How to Use Content Marketing for Each Step of Your Sales Funnel

Inbound marketing is growing in popularity, providing eCommerce stores with a unique opportunity to attract new shoppers and improve conversion rates. Most inbound marketing strategies begin with an effective content marketing strategy. One effective way to outline your inbound marketing strategy is to use a sales funnel. This diagram notes each process step, starting with your content and ending with customer satisfaction.

What is a Sales Funnel?

A sale funnel (also known as a “buying cycle”) represents the four or five main stages a customer experiences when making a purchase. Sales funnels differ from business to business, but most follow the same general outline. The stages commonly represented in sales funnels are:

1. Attention
2. Interest 
3. Desire
4. Action
5. Post-sale

Between stages one and five of your sales funnel, your goal is to attract your customer's attention, get them interested in your company, offer them a product they want to buy, then close the sale. Many businesses mistake closing the deal as the final step of their sales funnel, but offering quality post-sale customer service is essential if you wish to establish repeat customers.

Content Marketing for Each Step of Your Sales Funnel

There are many strategies you can use to work through your sales funnel, but content marketing is among the most effective. We will discuss how you can use content marketing to establish an effective sales funnel and improve conversion rates.

1. Use Interesting Content to Get Shoppers' Attention

To increase your traffic, you have to attract new site visitors. Without engaging, applicable content, it will be difficult for customers to find your brand.

Create content that will interest your readers, and post it on your store's blog. Your content should discuss topics your target audience will be interested in, and it should be search engine optimized to attract the most readers. Consider doing a keyword search to find topics your target audience is searching for, and figure out how to apply those keywords to your brand.

After you've written effective content, please share it on social media. Follow the same strategies you would for any other content marketing strategy. Your goal is to attract the attention of as many readers as possible and point them in the direction of your store or products.

2. Use Your Content to Establish Interest in Your Brand

After your customer finds your brand, you may still have some convincing to do to convert them into customers. That's where a free sales funnel builder comes in handy. During the second stage of your sales funnel, your content should aim to solve a problem of your target audience. For example, a store selling vitamins might discuss a problem that can be fixed by taking one of their supplements.

When establishing interest, your main goals should be to:

• Demonstrate how your company is better than your competitors 
• Indicate the value of your product, and how it can help solve a problem
• Establish leads by getting emails and newsletter signups

Ideally, your content should identify a problem area of your reader and offer a solution. A company selling vitamins might offer an article titled “How to make your hair grow faster” and offer supplements like biotin as a solution. This provides applicable information for your reader, and gives them a reason to visit your store and investigate your supplements.

3. Increase Your Reader's Confidence in Purchasing a Product

Your customers will be interested in your product after stage two of your sales funnel but may still need a push. Buyer's guilt is a common problem among online shoppers as they debate whether or not to make a purchase. At this stage, your goal is to minimize buyer's guilt and improve your shopper's confidence in purchasing.

During the third stage, you should use customer reviews and buyer's guides to reduce buyer's guilt. Some common concerns shoppers have include:

• Credit card/identity theft
• Poor customer service
• Receiving a product that isn't true to its product description (or is broken)
• Not receiving a product at all.

Each concern is valid, and it's up to you to dispel it. Proper product reviews, descriptions, videos, photos, and testimonials can help you increase your shopper's desire for a product and reduce their buyer's guilt.

4. Display the Value of Your Product to Finalize the Purchase

Once your customer is interested in your product, they'll compare prices and quality between your brand and others. All shoppers want to get the best deal, and during the fourth stage of your sales funnel, it's your job to display the value of your product.

Pricing guides/price comparison widgets are excellent ways to show value. These can help your shopper determine whether or not your products are within their price range. You can also use this to show them other products they may be interested in. For example, a company selling digital cameras may want to offer less-expensive cameras in their price comparison tool in order to show shoppers other options which may be in their price range.

Product reviews are also beneficial in the fourth stage. If other customers have noted the quality and value of your product, other shoppers will be more inclined to make a purchase. Product videos are also an effective way to display the value of your product. According to Lemonstand, 73 percent more shoppers will buy a product after watching a video about it. Your shoppers are very likely to turn to YouTube and other video-sharing sites if you don't include product videos on your site, so take advantage of this very effective strategy.

5. Offer Excellent Customer Service Post-Sale to Create a Repeat Customer

Your sales funnel doesn't end after you've converted a shopper into a customer. Repeat customers are much more cost-effective than attracting new customers, and your goal is to indicate your appreciation for your new customer in this final step.

The best way to show your customer you appreciate them is through excellent customer service. Excellent customer service creates repeat customers, so make it an important part of your business. One great way to improve your customer service is through email surveys – after your customer has received their product, send them an email asking for feedback. Invite them to review their product, and offer them a reward in return – many companies offer a “points system,” where customers can earn points to spend by reviewing products they've purchased. You should also offer surveys in order to get a better idea of how you can improve your customer service or your products.