A simple content marketing funnel that grows your business
Published September 9, 2025
One thing I love about content marketing is that it covers the entire buyer journey. It’s how you communicate and build relationships with your target audience, cold leads, customers, and partners. That’s why it’s important to use a content marketing funnel as part of your planning process.
By mapping out your customer journey and identifying valuable content at each stage, you’ll be able to better meet your audience’s needs and use your time wisely–especially if you run a team that’s already stretched thin.
Here’s what to consider as you create your content marketing funnel:
A note on the modern user journey
Before we dive in, I want to preface that users really don’t interact with businesses in a clean, linear, step-by-step funnel. It would certainly make our lives easier as marketers if they did, but that just isn’t the case–especially in today’s world.
People tend to jump around a lot, meaning they might use ChatGPT to compare pricing, then Google reviews for social proof, browse social media, join your newsletter, then let everything sit for a while as they go back to researching online. Moving through the funnel can even take a very long time, especially if there’s a high price point associated with the solution or if it requires cross-functional decision-making.
I’ve seen a lot of people even go so far as to say that marketing and sales funnels are “dead,” but I think that’s just being sensationalist.
The fact that people research so holistically before they spend their money makes it that much more important to be sure you’re showing up when they do. Even if it isn’t a clear funnel, your content can ensure you meet them at every stage they do use.
Awareness
During the awareness stage, your audience knows they have a problem and is just starting to search for the solution. They don’t know your brand exists yet, so it’s your chance to get your name out there and put your product or service in the running.
Some examples of awareness channels where you need content marketing include:
SEO and AEO (showing up on Google and in AI results), social media, and advertising.
Within your content, I recommend answering the primary questions your target audience has and emphasizing your solution to their pain points. This can include SEO-focused blog posts with topics relevant to their needs, landing pages that clearly show what you provide, and copywriting that establishes you as an authority in your space.
Branded content is also crucial at this stage because it’s what can help set you apart from your competition. Behind-the-scenes updates, thought leadership, and even collaborative posts with other businesses.
Consideration
During the consideration phase, your audience already knows you exist, but now they’re considering whether you or another business has the best fit for their needs.
At this stage, they’re ready to start a relationship with your business, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ready to make a purchase. They’re still sussing you and your services out and trying to figure out if your offerings, pricing, and value are a good fit.
This is where some type of lead-generating content is important to offer. In former years, something like a free template or downloadable could do the trick, but these days I think people actually want more visibility into your sales funnel. That means offering something in return for emails that makes it clear it could become a deeper relationship.
Newsletters are a great example–you’re offering your expertise and insights, but by signing up, your audience knows they’ll get more information about your business, including promotions. Another example would be a free version of what you offer, or even a discount code in exchange for their email address. These offers generate leads, but make it clear it’s a piece of what you offer as a whole.
Another type of content I highly recommend for consideration is your company news. These posts are often underrated and only updated when there’s a PR push. But company news helps uncover more of your brand identity, values, and client experience.
Similarly, social proof is crucial at this stage. Your audience is evaluating any reasons there are to work with you, so they want to make sure you can deliver great products and results. Think case studies, social media testimonials, and user-generated content.
Conversion
Conversion is typically the star of the show, but that’s where it’s easy to slip up. All of the other funnel stages matter just as much, and it’s important to remember that not all content is created for conversion. When your audience is ready to convert, they need straightforward content about how to work with you and what to expect.
You can have conversion points across multiple channels–social, email marketing, and advertising, for example. However, the primary piece of content you need is a powerful sales page.
At this point, your audience has enough information about you, but your sales page can also link to additional content, like social proof and blog posts. The sales page itself should be concise, with one primary call to action that’s easy to use. This is where you need to include any last pieces of information your audience needs to buy, such as FAQs, process overview, pricing, and value statements.
Retention
Lastly, it’s the stage of the content marketing funnel that I think deserves way more attention: Retention! Your existing customers are one of your biggest assets, and you need content to reduce churn, encourage product enablement, and maintain a good relationship.
The best channel for increasing retention is email marketing. It’s the perfect combination of art and science since it allows you to segment your audience, personalize your emails, monitor every aspect of engagement, and test different types of content.
At this stage of the funnel, branded content really shines. Your audience needs product how-tos, case studies that show how to make the most of your offerings, and thought leadership about your broader industry.
I like to think of this content as very similar to your awareness content, but several layers deeper. You can get more specific about your products and services, speak directly to your customers’ pain points, and provide more dedicated education.
How to build your unique content marketing funnel
Every business will have a unique content marketing funnel. You might have a long consideration phase or a short consideration phase. Conversion might be a multi-step process, and maybe you don’t need retention because you work on a one-off basis.
The first step is documenting your sales funnel so you can understand how your audience behaves. If you don’t have a ton of information and analytics yet, just use your best guess to start.
From there, it’s an ongoing process of testing and learning. At each stage, set goals for your content and maintain close contact with your audience so you can get first-hand feedback as well. Content marketing is all about continually planning, creating, and updating content, so don’t think of it as something you can set and forget.
If you’re looking to improve your content planning process, schedule a call! I provide 90-day content plans as part of my strategy package or ongoing monthly management to make sure your content is continually reaching your audience at each stage of the funnel. I’d love to work with you and your team!
