Types of Mid-Funnel Posts

I've talked about why I'm all-in on the middle funnel and how to select keywords for the middle funnel.

And now I'm going to discuss 3 types of middle funnel posts that convert (pretty) well:

• Lists
• Templates
• How-to content

Product LISTS

Often maligned, but no one can deny...

The results.

Lists work in the mid-funnel because you can present your product in a favorable light, while also showing the pros and cons of other products.

Use lists to show off the best solution (best CRM software) or as alternatives (best alternatives to Zoom)

Zapier, G2, ClickUp, and many others have crushed it with these.

Personally, I've had lists convert blog traffic up to 10-12% (results may vary, lol)

How to format an individual product in a list

• Product Name (H2)
  • TIP: If this is your product, link back to a bottom-funnel page that explains your product in more detail
• Best use cases for the product (H3 or H4)
• Short description (50-100 words)
• Product screenshot or video
• List of features
• Review quote from Capterra, TrustRadius, G2, or another site (This adds credibility and is a better external link than linking out to your competitors all the time, in my opinion)
• Pricing information (if available)

How to format the overall list

• 9-12 products (depends on industry & competitors)
• Intro/ Conclusion with how to choose / FAQ

Remember: You want the right people adopting your product, not just anyone, so it's okay for you to highlight your competitors' strengths.

TEMPLATES

Templates in the mid-funnel are actionable, and gets that whole product-led growth thing going.

To be honest, I've had mixed success with templates—the best ones are integrated directly into your product. Not every team has the resources for that, and it's a version of the freemium-type model.

(Working on this at my new job with Range.co)

One company that has done a good job with this is Hugo, an online meeting notes software.

Here is its template library: https://www.hugo.team/meeting-templates

However...

Those landing pages are more bottom funnel. A quick look at Ahrefs shows that the Hugo blog posts about templates actually rank better & gather more KWs than the templates themselves.

Explaining the templates and then linking out to them is what Google favors in this case, rather than just the template landing pages themselves.

That's the middle funnel at work.

Another good company for this, really the OG, is Smartsheet: www.smartsheet.com

One way to maximize templates even if you don't have a product or service that easily lends itself to a template is to start by thinking of other Excel, Google Sheets, PDFs, or Word docs that could help your ideal customer and is related to your product.

This could be financial modeling, formulas for calculations, or a checklist.

[template] + [Google Sheets] + [focus topic] may help you brainstorm an idea.

LAST ONE: How-To

How-to content is a staple of the middle funnel. It brings awareness ("what is...") to a more practical level. I haven't done this too often, but the easiest way in my opinion is to create a video where you explain something, and then have that video transcribed.

A lot of how-to content depends on video now, and much of it on the Internet is old and out-of-date. Quickly producing a video for you or your clients is a nice shortcut that has become more accessible.

This "How-To Write How-To Guides from Hubspot" isn't bad (meta!)

Other good examples:https://blog.close.com/close-sale/https://friday.app/p/google-sheets-to-do-listhttps://databox.com/how-to-create-a-bar-graph-in-google-sheets

I LOVE TACTICAL HOW-TO CONTENT.

IMO, this is the most underused content format. Most “How-to” content is just high-level, bland, and generic. Like, you know, “Draw the f*cking owl” kinda direction.

The magic is in the specific, tactical, product-focused examples.

Show me EXACTLY how to do something (using your product) and I’m 10x more likely to sign up and try it myself.

Ok, thanks all! I go over these & more in my content playbook.

Grab it if you want a more in-depth breakdown: https://growthcontent.gumroad.com/l/Kfnjy