January 19, 2021

Don’t Just Create Content Blindly

Mohammed Shehu

When you think in terms of funnels, content creation becomes much easier. Read on for a simple way to create content that adds directly to your bottom line.

Coming up with a good content strategy is hard for most entrepreneurs.

You already know that you need to create content.

You also know that it needs to be relevant, well-crafted, and published regularly to keep your prospects engaged.

But how do you create content without wasting your time or boring your readers?

In this article, I’ll give you a simple way of thinking about content creation that adds directly to your bottom line.

Let’s talk about sales funnels

If you’ve spent any time around marketers or salespeople, you’ve likely heard about “sales funnels” or “the customer journey.” Here’s what that looks like:

There are a million versions of this diagram and this is a highly simplified version, but the basic concept is this:

You make prospects aware of a problem
You make them aware of a solution
You make them desire your solution
You make them buy your product

It’s called a “funnel” because not everyone who consumes your content will buy your product, and your job is to move prospects down your funnel to eliminate those who aren’t interested. Kinda like dating, where you go on 50 dates and only marry 2 of them.

Creating content for your funnel

So what does any of this have to do with your business? I’ll explain with an example.

Let’s say you sell car insurance. To get more clients, there are 4 steps you need to take:

Make your prospects aware of a problem. Most people don’t know that they need car insurance, even though car accidents kill more people than AIDS and tuberculosis. I bet you didn’t know that, either. Thanks to this article (content), now you do.

As a car insurance salesperson, you could create content (social media posts, blog articles, TikTok or YouTube videos, etc.) around Shocking Car Accident Statistics in [Your Country]. To really drive home (heh) the message, touch on the devastating impact a car accident can have on the life of the victim and their family.
But what’s the solution to the problem? Well, for everyone to drive more carefully, for starters. But a drunk driver could T-bone your car through no fault of your own. What happens next?

You’d want someone to take care of the hospital bills and pay for any damages, disability, or lost income you might suffer. Worst case scenario, you’d want your funeral costs to be taken care of. That’s the benefit to your customer of getting car insurance.
But why should they take your car insurance package? What makes you different from the rest? Well, perhaps your premiums are lower than the competition. Maybe you pay out faster, too. You might even offer extra bonuses that other providers don’t. Explain all of this through your content.
Lastly, for each of these content pieces, add a CTA (call to action) to either visit your website to learn more, subscribe to your channel or newsletter, or contact you to make an appointment. This is how you drive action and transactions.

Get started

When you think in terms of funnels, content creation becomes much easier.

No longer are you just creating content because some guy on the internet said you should. You’re now creating content to accomplish a very specific goal: getting people to buy what you’re selling.

You can even schedule your posts according to the stage of the funnel you want to target. So for example, Mondays can be for Awareness Posts, Tuesdays for Solution Posts, Wednesdays for your solution, and Thursdays for calls to action. Fridays are for memes.

Now get to it. You have 11 more months to make your first million.

Till next week,

In my last post, I talked about how to improve your online visibility. Read it:

How To Improve Your Online Visibility