Internet Marketing Digital_marketing_for_dummies | Page 91

Source: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/blog/my-favorite-new-recipes-tilapia-equals-easy-weeknight-dinners-0
FIGURE 4-4: Whole Foods raises awareness of products it sells while providing value to its blog audience.
Unfortunately, the top of the funnel is where most organizations begin and end their
content marketing efforts. Smart content marketers know that, with a bit more effort, they
can move prospects from awareness to evaluation at the middle of the funnel.
Middle of funnel (MOFU) content marketing
The big goal for content you use at the middle of the funnel is to convert “problem aware”
and “solution aware” prospects into leads. You’re looking to grow your email lists and
gain more leads at this point of the funnel. At DigitalMarketer, we use free content to
incentivize prospects to submit their contact information (such as their email address) and
opt in to receive future marketing in exchange for valuable content. We call this type of
content gated offers, which we discuss in Chapter 3.
A gated offer is a small “chunk” of value that solves a specific problem for a
specific market and is offered in exchange for prospects’ contact information.
Gated offers often take the form of content such as the following:
Educational resources: As discussed in Chapter 3, educational resources for gated
offers often exist in the form of free reports, white papers, primary research, webinar
training, and sales material. These types of content resources educate the consumer on
a particular topic related to your brand while highlighting features of a solution,
product, or service you provide. An educational resource can include a case study