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Most of your potential audience does not know you yet, some are curious about your topic, and a small slice is ready to buy your course. Each group needs different content.
If you are posting 5 days a week, we recommend a 2/2/1 split of your content and topics.
2/2/1 split
2 top of funnel posts to grow your audience
2 middle of funnel posts to build trust with your ideal student
1 bottom of funnel post to convert people who are already paying attention
Top of funnel (2 per week)
Top of funnel (2 per week)
š Goal: reach. These posts are for people who have never heard of you. These posts should have broad appeal within your industry, be low effort to read, and easy to share.
What works:
Takes on industry news ("Ok, Fable 5 is out. Your feed is full of buzzwords - āinsaneā, āgame changingā, āeverything is deadā.") Example from Kieran Flanagan.
General, immediately useful tips ("You could fundamentally rebuild your marketing team around AI now, and it would look totally different from your current org chart"). Example from Kieran Flanagan.
Contrarian or surprising observations about your field. Have a strong opinion and stand by it. āNothing burns great people out faster than what I call "work whiplash.ā Example from Molly Graham.
Simple frameworks or lists anyone in your industry can apply today. Example from Gagan Biyani.
Example post:
"Most engineering managers run 1:1s wrong. They use them for status updates. Status belongs in Slack. Here's the agenda I've used for 8 years instead: ..."
Notice the example requires zero context about who you are, but implies youāve put significant effort into gathering this information that you are now giving away for free.
Middle of funnel (2 per week)
Middle of funnel (2 per week)
š Goal: trust. These posts are for people who follow you and work in your space. They show you've actually done the thing you teach.
What works:
Personal stories tied to your industry ("Iāve had a front row seat to rounds of layoffs at four companies, having been both the employee being laid off, and also the employee who āsurvivedā a layoff.") Example from Ben Erez.
Specific workflows for your exact ICP (āCold email got me SWE offers in the Bay, Seattle, and NYCā). Example from Gautam D.
Behind the scenes of a real result ("We shipped this feature in 9 days. Here's the process, including what broke").
Lessons from failures, with real numbers and names of tools.
Example post:
"In 2023 I inherited a sales team with 11% close rates. Eighteen months later we hit 31%. The single biggest change was how we ran discovery calls. Here's what we did: ..."
The litmus test for middle of funnel content: only your ideal student cares about this level of detail, and that's the point.
Bottom of funnel (1 per week)
Bottom of funnel (1 per week)
š Goal: conversion. These posts are for people already considering your course. Social proof does the selling so you don't have to.
What works:
A screenshot (or repost) of a student testimonial with a sentence of context. Example from Aishwarya Naresh Reganti.
A student transformation story ("Maria joined my cohort as an IC. Three months after, she pitched and got headcount for her own team. Here's what she changed").
Results from your last cohort, with specifics. Example from Aishwarya Naresh Reganti.
A direct post about your upcoming cohort, what students will walk away with, and a link to enroll.
Example post:
"Got this DM from a student in my last cohort. [screenshot] She used the negotiation framework from week 2 and got a $28k raise. Next cohort starts June 30, link in comments."
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Keep it concrete. One specific example is far better than five vague compliments.
A sample week
Day | Type | Post |
Monday | Top | Take on this week's industry news |
Tuesday | Middle | Personal story with a lesson for your ICP |
Wednesday | Top | Tactical tip anyone in your field can use |
Thursday | Middle | A specific workflow or process, with numbers |
Friday | Bottom | Student testimonial or transformation story |
Rules of thumb
Top of funnel grows the audience that middle and bottom of funnel convert later. Top of funnel will typically get the most leads / reach, but will not drive views to your CLP.
Post more bottom of funnel than 1 in 5 and you'll feel like a salesman. People unfollow and your reach declines.
Every post should be targeted towards / interesting to your ideal student.
Repurpose freely. A great middle of funnel story can become a top of funnel framework next month & vice versa. You can repost the same exact post 6 months later with no punishment from the algorithm.
Experiment. If your strategy is not working (example, you get the same views week over week) that's your signal to CHANGE SOMETHING. Different ideas, more unique stories, more specific tactical advice, etc. Do not fall into the trap of thinking a very small change will move the needle.
Double down on what works. If you get a viral post, consider the hook, topic, body, comments, etc and use those as closely as you can to make more similar posts.