Ultimate Guide to Content Marketing Funnels [with Examples]

Aware of it or not, every time we interect with brand-generated content of any kind, we’re experiencing one or more of the touchpoints in a content marketing funnel. So, what exactly is a content marketing funnel, how does it work, and why should you implement one for your business?

In this post, we break it down in simple terms , look at all the benefits of a good content marketing funnel, and explain how you can create a highly effective one for your own business.

What is Content Marketing Funnel?

A content marketing funnel is a framework that helps mapping out the content, allowing it to be leveraged to engage with target audiences. The main goal of this framework is to bridge the gap between your content and your consumers by categorizing content into three main groups. Ultimately, these contents can lead to various end goals – including a sale, a demo, a download, or a conversion. 

Let’s explore what are the benefits of a marketing content funnel and see how the different parts work together.

Why Do I Need a Content Marketing Funnel?

There are many benefits of applying a content marketing funnel to your marketing strategy for both B2B and B2C Businesses, 

• Increasing your sales

When implemented correctly, a content marketing funnel can significantly boost conversions, which results in increased sales. It said that by making the buying process more seamless, you increase your chances of closing sales by an impressive 62%.

• Improving customer retention

Content marketing funnel strategies can play a crucial role in retaining customers you already have, which is a vital task for any business. By providing valuable content, you can nurture relationships and strengthen customer loyalty.

• More Targeted marketing

Last but most importantly, a content marketing funnel enables you to create personalized content tailored to your customer’s specific needs and preferences. This targeted approach can greatly enhance your success in closing sales, as customers feel more engaged and connected to your brand.

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Key Elements of a Content Marketing Funnel:

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Awareness Stage: Top of Funnel (TOFU)

The first stage of a content marketing funnel is called the Awareness Stage. This refers to the point when your potential customers still have little knowledge about your brand, company, or product.

A recent study has revealed a list of efficient TOFU content, ranked from the most to the least traffic generated. The list includes the following:

• How-to guides (72%)
• Landing pages (35%)
• Infographics (28%)
• Checklists (27%)
• ebooks/white papers (26%)
• Video tutorials (23%)
• More examples, such as social media posts and shareable blog posts

Somewhat surprisingly, this list implies that educational and informative content is also effective as marketing material. Actually, each content format has its own pros and cons, and it also depends on consumer preferences, so the variety of content you offer also matters.

However, this doesn’t mean that your brand needs to follow the list and create every single type of content mentioned here. You can start by experimenting with a few of them to see how your target audience responds. 

One thing to remember is that at this stage, your content should aim to provide help, and the tie-ins should not be too direct or obvious.

TOFU content Example: Rubber and Fine Dining?

One standout example of TOFU content marketing started well over a century ago, and you probably know it well… 

In 1900, the French tire company, Michelin, began producing restaurant guides to advise people where to go for the best chef-prepared meals while on road journeys.

These guides were distributed free, with the idea that encouraging people to take more road trips would mean people would use their cars more and eventually increase the demand for new tires while associating the Michelin brand with fine dining and positive experiences.

120+ years later and the Michelin Stars and Guides have become a powerful marketing empire all of their own while providing valuable branding for the tire company.

This is an unusual example, but it shows that there can be enormous benefits in providing useful and practical content to people without directly pushing your service or product.

At this stage of the funnel, you’re offering something of value, without expecting any direct return.

Consideration Stage: Middle of Funnel (MOFU)

Moving on to the next step, we have the Consideration Stage. This is the Middle of Funnel, also known as MOFU. This is the point where consumers are considering whether they need your product or solution, therefore, they are looking for something deeper and more substantial.

Objective: Middle of Funnel Marketing Content

Middle of Funnel content should focus on fostering the relationship between your business and your customers, while also building trust along the way.

If you’re having trouble picturing what Middle of Funnel content should look like, here is the list of things you can do as a brand, ranked from the highest to the lowest traffic generated:

• “How-to” guides (44%).
• Product overviews (40%).
• Case studies (34%).
• Landing pages (31%).
• Webinars (31%).
• Success stories (30%)
• More examples include publishing white papers, sending emails, organizing events, etc.

As you can see, some of the examples mentioned here overlap with the first section. This implies that one type of content can serve multiple purposes. It’s important not to expect a single piece of content to fulfill every objective.

This is also why it’s important to experiment with various types of content marketing and continue to improve in order to develop a comprehensive content plan.

Remember that you also need to provide personalized content to your customers at every stage to enhance their overall experience with your business.

Design Your Own Car?

Taking another example from the automotive world, luxury automaker Audi’s website is exactly what you would expect: minimalistic and sleek in design, refined and luxurious.

The audience here are actively seeking to know more about the brand’s products and offers, they are already aware of Audi, and may be considering buying a new car at some time soon.

This is the brand’s opportunity to talk about its products in as much detail as the audience would like. Landing and product pages are easy to navigate and invite visitors to learn more, contact the company for test drives, and even to ‘design’ their own car, by choosing the exterior color and other options displayed on screen.

Decision Stage: Bottom of Funnel (BOFU)

Now your customers have reached the final stage: the bottom of the funnel. By this point, they are already familiar with your brand and your product, and they should have developed a level of trust in you. 

Objective: Bottom of Funnel Marketing Content

Since they already know your brand and product, Bottom Funnel content should focus on solidifying their confidence in your product or service before they make their final decision. It’s also important to show why you are the better choice compared to your competitors. The content you provide at this stage can make all the difference between a successful conversion and a lost sale.

Let’s take a look at the list of Bottom of Funnel content, ranked from the highest to the lowest traffic generated: 

• Product overviews (51%)
• Customer reviews (49%)
• Success stories (43%)

This ranking highlights the importance of customer-generated and case-oriented content. There was a study that shows that a staggering 93% of customers base their decision to buy something on reading online reviews. Therefore, such content has much impact on convincing potential customers to make a purchase.

Aside from what is mentioned in the list, your content can include side-by-side comparisons of similar products, highlighting the advantages of your product or service. Or, providing a free trial of your service can also be effective (as long as you aren’t giving away the whole product).

A free trial acts as a “taste test” for your customers, and if they find it pretty delicious, they will undoubtedly want more! Offering special online and offline deals to your existing customers can also be considered a part of Bottom of Funnel content marketing.

A defining feature of the BOFU stage is that content is now individualized to a refined group, or even specific person. For example, the customer’s personal details may have been collected at the middle stage of the funnel, and now emails can be addressed to them by name.

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How to Apply Content Marketing Funnel to Your Content Strategies

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Now we’ve learned that content marketing is not only a top-of-the-funnel affair, but it’s the ‘Full Funnel Content Marketing’. Rather than just focusing on the top of the funnel, you can expand your reach to consumers at every stage by applying the entire content marketing funnel to your strategies. 

One thing to remember is that each part of the funnel has its own path. 

The top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) aims to achieve goals like indirect customer acquisition, creating brand awareness, and improving search visibility. 

The middle of the funnel (MOFU) focuses on building trust with customers and customer acquisition.

Whereas the bottom of the funnel (BOFU) has the ultimate goal of closing sales; it is the point of conversion. Still, the content marketing funnel should be cohesive, looking from the customers’ point of view.

If you are considering applying a content marketing funnel to your content strategies, don’t forget that there’s also the “beyond-the-funnel” stage, where your goal is to help and support existing customers to retain their loyalty. This is another crucial part of business strategies you can’t ignore.

However, a content marketing funnel shouldn’t be used as the only approach when you are setting up a marketing plan. It can complement other marketing strategies, such as social media, email marketing, and paid advertising. We can’t deny that at the end of the day, the more strategies you employ, the greater the impact will likely be.  

Measuring Success Metrics of Each Content Marketing Funnel

Now that we understand what a content marketing funnel is and how it can benefit your business, you might be curious about measuring the results of each content marketing funnel. What metrics should I use, you may ask. 

Since each marketing funnel serves different purposes, it’s important to use different metrics to measure each group of content.

When it comes to the top of the funnel (TOFU), the following metrics are typically used:

• Organic traffic, referral traffic, and total traffic
• Social media engagement (shares, comments, likes)
• Mentions by influencers and media
• On-site engagement metrics (bounce rate, time spent on page)
• Newsletter and social media subscriptions

For the middle of the funnel (MOFU), the following metrics are commonly used:

• Conversion rate
• Number of leads
• Number of visitors
• Time on page
• ROI / ROMI (Return on Investment / Return on Marketing Investment)

When measuring the bottom of the funnel (BOFU), consider the following metrics:

• Conversion rate
• Number of payments and revenue
• ROI / ROMI (Return on Investment / Return on Marketing Investment)
• Free trials and demo requests

While using metrics is crucial to measure how well-received your content is, it’s not enough. Once you have collected the data, you must also continue to design, test, and develop strategies as time goes by.

Regularly collecting data and monitoring customer behavior will help you refine the content marketing funnel in the right direction. This is what you call “Iterative Improvement” and it will allow your business to adapt and grow even further.

End of the Journey?

Planning content marketing is not easy, especially when you need to create personalized content that resonates with different groups of customers.

As we saw, a funnel approach using content marketing is a smart way to guide audiences along the route toward the end goal of a purchase or a closed deal.

Some will end up buying your tires, others won’t… but they might still enjoy your recommendations for a good restaurant, and that’s still worth something.