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The Content Marketing Institute report stated that 88% of b2b marketers are using content marketing. However, only 30% of them said that it is effective.
The question is…
Why is it not effective for the remaining 58%?
A lot of business owners are creating content, but few of them are converting a large percentage of their visitors to leads and sales.
Instead of your content to increase your revenue, you are losing it.
The major reason why a website will receive hoards of traffic and convert poorly is when the visitors have a bad experience. This alone can drive away visitors from coming back to your website.
According to Consumer Insight Group, 83% of social media customer service users have walked away from a purchase after a bad experience.
A study also reported that 40% of visitors don’t return to a website after having a negative experience.
This is critical because it can cause you massive loss in revenue if nothing is done to improve the situation.
So, let’s attempt to properly diagnose the problem.
The problem is, your visitors are having a bad experience on your website. This could be because your content is not tailored to their needs. You are not communicating with them.
Creating content that does not meet your visitors need will continue to make you lose revenue.
The question is…
How do you tailor your content to meet your visitors need?
The answer is to map your content to your buyer’s journey.
How to Map your content to your buyer’s journey
The buyer’s journey is also known as the purchase journey, buying cycle or customer journey.
Hubspot defined it as “the process buyers go through to become aware of, evaluate and purchase a new product or service”
In other words, it is the stages a customer goes through to purchase your product or service.
The buyer’s journey is in three major stages – the awareness stage, the consideration stage, and the decision stage. It is illustrated below:
Source: Hubspot
The awareness stage is also known as the top of the funnel (TOFU). It is where the buyer becomes aware of the problem or the solutions to the problem.
The consideration stage is also known as the middle of the funnel (MOFU). It is where the buyer understands the problem and needs more information to make an informed decision on the solution to use.
The decision stage is also known as the bottom of the funnel (BOFU). It is where the buyer has a variety of solutions but need to streamline it to choose the best.
Understanding the type of content to provide for each stage will help you to create useful content assets that will benefit your visitors.
According to Pardot’s report, 76% of buyers prefer different content at each stage of their research.
Why do you need to map your content to these stages?
A Recent study shows that 67 percent of the buyer’s journey is done online. Also, 94% of B2b buyers research online before making a purchase decision.
The statistics above shows that businesses that have content in place for each stage of the journey can meet their customers wherever they are in the buyer circle.
So, which type of content is suitable for each buyer’s journey stage?
Mapping content to the top of the funnel (TOFU) – The awareness stage
The awareness stage is where the buying circle starts. Creating the right type of content for this stage is very critical.
Most of the people that come to your website may not be looking for solutions right from the onset. They want to know more about their pain points before looking for appropriate solutions.
At this stage, your content should be educative, interesting and engaging. It should connect with your prospective customer. You should avoid any form of sales pitches at this stage.
The keywords you can use to create content for this stage includes but not limited to What is, How to, etc. For instance, visitor searching for Marketing automation software can start with:
What is marketing automation?
What is marketing automation software?
The types of content that are suitable for this stage are blog posts, Expert content (Guides, report, pillar content, etc), videos, presentations, podcasts, infographics, and checklists.
Mapping content to the Middle of the funnel (MOFU) – The Consideration Stage
The consideration stage is an important stage in the buying circle. In this stage, the prospect is already aware of the problem they are having, and they have enough information on it.
Here, you will be creating content that further enlightens them about your company’s product or services. This is where you need to educate them more.
The keywords you can use to create content for this stage includes but not limited to words that start with Best, Top, Cheap, etc. For instance, using the same Marketing automation software, visitors at this stage can search for:
Best marketing automation software
Top marketing automation software
The content types you can create to capture their attention at this stage are E-books, webinars, whitepapers and industry report.
Mapping content to the Middle of the funnel (BOFU) – The Consideration Stage
This is the most important stage of the buying circle. It is now time to offer your product directly as a solution to your prospective buyer’s problem.
Here, the prospect has read and watched your contents. It is time to make a decision. The content you offer here must assist your prospect to make an informed decision.
The keywords you can use to create content for this stage includes but not limited to words that contain vs, reviews, comparison, etc. For instance, using the same Marketing automation software, visitors at this stage can search for:
Marketo marketing automation software
Marketo vs. infusionsoft
The type of content you can offer your audience in this stage are reviews, product comparison, demo videos, success kits, buyer guides. Customer stories/case studies
If you are able to create some of the content above for your business, your audience will have a variety of content to interact and engage with.
When you do this, your content will not lose revenue anymore; it will rather increase your bottom line.
Source: B2C
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