The Ugly Reality About Content Marketing Funnel

A Content Marketing Funnel Explained

A funnel for marketing content helps potential customers learn more about your brand, solve their problems and be confident about buying from you. Different types of content work better at every phase of the funnel.

At the top of the funnel informational videos, infographics and checklists attract attention, create leads, and keep readers engaged. Gated content, like templates and guides performs well at this stage.

Awareness

At this point, customers are simply aware that your brand exists and the services you offer. This is the stage where content is designed to educate potential customers and inform them about the issues your solution solves as well as its differences from competitors.

Take note of the keywords your customers use when searching online. By conducting keyword research, you can find the terms your target customers are searching for that suggest an interest in your product or service. This information can then be used to develop an editorial calendar and determine which content pieces will target those terms.

In addition, creating content for this phase of the funnel can help to build brand loyalty with your customers. The more consumers learn about your brand, the more trust they'll have in the ability of your company to solve their issues. This results in higher conversion rates, whether that's subscriptions to newsletters, purchases or click-throughs to your website.

A well-planned strategy for content can assist in closing the gap in conversion. For example, if you find that the vast majority of your content is targeted at educating, but not enough is pushing buyers toward the purchase decision, you can increase your advertising budget to target middle-funnel keywords.

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

You can also make use of existing content to lure buyers to the bottom of the funnel like blog posts or case studies. If you write a blog article explaining why your product is superior to the competition's you can share it on social media and ask your readers to join your email list to receive more information. You can also encourage conversion in this stage by asking your followers 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.

Inquiry

A well-planned content marketing strategy incorporates various types of content to attract customers throughout the funnel. Brand awareness campaigns, for example could include ad copy, but also blog posts and infographics addressing common objections and concerns. This content could be further shared via social media and emails to drive organic traffic.

As buyers move through the process of considering, they start looking for specific characteristics of products that will help them to make a purchasing decision. Frequently asked questions (FAQ) pages are an excellent content type to use in this phase. Use tools for keyword research such as Ubersuggest or search popular industry hashtags to find the people who are asking. Develop answers to these questions, and then place them on your content funnel map.

At this point, it's important to provide a clear value proposition that demonstrates to potential customers how your product or service can solve their problems and earn them more money. The content should also emphasize your brand's distinctiveness in comparison to your competition.

This is a relatively simple stage to measure, since consumers are making a choice whether or not to purchase. To determine whether you're getting the job done, look for indicators like conversion rates, number of payments and click-through rates.

When consumers reach the advocacy phase they become loyal fans of your brand and are more likely to share your content because they feel strongly 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, instead of focusing solely on engagement metrics. You might want to consider using a tool like Sprout Social to track the social shares that result from your content marketing efforts. This will give you a more precise picture of your impact.

Decision

At the point of making a decision the buyers are looking for documents that support their purchase and provides instructions on how to use the product. At this point, they need to know that your product solves their issue and will make their investment worthwhile. It is crucial to have high-quality content at this point, including product guides video, case studies, and customer success stories. Your customers want to be able ask questions and receive answers from your support staff. Offering them customized emails and 24 hour customer support is a great way to delight customers and encourage them to share their experiences with others.

At this point, you're hoping that the customer will become a brand ambassador and will recommend your product to their friends and colleagues. To convert these advocates into enthusiastic customers, you'll be required to provide them with relevant content that allows them to gain the most value from your product or service. Personalized newsletters tutorial videos, free trial offers, and loyalty programs are all great methods to achieve this.

It's time to focus on retention after your audience has changed from leads to paying customers. The traditional funnel for content marketing models tend to view revenue as the end of the journey, but it is important to remember that customers will continue to interact with brands even after they have made a purchase. It's crucial to reimagine the funnel as a dynamic model that includes revenue, rather than a static model.

The standard funnels for content marketing can be useful in making your plan however they do not take into consideration the complexity of the buyer's journey. Reimagining the funnel of content marketing as a circular model can assist you in creating an overall strategy. By planning for each stage of the process, you'll be able to develop content that will engage your audience and increase conversions. You can then use the data from conversions to enhance and test your strategy. Are you ready to see how this approach will benefit your company? Contact us today to request a complimentary content marketing guidebook.

Retention

A content marketing funnel is a helpful tool that can help brands develop their strategy, execute it and evaluate its success. It can also help them identify the gaps in their strategy. For example, if a brand has a significant amount of content targeted at generating increasing awareness and generating interest, but few pieces aimed at the middle of the funnel, they should be focusing on creating content that is targeted at this stage.

One of the best ways to gauge how targeted your content is is to use tools like Ahrefs to determine the average time spent on page and bounce rate of each piece. The higher these numbers are the better your content is performing.

It is essential to keep up-to-date and relevant the content you create 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. This can be accomplished by creating new content that is focused on keywords, addresses questions that your audience is likely to look for, and provides current information about your product or industry.

When your target audience enters MOFU the audience will be looking for more information about your products or services, as well as solutions to their issues. At this stage it is crucial to establish trust by offering honest reviews and demonstrating the value.

The final step of the funnel for content marketing is when your customers will make a purchase. This is usually done through gated content that requires an email address or other form of registration in order to gain access. This content is designed to convert the interest and awareness you've created at the top of your funnel into qualified leads. Your sales team will then follow to follow up.

You can still influence the journeys of your customers through your brand, even though your support and sales teams are primarily responsible for customer retention. Create content that delights your customers throughout the entire funnel of content marketing. This could include useful resources, behind-the-scenes information and special promotions that only your customers be able to access. If you can build trust to your customers, they will become your best advocates and will help you reduce your sales cycle.