Build Content That Actually Supports the Buyer Journey
Most marketing teams know they need content. Fewer know how to map it. The result? A sea of blog posts and social snippets with no real strategy behind them and a funnel that doesn’t funnel anyone.
If you’ve ever had great top-of-funnel content and still struggled to close leads, chances are your mid and bottom stages are underdeveloped. This guide walks through how to structure your content for the full buyer journey, so you can stop producing for the sake of it and start supporting conversions on purpose.
Tip 1: Understand Why Most Funnels Are Top-Heavy and Broken
If your content strategy feels busy but your pipeline feels empty, you’re probably stuck with a funnel that looks better on paper than in practice.
Here’s the pattern we see all the time:
- Strong blog content
- Decent SEO traffic
- A LinkedIn feed that looks active
And then, nothing.
No follow-up once someone clicks. No next step once they download the eBook. No clear bridge between “I’m curious” and “I’m ready.”
That’s what happens when content is built for awareness only. The middle and bottom of the funnel get ignored, so leads linger, bounce, or go cold before they ever see a sales deck. Meanwhile, your team celebrates page views while the pipeline stalls.
If your only conversion lever is a demo request or newsletter signup, you’re leaving a huge gap in the journey. And that gap is where most leads disappear.
A funnel that works doesn’t just attract. It builds trust, answers questions, and removes friction: one step at a time. You don’t need more content. You need the right content, at the right stage, doing the right job.
Tip 2: Map the Three Core Stages of the Funnel
The best way to simplify your content strategy? Understand the actual jobs your content has at each stage of the funnel.
Here’s how that looks:
A functioning funnel supports each stage, on purpose. Not everything needs to close the deal, but every piece should move people forward.
Tip 3: TOFU Content—Meet Them Where They’re Searching
Top-of-funnel content is where discovery happens. It’s the first impression your brand makes—and it sets the tone for everything that follows. Done right, it builds credibility early. Done wrong, it clogs your calendar with busywork that doesn’t convert.
Here’s how to keep it useful:
A blog post that helps your audience audit their own funnel. A short explainer video that clarifies a confusing industry term. A LinkedIn carousel that challenges a common misconception and links back to a deeper resource. These touchpoints pull your audience in because they meet them where they already are—searching, scrolling, asking questions.
No one needs another article titled “Why Content Marketing Matters” unless it says something new. And no one bookmarks a generic checklist if it’s the same one they’ve seen five times before. If your content is forgettable, it’s not working. And if your only CTA is “learn more,” there’s probably nothing worth learning.
You don’t need to be everywhere, but you do need to show up where your audience already is, on search, in social, in email. And when they find you, the content should feel intentional. Useful. Like something they’d share in their group chat because it actually helped them make sense of something.
If the headline promises clarity and the copy delivers fluff, you’ve just lost trust, and that’s way harder to rebuild later in the funnel.
This stage is your best shot at building early trust. Don’t waste it by trying to be everywhere. Be useful somewhere. That’s what gets people to stick around.
Tip 4: MOFU Content: Earn Trust and Prove Your Case
Once someone knows who you are, the next question is: “Can you actually help me?” That’s what your mid-funnel content is there to answer.
This is where most funnels break down. The awareness is there. The interest is real. But the content isn’t doing the heavier lift of removing doubt and deepening confidence. And if buyers don’t trust you to solve their problem, they’re not moving forward.
Here’s how to fix that:
Write a side-by-side comparison page that clearly lays out how you’re different, or a better fit. Host a webinar that goes deep into a customer story, walking through the challenge, the implementation, and the result. Turn your onboarding or delivery process into a visual guide so prospects can see what working with you looks like before they commit.
If you’re just dropping generic posts into your nurture stream without a purpose, you’re adding noise, not value. And if your best resources are buried behind multiple gates or hidden at the bottom of a sales call pitch, no one’s going to see them, let alone trust you for more.
This stage should feel like a helpful conversation, not a sales trap. Offer clarity. Show how others have solved similar problems. Give your prospects the tools they need to feel confident moving forward—even before they talk to a rep.
Especially if it’s a 9-page PDF buried in your resource library. Buyers want content that feels relevant, skimmable, and real. Give them more than a glossy logo slide. Show the behind-the-scenes decisions, not just the results.
Mid-funnel content isn’t about volume. It’s about precision. The right piece, in the right moment, does more than any drip campaign ever could. Give your buyers something they can actually use to decide on their own terms.
Tip 5: BOFU Content: Remove Friction and Close the Deal
At the bottom of the funnel, your prospect isn’t looking for inspiration. They’re looking for confidence. Your job now is to make it easier to say yes, and harder to say no.
That might be a quick ROI calculator that speaks to their exact role or team size. A “what to expect” landing page that outlines onboarding in plain terms. Or a short video from a customer who solved the same problem they’re facing right now.
If your sales team is repeating answers that could live on your site—or if your leads are asking for “something I can share with my boss”—you’ve got a BOFU gap.
This content should feel like a support system. The deal’s almost done. Help them explain the why, handle last-minute questions, and get that final internal yes.
Tip 6: Map Content Without Overbuilding
Most teams don’t need more content. They need better sequencing.
What works:
You’ve got one key persona: a marketing ops lead at a mid-size SaaS company. You start by mapping their journey. They find you through a blog post on attribution models (TOFU). That post links to a side-by-side comparison of GA4 vs. HubSpot tracking (MOFU). That comparison ends with a CTA to book a demo—and a “what to expect” guide that shows the first 30 days with your product (BOFU).
That’s a funnel.
What doesn’t:
You write 10 thought leadership pieces about AI trends, but never create anything that explains how your product helps with implementation. You launch a nurture campaign, but all it sends are blog posts—no case studies, no onboarding overview, no demo invite. Leads enter the funnel and wander in circles.
Tip 7: Know What Success Actually Looks Like
When your funnel works, your team notices, and so do your leads. You get fewer dead-end clicks and more qualified conversations.
What to watch for:
- Leads reference specific blog posts, webinars, or case studies in intro calls.
- Your demo requests increase, but your no-shows drop.
- Sales stops asking for “better one-pagers” and starts asking for more MOFU assets because they work.
- You get fewer unqualified form fills, and better conversion on the ones that stay.
This isn’t magic. When your content supports the journey, the journey gets shorter.
Tip 8: Use Tools That Track the Right Signals
Traffic is nice. Pipeline is better. If you want to improve your funnel, you need to measure more than vanity metrics.
Tools that help:
- HubSpot (or any solid CRM): tracks content-to-lead flow
- GA4: tracks page behavior and attribution across stages
- Clean UTM tagging: lets you track where leads originated from and how they move through the funnel
- Content dashboards: show what’s being viewed and engaged with by actual leads, not just visitors
Try tracking:
- Demo form submissions from your BOFU landing page
- Repeat visits to MOFU content like case studies
- Time spent on comparison or pricing pages
- Email click-through rates for nurture sequences
These are the signals that tell you what’s working, and where to improve.
Want a Funnel That Turns Your Content Into Actual Conversions?
FMK helps marketing teams build full-funnel strategies that support buyers every step of the way—from discovery to decision. We can help you fill in the gaps, map the journey, and build the content that actually moves people.
Let’s make your content easier to say yes to.