People go through the buying cycle before they buy. To successfully sell your product or service, you need to understand what information potential buyers seek and provide that information in a business context. Make sure your content is kind of a roadmap for them.
Content marketing isn’t easy. It’s a process that takes time and repetition (and there are ways to make it easier). Read more to save you time creating effective content at each step of the buyer’s journey.
Knowledge stage
The knowledge stage is when a buyer becomes aware of a problem and tries to collect information about possible solutions. For example, if you own a small business that sells mufflers for cars, someone who’s in the knowledge phase might look up “How to fix loud car mufflers” on Google. They’re trying to figure out how to solve their muffler problem.
Working with content marketing during the knowledge stage provides helpful information, not hard-sell ads. It’s about taking the strategy of keyword targeting to its logical conclusion: your target audience is looking for specific information related to their problem, so provide it in an easy-to-consume format (such as an article, video, or infographic). To ensure people don’t just gloss over your content, use actionable language—words like “how to” or “step by step”—and include relevant keywords naturally within the text.
Awareness stage
Content marketing for the awareness stage is about getting your target audience to start thinking about you, whether through content that gets them to consider your product or service or content that helps them make decisions about what they want and need.
Your goal at this stage is to inform them about who you are, what you do, and why they should care about it. You want to provide enough information to make people confident about moving on to the next stage in their research process. You also want to ensure that your messaging isn’t too promotional or sales-y during this phase, as this could turn people off from doing business with you in the future if they feel pressured into buying something that’s not right for them or their business needs.
For example, if you’re an insurance company, you might create a blog post with advice on how to save money on car insurance. This will help educate your target audience about what insurance companies can do for them.
Consideration stage
The consideration stage is when a buyer evaluates different options for making a purchase decision. One way to think about it is that they’re trying to determine if they should buy from you. This is the perfect time to create content that helps buyers understand how your product or service can solve their problems. You can also use this opportunity to build relationships with potential customers and engage them more personally than you might have been able to do during previous stages of their buying process.
If you’ve already been building relationships with your audience, this is a great time to reach out with helpful resources to help them decide what they need from you.
Decision Stage
Once your audience has decided to buy from you, they must be confident in their choice. Provide information about shipping timelines, payment options, and return policies, so customers know what to expect when they purchase from you. You can also offer resources like guides or FAQs that answer common questions about the product or service sold. Hence, customers feel comfortable deciding to purchase from you instead of another brand.
However, if someone chooses not to buy, don’t take it personally—keep providing helpful content and building relevant links to your site. You may even be able to convert some of them into leads the next time.
Get your content marketing done right.
The bottom line is that reach and engagement are both significant, though they can be mutually exclusive. For example, if you’re in the awareness stage of the buyer’s cycle, trying to reach a larger audience, you may be less concerned with engagement metrics. On the other hand, if you’re trying to convert visitors into leads, getting them at the right time with high-quality content and ensuring that you’re staying top-of-mind for them will be critical.
It’s essential to make content written for people rather than search engines. But what if we can do both? Contact us to experience creating high-quality content that will help you to get the results you require out of your SEO, but at the same time, we make sure we comply with all of Google’s new rules on what is acceptable and what isn’t.