Apply the traditional marketing funnel framework to your social media strategy. Posts can be categorized as top-of-funnel (broad, motivational), middle-of-funnel (tactical, educational), or bottom-of-funnel (direct calls-to-action for demos or calls). This provides a simple yet effective structure for nurturing an audience.
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Focus on bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU) content because it generates SQLs quickly. This provides clear attribution and impresses leadership, offering a faster path to proving value and career advancement for marketers than top-of-funnel metrics like traffic or email sign-ups.
Meta's ecosystem is engineered for a four-step journey: content, viewership, direct message conversations, and then conversion. Marketers should align with this by using features like comment-to-DM triggers to initiate conversations, as Meta prioritizes this over external links.
A successful content strategy isn't random. Each post must have a specific job. Content should be intentionally designed to either attract new followers, nurture the existing community to build trust, or directly drive sales with conversion-focused messaging.
Many marketers focus on generating traffic first. A more effective approach is to perfect the bottom of the funnel—like post-booking emails and landing pages—before driving traffic. This ensures you can actually convert the audience you build, preventing wasted effort.
To grow on platforms like Instagram, design content with a broad, intriguing hook on the first slide or in the first few seconds. This captures a wider audience beyond your niche. Then, use the subsequent content to deliver your specialized value, converting interested viewers into followers.
Matt McGarry's 'Big Three' strategy posits YouTube, podcasts, and newsletters as core media pillars. All other platforms, like LinkedIn or X, should be treated strictly as discovery channels. This framework clarifies their role as top-of-funnel tools, preventing creators from misallocating resources on platforms they don't own.
Conventional marketing funnels place the main call-to-action (e.g., 'Buy Now') at the very end. A more effective strategy is to use smaller, engagement-focused CTAs like 'Save This' or 'Read This' at the beginning of the user journey. This gets more people engaged early, increasing the likelihood they will reach the final conversion step.
Reverse the traditional marketing funnel. By linking from newsletters directly to a relevant social media post, brands can leverage their highly-engaged email audience to boost post performance and grow their social following simultaneously.
Instead of repurposing all content, identify the specific bottom-of-funnel (BOFU) pieces that already convert well. Turn these assets into multiple formats (e.g., blog into a YouTube video) and cross-link them. This creates a powerful, self-reinforcing ecosystem around your most valuable, lead-generating content.
The traditional "big idea" campaign model is broken. A modern approach starts in the mid-funnel with organic social content. Content that resonates with the algorithm and audience on merit then becomes the brief for both lower-funnel performance ads and upper-funnel brand campaigns, de-risking the entire process.
