What is a content marketing funnel or ‘marketing funnel’ and how can small businesses, online marketers and ecommerce owners or managers use it to increase profits, interaction and engagement on their websites?
Traditionally, the Marketing Funnel is a way to describe or visualize the path on which your target market, i.e. website visitor, customer or reader, will reach your website and ultimately do whatever it is you are asking. Whether it’s to buy a product or service, participate in a survey, share a post or make a phone call to you, there is a particular action you want your target to take. Getting them from wherever they are to completing that action is the Funnel. Content Marketing Funnel ideas are vast but here’s a mile high view:
Identify Your Target Audience
First, identifying your target market as specifically as possible. There will be several Personas (personalities of folks you are looking to engage) and you need to identify each and bring them through a funnel of their own.
Give Them Value-Added Content
Secondly, after getting an idea of the WHO you are attempting to grab the attention, then you need to help them step through the WHAT by giving them a WHY… why should they click on your Facebook add or share your Tweet or give you their email, name and address? What is in it for THEM?
Guide Them One Step at a Time
If you can answer that and they step into the next funnel ring, you will be able to then give them the HOW ~ how can they get that which you have so perfectly described as their coveted need/want or have-to-have. Keep each step simple and only ask for one thing at a time. Following a bit of a bread crumb trail to the middle of the funnel.
Here’s a great example of a content marketing funnel in five points, easy to follow and implement. You don’t have to be a great writer, just speak to your audience in their language. If they are techie, you need to know their geek-speak, if they are professionals make sure you sound like their peers.
Guide them through the funnel one step at a time and don’t forget to keep track with analytics so you can improve the steps that work best and eliminate those that fail. Want more help and ideas on Content Marketing? Visit our blog at Crowd Content!
