Don't create content based on inspiration, follow a funnel.

Are you creating content haphazardly, posting whatever comes to mind, without a clear direction? This is a common situation, especially among small businesses and self-employed individuals. The consequences are:

• Disjointed content: Potential customers access information in a fragmented way, without a clear understanding of your product, service, or the value you offer.
• Lack of "conversion momentum": The content doesn't guide readers through specific steps, making it difficult for them to make a purchase decision.
• Missed opportunity: Customers easily overlook your brand because they don't find a connection or solution to their problem.

For content to be truly effective, you need to follow the customer journey, also known as the marketing funnel. This is a logical process that guides potential customers from when they know nothing about you until they make a purchase and become loyal customers.

This funnel is typically described through the following stages: Awareness - Interest - Desire - Action - Retention.

By understanding which stage your customers are in, you can provide the right kind of content they need, at the right time, to propel them further up the funnel.

Funnel-based content strategy - What should you post at each stage?

To turn strangers into loyal customers, building a robust content strategy that's flexibly tailored to each stage of the funnel is essential. Below are the strategies you should focus on at each step to maximize effectiveness:

Phase 1: Awareness

In this initial phase, your primary goal is to introduce your brand and solutions to people who know nothing about you. The content here should focus on education, problem-solving, and value sharing, rather than direct sales.

• Blog posts, infographics, and videos sharing industry insights.
• Useful tips and basic guides related to your field.
• Real-life stories about common problems faced by the target customers.
• Stay updated on the latest trends and interesting statistics.

Main objective: To attract the attention of strangers and position yourself as a trustworthy source of information.

Phase 2: Interest

Once customers have recognized and noticed you, it's time to delve deeper into positioning your product/service. Content at this stage will pique their interest by highlighting the benefits and unique differentiators you offer. Your content at this stage could include:

• A successful case study: a customer's story about how they solved their problem thanks to you.
• Mini tutorial on how to use a part of the product or its feature.
• Behind-the-scenes production and workflow for increased transparency.
• Detailed answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Main objective: Encourage potential customers to learn more, and you can start inviting them to fill out forms or receive gifts (ebooks, checklists) to collect lead information.

Phase 3: Consideration (Desire)

At this stage, potential customers are interested and actively searching for solutions, comparing options. Your content needs to focus on building strong trust and creating a strong desire for them to own your product/service. You can implement your content using the following suggestions:

• Video feedback and authentic testimonials from satisfied customers who have used the product.
• Detailed product demo video showcasing key features.
• This article is about a specific customer's story.
• Personalized content: "Who should use this product?" or "How does this product solve problem X for group Y?"

Main objective: To build trust and foster a desire to own the product, often used effectively in nurturing or remarketing email marketing campaigns.

Phase 4: Action

This is the crucial moment, when you need to "close the deal." Content at this stage must be extremely clear, direct, and create a strong impetus for the customer to make a purchase or sign up for a service. Content at this stage could include:

• Limited-time promotional programs (flash sales, weekend promotions)
• Free trial, special experience package
• Use the scarcity effect (only X products left, offer ends in Y hours)
• Highly optimized landing pages with clear, easy-to-read calls to action (CTAs).

Main objective: Convert potential customers into actual customers, often combined with follow-up messages or emails immediately after they interact with the CTA.

Phase 5: Retention

The customer journey doesn't end when they make a purchase. This stage focuses on maintaining relationships, creating long-term value, and turning existing customers into loyal brand advocates. Accordingly, you must also adapt your content accordingly. Here are some suggestions:

• Post-sales service emails, customer satisfaction surveys.
• Happy birthday! A thank-you gift for our loyal customers.
• Articles and videos provide guidance on how to use the product more effectively and maximize its features.
• Information about new products/services, loyalty programs.
• Build a customer community where they can interact and share experiences.

Main objective: Retain customers, encourage repeat purchases (upsell/cross-sell), and turn them into voluntary brand ambassadors.

GTG CRM - A system to help you implement a content strategy that meets the sales funnel.

GTG CRM is an "all-in-one" CRM platform specifically designed to help small and medium-sized businesses, and even solo founders, build and execute effective content strategies. GTG CRM is a powerful tool to support your sustainable growth and development:

Create groundbreaking content in an instant with AI.

Running out of ideas? Don't have time to write a bunch of posts, emails, or advertising scripts? GTG CRM solves this problem with its powerful AI Content feature:

• Create diverse content: From social media posts and email marketing to landing page content, AI will help you generate ideas and drafts quickly and efficiently.
• Save time and money: No need to hire copywriters, no need to rack your brains; you can still produce large quantities of high-quality content.
• Always generating new ideas: AI helps you discover fresh content perspectives, diversify your messaging, and tailor it to each stage of the funnel.

GTG CRM's AI helps you generate engaging content ideas for each platform.

Schedule content releases across multiple channels, no need for manual reminders.

Forget about logging into each social media platform to schedule posts. With GTG CRM's Social Hub, you can easily synchronize and manage all your marketing channels from one place:

• Connect popular platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn to easily schedule posts.
• Significantly saves time and costs: Centralized management optimizes resources.
• Ensure consistency: Easily schedule content for specific stages in the customer journey.

Schedule posts according to plan.

Tag and categorize customers based on their reading behavior.

To personalize the customer experience and optimize campaigns, understanding the behavior of each potential customer is crucial. GTG CRM helps you do this conveniently and intelligently:

• CRM features customer behavior classification: Classify customers based on their behavior. For example, customers coming from an Education landing page will have their information automatically collected and categorized into the Education section by the CRM system.
• Build a personalized customer base: Categorize customers by their "hotness" level to develop appropriate customer care strategies.

Categorize customers by their condition.

Send automated content to the right people, at the right time.

The true power of an effective content strategy lies in its ability to deliver the right message to the right people at the right time. GTG CRM provides powerful automation features to ensure this:

• Automation Workflow: Setting up an automated email sending process for leads.
• Scheduled follow-up emails: Schedule emails according to a plan, no need to remember to send them manually.

GTG CRM allows you to send automated emails after a specific action.

Conclude

In an increasingly competitive market, strategic content creation not only helps you attract customers but is also an effective way to build an automated and sustainable sales system. GTG CRM is the comprehensive solution that helps your business master this process.