Stages of a Sales Funnel and Content Marketing Ideas for Each Stage

In this episode, I talk about:
✨  What exactly is a sales funnel
✨ What are the stages in a sales funnel
✨ Content marketing ideas for each stage of the funnel so you can convert more at each stage.

If you're reading this and you have no idea where to start with your content marketing for each stage of the sales funnel, then this episode is for you!

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2. Episode 65: How to Figure Out Personal Touch Points in Your Funnel
3. Episode 60: Content Creation with Intention - What's That All About?

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Transcript

0:00

Hey, what's up everyone? Welcome back to the marketing Nomad show. It's your favourite marketer and podcast host. My name is PRIT. Welcome to episode number 74, where I'm going to tell you what exactly is a sales funnel and how to plan out your content marketing for each stage of the funnel. Now, before we get started on today's episode, I just wanted to make like a small mention that I actually posted a podcast episode a couple of weeks ago, it was episode number 65. How to figure out your personal touch points for the funnel. Can I actually got a question on my Instagram messages? And they asked me what exactly was a sales funnel. They knew the concept of it, but they just didn't know how to apply their content marketing to the funnel. So I realised that I needed to backtrack a little bit and explain what exactly is a sales funnel and how you can plan your content marketing for the sales funnel. Okay, and if you guys aren't following me on Instagram, definitely do follow me. I'd love to chat with you. If you have any questions about the podcast episode, you know, I'm there to answer I'm there to help you out so you can find me on App D marketing nomad. Okay, guys, let's get into today's podcast episode. Now. First off, let's talk about what exactly is a sales funnel? Okay, are you ready? Let's go. Okay, so now sales funnel was a concept that was introduced by marketers quite some time ago, that basically maps out your target audiences journey from start to finish. Now, if you've seen a funnel, you know that the top part of the funnel is quite big. And of course, it narrows down as you get to the bottom of the funnel. And that's exactly what happens with your target audience as well. The people who know about your business are going to be a bigger volume compared to the number of people who actually purchase from your business. So because the top of the funnel usually has a larger volume of people, and then as you come down closer to your business, like closer to the purchase decision, the volume of people significantly reduces just like a funnel. And marketers because of that likened the entire process to a funnel, okay. Now, when I was actually doing my MBA in my marketing class, there were two funnels that I was personally taught. One was a four stage funnel, and one was a seven stage funnel. Now for the simplicity of this podcast episode, I'm going to be teaching you the four stage funnel. Now basically, the seven stage funnel has three extra stages compared to the four stage funnel. And it does get a little bit complicated because it also focuses on purchase, and we purchase. All right, so that's the primary difference between the two of them. So, like I said, for the simplicity of this podcast episode, because we are getting started on a sales funnel, I'm only going to teach you the four stage funnel, I'm probably going to give you another podcast episode where I talk about the other three stages as well. Okay, so if you do want that, definitely let me know on my Instagram page, and I will record a podcast episode just for you for the seven stage funnel, but I just want to reiterate that if you are starting on your sales funnel, the four stage funnel is a pretty good starting place. Okay. Alrighty, guys. Now let's talk about the stages in the sales funnel. Now the four main stages are awareness, interest, decision, and we have action. Okay, so if I were to abbreviate it, and that's what's commonly also known in the industry, it's the idea, okay, A I D, a awareness, interest, decision action, the awareness comes at the top of the funnel, the action comes at the bottom of the funnel. So awareness has the biggest volume of people, then we have a slightly smaller volume of people who come under the interest group, and then again, a little bit smaller than that comes the Decision Group. And then finally, a little bit smaller volume then the Decision Group comes the action group. Now I'm going to explain what each stage basically means. Let's go to the top of the funnel and that is the awareness stage. Now this does not don't necessarily mean awareness to your business, I want to clarify that because when I first read this concept, that is what I assumed it would be, however, awareness actually means their awareness to the problem that they may be facing. Now, you know that your business definitely solves a problem, correct, it solves a problem of your audience. Now, there might be a huge group of audience who don't even realise they have a problem. All right, and that happens, that's actually very, very common. So awareness stage, when they step into the top of your funnel, it actually means that they are aware they have a problem. So that basically is the first step that they are taking towards your business, it is not an I'm going to reiterate, it is not awareness of your business. Okay, it is awareness to the problem that they may be facing. Okay, so that is stage number one. Stage number two is interest, where it's a slightly smaller group of people compared to the awareness stage. Now, let me first explain what the interest stage is. And then I will explain why it is smaller than the awareness stage. Now, the interest stage, okay, is basically the people who are aware of their problem, and are now actively looking for a solution to their problem, I'm gonna reiterate that I'm gonna say it again, the people in the interest stage are the people who are aware of their problem. And they are actively looking for a solution to their problem. Now, the reason why the interest group is smaller than the awareness group is because not all the people who are aware of their problem are looking for a solution to that problem. And there could be number of reasons why they're not looking for a solution to their problem, maybe, you know, the problem is not big enough for them to be looking for a solution maybe does not bother them so much. Or maybe they have, you know, they can live with it. Okay, so those people don't come into the second stage, which is the interest stage, the interest stage is only people who are aware of the problem, and they are looking for a solution. Now, somewhere along this line, okay, somewhere along this part where they are looking for a solution to their problem, it is highly unlikely that they will find your business, okay. And that is where your marketing should actually come into play. It's to catch people in this stage. And the reason why that is so so important, is because when they are looking for a solution, you have the solution. So your marketing needs to position itself so that they find your business, your product, your service, as a solution. Of course, yes, they're going to find your competitors products, you're going to find your competitors service, but you also need to be one of the people that they're looking at, right, you also need to be one of the solutions that they are looking at. Okay, so that's where your marketing comes in. And, of course, the second half of this podcast episode, I'm going to be telling you what different kinds of content marketing really suit for each of these stages. Okay, so we're gonna get there. Now, in the decision stage, of course, it's a lesser volume of people compared to the interest stage. These are people who are ready to make a decision. And at this point, okay, it's usually between you and another competitor, okay? It's, they're usually very, very serious about making that purchase. They probably have two or three options. At this point, like they've narrowed it down, they're absolutely certain that it's either or, of the solutions that they're going with. At this point, they are sure that they will choose someone, they're just not sure who they're going to choose or whether they want to go with you. Okay, now at this point, it's basically them evaluating and negotiating and trying to see which one is a better fit for them. Okay. And at this point, they're more likely going to dig a lot about you and your business and your products and your services. Okay, so that is the decision stage. So they're in the process of making a decision, but what is certain is that they do want to buy a solution. Okay, so that's definitely a little bit lesser volume compared to the interest group. Because sometimes, you know, there are a number of reasons why people who are looking for solutions might not decide between two businesses at this point, okay, maybe there have there don't have access to the resources at the moment to move forward with two options, or they feel, you know, after looking at the solutions available, maybe they decide, okay, you know, what I can do this myself, I'm gonna figure it out myself, there are so many reasons why the interest group does not make it to the Decision Group. But the ones who do make it into the Decision Group, they're usually pretty sure about two or three options at this point. And they're, like 100%, that they are going to purchase. Okay. So that's what the decision stage is about. Then we talk about the last stage, and that is action. And, as the name suggests, that is when they take action. Now, like I said, from the decision to the action, yes, there's going to be a slightly lower number of volume, not as drastic as from awareness to interest from interested decision, okay, because from your decision stage, like I said, they've narrowed it down to two or three options, okay. And for the most part, if your marketing is being done correctly, and you are nurturing your audience at each of these stages, okay, there's gonna be a higher chance that they will pick you based on the other options that they do. Okay, so basically, your content marketing has to make sure that your audience is being nurtured from each stage, that you are actually kind of leading them from awareness, to interest to decision. And then finally, to action, which is, of course, the purchase. Now, let me give you an example of what you can use as your content marketing for each of these stages, just so that you have an idea of how you can go about your content marketing. Now, I just want to be clear that your content marketing always needs to have a goal. And if you're wondering how to get started on your content creation process, I actually do have a podcast episode just for you. It's episode number 60, content creation with intention, what's that all about? Okay, so for every single piece of content that you are creating every channel that you are, you know, present on, there needs to be some intention. And understanding which part of the funnel your content goes into, is also a really, really good starting point for you to determine what the goal should be, like, for example, if you are creating content for the awareness stage, the primary function of that content is to make sure that people start getting aware that there is a problem, okay? Now, if you are doing content marketing for your interest stage, then your primary focus is going to be making sure that the content emphasises that there is a solution to their problem. Okay, if you're doing content marketing for the decision phase, then your primary focus needs to be why your solution is the better option, or is the best option. Okay. And of course, for your action stage, whatever decision that they are making the purchase decision, you need to make sure that that transition is as smooth as possible. And that's where your content marketing, the goal of your content marketing for this stage needs to be making sure that your potential customer feels super, super confident to make that purchase decision. And they're being treated well after they've made the purchase as well. Okay, now let's go into the top of the funnel, which is the awareness stage. And also of course, I'm going to also include the interest stage in this as well. Okay, so for the top of the funnel, the first thing that comes to my mind that is super, super popular are blog posts, okay, these just work so so well, especially with the top of the funnel because of the amount of SEO boost that it can give you people who are not even aware they have a problem, we'll end up reading a blog post about what potentially could be a problem. And that's when they think to themselves, hey, I actually have a problem here. Like, this bothers me, this actually bothers me. And that's when it triggers the thought to look for solutions. And again, your blog posts can help with that. So whenever you are coming up with blog post ideas, I highly recommend you understanding what exactly is the problem that your audience is facing, and trying to make sure that your blog post emphasises that there is a problem, it brings the problem to their attention. And not just that, it lets them know that there are solutions available, okay? Likewise, you can also do the same on your social media pages. You can also have email newsletters as well, you can also have podcast episodes, you can also do YouTube videos on these, okay? Just to reiterate, anything and every piece of content that someone can search for you organically is probably a really good piece of content, okay, especially for the top of the funnel, because you are bringing awareness to them that there is a problem number one, and number two, that there are solutions available to that problem. Okay, now, I just want to like give a side note over here that the blog posts that you do put out, not necessarily have to talk about your business as well, sometimes even figuring out other problems that your target audience might have. And finding solutions just to help them out can also help you build authority in the field as well. Okay, so that's just a side note. But for the most part, the content marketing efforts for this part of the funnel, usually have to bring that awareness that there is a problem in the first place. And then let them know that solutions exist to the problem. And yes, you are one of those solutions. Okay, then we come to the third part of the funnel, and that is your decision stage. Now, I personally, consider this part the middle of the funnel. So I guess I would say the interest stage overlaps a bit between the top of the funnel and the middle of the funnel. So I guess I'm also going to include a little bit of the interest stage just to kind of hone them in and bring them into the decision phase. And of course, people in the decision phase as well. Now in this, like I told you, they are probably considering you and possibly, you know, another another two other people, you know, they're trying to make a decision over here they're evaluating, they're figuring out things about you, at this point, helping them you know, by giving them discounts, or offers a really good starting point, because that gives them that little bit of nudge to choose you over your competitors, okay, otherwise, other than that, sorry, you can also give them useful resources, such as you know, like your lead magnets, maybe you can give them checklists, maybe you can host a webinar for them, you know, give them that extra knowledge or value that makes them feel that you genuinely care about them that you genuinely want them to find a solution, the best solution to their problem, okay, so it's basically building trust. At this point, you can also give a tonne of educational resources, help them gain knowledge. As I said, you can also do surveys or quizzes that are fun, kind of keep it interactive. experiential marketing usually helps at this point as well. Okay. So, for the most part for this stage, it's more about nurturing them and letting them know that your solution is going to be the best solution. Because you care. Okay, that should be your fundamental point of your content marketing for this stage. Another good thing that comes usually around this phase is your email marketing efforts. So if people have downloaded your educational resources or your useful resources, what you can do is continue to nurture them, either send them to blog posts, yes, you can do that. Send them to blog posts that will help them you can give them infographics at this point, that will also help them you can send them to your podcast that will further nurture them so basically, at this point, okay, it's all about me. Making them feel that you are the authority in your field, you know exactly what their pain point is. And you know exactly what is the solution that will make their life better. Okay. So that's what usually happens at this stage. And of course, we have the bottom of the funnel, which is action. And at this point, it's mostly just making them feel comfortable during that purchasing decision. So at this point, maybe you want to give additional offers, yes, these work at this point, maybe you want to give a demo that also works at this point, maybe you want to give a free trial, that also helps them make that purchase decision. So they go with you, and then automatically they get get billed for the next cycle. So that free trial actually is a piece of content marketing effort that you are putting in as well. You can put in testimonials at this point, send them testimonials, put testimonials on your social media pages, or you know, through your email marketing efforts, you can send them customer stories, success stories, transformation stories, all of those are crucial at this point. Okay. So even though I do say email marketing, the content of your email marketing also determines which part of the funnel it goes to, okay. Like, for example, blog posts, some of your blog posts will come to the top of the funnel, some of the content of your blog posts will come middle of the funnel, and some of the content of your blog posts are going to come at the bottom of your funnel, if you are planning your content, I would highly recommend ensuring that you are hitting these three sections of your sales funnel, okay. So it's not necessarily that if you have blog posts, it only has to go to top of the funnel. That is not what I'm saying. When I'm saying is the content matters, what content you are putting in your blog posts matter. So maybe if you want to give like a 60% of your blog posts to top of the funnel, and then maybe 20 to middle of the funnel and then 20% to the bottom of the funnel that works as well figure out something that works for you. Same goes for your social media pages as well. Same goes for your podcasts as well. Okay. One thing personally that I have done and has worked fantastically for the bottom of the funnel is a comparison sheet. Okay. Basically, when I was working for this top solar firm in New York, they were facing severe competition. Okay, because solar, it's a very competitive field. So what I had done is I had created just like a small spreadsheet of what are the different kinds of solar? If I'm not wrong solar panels available? It's been two years guys. What were the different kinds of solar panels, what were their specifications? And basically, it wasn't meant to show that okay, my solar firm was awesome, or whatnot, it was just meant to educate. And yes, in that comparison spec sheet, it was super, super obvious that our solar firm was the top like, we were genuinely really good at what we did. Okay, so by having a comparison spec sheet, it just made the purchase decision for me, the target audience so much more easier and faster, because it was literally like a one page spreadsheet with the brand colours and everything. Oh, God, guys, I think that was one of my best work. I'm not even kidding. I'm super proud of that. And it worked really, really well. Like when the salespeople were on, you know, meeting in person, of course, the salespeople were fantastic to begin with. But this was just extra ammunition that they had when people asked, okay, so what's the difference between your solar panels and maybe another solar panel and they didn't even have to explain, they just like, Okay, you can see the sheet, I'm gonna send you the sheet, you can take a look at it. And basically what this does is that it allows your target audience to make the decision themselves, you are not actively selling you are passively selling at this point. And when they make the decision to purchase from you, it brings them that much more satisfaction. Okay, remember this always remember this. It's probably the the number one rule of marketing that I apply to every single part of your business or of my business, sorry, to my business because you need to allow them to come to the decision of purchasing from you. If you keep forcing them. It's just gonna be a bitter experience for both of you And, in my experience, comparison spec sheets, oh my god, super, super awesome. Then after I started my entrepreneurial journey, I actually did webinars for bottom of the funnel, those worked really, really well as well. I think I've done about two of them so far really good conversion rate, because in your webinars, you're actually giving them a lot of information, you're giving them a lot of value. And at the same time, you're also talking about your product or your service, and how it will benefit them. And that one on one interaction is always so so good. It converts really, really well as well. Okay. So these are the different types of content marketing ideas that I have for you for each stage of your funnel. Like I said, it's not more so about the, I would say, the channel or even the marketing effort, it's more about the content that you're posting, like, you can have a blog post that focuses for the top of the funnel, you can have a blog post that focuses on the middle of the funnel. And you can also have a blog post for the bottom of your funnel. Okay, so it's more so about what content you are putting in these channels. Okay. And that brings me to the end of this podcast episode. Thank you so much for listening all the way up until here. If this podcast episode helped you definitely do leave me a review that actually tells me which content of mine resonated with you so that I can help you with more content, just like that. And of course, if you need more help with your sales funnel, figuring out your content, marketing, and all of those things. I definitely am offering one on one marketing consultation services at the moment. You can check them out. I have one for long term. I also have power hour strategy calls where we cover all your content marketing stuff within 60 minutes or 120 minutes, whatever it is you're choosing. Alrighty guys, I'm going to sign off at this stage. I really hope this podcast episode helped you. If it did, don't forget to also give me a shout out on Instagram Stories. Or even just DM me on Instagram. If you have any further questions. I wouldn't mind answering them for you as well. Okay guys, I hope you guys are staying super, super safe. Super healthy. I'll catch you in my next podcast episode. Buh bye.