Had you believed and taken to heart anything I'd written about in this blog then you are probably smack in the middle of your blog marketing efforts. And you probably realize that content marketing is not as easy as you probably first thought it to be. One of the strategies that I find very useful and gets results is what I call Content Kung Fu. There are three parts to this strategy: To Fu, Mo Fu and Bo Fu.
If you're not yet familiar with the terms, please step into my Online Marketing Dojo, Grasshopper, and allow me to enlighten you. The terms "To Fu", "Mo Fu" and "Bo Fu" are nothing more than acronyms corresponding to the three main parts of your business funnel: the top, middle and bottom.
To Fu: Starting at the Top
To Fu is the TOp of the FUnnel. This is where you build awareness about your brand and the problems your brand solves. The content you write here addresses a wide spectrum of audiences and you are not worried about converting your readers into customers. Not yet, at this stage. You just go ahead and write up what it takes to educate your audience, and don't you worry about selling them anything.
Mo Fu: The Way of the Middle
Mo Fu is the MOre of the FUnnel. The middle if you will. You continue to dish out more of the informative articles that make people aware that there are problems they need to be concerned about. But this time you lead them toward solutions to these problems and begin to plant the idea that your brand is one of the best providers of their needs, if not the best.
I prefer to do this in a way that doesn't look in anyway like a sales pitch. Sometimes I may simply mention the name and nothing more. Remember, you are only planting the seed at this point.
Bo Fu: Bottoms Up
At the BOttom of the FUnnel there's no more ifs or buts; you are no longer suggesting that your brand may be a good solution, you are now declaring that your brand is THE BEST solution! When addressing prospects at the bottom of the funnel you are essentially in digital brochure mode, and all you talk about are the features and benefits your product, service or brand offers.
The To Fu, Mo Fu, Bo Fu Mix
The trick, then, is mixing up your To Fu, Mo Fu and Bo Fu content so that you can ease your audience through the funnel toward conversion. Your To Fu content will help you build traffic and attract prospects who are looking for answers, or are seeking to be educated. Their value as leads will probably be quite limited or unapparent at this point because there is no clear indication yet of whether or not they are looking to buy. But this is the contact base from where you will eventually find hot leads.
At the Mo Fu stage the hot leads start to become apparent as prospects begin to reveal clues as to their intent. Your Mo Fu content should support this by allowing you to capture more specific information that lets you segment the prospects and include them in targeted campaigns.
Bo Fu content seals the deal for you. At this point you would have identified the "low hanging fruits" from among your prospects and these people are now ready to make the purchase.