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15-minute read
What Is Content Marketing Funnel?
Knowing how to use a content marketing funnel is crucial if you want to connect with your customers and keep them hooked.
In this article, I'll go over everything you need to know about the content marketing funnel, from why it matters to how to measure its success. You'll be ready to take your business to the next level in no time.
What is a content marketing funnel?
A content marketing funnel is a strategy that guides potential customers from initial awareness of a product to a purchase decision through tailored content at each stage of the customer journey: awareness, consideration, and decision.
For businesses that sell things online, it's really important to know how the content marketing funnel works. When you create and share content that is tailored to each stage of the funnel, you get more people to know about your brand, build relationships with potential customers, and sell even more.
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What are the levels of the content marketing funnel?
So, as you learned, a funnel is a marketing concept that describes the journey a customer goes through before making a purchase.
Content marketing funnel typically consists of four stages, which are awareness, consideration, conversion, and retention. Each stage is crucial in moving the customer closer to the purchase, and you need to understand how to optimize each stage to maximize their sales potential.
Now, let's break each step down.
Top of the funnel — awareness stage
The first step in the content marketing funnel, called the top of the funnel (TOFU), is all about making people aware of your brand and getting them interested in what you have to offer.
At this stage, the goal is to create content that catches the attention of your target audience and makes them want to learn more about your business and what you have to offer.
Middle of the funnel — consideration stage
As prospects move down the content marketing funnel, they enter the consideration stage, also known as the middle of the funnel (MOFU).
At this point, your main goal is to inform your potential customers and engage with those who are considering buying from your brand but haven't made a decision yet.
Here, you need to create content that provides useful information, addresses users’ concerns, and positions your company as a reliable source in your industry.
Your ultimate goal is to give people enough knowledge to make an information-based decision and, of course, turn them into loyal customers.
Bottom of the funnel — conversion stage
The bottom of the funnel (BOFU) is a critical stage in the customer journey. This is where potential customers are ready to make a purchase.
To get people to take action, you need to provide top-notch content that can persuade and motivate them.
Beyond the funnel — retention stage
Once you've got potential customers to become actual clients, the next big thing is to hold onto them. At the retention stage, it's all about building strong relationships with customers and gaining their loyalty.
To keep your clients and customers loyal, you need to provide customers with super valuable content. Which one? Read on to learn.
What content should you create for each funnel stage?
Each stage of the content marketing funnel requires a special type of content that caters to the specific needs and interests of potential customers.
By creating content that addresses these needs, you can guide potential customers through the content marketing funnel and ultimately convert them into paying customers. Therefore, it is important to understand the different stages of the content marketing funnel and create content that aligns with each stage.
Top-of-funnel content
Top-of-funnel content acts as the initial point of interaction between businesses and their potential customers. It is strategically designed to arouse curiosity, generate interest, and establish a strong foundation for future engagement.
Some of the most commonly used types of top-of-funnel content include blog posts, infographics, videos, social media posts, and podcasts.
Here are some effective tips for creating top-of-funnel content:
- Ensure that your content addresses broad topics that are relevant to the interests and pain points of your target audience.
- Use visually appealing elements to capture your audience's attention and encourage them to share your content.
- Provide clear calls-to-action (CTAs) that guide prospects to the next stage of the content marketing funnel. This ensures that they stay engaged and interested in your brand.
Middle-of-funnel content
In the middle of your content marketing funnel, it's important to provide deeper insights and information about your business and offers. This is the stage where prospects are actively considering their options, so it's essential to provide valuable content that educates, builds trust, and establishes credibility.
Engage your prospects by offering solutions to their pain points and by showcasing how your products or services can address their unique challenges.
Incorporate social proof in the form of customer testimonials, reviews, or endorsements. This way, you can bolster your credibility and build trust with prospects.
Bottom-of-funnel content
At the bottom-of-funnel stage, content plays a crucial role in guiding prospects towards taking action and making a purchase.
The focus shifts towards highlighting the unique benefits of the business's offers, addressing any lingering objections, and providing clear pathways to conversion.
To achieve this, businesses can use different content formats, such as product demos, limited-time offers, free trials, and case studies.
Here are some tips for creating effective bottom-of-funnel content:
- Emphasize the features and benefits of your products or services that align with the prospect's needs and pain points.
- Offer incentives such as discounts or bonuses to encourage prospects to take immediate action.
- Simplify the conversion process – remove any friction points and provide seamless user experience.
Beyond funnel content
To ensure that your customers stay loyal to your business, you need to go beyond just making a sale. Retention content is the key to building long-lasting relationships with your customers.
Email marketing, loyalty programs, personalized recommendations, and exclusive content will help you keep your customers engaged and coming back for more.
Here are some tips to help you create effective retention content:
- Get to know your customers by segmenting them based on their behavior, preferences, and purchase history. This will help you deliver personalized experiences that resonate with them.
- Offer value-added content such as how-to guides, tips, and tutorials to help your customers get the most out of their purchase.
- Listen to your customers and actively seek their feedback. This will help you identify areas for improvement and demonstrate your commitment to customer satisfaction. So, start creating retention content today, and watch your customer loyalty soar.
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How do you approach content creation strategically?
If you want to create killer content for your business, blog, or personal brand, it's important to have a solid plan and stay focused on your goals. By doing this, you can ensure that your content has the biggest impact possible. Taking a strategic approach will help you achieve your desired outcomes, no matter what kind of content you're creating.
Stick to a customer-centric content strategy
It is crucial to adopt a customer-centric approach to create impactful content that connects with your audience at every stage of their journey.
By gaining an in-depth understanding of their requirements, preferences, and challenges, businesses can craft content that addresses users’ specific needs and encourages them to take action. This way, you can not only win their loyalty but also pave the way for long-term success.
Make your content SEO-friendly
It’s important to make sure your content is well-perceived by search engines, otherwise, nobody will see your piece of written art. To achieve this, include relevant keywords in your texts.
You can use Rank Tracker to find the best keywords for your copy. To do that, go to the Keyword Research module and choose any (or all of them) keyword research method you like.
Pay attention to the metrics the tool provides: # of Searches and Keyword Difficulty. Try to select keywords with relatively high search volume but low keyword difficulty.
Tip: Use WebSite Auditor to edit your copy
WebSite Auditor has an in-built Content Editor tool for on-page optimization, SEO copywriting, and competitive benchmarking. It helps you create new SEO-friendly content from scratch or edit existing pages, and check out optimization advice tailored for the page based on what's working best for competitors across the SERP.
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Focus on one funnel stage at a time
It's important for businesses not to spread their resources too thin while working on multiple stages of the content marketing funnel. You should prioritize the stage that aligns with your current business objectives and allocate resources accordingly.
This way, you can optimize your efforts and gradually move towards comprehensive content marketing funnel optimization.
Implement retargeting and remarketing strategies
Use retargeting and remarketing tactics to re-engage users who have interacted with your content but haven't yet converted.
This could include displaying targeted ads or sending personalized email follow-ups to encourage users to take the next step in the content marketing funnel.
Iterate and experiment with content formats
Experiment with different content formats and delivery channels to see what resonates best with your audience at each stage of the content marketing funnel.
Test different types of content, such as videos, case studies, infographics, or interactive tools, to keep your audience engaged and motivated to move forward.
How do you drive traffic to your content?
So, driving traffic to your content is super important because, well, you want people to actually see what you're putting out there, right?
One way to get people to your content is through SEO, of course. Basically, it's all about making your website and content more visible when people search for stuff online. You do this by using the right keywords, creating awesome content, and getting other websites to link to yours.
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Then there's social media marketing. By publishing posts and ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (now X), you may reach even more people. Share interesting stuff, run ads, and interact with followers to get them interested in what you offer.
Email marketing is another way of driving traffic to your site. Remember those emails from companies promoting their latest products or giving you special deals. That's email marketing in action. It's a way for you to stay in touch with your audience, send helpful content, and maybe convince them to buy something.
And let's not forget about influencer partnerships. You may team up with those people on social media who have tons of followers to get your products or services in front of a bigger audience.
How do you measure success?
Now, once you've got people coming to your content, you want to know if it's actually working, right? That's where measuring success comes in.
You can start by keeping an eye on your website traffic. You can get this information from Google Analytics or Rank Tracker.
Tip: You can track the performance of the published content in Rank Tracker
To do that, go to the Rank Tracking module and see how your pages rank for certain search terms.
Then, there are engagement metrics. These tell you how people are interacting with your content: how long they're sticking around, if they're bouncing off right away, or if they're clicking links and buttons to see more.
Conversion rates are a big deal, too. This is all about how many people are actually doing what you want them to do: whether it's buying something, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a form.
Don't forget about regular audits and continuous improvement. You need to keep tweaking your content marketing strategies to make sure you're always hitting the mark.
Conclusion
In today's digital world, businesses need to do more than just attract customers
– they need to build lasting relationships with them.
That's where the content marketing funnel comes in, and it's a powerful tool for any business looking to stand out.
By creating targeted content that truly speaks to customers at each stage of the funnel, businesses can not only engage them but also optimize their marketing efforts.
With the help of strategic approaches and insights from analytics, businesses can drive conversions and build strong, long-term connections with their customers.
