It’s time to bid farewell to the outdated marketing funnel. Buyers don’t progress from awareness to purchase in a perfectly linear order. They zig, zag, scroll, binge, ghost, and resurface weeks later. If your content strategy is still built for a linear journey, you’re speaking to a world that doesn’t exist. If you want to lead with relevance and resonate with real humans, your content needs to flex. We’ll show you how to create smart, strategic content that adapts to the journey, rather than trying to control it.
Real Buyers Don’t Follow a Script
Real life doesn’t follow a neat and orderly pattern. While potential buyers share similarities, they are also unique individuals. They do not all follow the same orderly step-by-step path from awareness to interest to buying. This is partly because modern buyers have multiple communication channels available to them. They have access to TV, internet streaming, blog posts, emails, social media platforms, online reviews, text messages, and more. As a result, modern buyers enter the marketing funnel from various directions and at different stages of awareness or interest. The most effective marketing strategies do not use these multiple platforms in silos. Instead, they create interconnected marketing strategies. Don’t try to control your target buyer’s path or journey. Instead, guide or influence it.
Content Should Offer Multiple Entry Points
Create multiple possible entry points for potential buyers. Not all of your potential buyers will come from a specific source. In addition, that entry source for some could be the third or sixth touchpoint for others. Because of this, high-quality content needs to be strong enough to stand alone, making it effective as a first point of contact. It also needs to connect to other blog posts, making it effective for those who are experiencing it as a later touchpoint. To effectively utilize this strategy, blog posts should incorporate internal linking, include strong calls to action, and employ strategic content planning. That way, you encourage web page visitors to continue their journey by clicking to another page or taking an actionable step towards a purchase.
Mapping the Playground with Strategy
While your potential buyers may run around the marketing “playground” like a toddler who just ate candy, you cannot take the same approach to your content marketing strategy. You still need to have a plan and structure for your content marketing. It should just be flexible and have multiple pathways. For example, traditional content marketing took a pillar approach. There was one lengthy blog post that contained small pieces of related topics to the overall theme. Then, more focused blog posts would be written to expand on each snippet of information in the pillar post. The linking structure would resemble a tree trunk with multiple branches extending from it. The problem with this approach is that it takes a linear structure for the marketing funnel. It assumes the potential buyer will move in a straight line through the pillar post and its supporting articles.
The modern approach to content marketing and blog post linking structure involves utilizing content clusters or a hub-and-spoke model. These embrace the chaotic nature of potential buyers while also helping them to move through the marketing funnel. Each content cluster will be a group of blog posts that are each their own complete idea or topic. However, they are all related to each other. The cluster of posts interlinks with each other. That way, the web page visitor can choose their own journey through the cluster based on their interests. A hub-and-spoke model has a central blog post that several other posts link to. Then, the outer linked blog posts link to each other. This allows the visitor to return to the central post or continue their journey forward to the outer posts. Both of these content approaches influence the potential buyer by guiding them through the marketing funnel. However, they are also flexible enough to allow the potential buyer to create their own journey to the buying stage.
Storytelling That Meets Readers Where They Are
Don’t make assumptions about where your target buyers are. Instead, assume they are curious and seeking more information. Your tone and voice matter, as they should match your brand personality while also meeting the reader where they are in the marketing journey.
Don’t Just Capture Leads—Create Fans
Content creation should be about building relationships. Great content establishes and builds trust. Consistently great content drives loyalty. If buyers find your content enjoyable to engage with, they are more likely to continue engaging with it. Your content needs to add value to their lives, either by being fun, useful, or informative. This makes the content worth returning to.
Play to Win
The funnel is outdated, and buyers no longer progress in a linear fashion from awareness to action. They explore, wander, revisit, and choose their own path. Smart content strategies meet buyers where they are with flexible entry points, connected clusters, and a clear brand voice. A strong content marketing strategy will always ensure your content becomes a natural part of the journey.
If the concept of strategizing your content (with keywords, linking, topics that help buyers find your website, etc.) continues to be a challenge, Just Let Dez Write It! Let’s chat about your content and see how we can help.
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