Have you ever wondered where the phrase “Content is King” originated? A quick Google search will show you that Bill Gates wrote an article in 1996 about the power of content and how it would be used for advertising across the Internet in the years to come.
Gates’ prediction came before the dot com boom and the advent of social media. Just think about how much e-commerce has changed since then.
Today, we can order a product from across the world with one-click and have it delivered straight to our doorsteps in a few days. Through content, we are then recommended new products to purchase, asked to leave customer reviews, sent emails from companies with promotions, asked to join their newsletters, subscribe to their blogs, and so much more. All for the sake of marketing.
Today the internet is saturated with content everywhere you look. On every social media platform, and through every channel possible, content is constantly being streamed by companies in new and innovative ways with the hopes of garnering attention and even making a sale or two. As a small business owner, you must find ways to distinguish yourself from the noise.
Leveraging the right content for your brand generates leads and awareness and helps establish yourself as a thought leader in your space; building trust with your customers and prospects. Perhaps more importantly, the right content served at the right time to your customers can be the difference between making or breaking a sale.
So how do you make your business stand out from the crowd when it comes to content? One way you can differentiate yourself is by serving unique types of content to customers depending on what stage of the sales funnel they happen to be in. Today we’ll take a look at some different types of content that work best depending on where your customers may be in the sales process.
Brand Awareness
As you probably know, the top of the sales funnel is where you build brand awareness. Customers may have not yet heard of your brand, and if they have, they need to be educated about what it is are you selling. This is where thought leadership comes in. By offering information about how you differentiate yourself from competitors, you are able to educate them and establish yourself as a leader in the field. Offer them tips or best practices to help build trust and educate them. Good examples of content for the top of the funnel are blog posts or e-books that informs consumers about what your company does and answers basic questions they may have.
Nurture and Engage
Once consumers become more educated about your business, product, service or offering, they need to be nurtured as you begin to build a relationship with them. In the middle of the funnel, consumers are still doing a lot of research to determine whether or not your offering is right for them. For larger companies, this is where a buying guide, case studies, or white papers are important so consumers can get real-life examples of how your company has helped others.
For small businesses, you can nurture your customers through email marketing campaigns where you offer downloads like cheat sheets that include tips or best practices that further answer their questions. This is also the stage of the buying process where you have the opportunity to really engage your customers so they know they can come to you with questions as they learn more. At this stage, webinars and demos make sense, even for small businesses.
Purchase
At the bottom of the funnel, customers are ready to make purchase, and more often than not just need a small nudge to complete the sale. This is where you can begin offering promotions and coupons. For service-based organizations, you might offer a free trial or consultation. Having the right content at this stage of the buyers journey can make or break a sale, so make sure you have the right piece in place.
What do you think? Do you have any best practices you can share for content that works during each stage of the buyers journey? If so, leave a comment below!