By Callum Liam
To run a successful business, you must not only offer valuable products and/or services, but potential customers must also know about you and be willing to buy from you. From informing people about your products to converting them into customers and retaining them, there is a long way to go. A content marketing funnel is a roadmap for guiding a buyer in their journey towards purchasing your product.
What is a Content Marketing Funnel?
A content marketing funnel is important for targeting the right audience and converting them into customers. It is a visual representation of the stages that a potential buyer goes through: from discovering your brand to becoming a loyal customer.
It is not as simple as creating content and hoping for the best – you need to strategically plan and guide people towards making a purchase. This is important because people will browse the web to find the best possible product and/or service for their needs, and this is where you need to prove yourself. In other words, you have to win during the Zero Moment of Truth.
What are the Stages of Content Marketing Funnel?
There are 3 main stages of the content marketing funnel:
- Top of the funnel (TOFU): It makes a potential customer aware of your brand.
- Middle of the funnel (MOFU): Potential customers will evaluate if your product and/or service can solve their problems.
- Bottom of the funnel (BOFU): Potential customers are turned into actual customers.
Let us explore how to make the most of each stage of the funnel.
Top-of-the-Funnel Content
You sell a product and/or service because you think it will help your customers. But do your customers even know about it?
A customer is aware of their problem and needs, actively seeking a solution. Your role is to raise awareness about your brand, engage their interest, and convert them into loyal customers. For instance, creating SEO blogs can enhance your visibility on Google’s search engine results page.
Since it will likely be your 1st impression, your content must be attractive and engaging, and make potential customers curious about your business.
Your content ideas need to be geared towards the needs of the prospects and must avoid being too promotional.
Some things to focus on are:
- Addressing the problem of the prospects
- Using relevant internal links to your website
- Doing on-page SEO on your website
According to a survey by Semrush, the following categories of content are best suited for TOFU:
- “How-to” guide (72%)
- Landing page (35%)
- Infographic (28%)
- Checklist (27%)
- Ebook/white paper (26%)
- Video tutorial (23%)
Middle-of-the-Funnel Content
At this stage, potential customers already know about you, and they are interested in what you have to offer. They want to make efforts to understand your products and/or services. For example, they could read reviews on social media, testimonials, and compare the different products you offer.
Your role is to comprehensively educate your audience while positioning yourself as a more credible option than your competitors.
When creating your content, think about the information your customers need to make a purchasing decision. Here are some questions they may have:
- Which product or service will effectively address my needs?
- Which brand is the most reputable?
- What advantages does this product offer compared to its competitors?
- How can I use this product or service to its fullest potential?
Beyond these questions, it’s essential to consider what makes your product or service stand out. What differentiates it from competitors in the market? This could be a unique feature, quality assurance, or exceptional customer service.
One key distinction between MOFU and TOFU is the opportunity for self-promotion in the MOFU stage. Here, you can effectively use calls to action and emphasise the benefits of your products.
According to Semrush, the following types of content work best for generating leads in MOFU:
- “How-to” guide (44%)
- Product overview (40%)
- Case study (34%)
- Landing page (31%)
- Webinar (31%)
- Success story (30%)
Bottom-of-the-Funnel Content
It is the ultimate decision-making stage for a customer. The prospect is ready to make a purchase but may or may not have decided which product to buy.
They want to confidently make a purchase, and your task is to make them trust you and buy your product and/or service. It’s crucial to emphasise your brand’s unique selling point alongside the products and services you’re offering.
As proof of your excellence, you can highlight good customer reviews. It is important since customers look for social proof before making a purchase.
If you are in an industry where qualifications are important, you can highlight the qualifications and certifications that you hold. It establishes your authority and verifies your skills.
It is also important to use call-to-action (CTA) phrases to urge the customer to make a purchase. Make sure the CTA does not interfere with the user experience.
According to the Semrush survey, the best BOFU content types are:
- Product overview (51%)
- Customer review (49%)
- Success story (43%)
If all goes well, you would have won yourself a customer. That’s great.
But what should you do to retain them? Your current customers are your potential future clients as well. Focusing on retention will contribute to your future revenue.
Some types of content you can create to retain your customers are:
- Blogs and articles explaining how to make the most of your products and/or services
- Webinars
- Personalised emails
- Help articles and blogs
- Surveys and polls
Customer retention is an important pillar of BOFU. While your customers want to know how to make the most of what they bought, you need to keep them engaged and continue to provide value to them. For retention under BOFU, it is important to keep providing the type of information you provided under TOFU.
You should also try to segment your audience to target them with personalised ads, emails, surveys, etc.
Tips for Building a Content Marketing Funnel
Here are some tips for building a content marketing funnel:
1. Figure Out Your Target Audience
Your target audience could comprise different demographics. And each of them would need to be targeted differently. For example, if you are aiming at Gen Z, you can try creating short form content.
On the other hand, if you are aiming at the older generation, you could publish ads in the newspaper.
2. Study Your Competitors
Which type of content are your competitors putting out? Analysing their content will help you find opportunities to target customers and expand your business.
You can go through content writing examples to decide which type of content to specialise in. It will also help you stand out from the crowd.
3. Have the Right Balance
You need the right balance between TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU to get the maximum conversions. For this, you need to measure data. You can use online tools to judge which sections of the content marketing funnel are doing well and identify weaknesses. Accordingly, you can modify the funnel.
A content marketing funnel helps you visualise the stages a prospect goes through before becoming a customer. You have to create content according to the needs of the buyer at a particular stage: awareness (TOFU), consideration (MOFU), and decision (BOFU). You can hire the top content writers in India to achieve the best results by creating top-notch content.
