---
title: "The Know stage of the content funnel"
description: "The Know post is the first touchpoint of the funnel, where readers discover you, see their own problem named and want to keep reading."
---

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# The Know stage of the content funnel

The Know post is the first post readers meet in the funnel. It rests on one information question, **"What is this? Why?"**, names the reader's problem, and gives your own point of view. This is where readers discover you and get to know your brand.

This page is for you when you are picking a topic or writing a post that explains, and you want it to open the door to the Know - Trust - Love content funnel. If your post shows how to do a job, read [TRUST stage](/docs/content-system/know-trust-love/trust-post). If you don't know which stage a post belongs to, read [Sort a post into the right funnel stage](/docs/content-system/know-trust-love/guides/sort-post-by-stage).

## The Know post in the funnel

### What does a Know post do for the reader?

A Know post does three jobs. Check them with three yes/no questions once it is written:

1. Does a reader who has never heard of you see their own problem named in the first paragraph?
2. Is there a point of view of your own in the post, beyond the information?
3. Does the end of the post offer a way into the Trust post on the same topic?

Any "no" means the post has not finished that job: naming the problem, giving a point of view, or leading the reader on.

A Know post travels easily through online communities and is usually the kind that gets shared outside the most, so it takes on the job of **inviting newcomers into the funnel**.

### What should readers leave with?

The goal of a Know post is **a small discovery, not a decision**. Readers leave with one thing they just understood and see their problem called by its right name, with no sales pitch in their heads.

The doubt that remains is not the Know post's job. It is settled in the Trust post, when readers make a result themselves. So a Know post only has to do two things well: name the problem and spark curiosity. How readers feel in each state is told in the [Know - Trust - Love content funnel post](https://cuongthach.com/biet-tin-yeu/).

### Where does the Know post sit?

The Know post sits at the door of the funnel, and its end invites readers to the Trust post on the same topic. The number of posts changes with the stage of the build:

| Stage | Number of Know posts |
| --- | --- |
| Funnel skeleton | One post |
| Opening the funnel | Paired with a Trust post |
| Widening the Know stage | Many posts, including topics trending on social media |

The full order of the stages is on the [content funnel overview](/docs/content-system/know-trust-love/introduction).

## What a Know post needs to hold up

The Know post is the most numerous in the funnel, because each Know post adds one more touchpoint, and the hardest to get right, because it competes on information.

On plain information, AI is faster and more complete than the writer. What AI lacks is **a human point of view**: the path you have walked and the work you really did. A Know post holds up when it has that part. Why readers pay for this and not for information is in the [content funnel post](https://cuongthach.com/biet-tin-yeu/).

### Three things it needs

![Three things it needs](/docs/_astro/illus-docs-ghe-ba-chan.en.Yemk72Ka_ZTKTiY.svg "A Know post stands on three legs")

| What it needs | Check with a question | If missing, fix by |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Knowing your customer | Does the post answer what readers actually ask, in their words? | Collect each common question, reread the product through a newcomer's eyes |
| An original angle | Is there one line of opinion that comes from work you did? | Rewrite the point of view |
| A creative way of saying it | Is there a place where the post says a familiar thing in a way only you would? | Change the way in, the example or the image |

With all three, readers see one thing that sets you apart and are curious enough to read on.

### Signs the post has turned ordinary

Without these three, the Know post looks like every other post on the topic. Signs:

- Readers ask AI instead of reading on.
- No one clicks through to the Trust post.
- The posts behind it have no readers.

Readers also spot the marks of AI content and judge the brand behind it. The fix is to go back to the three things in the table.

## Topics and titles of Know posts

![Where do Know post topics come from?](/docs/_astro/illus-docs-hai-nguon-bai-biet.en.DpNIgb2z_ZTKTiY.svg "Know post topics have two sources")

A Know post topic has two sources:

- **Common questions** that come up when you talk to customers.
- **Your own Trust post.**

How to take them from a Trust post: while you write the how-to, each time you meet a question like "what is this", "why this step", "why does this step come before that one", note it and split it off as its own post. The Trust post keeps only the action, and the posts split off are Know posts.

The second source goes with building the funnel backwards (Love, then Trust, then Know peeled off from Trust), so each Know post already has a Trust post to lead to.

### The title is a natural question

A Know post title is **a natural, short question**. The site's MocSEO standard sets about 50 characters. A real example: "Is a long or short sales page better in the age of AI?".

That question is what the reader asks themselves, in their own words. The "why" does not have to sit in the title. It lives in the answer inside the post.

### Don't repeat one sentence shape

The Know posts of one funnel **don't repeat one sentence shape**. Don't start every title with "Why". Mix the shapes:

- "Should you ...?"
- "Does ... help ...?"
- "How much ...?"
- "What is ...?"
- "When ...?"

The two Know posts running on cuongthach.com have two different shapes: "Is a long or short sales page better in the age of AI?" and "Write hands-free, stop procrastinating with Talk to write".

## An example of a Know post in a funnel

The post [Write hands-free, stop procrastinating with "Talk to write"](https://cuongthach.com/stop-procrastinating-talk-to-write/) is a Know post of the Idea - Write - Edit process. The table lists its parts.

| Part | In the post |
| --- | --- |
| Title | A 48-character question that does not open with "Why" |
| The problem it names | Putting off writing |
| Point of view | People balk right at the starting point, not for lack of effort |
| Description | Record with a set of guiding questions, then edit with AI into a post in 2 hours |
| Body | Five H2s, each one a reader's question, from "is it laziness" to "how much time does it save" |
| Relationship | Paired with the Trust post "How to turn a recording into a fully published post", and the two lead to each other |
| End of the post | Invites readers to the Trust post to make their first post |

Read this example with the three check questions at the top of the page:

1. The problem is named right in the title.
2. The point of view sits in the body, where the post changes what readers think causes the delay.
3. The way into the Trust post comes at the end.

Because the two posts are a pair, readers who enter by either one have a path to the other. The Know post keeps the "what is it, why" part of Talk to write, and the Trust post keeps the doing part. The title avoids opening with "Why" so that the Know posts of one funnel do not repeat a single sentence shape.

## What a Know post does not do

- A Know post **doesn't guide step by step**. That is the job of the [Trust stage](/docs/content-system/know-trust-love/trust-post).
- A Know post **doesn't sell the product**. That is the job of the Love post.
- A Know post **doesn't gather general information**, because that kind of post loses to AI at once.

## Read next

- [TRUST stage](/docs/content-system/know-trust-love/trust-post) — The Trust post follows the Know post with small, hands-on steps, so readers make a result themselves and start to trust you.
- [LOVE stage](/docs/content-system/know-trust-love/love-post) — This page explains the Love post, the only post in the funnel you write yourself, the short sales page it leads to and why that page stays short.
- [Build the funnel from your product](/docs/content-system/know-trust-love/guides/build-the-funnel-backwards) — Build the Know - Trust - Love funnel by working backwards from the Love post to Trust and Know posts, so each post has a place and leads on.

Source: https://cuongthach.com/docs/content-system/know-trust-love/know-post/index.mdx