content marketing & marketing funnel - interconnected complete guide

What is the marketing funnel ?

Since,consumers are well informed and empower them so it is important to understand buyer persona and their journey.The marketing funnel is a visualisation of the journey consumers have to go through before purchasing a product or service.

It enables the brand to deliver and create content for users at each step along the way as they learn about your products and services online. For example, visitors could be in the awareness stage, where they are becoming familiar with your brand; the discovery phase, where they are learning more about your brand; or the consideration phase, where they are considering doing business with you.

The four stages of the content marketing funnel are awareness, evaluation, purchase, and delight

In the marketing funnel, each stage plays a specific role and hence during each stage content should be presented in the stage the customers are in the funnel.

A marketing funnel strategy addresses these questions -

• What type of content do I need to create?
• How will I measure the success of my content?
• Where can I improve my content strategy?

so, content creators put themselves in the shoes of the consumer and build content or write keywords for consumers according to what consumers would search.

To understand how customers go from awareness to purchase, build a customer journey map.

Why marketing funnel is important ?

1. It helps to understand the audience : how they think, the answers they seek, and the path they tend to take to find a solution.
2. From that research, you can begin crafting a documented content strategy that maps your content to the various stages of the buyer's journey.
3. When you do not completely understand your audience, a disconnect is created between your business and your potential customers. For content marketers, this usually means you're putting out content that your readers don't really relate to, which can cause you to lose them.To avoid this, you'll have to consider the stage they're at in their journey, how to meet them there, and the best channels to put the content in front of them. The internet has made it easier for marketers (and salespeople) to engage customers at the various stages of their journey using content marketing.

How to use marketing funnel for content marketing strategy ?

1. Awareness - Content focused on educating your audience.
2. Evaluation - Customers determine whether they need your product.
3. Conversion - Reasons to buy your product.
4. Delight - Keeping your audience engaged.

But,these stages overlap with -

1. TOFU (Top of the funnel)
2. BOFU (bottom of the funnel)
3. MOFU ( middle of the funnel)

Awareness-This is top of the funnel.In this stage, The buyer is experiencing a problem or symptoms of a pain, and their goal is to alleviate it.When potential customers enter the funnel, we should assume that they are unaware about the company or the solution provided and consumers are looking for more informational resources to more clearly understand, frame, and give a name to their problem.

For example - ''How do I get stronger?" In the awareness stage, they are not yet thinking about solutions or providers; it’s much too early for that. Instead, they’re looking to contextualize their problem first.As a content marketer, you’ll want to show up in search engine results, even in these early stages, to establish your authority and gain the trust of buyers who are starting the journey.

So,when they enter the funnel it is our job to make consumers aware about the product or service we are providing to consumers and get the brand top of the funnel (TOFU) which can be done by proving top-level educational content to help direct them to a solution, like blog posts, social content, and ebooks. Their value as a lead is low because there’s no guarantee that they’ll buy from you. But those who find your content helpful and interesting may journey on to the middle of the funnel.

But how can we do that ?

You can provide content like -

• Blog posts-A blog post is an ideal piece of content targeting the awareness stage. By targeting a pain, problem, or topic your target audience wants to discover and then posting it to your website, you’re creating a brand asset that’s crawlable by Google and discoverable by search engine users. You can also promote your blog content across other channels.A blog should be 300 words in length not more.

An example of blog

• Ebooks- Like whitepapers, ebooks and tip sheets are great options for downloadable content. In contrast, they tend to be shorter form and more actionable.
• Podcasts
• Quizzes
• Videos
• Webinars
• Comprehensive guides
• Email newsletters
• Checklists-For complicated tasks with many moving parts, individuals may simply want a blueprint that spells out what they’re supposed to do to achieve their end goal.for example

Buying a home is a perfect example of this, and Opendoor meets its audience’s needs by providing a handy checklist (in infographic form!) for the reader that spells out all the steps that need to be taken. The graphic is aesthetically pleasing and even allows room for a few tips along the way.

• How to Videos - The best way to solve a pain or problem is to learn a new skill. Sure, a purchase of some kind may be required along the way, but the audience may need to become more informed about the problem and how to solve it. That’s where instructional video content comes in.

• Kit or Tool

Informational content provided to a broader audience may not always be enough for your buyer persona to make a decision or take action. In some cases, they may require a little more utility or personalization. That’s why kits and tools are a great piece of content to create to help the reader along their path to purchase.

• Tips/advice-Like whitepapers, ebooks and tip sheets are great options for downloadable content. In contrast, they tend to be shorter form and more actionable.
• Infographics
• Numbered lists

The ideal channels for the awareness stage may include:

• Blogging
• Search Engine Marketing
• Social Media Marketing- Social media is a channel that can be used to promote your other content, and you can also create content specifically for the channel. According to Pew Research, 72% of the public uses some form of social media, so your audience is likely native to this channel. Unlike blog posts, social media posts are likely in shorter form, and video consumption is on the rise.

It is not necessary to use every content piece given about, you test the content that your target audiences resonates with your intended audience and track their success use metrics like time on page, number of reviews, and bounce rate though Google Analytics.

With each piece of content you create, ask yourself:

• Are prospects viewing, interacting with, and sharing the content?
• Is my target audience interacting with my content?
• Is there any follow-through after interaction?

If you feel this does not work, you do not have to stick to that path and can divert to a new strategy.

Some tools that can help with creating or promoting the content pieces mentioned above:

• For creating shareable blog posts, try HubSpot’s?blog post maker.
• To schedule social media posts ahead of time using tools like?Hootsuite?or?CoSchedule.
• For video editing, try using Apple’s default video editing software,?iMovie, which is also pre-installed on mobile Apple devices. If you're not a Mac user, Windows also has a pre-installed video editing option.?
• To create quick and easy E-books use?Adobe’s E-book creator tool.
• For podcast audio editing, you can try?either?Audacity?or?GarageBand.

Evaluation/Consideration Stage

In the middle of the funnel (MOFU), potential customers determine whether they need your product or service. so in other words,in the consideration stage, the buyer will have clearly defined and given a name to their problem, and they are committed to researching and understanding all of the available approaches and/or methods to solving the defined problem or opportunity. you are also attempting to build trust with your consumer in the evaluation stage. No one buys from or does business with a company they don’t trust, so look for ways to build that relationship.

An example of a search inquiry a prospect would make at the consideration stage is: "What’s better: going to a gym or hiring a personal trainer?" In the consideration stage, the prospect is not yet ready to buy, but they are deciding on the potential solution for them. Your goal will be to consider your indirect competitors and educate them on the pros and cons.

Consumers are looking for content that demonstrates why they should choose your product or service:

• Case studies
• White papers- A whitepaper is an organization’s report or guide on a particular topic. Whitepapers are especially useful as downloadable offers when readers want to go more in-depth on a specific subject they’re reading about. For whitepapers, it’s essential to provide information that can’t be found elsewhere so that your audience understands the report's value and is compelled to get it.
• Emails
• Useful resources/downloads/Comprehensive guides
• Events/webinars-A webinar is a web seminar where information is typically provided through video. A webinar can be prerecorded or streamed live, which opens up many possibilities to disseminate information to an audience who wants more visual and auditory content.
• Case studies-A case study can be used in both the consideration and decision stages simultaneously by convincing the reader that the solution works by establishing that the provider achieves results for their clients by administering the solution. A good case study will appeal to the emotions and logic of the persona by providing detailed information and quantitative data on the final solution.
• Free Samples - A free sample is another example of content or an offer that overlaps between the buyer’s journey stages. Consider this: An individual wants to paint the inside of their home but doesn’t know what color.As they consider which color (the solution), they pick up paint chip cards from their hardware store. A provider creates these cards based on their individual solution. When the individual falls in love with a color, they already know who the provider is that makes it.SILKCARDS taps into this buying behavior by offering samples of their unique printing methods on the content that they create. They know their business is tactile, and digital content alone is not enough to close a deal. Once their prospective customer holds the sample in their hands, other business cards are put to shame.
• How-to content that showcases your specific solution strategy or products
• Product descriptions and data sheets
• Testimonials
• Reviews
• Comparison content
• FAQs
• Statistics
• Product Comparison Guides- In the consideration stage, the buyer persona still considers solutions to their pain or problem. For this reason, product comparisons are a great way to help them decide.

example

Is your content is fulfilling its intended purpose:

• Are people converting from this content?
• Am I generating new sales or leads from this content?
• Is this content helping or hurting my end goal?

Good content creation helps incrementally move a prospect toward a purchase. It doesn’t happen all at once, so don’t expect one piece to do all the heavy lifting. That’s why it’s so important to vary the types of content marketing you use and to have a comprehensive content strategy in place.

Decision Stage/Conversion

This is bottom of the funnel.Once consumers have progressed to the decision stage, the buyer has decided on their solution strategy, method, or approach. Their goal now is to compile a list of available vendors, make a short list, and ultimately make a final purchase decision.

An example of a search inquiry a prospect would make at the decision stage is: "Planet Fitness vs. Gold’s Gym." Now they’re ready to spend money, and they’ll likely go with a provider that they like, know, and trust so long as that provider can meet their needs.

How do it ?

• Free Trial or Live DemoWhat better way to know if you want to purchase a product than take it for a spin? Car dealerships have used the “test drive” tactic for years because it works. If the product itself checks all the boxes the buyer has, all the sales team has to do is handle their objections and make the close.
• Consultation OfferA consultation is another example of providing just a little bit of service in exchange for the opportunity to close the sale. The best consultation reduces the anxiety of entering into a sales conversation by promising something concrete they can walk away with (a strategy or actionable advice) in exchange for their time.
• CouponA coupon appeals to a fear of missing out (FOMO) mindset. By reducing the price by a certain amount, a coupon is handing a price objection while convincing the prospect that they’re leaving money on the table if they don’t use the coupon. This inertia is enough to win the prospect’s business.

The ideal channels for your decision stage content may include:

• Website
• Email Marketing
• Live Chat and Chatbots for Service

Delight stage

Although it is not part of the traditional content marketing funnel, many companies have added an additional step to retain or delight customers.

Your overall content strategy should be aimed at building an audience and keeping them engaged. That work extends beyond the purchase stage.

Your content should give customers simple ways to stay engaged and share their feedback with your business. Ask yourself:

• Does this content encourage customers to leave feedback?
• Does the content give readers reasons to refer their friends?
• Does this content showcase real customer successes?

Reward your audience with special promotions or early previews of new products. Even if your customer isn’t a repeat buyer, they still have influencing power in their social circles.

So, a small summary of how to use the marketing funnel :

• Awareness Stage: The stage where people look for answers, resources, education, research data, opinions, and insight.The top of the funnel — typically viewed as the first step in the conversion process — represents awareness: people becoming familiar with your brand.
• Consideration Stage: The stage where people are doing heavy research on whether or not your product or service is a good fit for them.The middle of the funnel refers to where people seriously consider paying you for your products or services.
• conversion stage - The middle-bottom of the funnel is where the rubber meets the road, in that it depicts customers deciding to do business with your brand.
• Decision Stage: The stage where people figure out exactly what it would take to become a customer.
• Retention: The bottom represents the area of the funnel where brands are working to retain customers

Customer journey may look very different depending on your industry, business model, product, pricing, and audience. Some B2C customers, for example, spend very little time in the middle of the buyer’s journey compared to B2B customers that require far more nurturing, engagement, and relationship development before a purchase is made. A $50 pair of sneakers, for instance, requires a lot less hand-holding when it comes to making purchase decisions than a $10,000 business software investment.