The Content-Consumption Funnel Framework

There are two types of people: creators and consumers.

Most of us are both, most of the time.

You can’t really create too much, but you can consume too much. Getting lost in the algorithmic abyss is inevitable if you’re just browsing without a clear, conscious intention – regardless of platform. These apps are geared to pull you in like a black hole.

Your goal as a creator: be the content people are being pulled toward.

Creators define cultural tone, set discourse, and spur trends.

Consumers jump aboard and react.

The digital war is being fought over mindshare.

Modern marketing is just the creation of stuff to earn mindshare.

Another way to describe mindshare: to get and retain attention.

That’s the hardest piece. Going from no attention to a little attention. Then, it becomes about driving depth – continuous consumption for longer periods.

In other words, are people coming back for your stuff? Are they consuming it for increasing durations of time?

I made up this term, “the content-consumption funnel framework.” It works like this:

Get views/reach/impressions; build opt-in list; boost depth of engagement among subscribers; drive to purchase.

CATCH → CAPTURE → CONSUME → CONVERT

Virtually no marketers are thinking about duration of consumption or viewership repetition (attention retention), yet these are two of the most valuable metrics creators should be concerned with long-term.

Why? Because, they’re undeniable indicators of great marketing.

Yes, you want more followers and you want them to engage with your work.

But, more importantly, you want them watching, viewing, listening, or reading your stuff for as long a period of time as possible and returning time after time to do it.

This is another reason I’ve been so bullish on longer-form content for so long.

If it’s good, it commands longer view times. And it sets a bar for quality, making people want to come back next time.

Then you use short-form snippets to point to your long form. Hub and spokes.

It’s not just enough to create content that hits hard or that captivates people for a quick gaze in-stream. It has to capture them for chunks of time, at a time, inspiring them to come back again.

How can you increase duration of consumption while increasing repeat visits to your page?

Start optimizing for both in this increasingly saturated digital marketplace – low key, these are huge competitive advantages.

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