Did you know only 30% of B2B marketers say their organizations are effective at content marketing (Source: Hubspot)? With a huge emphasis on producing and publishing content, it’s important that your efforts actually create results that positively affect your bottom-line.

You see, your content must have a purpose, with an intent on nurturing prospects towards the buying decision. It’s a process but a rewarding one when implemented correctly in your marketing automation.

By segmenting and reporting on the different types of website traffic based on visitor behavior, you can gauge where your visitor is in the buyer’s journey and share content accordingly. In this guide, we’ll outline the 3 major phases of the sales funnel and how to successfully use content in your marketing automation.

Awareness Stage

In the awareness stage, the prospect is looking to solve a problem, get an answer, or meet a need. They are simply in the discovery phase where they’re seeking education, opinions, and insight. The buyer is aware they have a problem and are beginning to research ways to resolve the issue. Yet, they’re

Your goal at the top of the funnel is to position your brand as an expert and resource in the industry. Building brand awareness is key. You want to let your audience know what it is you do and offer so buyers recognize how you can help them. The focus is centering your content on their pain points, not your products or brand. Sharing useful content helps move your prospect towards becoming a lead.

How to Use Awareness Stage Content in Your Marketing Automation

Blog Posts – A solid platform for showcasing your expertise, use blog posts in your social media, email, and SEO strategy. Add value to your social networks to increase awareness, nurture your subscribers with useful content, and boost visibility in the search engines to attract new visitors.
Social Content – Many consumers are using social media to connect and engage with brands. They’re also discovering new ones through search. Be sure to include relevant hashtags or keywords to optimize your social media posts for exposure. Leverage a social media management tool like Buffer to increase productivity and efficiency.
Infographics - These visual, highly-detailed content pieces are perfect for increasing brand awareness on social and complementing your blog content.
Podcasts - The popularity of podcasting is undeniable, with monthly listeners increasing from 21% to 24% year over year. Expand your reach and influence using podcasts to extend advice and tips to your audience.

Consideration Stage

Also referred to as the evaluation stage, at this level buyers are actively looking for content related to solutions and how you may be a fit to fulfill their needs. They’re likely to visit your product pages, “About Us”, and other pages that highlight your features and benefits.

Therefore, content at the middle of the funnel needs to be incredibly informative, helping the prospect gain clarity on how to solve the problem they are experiencing. Capturing leads using compelling lead offers is your top goal at this level.

How to Use Consideration Stage Content in Your Marketing Automation

Webinars – Webinars are multifaceted in that you can build brand awareness and capture new leads with each broadcast. You see, participants must register in order to join the webinar. Expand on popular and evergreen blog articles or address common problems as promising webinar topics
Ebooks – EBooks are time-tested tools for lead generation resource, allowing you to delve deep into a topic or problem and give the solution. They’re great to promote as social media ads, with users being directed to a landing page for the opt-in
Video Series – Simply put, videos encourages viewers to take action. It draws attention and brings people into your message. Offer a video series as a lead magnet where you email each video over a period of time
Quizzes – Quizzes are fun and give users a chance to learn more about themselves. Use Typeform to easily create your own quiz. Promote it on your website and social networks. Participants must give their name and email after taking the quiz to receive their unique results

Decision Stage

The buyer is now closer to making the financial decision to solve their problem. Through email nurturing, they’ve been cultivated by your content (whether blog posts, videos, infographics, etc.) and are now ready to do business with you. Your content marketing is about to pay off big…but we’re not finished yet! Content at the bottom of the funnel should make this a seamless process where leads can successfully purchase your product or service.

How to Use Decision Stage Content in Your Marketing Automation

Case Studies – Case studies builds trust and credibility. It shows that what you do works and creates results for those who've worked with you. Strategically share case studies with subscribers in this stage.
User-Generated Content – Customers who are willing to promote you on their social networks speak volumes of their satisfaction with your company. Compile user-generated content into one persuasive blog article or video and use to convert leads into buyers.
Webinar – Ideal for capturing leads, webinars are also compelling tools to close sales. Illustrate different ways on how customers can achieve success with your products in accomplishing their goals. Give participants an opportunity to purchase your product by giving a strong call to action at the end of your broadcast.

Conclusion

A working content strategy moves your prospects along the buyer’s journey to becoming a customer of your brand. Successfully fusing your content with your marketing automation requires using content that aligns with each phase to relate to your customer. Implementing this blueprint helps you effectively nurture your leads to create favorable results from your marketing.

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How to Successfully Use Content in Your Marketing Automation

Awareness Stage

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