1.3 The Marketing Funnel

Different stages in the buying journey of your potential client will require different types of content.

Enter the marketing funnel.

The term seems to be a bit of a buzzword these days, with countless solutions and businesses telling you how to build your funnels and the technologies you need to use. Next thing you know, it’s all so convoluted, your brain starts to hurt, and you give it up altogether.

Ok, I may exaggerate a bit here.

The point is, funnels can get really deep and complex, especially when your business is really scaling to reach a broader range of clients. 

In essence, a marketing funnel is simple: it’s a series of actions you take to move your potential client through all the buyer journey stages. 

Let’s get down to business and take a closer look at each stage.

Awareness: The top of the funnel

This stage of the buyer journey is all about your potential clients getting to know you. Hence, the content you create needs to help you increase your visibility and build a brand. 

What kind of content should you create?

Look no further than the challenges you’ve outlined in Your Ideal Client profile to choose your topics. The content you create needs to address the challenges via educational, knowledge-driven, and inspirational content. 

What content formats should you use?

Formats that are easy to consume and available via public channels are the most suitable types of content you can create. Blog posts, videos, social media posts, and podcasts, are prime examples of this.

Action: The middle of the funnel

Because your potential client has moved from awareness to interest, your content needs to tackle why they should work with you. It will be all about details, options, and proof.

What kind of content should you create?

At this stage, your content needs to go into more detail about your subject matter expertise. Preferably the type of material that’s more actionable and provides additional context (like case studies).

What content formats should you use?

Webinars, eBooks, and landing pages are typical types of content that fit into the stage. The promotion of these pieces of content is usually public, but access to the material would require contact details (via registration or opt-in form).

Conversion: The bottom of the funnel

Now it’s the moment to close the deal. Everything that you do at this stage has the intention to make a sale. Your content will contain a concrete offer (or various offers).

What kind of content should you create?

As expected, the content is sales and promotional-driven. It would focus on the specific offer, how the potential client will work with you, counters to the most common objections, and social proof in testimonials.

What content formats should you use?

The content formats are very similar to those in the action stage of the funnel. Typically you can convey your sales offer via email marketing, sales landing pages, and even webinars. These can drive an immediate transaction or even a sales conversation.

Engagement: The continuous loop

You already made the sale, and you have happy clients. Why not have them help you close more deals? The content you create will incentivize your clients to represent and generate more sales for you.

The types of content will depend primarily on your product or service’s nature and whether you mean to sell another product, upsell a premium one, or get referrals.

It’s your turn to do a little brainstorming and think about all the different stages of your buyer’s journey and the type of content that will fit in there. What content can you share with your potential client at each stage of the buying journey?

The next section will help you turn ideas into concrete action.