In recent education events, a recurring theme has emerged – regardless of actual topic, the attendees have been reminded to create strategy addressing target audience members at all locations along the customer journey.
Traditionally modeled as a funnel, the path your audience takes from not even being aware of you to becoming a customer is, in reality, more complex, often doubling back on itself… more than once.
Orderly funnel or tangled knot – Either way, there are specific stages your target audience passes through along the way, no matter how indirect, to becoming your customer. And specific content strategies can be used to impact every stage of the audience journey.
Here are some key methods to effectively engage and deepen your relationship with potential customers at each stage.
Awareness Stage – Capturing Attention
The Awareness stage is where potential customers become familiar with a brand or product. You want to educate prospects regarding their pain points and foster awareness of your brand as a possible solution. Grab attention and drive interaction using:
- Social media
- Blog posts
- Infographics
- Advertising
Consideration Stage – Generating Curiosity and Providing Value
The Consideration stage involves both generating interest and nurturing curiosity, as well as engaging potential customers and providing information to help them evaluate their options. Prove your organization’s value as your prospective customer begins to look for a solution and is considering options. You want to build trust and authority through:
- Webinars
- Case studies and white papers
- Explainer videos
- Testimonials
Decision Stage – Encouraging Action
The Decision stage is where potential customers, having researched their options, make the final choice to purchase a product or service from a specific brand. When members of your target audience are in decision-making mode, you want to convince them to take action. Effective collateral to use at this point includes:
- Proposals
- Presentations
- Landing pages with Call-to-Action (CTA)
- Free trials or samples
Post-Purchase Stage – Cultivating Loyalty and Advocacy
The post-purchase stage focuses on engaging customers after they have made a purchase, ensuring satisfaction, building loyalty, and encouraging repeat business through support, follow-up communication, and additional offers or incentives. Keep your customers engaged so they will not only become repeat purchasers, but also make recommendations and even become brand evangelists, utilizing:
- Thank you email
- Impact reports
- Loyalty programs
- User-generated content campaigns
When it comes to content, something is better than nothing, and regular content is better than inconsistent content. But making sure you are nurturing your target audience wherever they may be along their journey to finding and choosing you is best. Neglect any one stage, and you will miss out on potential customers when they lose their direction and wander off unwittingly onto someone else’s path.
As an easy first step to ensuring your content strategy focuses on relationship-building appropriate to each stage of the customer journey, I recommend adding a column in your content plan for the stage that piece of content addresses. You will be able to easily identify gaps and opportunities in a short period of time. Build on what you already have and refine your approach as needed.
