How to Craft a Great Content Marketing Funnel for Success

Digital marketing uses the content marketing funnel to realistically attract and convert customers. This is vital to good search engine optimization (SEO), lead generation, and acts as a visual guide for strategists and marketers.

Here is a simple overview of how content marketing services use the funnel model to get leads:

• Placing the content marketing funnel within SEO.
• Finding the best marketing funnel models for SEO.
• Defining the four levels of a good marketing funnel.

There is a lot to discuss, so get ready to take notes.

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The Content Marketing Funnel and Its Role in SEO

The content marketing funnel is a concept and visual model that shows the lengthy process of growing your business through lead generation and conversion. It is often drawn with three or four distinct parts and quickly tapers to a tube as you go deeper, like a real funnel. 

At the top of the funnel, the widest part, is where you make people aware of your brand and its products and services. A handful of the hundreds or thousands of people you attract will be interested enough to learn more. From that group, you might convince a few to buy.

This does not mean that SEO is purely a numbers game. The quality of the content you use is one factor that can influence the success of your strategy. In other words, the funnel is simply a guide that marks the critical stages of lead generation and conversion in SEO plans.

Models of the Marketing Funnel: Which Is the Best?

To make an effective content marketing funnel, you must first know its parts and their roles in your SEO content strategy. The buyer’s journey is a similar concept and follows a similar design. It is related to the funnel model.

While the concept itself is consistent, the terms that experts use vary slightly. This can cause confusion for some novice marketers, affecting their strategy's integrity. In a nutshell, though, every marketing funnel model is the same in its essence and principles.

For instance, the Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action (AIDA) model is not so different from the Awareness, Evaluation, Conversion, and Delight model that many experts talk about. Although the AIDA model splits evaluation into interest and desire, the end result is still the same for both.

4 Levels of the Content Marketing Funnel

Knowing and following the parts of the content marketing funnel is vital to creating content to fit every stage and broaden your reach even further. By tailoring content to each stage, you can attract potential leads from your target market no matter where they are within the funnel structure.

Drawing more people to the top of the funnel is crucial because the more people you attract, the more chances you have of gaining customers. You also have to target the bottom of the funnel because these are the people who are ready to convert.

To get the most out of your content marketing services, you have to reach as many people as possible while choosing high-quality leads and quickly converting them. Below is a breakdown of the generic funnel structure and what you should know about each stage.

     1. Make People Aware of Your Brand

At the top of the funnel, you set up your brand and draw people to your business through content. Content at this stage is mostly to make your target market aware of a key issue affecting their lives. Introducing your brand is simply a by-product of this primary interaction.

A good example of content that fits this funnel stage is, “How to pick the right cat food for your feline pets.” It is broad enough to appeal to a wide audience but also clearly states the nature of your business and what you offer your target market. In short, keep it general, simple, and straightforward.

     2. Generate Interest in Your Solutions

Once you have your lead engaged, act on their interest or desire to find a solution to the problem or concerns that they have. At this point, comparing viable and common answers gets the person to increasingly think about how they want to approach their current problem. 

For example, writing an article about the advantages and disadvantages of different pet diets is a good way of making your audience aware of food options and their health benefits. “Is a raw meat diet better for cats than kibble?” is a prime example of content that works at this stage.

     3. Be a Viable Choice in Their Decision

To convert a lead into a customer, your business has to prove itself as a viable choice when they finally decide. This is where you can go all-out with advertising your brand as one that can solve their problems. Highlight your finest selling points and make sure that everyone knows them.

You can, for instance, write a comparison of your products or services with a top competitor’s. It is also an excellent idea to devote an article to proprietary solutions that your business has formulated. Your goal here is to leave little doubt that you are the best choice.

     4. Encourage Customers to Advocate

Although most business owners would assume that converting a customer is the end of sales, it is only the beginning. After someone becomes a customer, you can also lose them if you fail to nurture your relationship with them through effective content marketing.

Feeding your customers a constant flow of personalized content keeps them engaged with your brand for much longer. It serves to remind them of your value as a service or solution provider. Like before, you should always prioritize the benefits that your business can provide for them.

Summing Up

A great content marketing funnel model can bring your business much success in generating leads and converting customers. It plays a key role in effective content marketing services because it guides how your business approaches content that will best serve your target market. 

Need help creating an effective content marketing funnel for your SEO strategy? Contact Digital Authority Partners (DAP) to learn how we can help.