What is a Funnel Strategy?
Okay so now you have defined your brand pillars, what’s next? You need a marketing strategy! Every effective marketing strategy has 3 stages, the top, middle, and bottom of the marketing funnel, if you will. I am going to explain what that all means, and how you can take your brand pillars and create an effective marketing strategy utilizing the three essential funnel stages!
Creating content can feel tedious, taxing, and exhausting, and let’s be honest it’s hard to put yourself out there! That being said, harnessing the power of social media and a solid content strategy will open doors to audiences you’d never otherwise meet! So we’re going in full speed and creating a marketing strategy, using our brand pillars and a the tried and true funnel stages essential to every marketing strategy- let’s go!
Having worked in digital marketing for over 7 years both in creative and strategy, one key structure every single company I worked for used was a funnel strategy! So I’m going to do a deep dive with you, explain what a funnel strategy is, what type of content you need for each stage in your funnel, and what ratio you need to create a highly effective funnel strategy and game-plan for your business!
Turning your Brand Pillars into a Funnel Strategy
The secret sauce to scaling your business isn’t just about pushing content; it’s about crafting a strategy that guides your audience through a journey. This journey is what we call the “funnel strategy.” It’s the roadmap from first view, to engaged audience, and finally– loyal customer.
So why is a funnel strategy essential?
Each stage in your funnel serves a specific purpose and by using all 3, you are essentially watering the garden that is your business, your offer, and your product. You can’t sell to empty room, and you need to build trust in order to secure sales. Which is why each in your funnel strategy is equal parts important from beginning, middle, to end. Think of it as the narrative arc of your brand’s story, where each chapter serves a purpose. engage, educate, and convert. With this approach, you’re not just selling, you’re entertaining, educating and establishing trust with your potential buyer.
Funnel Stages
Now let’s dive deep into the world of funnel strategies and transform your marketing strategy! There are 3 stages to every funnel strategy:
Top — Prospecting
Middle — Connection
Bottom — Offer.
Top of Funnel
Prospecting
Starting at the top of the funnel, this stage is crafted to excite, attract, and inspire people who have never heard of your brand. Examples include a captivating hook, bursts of inspiration or motivation, and video content that’s typically less than 10 seconds, eye-catching, and includes some hook variation to draw people in. This segment should represent about 30-40% of your content. As your business matures, you’ll gradually shift focus towards the middle of the funnel, where you nuture, educate, and offer value to your audience.
Content Types:
Short Form Video Content.
Content Recommendations:
5-10 seconds in duration. Include Hook or CTA, Trending Audio, Visual Action within first 2 seconds, Looping Action
Middle of Funnel
Connection
Middle of the Funnel is where you establish trust with your audience. This will be the majority of your content. Your middle-of-funnel content may not perform as well as the top-of-the-funnel content, and typically will get a fraction of the reach and views. However, it is probably the most important piece of your funnel. This it’s where you nurture, educate, and build trust with your audience. Think of this as the place where you really show your expertise, your authentic POV, and offer value while building a relationship with your viewer.
You are providing value here, but you are not selling! This is key, rather than selling you are establishing yourself as a leader! Think of ways you can be a resource to your audience. Share your vulnerability, use storytelling to connect and relate to your audience the way you would speak to a close friend. The value you provide establishes you as an expert and gives solid reasoning for people to want to follow and consume your content. This is your time to own your thought leadership, share education and industry insights, personal stories, and a peek into your process.
Content Types:
Long Form Video Content, Carousel Posts, Stories.
Content Recommendations:
- Plan an equal mix of your brand pillars.
- Include a hook in long-form videos.
- Create a series that is centered around a topic relating to one of your brand pillars.
- Include your credentials either in the caption or at the beginning of your video.
- Share some of your personal story.
As you develop your middle-of-funnel strategy, make note of what performs the best in terms of content type and brand pillar. Use your insights to gauge what is performing best, saves, shares, and follows tied to specific posts are the biggest indicator that your content resonates. Although your top-of-funnel content will garner the biggest reach, your middle-of-funnel content will garner the most follows and engagement.
Bottom of Funnel
Offer
Bottom of the Funnel is all about conversions! This is your stage to shine a spotlight on your offers, share glowing reviews, and showcase your products or results. Aim for this to be about 20% of your content mix. No one wants to feel like they are being sold every day. When you make your expertise known during the middle of funnel, your bottom of funnel becomes seamless.
So now that you have attracted your audience in the top-of-funnel, connected your audience in the middle-of-funnel, it is time to convert your audience in the bottom-of-funnel. Now it’s time to share your result! When your audience sees your work, or reads a review from one of your past projects they know how amazing you are, and how they can work with you.
One of the biggest mistakes for new entrepreneurs is focusing too much on bottom-of-funnel, you need to establish trust before the sale! If you make your position known, you should not feel you need to state your offer in every piece of content, keep your audience connected and entertained, and sprinkle in your results to wow your audience without making them feel like all you do is tell them why they need you product. When you show them vs. tell them, you will gain the most traction and garner the most conversions.
Content Types:
Short Form Video, Static Posts, Carousel Posts, Reshares.
Content Recommendations:
Share your portfolio work, client testimonials, photos and videos that make your product shine! Include CTA to offer or resource in your captions.
Reminder
It’s time to stop blaming the algorithm and start believing in your potential!
Let go of the outcome of each post. Remember always, if something provides value it should stay on your page. More often than not the content that converts my audience is not the highest-performing content, that is why every stage in your funnel strategy is so important.
Forget the algorithm for a second, and continuing show up and share authentically. Continue to create messaging that you feel needs to be heard. If you lean into that value you provide, and the things that make you unique, the rest will follow.
I hope this was helpful. You have all the power and potential to reach people you have never met through social and scale your business through content strategy alone, so stop blaming the algorithm, create your content strategy, and start believing in yourself!
You got this!
With love,
Gem
March 31, 2024
