Do you sometimes wonder why well-established brands with well-optimised websites and SEO-rich content fail to attract customers? The answer is simple! They fail to direct potential customers towards their products and services strategically. In other words, they lack a well-constructed content marketing funnel.
Most of the content you read daily is a part of the content marketing funnel. Each communication has a specific purpose - to spread awareness or get you to sign up or buy a product! Most brands curate great content but struggle to map it to the correct funnel stage. In-depth detail of the content marketing funnel will help you and your brand to avoid such rookie mistakes and enhance customer engagement. To begin with, let’s start with the basics. 
What Is a Content Marketing Funnel?
A content marketing funnel is a model that helps brands visualise how to successfully use content to entice prospective customers and guide them through their user journey from the first interaction to conversion into a paying customer.
The stages of the content marketing funnel are Top of the funnel (TOFU), Middle of the funnel (MOFU), and Bottom of the funnel (BOFU). Each stage serves a different purpose, TOFU attracts attention, MOFU generates leads, and BOFU drives conversions. The content in these stages supports the customer journey and pushes the generated leads closer to making a purchase.
A thorough content marketing strategy should address these factors:
- The type of content
- How to measure the success of the content?
- How to improve the content strategy?
Top Of The Funnel: Spreading Awareness and Sparking an Interest
The top of the funnel is the starting point of the buyer journey and the most crowded stage. It is best to assume the potential customers are unaware of your company or its offerings.
Your goal is to draw their attention, offer the best solution to their queries, educate them, and introduce them to your brand.
The most effective types of content for this stage are educational, value-adding and creative, which helps drive prospects to your websites such as “How-to” guides, Podcasts, E-books, Landing pages, Checklists, Shareable blog posts, Infographics, and social media posts.
Middle Of The Funnel:
In the middle of the funnel, prospective customers evaluate whether they need your product or service. Your goal is to guide the prospect to an in-depth understanding of how your product/ service meets the users' needs and demands. Since the number of people interacting with your content decreases, you’re also attempting to build trust with consumers in this stage.
Potential customers look for content types that are more product-oriented to see the benefits of your product or service. It is also a great opportunity for them to interact with your brand more. The most effective types of content are case studies, email marketing, webinars, landing pages and “How-to” guides. For example, case studies can demonstrate how your product has helped other customers.
Bottom Of The Funnel:
The bottom-of-the-funnel stage is where high-quality content can help position your brand as incomparable, build trust, and accelerate conversion. Up until now, it has been about spreading awareness and getting customers interested in the product, but now it is to give them a reason to buy. Your goal is to give potential customers crystal-clear reasons to buy your product or invest in your service.
The content you create at this stage should be product-specific. The most effective types of content are Product overviews,
Customer testimonials, Success Stories, Case studies, landing pages, and product pages. According to data, 93% of customers make a buying decision based on reviews. Hence, customer-generated content is highly recommended and effective.
CONCLUSION
A solid content strategy is a must for every business. It’s also vital to monitor the performance of the content using different metrics to ensure you are creating the right content for your content marketing funnel while maintaining customer interest. Aim to do a good amount of testing, regularly check in on the existing content and look for ways to improve.And if you ever need help finding your path in the content marketing funnel, take assistance from Digidarts, a leading digital marketing agency with over 8-years of experience. Let them be your ultimate guide to direct you and your customers toward success. With a solid strategy, your business will engage with customers at every stage of the content marketing funnel.
