making the purchase decision. Frequently asked questions (FAQ) pages are a great content type for this phase. Use tools for keyword research like Ubersuggest or search for popular hashtags within your industry to discover questions that your readers ask. Create answers to these questions and then put them on your content funnel map.

In this phase, it's crucial to provide an unambiguous proposition that shows how your product or services can solve their problems and earn them more money. The content should also demonstrate the uniqueness of your brand compared to that of your competitors.

This is a simple stage to measure because the consumer is making a decision to buy. To see whether you're getting the job done, look for metrics like conversion rate or the number of payments made and click-through rates.

As they reach the advocacy stage your brand becomes more and more important to them. They will share your content with friends because they are so enthusiastic about it. This is a powerful method to increase the number of people who follow your brand. But you'll need to concentrate on creating content that inspires people to share, instead of focusing on only engagement metrics. You might want to consider using a tool such as Sprout Social to track the social shares that result from your content marketing efforts. This will give you a more accurate picture of your impact.

Decision Making

They are looking for content in the decision-making process that substantiates the purchase and describes how to make use of the product. At this point they want to make certain that your product will solve their issue and justify the investment. Quality content is essential at this stage, including product guides, case studies, videos and customer stories of success. Customers also want to be able to ask questions and receive answers from your support team. Offering them personalized emails and round-the-clock customer support is a great way to please your customers and encourage them to share their experiences with others.

You're hoping that by this point, the customer will become an advocate for your brand and spread the word about it to their friends and co-workers. In order to convert those who are advocates to raving fans you'll be required to provide them with relevant content that will help them make the most of your product or service. Personalized newsletters, tutorial videos free trial offers and loyalty programs are excellent methods to achieve this.

After your audience has changed from leads into paying customers, it's time to focus on retention. The standard funnel for content marketing models tend to view revenue as the conclusion of the process, however it's crucial to keep in mind that consumers will continue to engage with brands after they have made a purchase. It's essential to think of the funnel as a dynamic structure that incorporates revenue, not a static model.

While conventional content marketing funnels can help you develop your strategy however, they do not take into account the complexity of the buyer journey. Reimagining the funnel of content marketing content examples as circular models will help you develop an integrated strategy. By planning for every stage of the journey you'll be able to create content that is engaging your audience and drive 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 complimentary content marketing playbook!

Retention

A funnel for content marketing can be a powerful instrument to aid brands in planning and implement their strategy. It can also give them insight into the gaps in their strategy for content that need to be filled. For example when a company has a lot of content targeted at generating increasing awareness and generating interest, but a small amount targeted towards the middle of the funnel, they should be focusing on creating content geared towards this stage.

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

It's important to keep up-to-date the content you write to ensure that you are at the top of your funnel. This will ensure that your audience remains engaged and curious about your brand and its products or services. This can be achieved by creating new content which is focused on key words, addresses questions your audience is likely to search for, and highlights current information about your product or industry.

When your target audience enters MOFU the audience will be looking for more details about your product or services as well as solutions to their problems. It's important business to business content Marketing build confidence by giving honest reviews and demonstrating the value of your product.

The final stage of the funnel for content marketing is where your audience will make a purchase. This is typically done via gated content that requires an email address or some other form of registration in order to access. This content is designed to turn the engagement and awareness that you've created at the top of your funnel into qualified leads. Your sales team will then follow to follow up.

While customer retention is largely to your sales and support teams, you can influence the journeys of your customers your brand by creating content that delights them throughout the entire marketing funnel. This could include helpful information, behind-the-scenes details and Text special offers that only your audience has access to. If you can build trust among your audience they'll be able to serve as genuine advocates for your product and naturally aid in reducing your sales cycle time.