All of Funnel (AoFu): A New Content Marketing Framework for Creating Revenue Boosting Blogs

It’s the 2020s. Consumer trust, and how we earn it, has shifted forever.

Edelman’s study of trust in 2021 blew minds.

In it, over 30,000 consumers were surveyed, and it was found that trust shifted away from major sectors (nonprofit, media, and government) and into the small business owner and entrepreneurial sector.

That means we have the chance to grab more trust than ever before, but how we do it critically matters.

Great content is how you earn trust. We’re talking type of inbound content that generates inbound leads, builds real relationships with your customers, and drives momentous sales.

But for many, their content just fails to produce all the good results.

They’re not thinking Content Hacker style.

If you, too, aren’t seeing great results from your blog posts and overall content marketing campaigns, even after following all the content marketing strategies you’ve learned and read about…

Well, you’re in serious luck.

Because in this in-depth guide, I’ll show you exactly why your content marketing isn’t working, through a new formula I’m revealing today that will supercharge your strategy, resulting in more leads and sales–an approach I coined & am calling AOFU, or All of Funnel.

AOFU is a true content hack, and it will make your content RAIN CASH.

Forget the unnecessary, exhausted, boring multiple-touches TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU when you have the power and opportunity to build trust in a single linear AOFU blog.

🤩

Let me unveil it. Are you ready for this magic?

Table of Contents: AoFu Blogging

• The Drawbacks of Segmenting Your Content
• AoFu, or All of Funnel: What It Is?
• AoFu: The Impact and Benefits
• How to Create AoFu Content: The Easy Way

1. 1. Define Your Content Style
   2. Build a Solid Content Team
   3. Create Feature Pages (Money Pages and Freebies)
   4. Use AI to Create Your Base Content
   5. Nail the Intro
   6. Add Persuasion Elements Strategically in Your AoFu Content
   7. Include a Table of Contents
   8. Implement C.R.A.F.T
   9. Use CTAs Strategically in the Content
   10. Leverage Your Personal Branding
   11. Include Trust Triggers
   12. Conclude with a Sales Letter

Learn Aofu Blogging Now:

The Drawbacks of Segmenting Your Content

After 12+ years creating content for many different industries, I’ve discovered certain patterns that, if applied to content, can yield phenomenal results.

I’ve also realized that most content teams are still following outdated practices.

One of these (surprise, surprise) is how we approach the traditional content marketing funnel.

And I’ll be quick to point out that we’ve also been using this funnel for a long time.

But after a lot of studies and experiments, I’ve realized the traditional marketing funnel is no longer as effective as it was before.

It’s 2023. Trust has shifted forever. I mentioned earlier, but it’s worth mentioning again: Edelman’s study of trust in 2021 blew minds. Over 30,000 consumers were surveyed, and it was found that trust shifted away from major sectors (nonprofit, media, and government) and shifted into the small business owner and entrepreneurial sector.

That means we have the chance to grab more trust than ever before, but how we do it critically matters.

A few major drawbacks I’ve been seeing with this funnel lately include:

The Bracket Problem

One of the biggest disadvantages of the traditional ToFu, MoFu, BoFu, system is that it forces you to bracket people into these 3 categories. But the truth of the matter is that you can’t really do that.

Practically speaking, it’s difficult to truly know which stage of the funnel a lead is in.

Not all people fit in one or the other of the marketing funnel stages. Some can overlap.

The problem with bracketing people is that your content will miss its mark. It won’t fully satisfy your prospect’s needs.

The Temperature Problem

Another problem with the traditional content marketing funnel is that it assumes the readiness of people at different stages of the funnel. For example, ToFu prospects are cold, MoFu prospects are warm, and BoFu prospects are hot.

This is the temperature problem.

Making these assumptions can be detrimental to your content marketing because it results in you creating content designed to only cater to those “temperatures.”

But the truth is that your prospects can move from cold to hot just from reading a single blog post. 🤯

And the reverse is also true. Poorly crafted content can move them from hot to cold regarding your product or service. This results in them seeking out your competitors for the solution they’re looking for.

The Touch Problem

Another outdated content marketing philosophy is that it takes about 8 touchpoints for a prospect to convert. This leads many content creators to focus on quantity, therefore compromising quality. It also results in creating content that lacks relevance for some users.

Many traditional content marketing funnels are built with this philosophy of touchpoints in mind.

However, today’s customer is savvy and is already armed with a lot of knowledge. Because of this, they don’t necessarily need many touchpoints to convert.

You can actually create a single blog post that is so powerful, it can be as impactful as 8 touchpoints.

And that’s what I’ll be showing you today. 🏆

AoFu, or All of Funnel: What It Is?

So, if the traditional content marketing funnel isn’t effective in today’s world, what should you do?

DITCH IT!

Yes, you heard me.

If you rely on content to grow your business, ditch the ToFu, MoFu, BoFu content marketing funnel.

Instead, embrace my all-new content marketing system: All of Funnel (AoFu).

What is AoFu?

All of Funnel (AoFu) is my new approach to blogging born from over 12 years of studying under the best content marketers and conducting experiments of my own.

Instead of breaking down your blog into categories to address each stage of the marketing funnel, think of all stages of the funnel and address every question, fear, and concern your customers might have.

Think All of Funnel (AoFu) and answer every question, concern, and fear from the get-go in a single blog.

This way, each blog post is informational, conversational, and conversion-focused.

What does AOFU blogging look like?

• ✅ Do think: real blogs that build real trust that make the author/publisher real money.
• ❌ Don’t think: bland old boring SEO blogs created just to drive traffic.

This came from years of studying the blog results across 40,000 projects that clients ordered from my writing agency. We delivered over a million blogs every year.

Studying blogs that brought in real results (sales, income, subscribers) was my life.

I’ve also invested countless dollars to study this and get good at it. In 2019, I had a life-changing discovery on blog writing when a top SEO consultant, the one behind WebMD’s rise to the top of Google, taught me that every single blog I write should have persuasive copy, and a “sales letter” blend at the bottom.

I’ve since taken that up a notch and learned how to weave multiple “persuasive elements” into my blog. It has since become a TOFU-meets-BOFU piece of gold, earning me a four-figure-plus purchase (think $2,500+) from a brand-new lead in a matter of days.

I’m excited to share that exact framework with you, in this post.

And I can’t wait to see you replicate the results I’ve seen!

AoFu: The Impact and Benefits

Now that you know what AoFu is, let’s dive into its impact and benefits.

I promise you, once you grasp and master this revolutionary content marketing framework, your business will never be the same again.

One Blog Post to Rule Them All

The traditional content marketing funnel requires you to create a set of blog posts to attract prospects, another set to draw them down your funnel, and another set to convert them into paying customers.

With AoFu, a single blog post can do all that.

AoFu helps you create one blog that caters to every lead’s needs.

Don’t worry. Creating such a blog post doesn’t require rocket science.

In fact, I’ll break down my proven process for creating such a blog post in just a few hours.

Cut Down Resources, Time, and Effort

Another advantage of the AoFu formula is that it helps you win huge savings on your content marketing budget.

That’s because you can consolidate the budget for ToFu, MoFu, and BoFu content into one blog post.

You can address the concerns at all the funnel stages in one go.

By cutting down the resources, time, and effort needed to create your content, you can better focus on creating high-quality content.

Better Conversions and ROI

Because AoFu focuses on informational, conversational, and conversion-focused content, you can easily turn a browser into a customer.

It results in content with higher conversions. As you’ll see in a moment, one of the most important elements of AoFu content is to include persuasive elements in each blog.

Doing so ensures that every blog post you create converts like gangbusters!

How to Create AoFu Content: The Easy Way

Ready and raring to know how to create AoFu content?

Without wasting much time, let’s get to the nuts and bolts of creating a single piece of content that covers ToFu, MoFu, and BoFu.

1. Define Your Content Style

One of the first steps to creating winning content is to define your content style.

Content style refers to the specific guidelines and rules that dictate how your content should be written and presented. This helps you maintain consistency and helps develop an online brand identity.

Some elements to consider when developing your content style include:

• Tone: This is the overall attitude, mood, and style of language used in your content. It can be formal, informal, conversational, technical, or casual, depending on the target audience and the nature of the content.
• Grammar and punctuation: Define the specific rules governing the use of grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation in your content. For example, a style guide may specify whether to use the Oxford comma or not.
• Formatting and structure: Have guidelines for organizing the content, including headings, subheadings, paragraphs, bullet points, numbering, image use, etc.
• Voice and point of view: The preferred way of addressing the audience, such as using a first-person, second-person, or third-person perspective.

For more tips on developing a brand style guide, check out this in-depth guide.

Defining your content style is essential for creating a uniform and professional appearance in all written materials, not just your blog posts. It also helps your audience identify you online, further bolstering trust and authority.

2. Build a Solid Content Team

Another critical component of creating AoFu content is to build a solid content team.

A great team is essential to creating impactful content and managing a consistent content calendar. And two of the most important roles you need to fill on your content team include:

Content Strategist/ SEO Manager

This is the person responsible for the oversight of your content strategy and content delivery. If you’re running a low-overhead business, this could be you.

Some of the responsibilities of a content strategist would include:

• Keyword research: Conducting thorough keyword research to identify relevant and high-traffic keywords that align with the website’s content and business objectives.
• Competitor analysis: Monitoring and analyzing competitor SEO strategies to identify opportunities and stay ahead in your industry.
• SEO audits: Conducting regular SEO audits to assess the website’s performance, identify areas for improvement, and implement necessary changes.
• Performance tracking and reporting: Using various SEO tools to track key performance indicators (KPIs), such as organic traffic, keyword rankings, conversion rates, and providing regular reports to stakeholders.

AIO Writer

To speed up your content creation and cut down on content production costs, you should rely on AI content tools like Content at Scale.

But because AI isn’t perfect, this kind of content needs a human writer to refine and optimize it so it aligns with content goals and reads well for other humans.

I call this kind of content AIO content.

Because it’s supported by AI, AIO content can be produced 5-10x faster than just using human power alone.

However, this is rarely publish-ready. It needs polishing and optimizing before you hit publish.

This is where your AI Optimization (AIO) writer comes into play.

Hiring the right AIO writer will save you tons of money while ensuring that your AoFu content does what it’s supposed to — generate leads and convert them into customers.

Graphic Designer

Custom graphics are an important element of AoFu blog posts. That’s why a graphic designer should be one of your first picks when building your team.

One of the most important reasons to include custom graphics is that they help bolster your personal branding. This, in turn, makes it easier for your prospects to identify and relate with you easily.

Custom images are also a great way to incorporate natural-looking CTAs in your content.

Once you have your team in place, you can now start creating AoFu content.

3. Create Feature Pages (Money Pages and Freebies)

Feature pages are some of the most important pages on a website. That’s because they’re designed specifically to help you grow your subscriber base and boost your revenue.

They are your main business growth drivers.

Money pages

Money pages refer to specific web pages on a website primarily designed to generate revenue or conversions. They are crucial for business as they directly contribute to your bottom line and financial success.

Money pages typically focus on promoting products, services, or content that leads to transactions, sign-ups, or other desired actions that generate revenue or valuable leads. Examples include:

• Product pages
• Service pages
• Landing pages
• Subscription pages

Creating these pages first is important because you’ll have to link to them in your blog content, thereby driving your readers to content with a stronger sales message.

Freebies

Another important element of AoFu content is the freebies you offer readers. These are conversion magnets that help you turn readers into subscribers. Examples can include:

• Templates
• Cheatsheets
• eBooks

Make sure these are hooked up to relevant email sequences that soft sell your subscribers to your money pages.

4. Use AI to Create Your Base Content

Now that you’ve laid the foundation for a high-converting blog, it’s time to start creating content.

This is the part I love because all your results hinge on a well-executed content strategy.

And I get it if you’re on the opposite end of the spectrum and hate writing blog posts.

Fortunately, in today’s age, anyone can write impactful content even if they’re not a writer.

This is all thanks to powerful AI writing tools like Content at Scale.

With AI writing tools, you can easily produce a 2,000-word article in a matter of minutes!

This is the draft your AIO writer works with. If you’re a Content at Scale user, the first draft will have nearly all the elements you need. Examples include links, research, links, and near-perfect content.

Want to learn the A to Z process I use to produce top-notch content with a touch of AI? You need my Content Process Blueprint.

5. Nail the Intro

One of the most important elements of a blog post is the introduction or hook, as it’s sometimes called. This is because its main purpose is to hook readers and get them to read the rest of your article.

Getting this element right not only gets readers interested in your content but also increases the chances of your blog post converting.

A few tips for nailing your intro include:

• Start with a captivating hook: Use a story, question, or fact/statistic to hook your readers and grab their attention. You can also add an element of curiosity to keep them engaged.
• State the problem or need: Clearly state the problem or need your blog post aims to address. This helps readers understand the relevance of your content and why they should keep reading.
• Keep it concise: Introductions should be concise and to the point. Avoid lengthy paragraphs or unnecessary details. A brief and clear introduction is more likely to maintain readers’ interest.
• Use an empathetic tone: Write in a tone that connects with your readers on a personal level. Show empathy and understanding for their concerns or interests.

Remember that the introduction is the gateway to your blog post. Investing time and effort into crafting an attention-grabbing and persuasive intro can significantly improve the overall engagement and success of your blog content.

That’s why I train my AIO writers to spend time on the intro to ensure that it’s as impactful as possible.

6. Add Persuasion Elements Strategically in Your AoFu Content

AoFu blog posts are designed to help you:

• Inform
• Educate
• Build trust
• Convert

As a result of all this, they’re great for driving revenue.

But for your posts to achieve all this, they must be infused with several persuasion elements throughout.

In fact, the first persuasion element must be found in your hook!

Your hook should contain your first “tidbit” of persuasive copy. But, note: You’re not hard-selling anything here. Your number one goal is to build trust, let the reader in on who the author/publication/brand is, and create that connection.

After this, you can add other hard-selling persuasive copy in strategic places. This includes text-based and image-based CTAs linking to your money pages.

Other persuasive elements include:

• Statistics: Use research and studies to drive your point home.
• Credibility-building phrases: These are statements about yourself showing your experience or results. For example, “12 years of experience…”

All these persuasive elements help build trust and convince readers to click on your CTAs and purchase your product.

7. Include a Table of Contents

A table of contents is another powerful element you should add to your AoFu-focused blog posts.

Despite being simple, it has many powerful benefits.

For example, your table of contents can help boost your SEO. That’s because adding a table of contents helps search engines understand what your content is about.

A table of contents also adds an interactive element to your blog post. This helps users engage with it more.

One of the biggest advantages of a table of contents is that your readers can use it to jump to sections that matter to them the most. Because of this, it’s a powerful tool you can use to transform a single blog post into a piece of content that addresses the concerns on the ToFu, MoFu, and BoFu stages of the traditional marketing funnel.

8. Implement C.R.A.F.T

AI blog writing is very effective if you have the right tool.

However, for your content to be impactful, it still needs a human touch.

Remember, an AI writing tool is just that — a tool. For it to yield the best results, it needs to be put in the hands of someone who understands their craft.

And in the case of your AIO writer, someone who understands the C.R.A.F.T writing framework.

If this is your first time hearing about this framework, C.R.A.F.T. stands for:

• C. Cut the fluff.
• R. Review, edit, optimize.
• A. Add images, visuals, and media.
• F. Fact-check.
• T. Trust-build with personal story, tone, and links.

This is the secret sauce to impactful AI blog writing. Here’s a summary of how this framework works in this step-by-step C.R.A.F.T writing tutorial:

9. Use CTAs Strategically in the Content

Once you’ve polished your blog post using the C.R.A.F.T framework, the next step is to add calls-to-action (CTAs) strategically in your content.

The purpose of CTAs in your content is to get readers to take a specific action on your blog. This can be any action like:

• Subscribing to your newsletter.
• Reading another blog post.
• Downloading a freebie.
• Buying a product.

CTAs are powerful tools that bridge the gap between the reader’s interest and the action you want them to take on your blog.

Well-designed and strategically placed CTAs can significantly impact user behavior and contribute to the success of your content.

Note: For inspo, take a look at how we’ve used CTAs in this very blog post. 😉

10. Leverage Your Personal Branding

You’ve probably heard me harp on about personal branding.

Well, that’s because it’s a critical component of business success.

Building a brand has many advantages that spill over into your AoFu content creation. Examples include:

• Fosters trust and credibility: Personal branding allows you to establish yourself as an authoritative and trustworthy figure in your field. When people recognize and trust a personal brand, they are more likely to engage with the content and recommendations shared by that individual.
• Helps you connect with your audience: Content marketing is all about engaging and resonating with your target audience. A strong personal brand enables you to connect with your audience on a deeper level.
• Differentiates you from competitors: In a crowded digital landscape, personal branding helps you stand out from the competition. A unique personal brand with a distinct voice and style can make a content marketing strategy more memorable and appealing to the target audience.
• Boosts conversions: A personal brand makes you more likeable, authoritative, and trustworthy. All these things can result in an uptick in your conversion rates and, ultimately, your revenue

Let your personal brand shine through your content.

Hot tip: Add custom images with your face within your blog posts. This helps make it easier for readers to relate to the person behind the blog.

11. Include Trust Triggers

People buy from people they trust.

And as you saw in the intro, trust is shifting from big corporate and government entities to small businesses.

That’s why you must take advantage of this shift and prove to your readers that they can trust your brand.

To do this, you must include trust triggers in your AoFu content. These are elements of your copy designed to help prove that you’re the best solution provider for your readers. Examples include

• Testimonials
• Statistics
• Original research
• Case studies
• Reviews

Adding these elements to your content will help you nudge readers closer to clicking on your CTAs.

And that’s exactly what you want to achieve with your content.

12. Conclude with a Sales Letter

The last element to include in your AoFu blog post is the “sales letter.” It’s the last two H2s on your blog and should be designed to encourage readers to act.

This is your final persuasion element and must be crafted in a compelling way.

It’s your opportunity to “soft sell” the program, product, or end service your brand offers.

But don’t just settle for mediocre sales writing!

Know your product or offer in and out and speak from its place of differentiation. If this is you writing for your own brand at first, you can set a standard that you can eventually give your writers. Make sure you take time on this because this part of your blog does a LOT of heavy lifting.

One way to make your sales letter more impactful is to add in “personal branding” elements whenever you can. A picture of a real human at your brand makes all the difference in building that trust associated with the persuasion to buy/act.

Here’s an example of a sales letter from one of my blog posts:

Follow the style above to write a full call to action that is at least 4-5 short, one-to-two-sentence paragraphs. Use a classic copywriting formula like AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action) or PAS (Problem, Agitation, and Solution) here to elicit a response from your reader.

I particularly love PAS – it’s simple, easy to remember, and you can play with it. You need to name the problem they face. Agitate it (speak about it, point to it). Then, solve it with the solution at hand.

Don’t use the old boring ways of concluding your blog posts. Instead, turn your conclusion into a powerful sales letter.

That’s another difference between ordinary blog writing and AoFu-focused blogging. Every section of your blog post has a role to play in driving business growth.

Get Started Using the AoFu Model NOW

Now you know what the All of Funnel model is.

You’ve seen its benefits.

You know how to create content that follows the framework.

It’s now time to put AoFu into action.

This system just works.

It’s the EXACT framework that has helped me build my businesses through blogging.

If you want to learn more about creating content that moves the needle, that’s what my 12-month mentorship program is all about…

It’s called The Content Transformation System.

This is a personalized coaching program that empowers you with the knowledge and skills you need to start doing content marketing strategically — and grow your business by leaps and bounds.

Ready to find out more? Watch my free training for a preview of the lessons and results you can expect inside.

Just ready to get your booty inside and start learning? Apply today.