A Content Marketing Funnel Explained A funnel for content marketing helps potential customers discover more about your brand help them solve their problems and be confident about buying from you. Content is more appropriate for each stage of the funnel. At the top of the funnel informational videos, infographics and checklists grab attention, bring in leads, and keep the readers interested. Templates and guides that are gated work very well at this point. Awareness At this point, customers are aware of your brand and the solutions you provide. This is the stage where content is designed to educate potential customers and inform them about the challenges your solution addresses and its distinct features from competitors. Take note of the keywords your audience uses when searching online. By conducting keyword research, you can figure out which terms your audience is searching for and which indicate the need for your product or service. This information can then be used to develop an editorial calendar and determine the types of content that be targeted at those specific terms. In addition creating content for this phase of the funnel will help you build your brand affinity with your customers. The more people learn about your brand, the more trust they'll have in your ability to solve their issues. This results in higher conversion rates, whether it's purchase orders, newsletter sign-ups or click-throughs to your website. A well-planned strategy for content can also help you close this gap in conversion. If, for example, you discover that the majority of your content is targeted at raising awareness, but not enough influence consumers to make a buying decision, then you can increase your spending on ads that target middle-funnel keywords. Social media is another way to increase your bottom-of funnel conversion. Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook let you interact directly with your customers giving you the opportunity to showcase your dedication to customer service. This can include everything from retweeting good reviews to promoting special offers. You can also leverage existing content to draw buyers into the bottom-of-funnel, such as blog posts or case studies. For example, if you write a blog post explaining the advantages of your product than a competitor's and you want to post it on social media and ask readers to subscribe to your mailing list for more information. You can also encourage conversions in this stage by asking users to tag you on their social media posts once they have used your product. This will motivate others to do the same and spread the word about your brand. Consideration A successful content marketing strategy incorporates the use of a variety of types of content to engage customers at every stage of the funnel. For instance, brand awareness campaigns might contain ads, but they should also include blogs and infographics that provide answers to common issues and objections. These pieces of content can be distributed via email or social media to boost organic traffic. As consumers move through the decision-making process and begin to look for specific characteristics of products that will help them to make a purchasing decision. Frequently asked questions (FAQ) pages are a great content type for this phase. Utilize keyword research tools such as Ubersuggest or search for popular hashtags for your industry to find people who are asking. Find answers to these questions and then add them to your content funnel map. In this phase it is crucial to present an unambiguous proposition that demonstrates the way your product or service can solve their problems and generate more revenue. This content should also highlight the distinctiveness of your brand when compared to that of your competitors. This is a relatively easy stage to measure, as consumers are making a choice whether or not to purchase. Look at b2b content marketing agency like conversion rate, payment numbers and click-through rates to determine if your efforts are working. As consumers reach the point of advocacy and become advocates for your brand, it becomes more and more important to them. They will share your content with others because they are so enthusiastic about it. This is a highly effective method to increase the number of people who follow your brand. However, you must focus on creating content that encourages people to share, rather than focusing on purely engagement metrics. Utilize Sprout Social, for example, to track social shares that are a result of your marketing efforts with content. This will give you a much more precise picture of your influence. Decision Making They are looking for content during the decision-making phase that validates the purchase and explains how to use the product. At this point, they need to be confident that the solution will resolve their problem and will make their investment worthwhile. At this stage the need for high-quality content such as product guides as well as case study videos and customer success tales, is essential. Customers also want to be in a position to ask questions and get answers from your support team. It is a great way to impress your customers and to encourage them to by sharing their experiences. You hope that by this point, the customer will turn into an advocate for your brand and promote it to their colleagues and friends. In order to convert these advocates into raving supporters, you'll be required to provide them with useful information that will allow them to make the most of your product or service. Personalized newsletters videos, tutorials, free trial offers, and loyalty programs are excellent methods to achieve this. After your audience has converted from leads into paying customers It's time to concentrate on retention. The traditional funnel for content marketing models tend to see revenue as the conclusion of the process, however it is important to remember that consumers continue to interact with brands after they've completed a purchase. It is crucial to redefine funnels as a dynamic structure that includes revenue, instead of an unchanging model. The conventional content marketing funnels are useful for planning your strategy, but they do not consider the complexity of the buyer's journey. Instead reinventing the funnel as loop models can aid in creating an effective and holistic content marketing strategy. By planning for every stage of the journey you'll be able create content that is engaging your audience and increase conversions. Then, you can use the information from these conversions to enhance your strategy and ensure that it is working effectively. Are you ready to see the difference this approach can bring to your company? Contact us today and request a free content marketing playbook. Retention A content marketing funnel can be a powerful tool for helping brands plan and execute their strategy. It will also help them determine the gaps in their strategy. For example, if a brand has a lot of content geared toward the public's attention and interest, but only a few pieces aimed at the middle of the funnel, they should focus on creating content for this stage. One of the best ways to gauge how targeted your content is is to use tools such as Ahrefs to analyze the average time on page and bounce rate of each piece. The higher these numbers are, the better your content is performing. It's important to keep up-to-date and relevant the content you create to ensure that you are at the top of your funnel. This will keep your customers interested in your brand and its products and services. The best method to accomplish this is to create new content that focuses on specific keywords, answers questions that are likely being sought by your target audience and provides the most current information regarding your industry or product. When your customers enter MOFU the audience will be looking for more information about your product or services, as well as solutions to their issues. It's also important to build trust by giving honest reviews and demonstrating your worth. In the last stage of your content marketing funnel, your customers will decide whether or not to purchase. This is achieved through gated content that requires an email or another form registration to access. The content is designed to convert the awareness and engagement you've created at the top of your funnel into qualified leads. Your sales team can then follow up. You can still influence your customers' journeys through your brand, even if the sales and support teams are primarily responsible for retention of customers. Create content that delights your customers throughout the entire process of content marketing. This could include helpful sources, behind-the-scenes information, and special deals that only your customers have access to. If you can establish a relationship of trust with your audience, then they will be your greatest advocates and will help you reduce the time to sell.
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