Most Social Media Management is Just One Funnel Stage. Here's How to Use All Three

Most businesses treat social media as an awareness-only play. The idea is usually, “Let’s post consistently, grow followers, stay top of mind.” This always looks great on paper but fails to address your audience at each phase of the buyer’s journey.

With strategic content built for each part of the funnel, social media can and should addresses each step in your audience’s journey from awareness to conversion.



Here's a different way to think about it.

Top of Funnel: Storytelling

The goal at the top is simple. Reach people who don't know you exist and give them a reason to care. Storytelling content does this better than anything else on social.

Take Rob Martinez for example. He’s a food reviewer with 414,000 followers on Instagram alone. We’re simplifying the approach here, but generally, his formula comes down to four questions:



• How long have you been here?
• How did it start?
• What are you known for?
• How is it made?

The means that the focus is split between the owner and the restaurant in action. This format introduces people, not only to an amazing local restaurant, but the people who passionately keep the dream alive.

The human layer is the hook. It’s not the product or a specific promotion. Content that’s well executed here can result in increased retention and follower count.

Middle of Funnel: Educational

Mid-funnel content reaches people who already have a need. They're not discovering a problem but rather deciding how to solve it.

Reliable + Educational content earns a place in that process. An account people check every week to see what's happening locally, or a business that consistently answers the questions their

customers are already searching for, builds trust over time. It doesn't convert on first contact but keeps you in consideration when someone is ready to choose.

Think about the content you find when you search for a solution to something. It can be as easy as “What should I do this weekend?” to “Who should I call after getting into an accident?”

Bottom of Funnel: Conversion

This is where most people assume their socials aren’t working. They might say, “I posted something about a sale we have and nobody liked it. This doesn’t work.”

Let’s look at Judy's Family Cafe in Galesburg, Illinois. Judy has 630,000 Instagram followers. Her formula: Take a trending moment, transition to Judy doing something absurd, and make sure she’s holding a stack of pancakes.

It’s the same call to action every time, but a new execution in every video. The comments read like a wave of people saying they need to visit or that they’ll drive 6 hours for their next brunch.

This is a perfect example of someone becoming the brand vs. something becoming the brand.

Each of Judy’s videos end with the same call to action in “come eat my pancakes”, and because people feel like they’ve gotten enough value from watching her and understand this is a locally owned business, they’re willing to drive.

The Point

Every piece of content has a job. Storytelling earns attention. Educational content earns trust. Conversion content earns action.

We’re past posting phone pictures of something going on sale and asking for people’s business. The entire point here is “Give, give, give, ask”.



Before you post something else on social, ask yourself, am I giving or am I asking?