Five Steps to Start Your Funnel-Focused Content Planning
In the first part of our two-part series on funnel-focused content planning, we dug into why it's essential to focus on high-converting topics when building your content library. With that framework in mind, it's time to move from concept to action. So, what's your best (and fastest) return on investment if you were to start your content library from scratch?
The Upside-Down Strategy
When companies start building their content libraries, the first thought they often have is starting with high-volume content: the kind of content that quickly brings in a large audience. Lists, how-to guides, and broad-topic articles often get the start. Traffic is what you want, right? But high-volume content also means a low-intent audience. If you want people to invest in your services or products, you'll need to focus instead on the low-traffic, high-interest topics that center around making decisions and taking action: the bottom of the funnel.
Decision and Action
The first phase of your funnel-focused content planning should be designed to push decisions and action. Why? Because that's where the money is. Start with the most pertinent problems and pain points that your company solves. It's the kind of stuff that your company was created to fix. This content will be the easiest to write about, and it's the highest return on investment for content writing.
This content includes long-tail keywords that your audience searches for, expecting to find a solution to their problem. Including topics that your audience and customer base are talking about on social media. They're the problems that you know you can solve.
BOFU customers are at the "decision" and "action" stages within the customer journey. They know what they want, and they're looking for the solution today. These customers are ready to buy, so your content should be direct, specific, and enthusiastic. Your conversion rates at this stage should be high if your content is crafted correctly.
Interest
After you've established some pillar content (long-form content that speaks specifically to your most desired key phrases and terms), it's time to start developing middle-of-funnel (MOFU) content. Here, you're looking for ideas within the periphery of your direct offerings.
MOFU is where people are connected to the basics of your market but haven't found the solution to their specific problems yet. They're still exploring, so your investment in this content will take longer to pay off, and it will see a lower conversion rate. Still, this middle-of-funnel point takes considerably less effort to convert to sales.
Awareness
Once the first two areas are built out, it's time to explore the broad topics within your market, what marketers call top-of-funnel (TOFU) topics. They're entry-point questions or concerns. People are searching to get a good grasp on all the details, and they're eager to learn more. Make them aware of your company, what your company does, and how your company provides the foundation to solve their future needs.
These topics can bring in plenty of traffic, but a far smaller percentage of that traffic becomes sales. The key here is to plan out ways to connect this content to your MOFU and BOFU articles, walking the visitor through the customer journey toward making a decision and taking action.
Creating a System for Content Ideas
Now that we've got more clarity concerning funnel-focused content planning, it's time to set up a system that allows you to create amazing content quickly. Again, it's all about seeing the purpose of the topic within the customer journey and assessing what kind of audience that topic will attract.
Here's a simple five-step process for finding the right topics for funnel-focused content planning, modeled after the method used by Ahrefs, one of the most influential SEO companies in existence:
1: Collect Ideas
Create an "idea collection bin" for your team members to easily drop ideas for new content. It can be something other than a physical bin, of course. It could be an online form or a Slack channel. Whatever way you collect ideas, make sure everyone knows it's there because you want ideas. And it should be open for anyone so that people with a passion for and knowledge of a subject area can have the opportunity to shine a light on a unique idea or angle.
2: Rate the Ideas
Create a rating system to assess your company's ability to address the suggested topic ideas. A simple scale works well. For Ahrefs, the ratings went from 0 to 3, with specific criteria for each number. The system should be modeled after the funnel discussed above so that it's easy to see where each new idea fits.
3: Invest in Top Scoring Ideas
Invest in any topics rated at a 2 or 3. These are BOFU topics, incredibly pertinent to the solution you're providing, with the most natural flow from the topic to your products or services. These ideas are easy to turn from advice and discussion into sales-supportive, actionable content.
4: Keep Lower Scoring Ideas for Later
Keep 1's for extra content down the road (MOFU and TOFU topics). Your company can offer a solution, but it's a helpful benefit rather than a crucial fix. Your visitors should see the advantages of choosing your services or products for their minor pain points, but they're not necessarily your target audience.
5: Toss Off-Topic Ideas Altogether
Get rid of the 0's since these offer no opportunity to talk about your company's offerings naturally, nor does your company provide any benefit in these topic areas. "Fluff" pieces that bring lots of unqualified traffic (traffic that has no purpose other than views) to your site aren't doing you any good in the long run. Save that energy for things your customers need to hear or want to know.
Making It Happen
Alright, you've got the content plan started. You're collecting great topic ideas. You're ready to build that content library the right way. But who's writing it for you?
If you have an in-house team of writers, you're good to go. Drop in your tasks and start assigning!
But if you're a bit short on writers, or a bit short on hours in the day, outsourcing is a great alternative. Find a great agency (psst… we're a great agency) and see how they write for their clients. If their content fits well into your company's niche, a specialized content agency can get your new(ish) blog off the ground in record time.
And the results can be amazing.
For example, one of our clients has seen a 600% increase in YoY organic traffic. We achieved this by establishing our client's authority and expertise in its field through targeted, well-written content focusing on its ideal customers. Achieving these results is why we are passionate about developing content. It sets our clients apart from their competition and positions them for greater success.