A Content Marketing Funnel Explained
A content marketing funnel helps potential customers discover more about your company help them solve their problems and feel confident to buy from you. Different types of content are more effective at each stage of the funnel.
Infographics, videos and checklists are effective in getting attention, creating leads and keeping readers interested. Gated content, like templates and guides works well at this stage.
Awareness
At this stage, consumers are aware that your brand exists. They are also aware of the solutions you provide. This is where the content is created to educate potential customers and inform them about the challenges your solution solves and its distinct features from competitors.
Take note of the keywords your customers use when searching online. Using keyword research, you can figure out which terms your audience is searching for that suggest the need for your product or service. These information can be used to create an editorial calendar and determine the content pieces that are designed to target these keywords.
Additionally producing content for this stage of the funnel helps to build brand loyalty with consumers. The more people learn about your brand, the more trust they'll have in the ability of your company to solve their issues. This will result in higher conversion rates for newsletter signups and purchases and click-throughs on your website.
A well-planned content strategy can also help you close the gap in conversion at this stage. For example, if you find that the vast majority of your content is aimed at educating, but not enough is helping buyers make a purchase decision, you can increase spending on advertising campaigns to focus on middle-funnel keywords.
Another way to increase your bottom-of-funnel conversion is through social media. Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook permit you to communicate directly with your customers, giving you the chance to show your customer service. This could include anything from retweeting good reviews to promoting exclusive offers.
You can also make use of existing content to draw buyers to the bottom of the funnel like blog posts or case studies. If you write a blog post that explains why your product is superior to a competitor's you can share it on social media and invite your readers to sign up for your email list to receive more information. best content marketing tool SICK SEO can also encourage a conversion at this stage by asking your customers to include your name in their social media posts after they have used your product. This will motivate others to do the same and spread the word about your company.
Consideration
A good content marketing strategy should include a mix of content types to capture consumers at every stage of the funnel. Brand awareness campaigns, for example, might include ad copy as well as blog posts and infographics that address common concerns and objections. This content could be further shared via social media or email to increase organic traffic.
As consumers move through the consideration stage and begin to look for specific features of products that will assist them make a purchase decision. Frequently asked questions (FAQ) pages are an excellent content type for this stage. Use keyword research tools like Ubersuggest or search popular hashtags for your industry to find people who are asking. Create answers to these questions and then place them in your content funnel map.
At this point it is essential to present a clear value proposition that shows potential customers the way your product or service can solve their problems and earn them more money. The content should also emphasize your brand's uniqueness compared to your competitors.
This is a relatively simple step to measure, as consumers are making a decision whether they want to buy. Consider metrics like conversion rate, payment numbers and click-through rates to see if your efforts are working.
When consumers reach the point of advocacy, your brand is becoming more and more important to them. They will be sharing your content with their friends because they are so passionate about it. This is a powerful way to grow your audience. But you'll have to focus on creating content that inspires people to share it, instead of focusing on only engagement metrics. Use Sprout Social, for example to track the number of shares on social media as a result of your marketing efforts with content. This will give you a clear image of your impact.
Decision
In the final phase, people are looking for documents that support their purchase and outlines how to utilize the product. At this point, they need to know that your solution solves their issue and make the investment worthwhile. At this point it is essential to provide high-quality content, such as product guides as well as case study videos and customer success tales are crucial. Customers also want to be capable of asking questions and receive answers from your support team. Offering them personalized emails and 24/7 customer service is a great way to please your customers and encourage them to share their experiences with others.
You hope that at this point the customer will become an advocate for your brand and spread the word about it to their colleagues and friends. To convert these advocates to raving customers, you will need to provide them valuable content that helps them get the most from your product or service. Personalized newsletters videos, tutorials, free trial offers, and loyalty programs are great methods to achieve this.
It's time to focus on the retention of your audience after it has transformed from leads to paying customers. Content marketing funnels usually concentrate on revenue as the end goal. However, consumers will continue to interact and interact with brands even after they have made an purchase. For this reason, it's crucial to think of the funnel as a loop model rather than a static structure that ends with revenue.
While conventional content marketing funnels can help you plan your strategy, they don't account for the complexities of the buyer journey. Instead thinking of the funnel in loop models can help you create an effective and holistic content marketing strategy. By planning for each stage of the process you'll be able to create content that will engage your audience and increase conversions. You can then utilize the data from conversions to enhance and test your strategy. Are you ready to discover how this approach will benefit your company? Contact us today to request a free content marketing playbook!
Retention
A funnel for content marketing is a helpful tool that can help brands plan their strategy, execute it, and measure its effectiveness. It can also assist them in identifying the areas where they are lacking in their approach. For instance when a company has a large amount of content that is geared towards awareness and interest, but few pieces aimed at the middle of the funnel, they should prioritize creating content that is targeted at this stage.
Utilize tools such as Ahrefs that analyze the average time spent on the page and bounce rate of each piece to determine how specialized your content is. The higher these numbers, the better performing your content.
Once you've created content that will be at the top of your funnel for marketing content, it's important to keep it fresh and relevant. This will ensure that your audience is engaged and interested in your brand and its products or services. The best way to do this is to create fresh content that focuses on certain keywords, provides answers to questions that are likely being searched by your audience and includes the most recent information on your industry or product.
When your customers enter MOFU, they will be seeking out more information about your products or services, as well as solutions to their issues. It's also important to build trust by providing honest reviews and demonstrating your worth.
The final step of the funnel for content marketing is when your customers will make a purchase decision. This is done by gated content, which requires an email or another form of registration to 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 will then follow to follow up.
While customer retention largely falls to your support and sales teams, you can still be a part of the customer's experience with your brand by creating content that entices them throughout the entire content marketing funnel. This could include helpful information, behind-the-scenes information and special offers that only your customers have access to. If you can build trust with your customers, they'll serve as authentic advocates for your product and naturally help reduce your sales cycle times.