A Content Marketing Funnel Explained
A funnel for content marketing can help potential customers learn about your company, find solutions to their issues, and feel confident about buying from you. Different kinds of content work best for each stage of the funnel.
Infographics, videos and checklists are effective at attracting attention, generating leads and keeping readers interested. Gated content, such as templates and guides, also works well at this stage.
Awareness
At this point, consumers are aware that your brand exists. They are also aware of the solutions you provide. This stage is where content is designed to educate and inform potential customers about the problems that your solution addresses and its distinct features from competitors.
Think about the keywords your audience uses when searching online. Keyword research can be used to determine the terms your audience uses when searching online. This will assist you in determining whether your product or service is needed. These data can be used to create a content calendar and then decide which content pieces should be designed to target these keywords.
In addition, creating content for this stage of the funnel helps you build your brand's affinity with your customers. If your customers are aware about your brand, they'll have more faith in your ability solve their issues. This results in higher conversion rates for newsletter signups and purchases as well as clickthroughs on your website.
A well-planned strategy for content can also aid in closing this gap in conversion. If, for instance you find that most of your content is targeted at raising awareness, but not enough influences buyers to make a purchase decision, you may increase the amount you spend on ads that target middle-funnel keyword phrases.
Another method to increase the bottom-of-the-funnel sales conversion is by using social media. Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook allow you to interact directly with your customers, giving you the opportunity to show off your customer service. This could include anything from retweeting good reviews to promoting special deals.
You can also make use of existing content to lure buyers into the bottom-of-funnel like blog posts or case studies. For instance, if you write a blog post explaining why your product is better than a competitor's, you can share it on social media and ask readers to subscribe to your mailing list to receive more information. You can also encourage conversion at this point by asking your audience to include your name in their social media posts after they have used your product. This will inspire other users to do the same and spread the word about the brand.
Then there is the consideration
A well-planned content strategy should consist of a variety types that attract customers at every stage of the funnel. Brand awareness campaigns, for instance, might include ad copy, but also blog posts and infographics that address common objections and concerns. The content can then be shared via social media and email to increase organic traffic.
As buyers move through the process of considering, they start looking for specific characteristics of products that will assist them make a buying decision. This is the perfect time to make use of FAQ pages. Use tools for keyword research like Ubersuggest or Google search for popular hashtags in your industry to find questions that your readers ask. Create answers to these questions and then put them on your content funnel map.
At this point it is essential to present an unambiguous value proposition that demonstrates to potential customers how your product or service will solve their issue and make them more money. The content should also emphasize the distinctiveness of your brand in comparison to the brands of your competition.
This is an easy stage to measure because the customer is making a purchase. Examine metrics such as conversion rate, payment figures and click-through rates to determine whether your efforts are producing results.
When consumers reach the advocacy phase they become loyal fans of your brand. They also share your content because they feel so strongly 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 entices people to share, rather than focusing on purely engagement metrics. Consider using a tool like Sprout Social to track the social shares that result from your content marketing efforts. This will give you a much more accurate view of the impact you have.
Decision Making
In the final phase consumers are seeking documents that support their purchase and provides instructions on how to use the product. At this point, they want to know that your solution will solve their issue and will make their investment worth it. High-quality content is important at this point, including product guides, case studies, videos, and customer success stories. Customers also want to be able to ask questions and receive answers from your support team. It's a great way to impress your customers and encourage them by sharing their experiences.
You're hoping that at this stage the customer will turn into an advocate for your brand and will promote it to their friends and co-workers. To turn these advocates into enthusiastic customers, you'll have to provide them with valuable content that helps them make the most of your product or service. Personalized newsletters tutorial videos and free trial offers and loyalty programs are great methods to achieve this.
It's time to start focusing on the retention of your audience after it has turned from leads into paying customers. The standard funnel for content marketing models tend to view revenue as the conclusion of the journey, but it's crucial to keep in mind that consumers will continue to interact with brands even after they've purchased. It is crucial to redefine funnels as a dynamic model that incorporates revenue, instead of static models.
While traditional funnels for marketing content can help you plan your strategy but they don't take into account the complexity of the buyer journey. Reimagining the content marketing funnel as a circular model will help you develop an integrated strategy. By planning for every step of the process you'll be able to develop content that will engage your audience and drive conversions. Then, you can use the data from these conversions to optimize your strategy and make sure that it's working. Are you ready to discover how this approach will benefit your company? Contact us today to request a complimentary Content marketing playbook!
Retention
A funnel for content marketing can be a powerful tool to help brands plan, execute and measure their strategy. It can also assist them in identifying the gaps in their strategy. For instance the case where a brand has a lot of content geared toward increasing awareness and generating interest, but a small amount targeted towards 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 on-target your content is is to utilize tools such as Ahrefs to analyze the average time on page and bounce rate of each piece. The higher the number, the better performing your content.
After you've put together content that will be at the top of your content marketing funnel, it's important to keep it up-to-date and relevant. This will keep your customers interested in your brand, its products and services. This can be accomplished by creating content that focuses on keywords, answers questions that your target audience is likely to search for, and provides the latest information regarding your industry or product.
When ai-powered content marketing enters MOFU, they will be looking for more information about your products or services, as well as solutions to their issues. In this moment, it's important to build trust by providing honest reviews and demonstrating the value.
The final phase of the content marketing funnel is when your customers will make a purchase decision. This is typically done via restricted content that requires an email address or some other method of registration to access. The purpose of this content is to transform the interest and awareness you've cultivated at the top of your funnel for content marketing into leads that are qualified for your sales team to follow up with.
While customer retention largely falls in the hands of your support and sales teams, you can have an impact on the customer's experience with your brand by creating content that entices them throughout the entire content marketing funnel. This could include helpful resources, behind-the scenes information and special offers that only your audience will have access to. If you can create a sense of trust with your customers, they'll serve as authentic advocates for your brand and reduce your sales cycle times.