You have a beautiful website with great UX design and a blog containing carefully researched keywords.
The traffic comes pouring in, and conversions are bananas.
You get promoted, make a million dollars, and retire early.
Or…
Only a small percentage of your overall traffic is converting, and you can’t figure out why.
The experience of most content marketers in the latter.
Enter the content marketing funnel.
How to understand content marketing funnel phases
Simply put, a content marketing funnel is a framework for marketers to visualize how to move potential customers from becoming aware of their products to converting them into loyal customers.
This process is called the “buyer journey.”
Content marketers’ job is to make the buyer journey as seamless as possible by creating quality content that intentionally leads potential customers toward conversion.
How is this accomplished?
Different marketers have different names for funnel stages, but they ultimately all mean the same thing.
The customer journey begins with awareness of your product or service and ends with a purchase.
Awareness stage: top of the funnel
The “awareness” stage of the buyer journey is called “Top of the Funnel” or ToFu content.
This is where many content marketers put most of their efforts, and it makes sense. ToFu content is usually the most visible, the most shared, and the most produced.
Types of top-of-funnel content include:
- Social media posts
- Email marketing
- Web pages
- Blog posts
- Digital ads
- Podcasts
- AI chatbots
This content is your opportunity to introduce potential buyers to your brand, product, and how you can solve their problems.
Consideration stage: middle of the funnel
The Middle of the Funnel (MoFu) is where you educate your readers about your product, giving them a hands-on experience and a bird’ s-eye view of the value a purchase of your product or service will bring.
It guides potential customers beyond simply being aware that you exist and nurtures them toward a buying decision with more information.
Consideration phase content includes:
- Feature breakdowns and explanations
- Segmented email campaigns
- Research and whitepapers
- Webinars and workshops
- Product demos
- Video tutorials
Conversion stage: bottom of the funnel
The Bottom of the Funnel (BoFu) is where the pivotal decision is made — will the reader buy your product?
Content at this stage should be all about bolstering the belief that your product is the right buy for them. Ideally, the content throughout your funnel has built trust, but now is when you drive it home.
Building the bottom of your funnel should include content like:
FAQ pages – answer any questions that have created an obstacle to a buying decision
Case studies – social proof that others with their problems have trusted your product and earned great success.
Discounts and limited-time offers – offering cost-saving incentives at the bottom of the funnel could prompt instant purchases.
Product previews can include detailed How-To guides and live video demonstrations of your product’s features. The idea is to give potential customers as much hands-on experience as possible.
Content marketing funnel example
We’ve examined different content formats for each phase of a content marketing funnel. Now, using the health and wellness brand Form Health, let’s examine these formats in action from the top of the funnel to the bottom.
Form Health specializes in weight loss management, so prospective customers will initially search for answers to their weight-loss questions.
That’s where Form Health meets them with their awareness stage content.
Awareness stage content example – Form Health
The Form Health blog focuses on educating their target audience on medications such as Wegovy, Zepbound, Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Semaglutide, in addition to topics like diets, exercise, and nutrition — all topics those who are seeking to lose weight will be interested in learning more about.
Consideration stage content example – Form Health
On the blog toolbar, click on “Our Program,” which will show a drop-down menu of MoFu content, including educational resources about medications and their programs, FAQs, and Reviews.
The “How it Works” page is broken into several easy-to-read sections, each with a separate call-to-action button that’s visible and actionable.
The most common CTAs are “Get Started and “Take the Quiz.”
This is an invitation to move to the bottom of the funnel, where users will engage with an interactive piece of content (the quiz) to give them a personalized health plan for weight loss (trust-building, connection).
Conversion stage content example – Form Health
Once the user takes the quiz, they’re asked about their motivations for weight loss, current health and medications, and insurance.
If they are eligible, they’re given their personalized health plan with an option to buy.
If not, they’re still encouraged to sign up for the mailing list if they become eligible.
This email capture can then be used in segmented email campaigns to keep leads warm and directly market to them in the future.
You’ve now seen an entire content funnel in action. Now, look at building your brand’s content plan and sales funnel.
How to build a content marketing funnel that works
To build a content marketing funnel that works, you need to ensure that each piece of content does what it’s intended to do.
This differs depending on which phase of the funnel you are writing the piece of content for, but what you want is a strategic approach.
You’re no longer simply writing blog posts for the heck of it or because that’s what you’ve heard every content marketer is supposed to do.
You’re doing it as part of a comprehensive content marketing strategy.
You must include this in your ToFu content to allow your target audience to move down the funnel.
Clear descriptions of how you solve their problem — your customer is trying to solve a problem. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be looking for solutions. Your job is to make it clear from the jump that you are that solution, with no bells, whistles, or hardships.
Need inspiration? Henry Meds uses product-oriented content, particularly in its informative landing pages about Semaglutide. They shout from the rooftops about their weight loss solution, which is not a fad diet or gimmick.
They drive the point home with clear, concise wording. All it takes is three simple steps—nothing more, nothing less.
Direct communication about what your product does – the Achilles heel of countless companies, no one knows what they do. Sum up your tool or software simply, concisely, and directly immediately. Don’t leave potential customers wondering what on earth you even do.
Actionable CTAs – Use a CTA that’s strong and prompts action. Experiment with what works best. For instance, the platform PartnerStack increased its conversion rate by 111.5% by changing its CTA copy from “Book a Demo” to “Get Started.”
Once you’ve moved your potential leads from Awareness to Consideration, you can optimize your mid-funnel content for conversion.
To accomplish this, your MoFu content should include:
Personalization – create content that’s personalized and speaks to a specific individual. You don’t want your content to seem like pre-packaged catch-alls for everyone and anyone you’re trying to sell to. Make a personal connection and nurture the relationship.
Additionally, featuring a pro headshot in your communications adds a human touch, fostering authenticity and trust in your interactions.
Informative landing pages are where you’ll answer questions by providing detailed product and feature breakdowns. Use narrative storytelling to paint a picture of your potential customer’s problem and how you are the solution.
Interactive tools—Offering interaction with free tools and resources (quizzes, calculators, assessments, etc.) can offer personalized results that boost engagement with potential customers.
Accessibility—This one can be easy to overlook, but it’s important to include. Make sure all of your content is accessible and inclusive. Using AI text-to-speech and other tools is important to ensure accessibility issues don’t hinder anyone seeking information about your product.
Conversion is where you capitalize on the trust you’ve built through the funnel and win the sale.
BoFu content should:
Demonstrate social proof—it sounds great, but does it work? That’s the ultimate question potential buyers will have. Social proof through testimonials, use cases, and customer reviews will build confidence in your product.
Build trust – social proof is part of building trust, but trust also involves proving you have nothing to hide. You can build trust with potential customers through FAQ pages, money-back guarantees, and free demos.
Make it easy to convert – don’t hide CTAs or, worse, have no CTA. Nothing frustrates a potential buyer more than being ready to buy and having no clear path. However glossy and crisp your sales pages are, with no clear path to conversion, you won’t be making many sales.
Build your sales funnel strategically, and it’ll work. Analyze your conversion results and tweak them until they’re a well-oiled machine.
Conclusion
Content marketing has to be strategic to be successful. Creating valuable content that intentionally and succinctly leads users toward a buying decision through a carefully crafted marketing sales funnel will be the difference between content that converts and content that doesn’t.
Start capitalizing on the awareness stage blog content you already have and begin building various types of content that convert.
Author Bio: Jeremy Moser
Jeremy is co-founder & CEO at uSERP, a digital PR and SEO agency working with brands like Monday, ActiveCampaign, Hotjar, and more.
He also buys and builds SaaS companies like Wordable.io and writes for publications like Entrepreneur and Search Engine Journal.
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