If you own a bookkeeping/accounting firm, chances are you’ve heard about content marketing. But what is it? And how can it help your bookkeeping/accounting business? The truth is that content marketing is much more than just writing blog posts or articles. It’s a process that helps businesses attract new leads and clients through the power of their website and social media channels—and it can work for any bookkeeping/accounting business once you get the hang of it. In this article, I’ll explain what a content marketing funnel looks like and why you need one if you want to attract new clients online.
What the Heck is a Content Marketing Funnel And The Five Steps In A High Converting Funnel
What is a Content Marketing Funnel?
A content marketing funnel is organic (no ads) content that will attract potential clients’ attention. It’s based on the idea that you can attract more clients by giving them valuable content and then selling your services at the end of it.
The five phases of a marketing funnel are traffic, content, opt-ins, nurture and sales. For example:
- A visitor comes to your website after seeing a post on Facebook looking for information about how to start their own business (traffic).
- They read an article about how to choose between forming an LLC or a corporation (content).
- They click through to find your opt-in comparing the benefits of each type of business structure and join your email list to download it (opt-in).
- After reading your opt-in and some of your other emails, they decide which option makes sense for them and they schedule a discovery call using your online scheduler (nuture and sales).
Okay, so a content marketing funnel has five basic steps. When you connect all of those steps together, you create a marketing funnel that will bring the right potential clients to you.
STEP 1: Traffic
The first step in your content marketing funnel is traffic. Bringing in traffic is the #1 goal. There are a few different ways to bring traffic to the funnel you are creating.
The most obvious way is paid ads. This is the route that many people choose to go, because the ROI is usually faster. But they can be expensive and the lead quality is not that great so I suggest working on your organic strategy first BEFORE you start using ads.
HERE ARE TWO WAYS TO BRING IN TRAFFIC TO YOUR FUNNEL ORGANICALLY:
- SEO: SEO is a great way to bring in organic traffic to your website. SEO can be tricky to master, but it can be super powerful. I do a lot of SEO for my clients with my Blog Post Package. If you’re looking to DIY your own SEO, I highly recommend checking out this article from Hubspot.
- Social Media: Social media can be tricky to navigate because there are constant changes in the algorithm and it’s not set up as a traffic-generation tool (they typically want people to stay in their app – not go to your website). But when used correctly, it can be a great way to generate additional traffic. My favorite social media platforms for generating traffic are Instagram and Facebook.
STEP 2: Create Amazing Content
The second step in your content marketing funnel is content! Lots of people assume you have to be a great writer to create content for your website but you can also create videos or podcasts. Whatever type of content you like creating most. You will want to have a page on your website for each piece of content you create.
If you like making videos, this allows you to further capitalize on traffic because you can post the video on YouTube too. Sometimes starting with a video make content creation easier because you can repurpose it into all of your written content.
It’s always good to have your traffic directed towards something you own like your website. That way, you can do things like track your metrics and traffic performance, link to other content on your site from that first one they land on, and promote your lead magnets. You also own it!
If you don’t have time to create your own content or don’t know how to convert your audio or video content into a page on your site, you can sign up for my Systemized Marketing Package so my team can help you do that! If you need help DIY’ing your content. I suggest checking out this Udemy Course.
STEP 3: Opt-Ins (AKA Freebies or Lead Magnets)
The third step in your content funnel is your opt-ins. Opt-ins are the most important part of your content marketing funnel. I mean, you need people to sign up for your lead magnets. That is the only way you are going to grow your business even more!
To get those sales from email marketing, you’ve first got to get their email first. Creating an amazing lead magnet is really important. You need something that’s going to entice your audience and get them to hand over their email address in exchange for something awesome. I use Canva for creating my lead magnets and they look awesome. No graphic design experience needed!
Then the actual lead magnet content itself needs to deliver! You don’t want them to sign up and then be disappointed. This is your first impression and it should really blow them out of the water.
STEP 4: Nurture Your Audience
Once you start to gain followers, you need to nurture them. Keep providing valuable information, so they can continue to learn. Write more content. Share helpful information on social media. But email marketing is the big one.
Once someone signs up for your lead magnet, you’ve got their attention and you’re in their inbox. This is a great opportunity and prime time for some great nurturing.
The key is not to go directly into the sale — you need to prime them for a little bit longer before they’ll be ready for a discovery call. Use the first couple of emails you send to them to warm them up and get them ready for purchase. This is a great time to share your personal story and introduce yourself to them as well.
STEP 5: Sales
The very last step of your content marketing funnel will be sales. You knew it was coming, because that was obviously the main goal of creating this funnel. There are so many ways you can sell your services.
You can send out email sequences and offer free discovery calls. Promote the launch of a new service you are offering. Then make the launch so successful that no one will be able to say no. You can even use evergreen sales funnels if you want your services to be open to new clients all the time.
No matter which option you choose, you will need an online scheduling tool so people can self-book a discovery call. Then you can send everyone that sees your social media posts, emails, or launch information to that scheduling tool.
That’s it!! I love breaking things down into an easy-to-understand steps. The organic content marketing funnel has 5 clear steps for you to follow. This makes it so much easier to have success in your content marketing. I’ve included lots of links to helpful experts as well as examples of my own work. As always, if you have any questions, let me know!