Build campaigns that sell: a message-first funnel strategy guide

The most effective campaigns don’t just make noise—they tell a story. They take buyers on a journey that starts with a real problem and ends in confident action. Each touchpoint builds on the last, forming a cohesive narrative across the funnel. When done well, these campaigns move buyers faster—not by rushing them, but by guiding them with clarity, consistency, and relevance.

Campaigns gain momentum when every piece of content supports the next. It’s not about launching a webinar here and a paid ad there. It’s about building a connected experience—one where the buyer feels understood at every step. This is where most marketers gain a competitive edge.

By using a single message that flexes across personas, pain points, and funnel stages, your campaign becomes more than a series of assets. It becomes a motion: a unified, intentional progression that accelerates the buying journey.

Start with the message—not the channel.

The most powerful campaigns don’t start with tactics. They start with the story you’re trying to tell.

That story should be rooted in:

The buyer’s core pain
Why that pain matters now
How your solution resolves it
What success looks like for them
Why they should trust you
What to do next

This is where your Campaign Builder becomes invaluable. It gives you a structured way to align messaging across formats and teams, so that when it’s time to launch, every touchpoint ladders back to what matters most: solving your buyer’s problem.

In the next section, we’ll walk through how to bring that message to life across the funnel using content that’s sequenced, strategic, and grounded in your builder.

What full-funnel execution looks like in practice.

TOFU (top of funnel): awareness & interest
Objective: Spark curiosity by spotlighting the pain, not the product.

Pain example:
“Marketing relies on engineering for segmentation—slowing campaign execution.”
Your job: Make that pain visible, urgent, and relatable.

Content types:
Problem-framing ads (LinkedIn, display): “Still waiting on devs to launch your campaign?”
Thought leadership posts: Share a narrative that builds awareness around operational bottlenecks.
Lead magnet or downloadable guide: “3 Bottlenecks Killing Your Campaign Velocity—And How to Fix Them”
SEO content: Pain-based blog post: “Why your marketing team is stuck waiting on data—and how to fix it.”
Video short (1–2 mins): Executive POV: “Here’s the real reason campaigns stall before they ever go live.”

Messaging focus:
Stick with the pain + impact narrative. Don’t sell the product—sell the urgency of the problem.

CTA examples:
“Download the guide”
“Read the breakdown”
“Take the segmentation readiness quiz”


MOFU (middle of funnel): consideration & evaluation
Objective: Reframe the conversation from problem → solution → outcome.
At this stage, your buyer knows the problem. Now they need a path forward—and confidence that your solution can deliver.

Mapped from the builder:
Solution: “A no-code audience builder that puts segmentation in marketing’s hands.”
Outcome: “Faster launches, fewer handoffs, and campaign velocity unlocked.”

Content types:
Narrative email sequences: Walk through the before/after journey of each persona.
Webinar: “Unblocking Marketing Ops: How to Launch Campaigns Without Dev Bottlenecks”
Interactive walkthrough or demo video: Highlight how segmentation happens—without code.
Mini case study carousel: “How [Customer X] launched 3x more campaigns after removing engineering as a blocker.”
Pain–Solution comparison charts: Show the difference between doing it manually vs. your solution.

Messaging focus:
Make it real. Use customer stories, data, and visual narratives to show transformation.

CTA examples:
“Watch the demo”
“See the results”
“Talk to a product expert”


BOFU (bottom of funnel): decision & conversion
Objective: Remove friction. Justify the investment. Deliver confidence.
This is where many campaigns stall because they forget what the buyer still needs: validation, differentiation, and a reason to act now.

Common objections to address (from your Campaign Builder):
“We already have a data team.”
“Will this work with our current stack?”
“How fast can we launch with this?”

Content types:
Objection-handling battlecards (internal + adapted for external use)
Competitive comparisons: Clear, outcome-driven, focused on unique differentiators
ROI calculator or cost of delay tool
Personalized executive briefing: “How your team could launch 40% faster (based on your campaign volume)”
Follow-up content kits for sales teams: Persona-specific 1-pagers, talk tracks, and email templates

Messaging focus:
Now it’s time to lean into your proof, your urgency, and your offer.

CTA examples:
“Book a 1:1 walkthrough”
“See your custom ROI breakdown”
“Talk to a customer who made the switch”


And when done right? Your campaign becomes a seamless buyer journey from pain to purchase.

See how each of these funnel stages pulls directly from your Campaign Builder:

Pain → TOFU hook
Solution + Outcome → MOFU story
Proof + Objection Handling → BOFU conversion

Once you’ve mapped your content across the funnel, the next layer of execution is how your audience experiences it—what they click, where they land, and how you follow up.

Strategic continuity: every click is a commitment

Where you send the buyer—and what happens next—matters just as much as the creative itself.

The moment someone clicks an ad, watches a video, or downloads a guide, you’ve earned their attention. Now, you have to deliver on that promise. That means:

Landing pages that reflect the ad’s message and keep the story going. They should mirror the pain point and promise from the ad. Don’t make the buyer reorient themselves—keep the message consistent and outcome-focused.

Nurture sequences that speak to the same pain—not generic drip emails. When they do convert (e.g. download the guide), enroll them in a nurture track tied to that exact pain point. These emails should continue the conversation they started.

Website personalization that aligns to campaign themes and personas. Use UTMs or intent signals to dynamically display headlines, case studies, or offers aligned to the original campaign theme on your site.

Every asset in your campaign should act like the next chapter in a story—not a disconnected message. This is how you maintain strategic continuity across the funnel.

Each stage of the campaign should act like a chapter in a story. The key is message cohesion—you’re not just promoting a guide, a webinar, or a product. You’re walking the buyer through their own journey of solving a problem.

Behavior-based retargeting: the missing layer in most funnels.

Most teams treat retargeting as a reminder. But smart teams use it as adaptive storytelling. The real power comes when each step in the funnel reacts to what the buyer just did—and continues the narrative arc you've already established in your campaign plan.

What a buyer does should shape what they see next. When your retargeting is built on behavior and persona, it becomes a personalized journey.

Here’s what that looks like in action:

Segment your audience by action (click, view, download) and intent
Tailor follow-ups based on persona (e.g., Ops → control, VP → pipeline impact)
Use modular content that supports the original pain point, but progresses the conversation. 

Here’s how to bring this to life across the funnel:

1. Retarget based on entry point behavior
Whether someone clicks a LinkedIn ad, views a video, or downloads a guide, the retargeting experience should reflect and go deeper into the same topic or solution they were interested in—not a new one. 

• If they clicked an ad about segmentation challenges, your next touchpoint might be a case study showing how a real marketing team solved it without engineering.

• If they landed on a guide but didn’t convert, retarget them with a shorter, punchier offer like a checklist or webinar tied to the same pain.

2. Personalize content sequences by persona
Each persona mapped in your campaign builder should have a distinct journey—even if they came through the same initial asset.

• A Demand Gen lead who downloaded a velocity guide might get retargeted with campaign benchmarks and ROI proof.

• A Marketing Ops manager might get a walkthrough of the no-code interface and data governance features.

• A VP of Marketing might get a short video on pipeline acceleration and executive-level outcomes.

This turns your retargeting into a persona-aware nurture system, not just a recycled ad sequence.

3. Build post-click journeys, not just Ads
The destination matters just as much as the click. Every asset should lead to a landing page, content hub, or email sequence that:

Reinforces the original pain point
Continues the story with new angles (proof, urgency, outcomes)
Promotes a next-step CTA that aligns with their stage in the journey

Think of your campaign like a choose-your-own-adventure—each click should open a new chapter, not repeat the last one.

Your funnel isn’t just a set of stages—it’s a sequence of connected conversations.

When your retargeting is intentional and tied to persona-specific pain, every campaign asset works harder. You’re not just staying top of mind—you’re guiding the buyer with precision, reinforcing relevance, and shortening the time to value.

Need help turning messaging into campaigns that move buyers forward?

If you want a second set of eyes or want to workshop a campaign together, I’m here to help. I work with B2B SaaS teams to design full-funnel strategies that connect every touchpoint—so content, channels, and personas all work together.

👉 Book a strategy call and let's build a campaign that delivers