Creating content for the customer’s journey

It is important that on every point of your customer’s journey, there is informative and accurate content. This content should also be branded according to how far into the customer’s journey the client has ventured. Let’s take a look at what content we need and how to brand it.

STAGE 1: Awareness

During this stage we are trying to capture the attention of our target audience. We want them to notice us and consider us to be the thought leader in our industry. This content solves our target audience’s pain points without pointing directly to your product. In this stage, you don’t want to go for the hard sell. This will scare off your potential customer. Rather address a pain point and show them how they can fix it.

The type of content you can produce for the first stage of awareness which is getting known in the industry is the following:

1. Blog posts which answer some your customer’s basic questions.
2. Paid advertising which will push your content towards your potential customers
3. Give talks at various seminars or even do a presentation at your business club.
4. Checklists which your potential client can use to streamline one of their processes.

The above content should also only be lightly branded.

When people have shown an interest, you can ask them to register for an electronic newsletter. This will show you who is really interested in what you have to offer. You can also offer them webinars on topics which delve deeper into solutions for their pain points.

The last and most critical point of awareness is trust. This aspect of the content is often overlooked, but it is well-known that they if someone trusts you they are more likely to buy from you. You can improve trust with the following content:

1. “How to” blog posts
2. E-books
3. Custom presentations
4. Client testimonials.

STAGE 2: Consideration

During this stage your customer may have decided you are one of the potential vendors who can solve their problem. They now want to know more about your product and how your product or service is designed to solve their particular pain point. The content which you want to produce here is:

1. Free webinars which show how your product could potentially solve the pain point.
2. Case studies of successes clients have experienced using your product.
3. Free samples of your product or service for clients to test drive your solution.
4. Product specification sheets.
5. Catalogues.

With this content your branding can be more visible.

STAGE 3: Decision

Now, your clients are ready to make a decision. They have liked your product and decided to buy it. You should not stop giving your client’s great content. This content can be heavily branded and should always add value to your clients. Your focus should be on maintaining your customer’s experience of your brand.

The pieces of content should be:

1. Quick start guides
2. New customer packs
3. Instructional videos
4. A knowledge base which answers frequently asked questions.
5. Customer-exclusive webinars which give them time to interact with one another and share their knowledge.

This content can also be exclusive to your customer and not available to prospects.

By creating the following content, you will be well on your way to converting prospect to leads and then to paying customers.

Proudly brought to you by the NSBC.