A buyer considering products or services goes through several stages when considering a purchase. A successful inbound campaign will offer content targeted to each target persona at each stage of the buying process. In this session, Julie Spatola walks through how to create a strategy to accomplish this.

What Is the Buyer's Journey?

There are 3 stages in a buyer's journey.

  1. Awareness - Being aware there is a problem that needs solving.
  2. Consideration - At this point a buyer is looking at all of the options available to them.
  3. Decision -Buyers are whittling that list down to more relevant options and ultimately making a decision.

Awareness - Users are seeking educational third party vendor neutral content

As a marketer, how do you know which content to offer at what point of the buyer journey?

  1. Consideration - Committing to solving their clearly defined problem. Looking for specific differentiators or comparisons.
  2. Decision - Very specific information or trials.

Specific Content Types are more relevant at specific stages of the buyers journey

Awareness

  • eGuides
  • eBooks
  • WhitePapers
  • Editorial content
  • Analyst reports

Consideration

  • Webcasts
  • Solution Comparison white papers
  • Expert/Editorial eGuides
  • Podcast
  • Video

Decision Stage

  • Vendor/Product comparisons
  • Case studies
  • Trial/Software downloads
  • Virtual trade shows
  • Product literature

Leverage relevant terms in each Buyers Journey Stage in: Offer title and abstract, landing page, CTA buttons, email copy.

Map each content offer

Identify 3 key content mapping fundamentals:

  1. Content type
  2. Keywords and terms
  3. User behavior

Action Items

1. Organize your entire content library

Organize your content library into one concise file. Tag with what stage of the buyer journey is in.

Analyze what you have. Create a matrix of entire inventory of content. The number and percentage of type of offer buy stage (awareness, consideration, decision). Content marketing analysis produces observations with logical correlating recommendations. ex. If the content doesn't fit into a particular stage well, you may want to edit the title for clarity.

2. Map your content...

  • By buyer persona. Ensure that each persona has relevant offers available.
  • By topics. Make sure that your content is properly balanced to be sure that distribution is accurate.
  • By type or format. Does your content type and format align with how your customers find information?

3. Create a content roadmap and itemize next steps -

Separate short term and long term action items. What are quick wins? What might take longer to fill gaps in your sales process.

4. Execute. Use the content in your inbound marketing.

Apply content to landing pages, emails, lead scoring, thank you page offers, smart call-to-action buttons, etc.

Free Template: Determine Your SMART Marketing Goals