There is a fundamental difference between a sales funnel and a content marketing funnel. Sales funnels push the prospect through the funnel while a content marketing funnel pulls them through.
The goal of a content marketing funnel is to allow prospects ready for the next level to drop through to the next level on their buying journey while nurturing prospects who are not ready yet.
The content marketing funnel can be divided into three layers, top, middle, and bottom. The content you provide is different depending on what layer your prospect is in.
Top of the Funnel (Attention)
This is the widest part of the funnel and is the place where we try to attract the new prospect to our site. This is where we try to identify main points that our archetype customers may have and address them with our content.
At SteveBizBlog, this content may be related to recognizing the general frustration a new entrepreneur may have when trying to understand how they can market their new business on a budget and providing content to answer these questions.
At the top of the funnel, we are creating awareness. The content at the top of the funnel needs to be designed to make the prospect know that you exist. Because you are generally casting a wider net, the topics cover bigger and broader themes, like marketing on a budget in my above example and are often shorter in length and more easily digestible. Often the content takes the form of blog posts or infographics. The headlines associated with the top of the funnel content often contain a list of helpful tricks and often start with a number.
As we discussed in Confused about Content Marketing? Here is what you need to know when writing the content for the top of the funnel, it is important to make sure your content includes the long-tail keywords that your prospect is most likely to search for. Content at the top of the funnel is the content that you would want to promote in order to expose it to more people.
Since the top of the funnel content is where a new prospect often lands, it is always my practice to include a call to action for a related piece of free downloadable content so you can capture their name and email address so the prospect becomes a contact that you own and where you can use other channels to move them to the Middle of your funnel.
Middle of the Funnel (Desire)
In the middle of the funnel, your objective is to create a desire for more information. When a prospect reaches the middle of the funnel, you can assume that they have a genuine interest in learning more. This is now the point where you need to help educate them about your solution to intensify their desire for more of your content.
Middle of the funnel content often includes how-to videos, free eBooks, forms, and templates. At this point, you want to demonstrate to the prospect that you are the answer person so as to begin building up a level of trust with them.
Content in the middle of the funnel introduces your prospects to your methodology or solution and needs to give them a glimpse of the outcomes they can enjoy.
At the bottom of the funnel is where you ask the prospect for the sale. By the time the prospect reaches this level, they are nearly ready to buy. Perhaps all they need is the last nudge and your call to action. Testimonials and case studies can go a long way toward justifying to the prospect that you are worthy of their investment.
When it comes to making the sale, I recommend using a value ladder approach with increasing levels of commitments.
The first request may be to get the client to provide you with a non-monetary micro commitment such as an email address in exchange for something which is usually free. I touched on this subject at the top of the funnel. By the time they reach the bottom of the funnel, you will be asking them to exchange money for your product or service.
At first, it should be a small commitment such as a free product if they agree to pay for shipping and handling. As the prospect, who has now become a customer by virtue of paying you for something, begins to recognize the value that you are offering, you can help drive them up your value ladder with increasing more expensive offerings.
Do you implement content marketing funnel in your business?
