From blog to touchpoint: how to guide leads through your funnel with a content map

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Content mapping helps you bring structure to your content strategy. It clarifies which information you offer, when, and to whom. That’s essential if you don’t want to publish your blogs as standalone pieces, but as part of a strategic customer journey.

Without a clear content map you risk your valuable content contributing too little to your goals. By adding structure, you not only increase the effectiveness of your content, you also offer a consistent experience to your audience.

What is a content map (and what isn’t it)?

A content map is a visual or structured overview that shows, per stage of the customer journey and per audience, which content you use. That way you always offer the right information at the right time. It helps you make targeted choices, spot overlap or blind spots in your approach, and better align your message to what your audience really needs.

Don’t confuse this with an editorial calendar. That tells you when and where you publish content. A content map is about what you say and to whom, aligned with their needs. The goal is to tailor your message to the phase your lead or customer is in.

You mainly use a content map when you want to plan strategically how to guide different audiences through the funnel—with content that matches their questions, expectations and intent at each stage of the decision process.

Funnel thinking as the foundation

To plan content well, you need to understand when someone needs which information. That’s why funnel thinking is the next logical step after understanding what a content map is.

To make this clear, many marketers use models that structure the stages of the customer journey. Two models are most commonly used: TOFU MOFU BOFU and See Think Do Care. TOFU stands for Top of Funnel and is about visibility. MOFU is the middle, where you build trust. BOFU is the bottom of the funnel, where leads are ready to become customers.

The See Think Do Care model works similarly. In short: See targets people who don’t know you yet, Think targets those with an information need, Do targets people ready to act and Care focuses on customer loyalty. By deliberately choosing one model, you create focus and consistency in your content strategy. That makes it easier to plan, measure and improve content.

Personas and intent: who wants to read what, when?

Now that you know the stages and why funnel thinking matters, you can turn to your audience. Who moves through that funnel and what exactly do they want to know in each stage?

Personas help you understand who your audience is. Intent tells you what they need at that moment. By looking at, for example, search terms or which pages someone visits, you know what they’re looking for. Think of a marketer seeking early-stage inspiration on trends, while an IT professional wants technical details when they’re close to choosing a solution. Combining this lets you align content much better to real needs.

Content mapping per funnel stage

With the funnel structure and your audience in view, you can now decide which content works best per stage.

In the first stage (TOFU or See) you mainly want to stand out and deliver value. Share accessible, informative content such as blogs or videos that address general questions or market trends.

In the middle (MOFU or Think) you want to convince people you can help them. Share content such as white papers or customer stories that show you have the solution and expertise.

At the end (BOFU or Do) you stimulate action. Think of offering a trial, demo or personal consultation so the lead can take the next step easily.

The Care stage focuses on existing customers. Consider newsletters, user communities or tips that strengthen loyalty.

Distribution and activation

Once you know which content to create per stage, the next step is to get that content to the right people, via the right channels, at the right time.

Your content must reach the right person at the right moment. Distribution and activation are therefore just as important as creating the content itself. Early on, use SEO and social to attract attention. In the middle, email and retargeting help you move people forward. At the end, use personal outreach or sales. For existing customers, work with newsletters or customer portals.

By thinking carefully about both channel and timing, you create a natural flow in the journey. A lead who just downloaded something doesn’t want a sales call yet, but does want a deeper article or a customer example aligned with their interest.

KPIs that belong to the funnel

Creating and distributing content is step one. But how do you know it works? That’s why it’s important to have clear measurement points per funnel stage.

By linking clear KPIs to your content per stage, you can optimise more deliberately—and prove the impact of your content strategy.

Applying it in nurture processes

The insights from your content map are also a powerful starting point for marketing automation. That’s how you turn them into targeted, automated nurture flows.

A content map helps you build automated emails. Start with a simple trigger—like a download. Then send follow-up content that matches what someone did or viewed before. For example: someone downloads a guide on lead generation. They then receive an email with a case study on that topic, followed by a webinar invitation, and finally an offer to schedule a conversation. That’s how you guide leads step by step toward conversion.

Common mistakes & quick wins

Although content mapping is powerful, it still often goes wrong in practice. Below are three common pitfalls and ways to tackle them fast.

Common mistakes:

1. Too much focus on TOFU content, leaving leads unguided toward conversion.
2. Content that doesn’t connect per stage, resulting in a disjointed journey.
3. Personas that are too broad or vague, making content insufficiently relevant.

Quick wins:

• Run a content audit: do you have the right content available per stage?
• Add a targeted, logical CTA to every piece.
• Use behavioural data (such as clicks and scrolls) to optimise based on real interest.

Marketing Guys

Content mapping makes your content strategy clearer and ensures you deliver the right information at the right moment. It provides guidance, makes choices transparent, and creates a better fit with the customer journey. As a result, you increase the chance of conversion, whether that’s a booking, a touchpoint, or a returning customer.

Would you like to review your content strategy together and see where content mapping can improve it? Feel free to schedule an appointment with one of our experts.

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