If you are not familiar with the traditional sales funnel, this marketing concept can help you better get to know your target customers and what they need from you during each step of their buyer's journey. Though content marketing is often thought of as a top funnel strategy, different types of content can help you reach people during each stage of this process. In our latest blog post, we give an overview of the sales funnel and explain where content fits into each stage so you can draw new leads and customers to your business.
A Beginner's Guide to Content and the Sales Funnel
If you are not familiar with the traditional sales funnel, this marketing
concept can help you better get to know your target customers and what
they need from you during each step of their buyer’s journey. Though
content marketing is often thought of as a top funnel strategy, different
types of content can help you reach people during each stage of this
process. Knowing what the sales funnel is and understanding where
content fits into each stage can help you better provide targeted content
that draws new leads and customers to your business.
Sales Funnel 101: The Basics
Imagine a funnel. It’s wider at the top and narrows considerably at the
bottom. In many ways, this resembles your sales process. You begin with a
large batch of leads, some who are right for your company and others who
are not. As these consumers do their research and interact with your brand,
the number of leads slowly decreases until those who are a good fit
become customers and you work to retain them.
This is the sales funnel, which has four basic stages:
● Awareness – At this stage, individuals are in the very beginning of
their buyer’s journey. They are seeking out education and new
information to help them better understand the available solutions to
their problems.
● Consideration – During the
consideration stage, consumers are
looking for a demonstration of
solutions or expertise. They are
comparing solutions to find which
may be a good fit for their particular
need.
● Decision – This is when the
consumer is finally ready to buy and
needs to make a final decision. At
this stage, consumers want to
experience some sort of confirmation
that they are making the right choice.
● Retention – After consumers become customers, they will continue
to look to your brand for helpful information and insight as well as
new products and services that continue to make their lives easier.
These stages each represent a process that your leads go t