A sales funnel is a visual representation of the customer’s journey from first becoming aware of your brand to becoming a customer and super fan. The top of the funnel is the entry point, where the customer begins this journey with your brand.
In your social media marketing, the majority of your content should be focused on the top of the funnel.
Top of Funnel’s Purpose
The purpose of the Top of the Funnel is to create awareness of you, your product, or of the problem for the customer.
This is the initial stage of the sale funnel, and your goal is to have a wide reach with your content. You want more people to come into contact with your brand.
In Top of Funnel marketing, you are targeting people who are not yet aware of your brand, and creating content that draws them into your sphere so that future content can send them deeper down the funnel, to an eventual purchase of your products.
Top of Funnel content is broad in scope and educates the audience about topics related to their interest.
Or, it is designed to create an emotional connection between you and your new, growing audience. This could be something that makes them laugh, highlights their pain, helps them envision what success looks like, or starts a conversation.
Where is the Top of the Funnel Content?
The top of the funnel content should be placed on digital platforms that represent no commitment to the audience. They don’t need to pay you anything or give you their email address or any other personal information.
Top of Funnel platforms include:
- Social media (any and all platforms)
- Youtube
- Podcasts
- Blogs
What Type of Content Should You Create for Top of the Funnel?
Social Media
For social media, you want to create posts that are going to have a large reach. And since Top of Funnel is supposed to be your least expensive form of marketing, you want this reach to occur organically.
Types of posts that work well include
- Memes
- Infographics
- Educational or Entertaining Videos
- Tips or Strategies
- Conversation Starters
- Polls
Blog, YouTube, Podcast
These mediums, though very different, have the same goal when it comes to Top of Funnel content creation, so I am lumping them together here only.
You want your content on these mediums to be highly searchable and to give your audience a quick win, or a great feeling.
Remember that you are targeting a cold audience; people who have never heard of you. And you are expecting them to find you organically (or at a very low advertising cost). So your content should have a high SEO.
Most people are going to Search Engines to find solutions to their problems. They are asking questions and looking for content that will help them with their need. Your blog, video, or podcast should be targeted at that.
Aim to create a lot of content that answers questions or solves problems that your ideal customers are searching for solutions. Be sure to not only answer their question but also give them the tools for success. Help them obtain a quick win. They should be able to get this win by reading your blog, listening to your episode, or watching your video. Do not highlight the problem and then tell them that you have the solution and that you’ll give it to them if they give you your email address. Just give them the solution. No email required.
What is the Goal of Top of Funnel Marketing?
Your Top of Funnel content’s goal is to create awareness in the minds of customers who have never heard of you. You are trying to grow your reach.
This is why you are creating broad, highly searchable content.
You also must convince these new audience members that your brand provides exceptional value. Your goal is to convince them that you are a leader in your niche, someone who has the answers to their problems. This will make them more likely to get on your email list and eventually purchase your products.
Top of Funnel content should provide value.
Should You Reference Your Paid Products in Top of Funnel Marketing?
It’s okay to reference your products in services in your Top of Funnel content. Especially in blogs, YouTube videos, and Podcast episodes. This is a great way to plant a seed for future purchase. Let your customer know where this relationship is headed. But don’t push them. Remember your Top of Funnel content goal is not to make a sale, it is to grow your audience. To help them become one step closer to making that purchase.
Your goal is to make them a subscriber, a follower of your social media page, or aware of your brand so that you can eventually get them onto your email list.
Think of it Like a Relationship
When I met my wife, I knew she was the one. I wanted to marry her that minute. She’s fun, beautiful, and intelligent; the whole package.
But I didn’t ask her to marry me that day. That wouldn’t have worked. It would have been too fast, too soon, and only would have resulted in her never seeing me again. Instead, I tried to get us one step closer to a more committed relationship. I wanted to build a connection with her so that I could see her again.
That’s what your digital marketing journey should look like. Of course, you want your audience member to ‘marry your brand’ by making a sale. But that’s too fast, too soon. They’re not ready for such a commitment. They’ve got to think about it. After all, you just met.
How can you deepen the relationship? How can you get them to know you better, so the prospect of giving you their number (email address) and you guys having a next date increases?
By having a great conversation with them. By adding value to their lives (through relevant or engaging material).
Tips for Top of Funnel Content
Highly Searchable
Your blog, podcast, or Youtube video should have good SEO. Which means you are targeting long-tail phrases that they are searching for.
Or Good Organic Reach on Social Media
People aren’t generally typing questions into Instagram or Tic Toc. Instead, you want content that gets good reach to a new audience. This means that the content is engaging. It should cause a reaction or start a conversation.
Provide Value
Be sure to answer their question or give them a strategy that will work. Teach them something.
Or, if your Top of Funnel isn’t educational, instead it’s entertaining, try to create an emotion. Make them laugh. Or cry. Make them feel something. Get them to respond.
Attention Grabbing – Visually Appealing
Make it look great, especially if it’s a post on social media. High-quality images. Great copy. Get their attention right away with your images and words.
Focus on Them
It’s not about you! Yes, you want them to get to know you. But you should not be spending a lot of time talking about yourself. Talk about them. Their problem. What they’re feeling. How they can have everything they want.
Long Ad Copy
Your social media posts should have long ad copy. Your image should capture their attention, your ad copy should provide value.
My best performing content on Facebook has been an image that immediately identified who the content was for and what problem it addressed, and then it had tons of words in the description of the image. It also helped that it the solution I discussed, not everyone agreed with, and this generated a lot of conversation.
Tell the Reader what to Do Next
In my copywriting course, we talk about this a lot. After your new audience members have consumed your content, they want to know what to do next. And if you don’t tell them, they won’t do it.
This is why every YouTube video you’ve watched and every podcast episode you’ve listened to has said something like this, “Smash that bell,” “Be sure to like and follow,” or “Leave a five-star review.”
They say this because it is the next step in the relationship; you becoming a follower and consuming more of their content. AND. If they don’t tell you to do it, you are significantly less likely to do so.
You also need to tell your reader what to do next. You could ask them to:
- Follow your social media page
- Join your Facebook Group
- Read more relevant blogs (and provide links)
- Like or follow your podcast or Youtube episode
You want them to get more of your material so that they realize how great your brand is. You are moving them towards realizing that you provide the solutions to their problems.
By the way, a great thing to do is send them to your TpT page for a free product – which asks them to follow you on TeachersPayTeachers.com. This allows you to email them in the future (on TpT’s platform) as well as gets them to follow your brand.
Want more Material on Getting more Customers?
If you found this helpful and want to learn more about acquiring more customers, I have tons of resources for you. Check out which medium you are interested in improving and click on it.