You've got a Content Strategy...now what?
How do your customers make buying decisions?
As we learned last month, the majority of prospects start with research on the internet. It is estimated that 70% of the buying process is complete before the prospect ever contacts a salesperson or visits a store*. How do you maintain any influence over the sales process?
Aligning Your Content Strategy to the Buyer's Journey
You've simplified your messages and have decided on a couple of consistent themes that you've turned into meaningful and relevant content. Now let's map that content to today's purchase cycle:
Attract:
Share content in places your prospect will look to build trust & thought leadership. Press Releases, new product info, etc.
Capture: Capture prospect info by trading valuable information in exchange for their contact info, on a form on your home page or a special landing page on your website.
Nurture: Share solutions to pain points in the form of eBooks, Webinars, Seminars, Reports, Case Histories, Testimonials, etc. Tactics can include inbound marketing tactics such as social posting and blogs or outbound marketing like eBlasts, trade shows and traditional advertising.
Convert: Convert leads into clients as they connect and engage with you through your content sharing.
Expand:
Strengthen and expand the relationship with your client through Training ("How to" You-Tube videos on using proprietary tools) and Education (White Papers or Workshops for clients only). Provide opportunities for your clients to understand "what else" you do through connections with other clients, newsletters or client events,etc.
Today's buyer is in control of the purchasing process. Aligning your content to each stage of the buying process will ensure that your message will resonate in that stage of the cycle. Positioning yourself where the prospect will look for information will put you in their path when they're ready to buy!
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