Match Your Content to Your Sales Funnel

We’d all like to believe that the consumer journey is simple and straightforward—that a buyer sees your product advertised somewhere, visits your website, and places and order, all within a span of mere minutes.

Maybe it happens like that sometimes—but usually, the buyer’s journey is quite a bit more complicated. Maybe the consumer makes a general inquiry on Google, and happens to see one of your products in an AdWords placement. He digs around for more information, reading your company blog or checking out some tweets. He forgets about your company, but a week later sees a retargeted ad on Facebook. Weeks or even months after that initial discovery, the consumer finally places an order.

The point is, there are many steps and stages to the buying process—and that’s something that has a direct impact on content marketing.

Simply put, you can’t assume that everyone who encounters your content is going to be at the same point in their journey. Some might be discovering your brand for the very first time; what they need is some general information. Others may be very familiar with your brand, and on the brink of making a purchase decision. What these consumers need is something that will persuade them to make that conversion.

In creating content, it’s important to think in terms of that consumer journey—and to develop content to fit each stage along the way.

Top of the Funnel Content

For starters, you need some content to greet those consumers who are just discovering your brand—the people who aren’t ready to commit to a particular product, but may find your company through a broad, generalized search. Here the goal is to educate them about who you are and what you do, developing brand visibility. Some content types you might consider here include:

• Blog posts
• Web content
• Press releases
• Explainer videos
• Infographics

Middle of the Funnel Content

At the same time, it’s important to develop content for people who know your brand and are trying to do their due diligence, figuring out why they should trust your company over the competition. Some recommended content types here include:

• Newsletters
• White papers
• Product demos
• Reviews
• Retargeting

Bottom of the Funnel Content

Finally, it’s vital to have content designed to inform the consumer at that moment of decision—to lead to a conversion. Here, establishing trust and speaking directly to value are both key. Recommended content types include:

• Webinars
• Reviews
• Testimonials
• Direct, personal sales presentations
• Offers and discounts

Content for the Whole Journey

The bottom line: Content marketing should be mapped out and in sync with the buyer’s journey, which means different pieces of content may serve different functions. Do you have content for each stage of the buying process? If not, get help in strategic, results-oriented content development. Reach out to Grammar Chic, Inc. at 803-831-7444 or www.grammarchic.net.