How To Create a Content Marketing Strategy That Connects With the Customer (Even When They’re Not Ready To Buy)
As a business owner (these days) you most likely understand the importance of having content on your website.
But you may be struggling with figuring out just what kind of content works to further your business goals.
If you are putting out random content without any kind of marketing strategy, you are wasting valuable time, effort, and resources.
If you aren’t putting out any kind of content, you’re missing the boat!
The purpose of this article is to show content marketers (whether you are the business owner or the one strategizing for someone else’s business), how to satisfy the customer by creating the content they are looking for…even if they aren’t in purchase mode.
I’ve broken this post into three sections.
The first section lays out the basics of content marketing. In the second section we get into the mind of the buyer as we look at the different stages they go through in the buying process. In the third section, I lay out specific strategies you can use to create content for each stage of the buyer.
You will learn:
The powerful discipline of content marketing and how it plays a fundamental role in the success of a profitable business
How to use content marketing in a way that connects with your ideal customer, and solves their problems
The single most important thing (in one word) you need to understand about a customer and how knowing this puts you miles ahead of marketers that don’t
If you have a desire to understand how to make meaningful, long-lasting connections with your customers through authoritative content that matters and causes them to take action, stick around.
Let’s dive in!
Section One: What is Content Marketing?
According to Russ Henneberry, founder of The Clikk and co-author of Digital Marketing for Dummies, content marketing is the creation and promotion of text, video, audio, or image-based content that furthers business goals.
Let’s face it, marketing is a BIG word and a BROAD concept that can be very intimidating to new business owners.
It can be anything from TV and radio commercials, to print ads, or even hiring a superstar like Shaquille O’Neal to endorse your product.
Genius, right?
The thing is, with that type of marketing, the consumer has no choice. That type of marketing broadly follows the consumer and disrupts what they are in the middle of with little regard to what their needs are.
Content Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing
Content marketing strategies are a little different than traditional marketing strategies.
Content marketing is created with the purpose of offering so much value that it engages an audience, builds a trusting relationship, and generates more organic leads through those efforts.
That means the customer comes to you (the business owner) because you provide content that the person is actually searching for.
Content marketing is geared toward getting potential customers (leads) to come to your business naturally through internet searches.
AKA, leads you don’t have to pay a dime for.
These are called organic leads and they aren’t a quick solution, but they are the best solution in the long run when it comes to your return on investment (ROI).
So, having a strategy in place that allows you to gain more organic traffic is a critical part of content marketing.
But... that content must be exceptional if you want it to stand out or be found at all.
According to pewresearch.org, “85% of Americans go online on a daily basis.” That figure includes 31% who report going online constantly.
That’s a BIG audience with MULTIPLE purposes for going online, so targeting the right person and providing them with what they need can be overwhelming.
The one thing, however, they are ALL looking to do is...
Solve a problem.
Whether someone wants to find a good book to read, directions to a restaurant, or the best way to scramble eggs, they are looking for a solution.
They want to know, go, do, or buy something.
It is the job of the content marketer to create content that solves all of those various problems.
Content marketing is all about serving an intended audience and serving them passionately!
And when this is done right, people will devour that content.
So where do you begin?
It begins with understanding how to connect with your customer.
And, when you do connect with them, you will be able to:
get their attention,
make and keep them happy, and
inspire them to tell others how great your product or service is. #evangelism
You CAN reach your customers...even when they are just mere strangers.
So how do you get strangers to go on the journey of finding you, buying your products or services, and becoming raving fans like these YouTubers?
Let’s find out how it all works.
The Big 3 of Content Marketing
There are three big players to consider when it comes to content marketing.
Those players are:
The content marketer
The client
The customer
Now, if you are a business owner that does your own copywriting, you are the content marketer. However, you may want to hire a content marketer to write the content for you. So, as I explain these three roles, keep in mind that if you write for your own business, you are the content marketer and the client.
If you’re a business owner that has no intention of doing their own copywriting, you will be the client who wants to hire a content marketer.
Understanding what these three players want and how they relate to each other is the first step to understanding how content marketing works.
The Content Marketer
Let’s say you, are the content marketer. You want:
Clients
Results for those clients
You want clients, so you have, well, work (of course) and you want results for those clients, so they continue to employ your services and highly recommend you to others.
The Client (Business Owner)
The client’s wants are a little more involved.
There are typically six areas a business can struggle with, and the content marketer can serve all six of these areas:
Increased awareness and engagement
More leads
More new customers
Selling more to existing customers
More positive reviews
More referrals
Understanding your client’s needs and desires is a process, and the better you understand your client, the better you will be able to serve them.
Let’s use Jay Pritchett from Modern Family who owns “Closets, Closets, Closets” as our example business owner who wants to hire a content marketer to help him sell more closets. Image Credit
Before coming up with any kind of content strategy you must first get a good understand what Jay wants and needs. You must lead him in a conversation that uncovers what’s really going on—why he needed to hire you in the first place.
As the client answers your masterful questions, you listen.
He may say things like, “If more people knew we existed we could tell them how amazing our closets are, and we would be able to sell more.”
Well, that’s an awareness problem, and there is a solution as a content marketer that you can offer for that particular problem.
We’ll get to that conversation soon, but first, let’s go ahead and introduce our final and most important player.
That is the customer.
The Customer
The client’s customer wants two things:
Solutions to problems
Those solutions to be immediate
Thanks to the internet, people are used to getting what they want and getting it now.
We consume content no matter where we are on the planet, and solutions to problems are more available to people than they ever have been before.
So, when those solutions being sought out aren’t easy to find, that urgency immediately gets replaced by frustration.
Admit it, you know this feeling.
We all do.
And, since the pandemic, people are going online more than ever to get things they need.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Forbes.com ran an article stating, “Total internet hits have surged by between 50% and 70%.”
And…it hasn’t stopped since.
And that is why digital marketing is so hot right now.
That is also why you, as a business owner looking to create a marketing strategy using digital content, have a huge opportunity in front of you.
But, in order to set yourself apart from other content marketers, you will need to create customized content that directly connects to the buyer’s journey.
Let’s unpack that.
The Most Important Word in Content Marketing
Whether you sell B2B or B2C, content marketing is going to help you become successful. In the end we are selling to people…and since they are the most important player of the big 3 of content marketing, shouldn’t we know what they want?
Of course. That’s not a trick question.
The key is,—listen up—this is big.
In order to really understand what a customer wants, you have to know their intent.
There you have it.
That’s the word—the most important thing you need to understand about your customer and something a lot of businesses aren’t dialing into.
INTENT.
Your job as a content marketer is to anticipate customer intent.
And, if you grasp this concept and use it to inform your decisions about your content marketing strategies, you will without a doubt be able to serve your customers in the best way possible.
Let’s dig a little deeper into intent.
What is Customer Intent?
When we need something or are seeking a solution to a problem, what’s the first step we take without even thinking about it?
We go to Google.
We head to the internet and set out like a bloodhound trailing a scent until we find a solution to that problem.
Sometimes it’s easy, and sometimes it’s a little more challenging depending on how good you are at searching and depending on if there is content even available that solves your problem.
Now, as the customer moves through this process of solving their problem, their intent will change.
So, let’s take a look at intent and how it evolves with the buying process.
The 4 Stages of Customer Intent
When a customer is on the hunt to solve a problem, they typically go through four stages.
The four stages of customer intent are:
1. Research – What’s the problem? What are the solutions?
2. Compare – Which solution is right for me?
3. Buy – Purchase a solution.
4. Succeed – Get results from the purchased solution.
Think about something you recently purchased that had you heading to the internet to do a little research.
What was the process you went through from idea to purchase?
Now, compare your journey to this next example.
Brenda is ready to start exercising again. Her best friend just bought a Peloton and is loving it! She raves about it whenever they are together and because of that Brenda is motivated to get her own workout on.
Brenda’s problem is— in order to begin an exercise program, she needs exercise equipment. So, she embarks on a quest to find an exercise bike.
Brenda enters the first stage, research, and Googles exercise bikes.
As she pours over the different articles about exercise bikes, she finds a few that she is interested in and narrows her search down to a couple of different brands.
Brenda decides to compare those bikes to the very expensive Peloton her best friend bought so she can find the one that’s best for her.
Her search includes the words compare or vs., and the articles she is now finding go from all of the available options to a direct comparison of the specific brands she put in her search.
When her intent changed, her search changed, and so did the content.
When Brenda finds the bike she feels is the best for her, she buys it.
Brenda finally receives her bike fully assembled and delivered to her front door. However, she encounters an issue; she can’t get the bike to connect to her iPad through Bluetooth.
So, she decides to go online for some quick help.
She does a branded search for her bike and lands on the company’s website. Luckily, they have a very well-laid-out help page and a section about how to connect her bike to Bluetooth.
The company’s website had content that gave her a solution for the Bluetooth connection and allowed her to succeed with her new bike.
Brenda officially went through all four of the stages of the buyer’s journey. Her needs (her intent) changed along the way so what she was looking for (the content) changed as well.
Her process started out as not having a clue, to narrowing it down, to purchasing, and finally getting a little help with her purchase.
She found content at each stage of her journey that a content marketer built and wrote.
That is an extremely common journey and something that you as a content marketer, if you anticipate these stages, can provide the perfect content for – content that meets the customer’s needs at each stage of that journey.
Your job as a content marketer is to provide content – the best content – at each stage, so the buyer continues to move further down the buyer’s journey with your company’s product or service.
Content marketing, however, goes way beyond just a few blog posts on a company’s website, and here is where the opportunity lies.
Because...a lot of companies aren’t getting this right.
According to research from PointVisible, 75% of B2B marketers claim to have a content marketing strategy but only 37% have a documented strategy. (That means they probably know they should be doing this, but haven’t really gotten in the groove yet.)
The same research shows that 60% of B2C marketers are very committed to content marketing, but only 38% have an actual documented strategy. (Sound familiar?)
We’ve come a long way with content marketing in the last few years, and if a business isn’t keeping up with these changes and using a solid strategy to build their content, they are simply handing money to the businesses that are.
Section Two: Understanding How Intent Affects the Buyer’s Journey
So, today, we look at the buyer’s journey as this process of research, compare, buy, and finally succeed.
But, it hasn’t always been this way.
Back in the day, buy was the “First Moment of Truth,” according to Proctor and Gamble who coined the term.
Their idea was that when a customer is standing in the aisle looking at what they want to buy, they are having their first encounter with that product or service (FMOT).
That very first moment has a major impact on whether the customer will buy or not, and today we typically have that first moment when we begin our internet search.
But, before the internet, that first moment was based on the pitch from a salesperson or simply the writing on the package proclaiming the product’s features and benefits.
That is when the customer would decide to move forward with that brand or not.
That is stage three today.
That means that the research and compare stages didn’t even exist as separate stages before the internet.
Now we go into a store or on a company website armed with so much information because we have already researched all the options and compared and narrowed it down to what we want.
Because of the way a buyer goes through these stages, the content marketer can create content that meets the buyer at each of those stages.
Are ya still with me?
Now that you have a little background on how a customer goes about trying to solve problems, let’s have a little fun and explore each stage a little deeper.
The 4 Stages of Intent (with Examples)
In order to create the right type of content, you need to get into the mind of the buyer.
And before you can get into their mind you have to have a deep understanding of your client’s target avatar (customer persona).
I recommend creating an in-depth profile on your customer. (I am adding an article on this topic soon. So please check back for a link to that article if you want more information on creating a customer persona.)
Now, so we can get into the mind of the customer, I am going to use the character Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) from the TV show Ted Lasso. (It’s an amazing show, and if you haven’t checkout it out yet, I highly recommend it. It’s on Apple TV.)
Background: So, Ted is an American football coach that has just been hired to coach a UK Fútbol team. He has a new very intimidating boss and is trying to crack a recipe for cookies (or as they say…biscuits–it’s UK based) to bring as a daily gift to her to spur up a little camaraderie.
So, Ted’s problem: He is trying to perfect a “biscuit” recipe that will please his boss.
Let’s get into Ted’s head.
Research Stage
Ted goes to Google and types in the first question of his problem solving quest, What are the best cookies in the UK?
The first thing Ted sees is an article about the most popular British Cookies.
As Ron begins to read through this content, he finds the #1 pick is Scottish Shortbread.
The content provided on that site was intended to answer the very question he asked, What are the best cookies in the UK?
And it did just that.
So now that Ted feels pretty good about the chances of his boss liking Scottish Shortbread, he realizes he needs baking sheets.
He goes to Google again and types, buy baking sheets. (He’s taking this very seriously.)
He recognizes two of the retailers, Walmart and Williams Sonoma, who both have solutions to his problem.
They both create customer-centric content and get a lot of traffic for that reason.
Now Ted, even though clearly seeing that Walmart has baking pans, continues to do research by going to Williams Sonoma’s sight to gather more information.
He’s aware that Williams Sonoma is known for their higher end bakeware and wonders if they might have a better list of choices. (Remember, we are getting into the head of the buyer to understand what content works at what stage.)
In this example, he sees that one of Williams Sonoma’s best sellers is Goldtouch® Pro Nonstick.
So, in an effort to promote this product, Williams Sonoma smartly added a video (that’s content).
They also take it a step further and offer a blog where you can get tips, recipes, and more information about how to use the products they sell.
So, they create this comprehensive type of content that addresses the buyer’s concerns and questions that happen at the research stage before the consumer is ready to make a purchase.
This may seem like a lot of extra work for a consumer not even in the buy stage yet.
BUT, there is a reason smart marketers are creating this early-stage content.
According to recent research from Conductor.com, “Consumers are 131% more likely to buy from a brand immediately after they consume early-stage, educational content.”
Williams Sonoma is clearly a company that understands the importance of providing content for customers that are merely researching and not yet ready to buy.
By doing this a lot of things are at work:
The customer is becoming educated through helpful content
The company is establishing their expertise
Trust is being built between the consumer and the company
They are not just taking care of business at the research and buy phase, however.
Ted goes back to Google, not quite ready to buy yet. He wants to take a closer look at two brands.
So, the comparing begins…
Compare Stage
He types in Nordic Ware vs. Goldtouch (two best selling brands on the Williams Sonoma site). Notice what comes up.
And, Williams Sonoma has done it again.
They have created a comparison chart so that Ted can compare his heart out and hopefully stay on the Williams Sonoma site to continue to get answers to his burning questions without venturing off to go on another Google search.
Smart.
So they are really covering their bases by including content at all of these “prior to buying stages” of intent.
This content, produced by a savvy marketer that understands how to write, is communication through images and text that helps a person solve problems at the compare stage of intent, according to Russ Henneberry, founder of The Clikk.
This content also helped him make his final choice, so he moves on to the next stage and lands on a product page.
Buy Stage
This next slide is an e-commerce product page for the pan Ted has chosen to buy.
All of the content on this page is to help reinforce why Ted is making a good purchasing decision. If you are on this site, you will see when you scroll down on this page there is even more content offered including pricing and technical aspects of the product.
Ted has made a solid decision to purchase the Goldtouch Pro Bakeware from this site.
Succeed Stage
Now, once that purchase has been made, there is one more step that smart companies make in order to continue to offer value to their customers.
They provide additional content that helps them succeed with their purchased product.
This example of succeed content is on the Williams Sonoma customer service page where they have listed topics and common questions with answers. So, if Ted has any questions about his product, he can go straight to this page and get his problem solved.
And, if that doesn’t work, they even offer a chatbot service where he can have a more direct conversation.
So why bother to take the time to continue to provide content once the person has already made a purchase?
Williams Sonoma does it because they want to make that person a raving fan. They want to continue to provide value, so they have a TRIBE of raving fans.
And you know what a tribe of raving fans do? Remember those YouTubers mentioned earlier?
They do your marketing for you and become evangelists for your products or services.
They will tell other people how great their experience was because people are naturally compelled to share good things with others!
Full Funnel Content Marketing
Now we are going to look at this from a marketer’s perspective as a whole process.
People that are looking to solve a problem go through what marketers call a funnel. They have a problem, and they move from stage to stage to solve that problem.
At the beginning of the funnel, there are a lot of people asking broad questions and very much in the research phase.
But as they pour through content, their searches become much more specific and the group that is doing the searching becomes less and less.
At this point, some people decide to move in a different direction of research or give up completely while the others move on to the compare stage.
Again, at the next stage, you will also lose some people for various reasons leaving fewer to move forward.
This happens at each stage, and the people that continue to move through the funnel are getting deeper and deeper into the buying cycle.
The funnel represents a narrowing of people, and the content must be tailored to where the person is in their search and serve a different purpose at each stage.
When content marketers anticipate intent, they can then build highly specific content that satisfies that intent.
In this next section, we are going to explore what specific content strategies work for each stage of intent.
Section Three: How to Create Content That Satisfies Intent
When starting out with a new client, the first step is going to be to listen to them talk.
Your job is to figure out what problems the client is having so you can diagnose the problem with the right kind of content.
They may have a problem getting people to their website, or they may get people there, but they don’t purchase anything.
Another problem is to lose people after the purchase. (Remember this is where you will get referrals and positive reviews, so this is a BIG problem.)
A good content marketer can anticipate customer search intent, look for gaps in content at each stage, and finally, build the content that’s missing.
Let’s take a look at what kind of content works at the different stages of intent.
Content That Satisfies Research Intent
There is so much content that can be produced at each stage of the buyer’s journey, but you have the most options for content in the research stage. This is the broadest search phase when it comes to intent.
At this stage, your content should serve the purpose of increasing awareness, driving engagement, and generating leads.
People don’t know quite what they want yet, so their search terms are broad and they need broad topic type content.
A business owner may say things like, “If people knew about us they would love our product or service.” Or, “We just aren’t getting enough leads through our marketing efforts.”
In this section, we will look at all the types of content that can be produced in the research phase, and you will see a few samples of real-world content from each stage.
People in research mode engage in:
Blog Posts
Podcasts
Free Videos
Web Pages
Social Media Posts
Free Reports
White Papers
Cheat Sheets
Mind Maps
Templates
Swipe Files
Tools
Webinars
Email Newsletters
Ads for Free Content
Ads for Gated Content
We are going to look at specific examples for:
Blog posts
Podcasts
Free Videos
As we explore this content, notice the search queries being used and the content that pops up as a result.
Research Intent Content Example 1: Blog post
This person is interested in getting their closet organized.
Search Question: What is the best way to organize my closet?
Pods, a moving and storage company, has created an instructional “How-to” blog post titled, 13 Foolproof Closet Organization Ideas For Any Wardrobe. The title is straightforward and clear.
Why did they produce content about this topic?
Since Pods sells containers for moving or storing items, providing content on how to organize a closet makes sense for their audience.
They anticipated that customers looking to get organized may need a pod for storage or may be in the process of a move.
So, they provided this content in anticipation of that.
Let’s look at another type of content for the research phase.
Research Intent Content Example 2: Podcast
NPE is a coaching company based out of Australia and LA that offers fitness business owners a game plan for achieving significant growth with their business.
Search Question: How can I make more money with my fitness business?
Sean Greeley (CEO and Founder) anticipated that his audience might be seeking out how other people in the same industry have become successful.
So, he created a podcast where fitness industry leaders share secrets that have made them successful.
Calling on industry leaders to share proven strategies that have led them to such great success, is NPE’s way of providing authoritative content in an effort to provide proof that business systems work when correctly engaged.
This type of content builds trust with their clients, and is another first-rate way to provide value.
Research Intent Content Example 3: Free video
There are a lot of DIYers these days seeking to solve problems without the help of a professional.
And, Sherwin Williams, a paint company, gets this.
They anticipate potential projects that people might be interested in doing (and will need to buy paint for), so they have a whole web page dedicated to “How-To” videos.
This example is a of a video they provide to teach someone “How to Refresh a Mid-Century Modern coffee table.”
Search Question: How can I update my coffee table?
They know these fancy ideas can be difficult, so they provide free videos showing step-by-step how to get the most current looks.
This is their chance to not only solve problems, but share how great their paint is in the process. Again, this is an example of a company employing early-stage content to engage a potential customer and provide value.
Another strategy companies use to meet people at the research stage is to offer white papers, infographics, or even lead magnets as gated content. Gated content is content where the searcher is asked to offer up something in order to get access— like an email address.
These email addresses become leads for the business owner.
Content That Satisfies Compare Intent
Once people begin to get clearer about what product or service they want, they enter the compare stage.
At this stage, your content should serve the purpose of helping people make informed buying decisions.
A business owner may say things like, “Our customers don’t know which solutions are the best choice for them.” Or, “We keep losing sales to our competition.”
Here are examples of content that helps people make informed buying decisions at this stage:
Product Demonstrations
FAQ Pages
Support Pages
Comparison Page (competitor)
Comparison Page (internal)
Customer Story/Case Study
In the compare stage, you no longer do general long-form articles or comprehensive blog posts. The intent has become more specific and the content you provide should be as well.
Compare Intent Content Example 1: Product Demonstration
Wacaco is a company that specializes in hand powered portable coffee makers.
Espresso makers are intriguing and people love them, but they can be a bit intimidating with all of the parts and pieces you have to use and steps you have to follow to make your perfect espresso shot.
And, because of this, Wacaco provides content that demonstrates exactly how to use their portable espresso maker.
Search Question: Is the Minipresso NS easy to use?
This 1:19 second video was provided to show potential buyers they can make a perfect espresso shot in about a minute. Easy!
Creating content that shows people how easy this product is to use gives them an advantage over a company that isn’t explaining how easy their product is.
This addresses a potential buyer objection and, hopefully, moves the customer further along the buyer’s journey.
Compare Intent Content Example 2: Comparison Page (competitor)
Neil Patel who developed the SEO tool Ubersuggest has an area on his site where he compares his pricing to the pricing of some very well recognized SEO tools.
Having a head-to-head comparison page is a great way to showcase an area that your product is a clear winner.
Search Question: How does Ubbersuggest pricing compare to Semrush?
This is valuable content from Ubersuggest because it presents no-brainer evidence for potential customers that are very deep in the funnel. They are very close to buying and for that reason very valuable traffic.
Remember, the purpose of the compare content is to push the prospect into the buy stage…which is the next stage.
Content That Satisfies Buy Intent
We are now at the stage where the person has their credit card in hand and are ready to make a purchase.
At this stage, your content should serve the purpose of getting more new customers and selling more to existing customers.
A business owner may say things like, “We are getting the traffic to our website, but it’s not converting to sales.”
The type of content at this stage will be things like:
Sales Letters
Video Sales Letters
Product Pages
Ads to an Offer
Buy Intent Content Example 1: Sales Letter
Sales letters are highly persuasive pieces of content designed to keep a person’s attention until a sale is made.
They speak directly to the heart of the buyer starting with a compelling headline and a hook to grab their attention.
They squash objections throughout the piece and build desire as the letter comes to a crescendo that leaves the prospect with a very strong desire to “buy now!”
Here is an example from Digital Marketer.
Search Question: What other marketing options do I have other than paid ads?
The purpose of this sales letter is to persuade people to sign up for one of their workshops.
Here are the strategies used in this letter:
They make a promise.
They dial into their prospect’s pain points.
They use several calls to action throughout the letter.
The purpose of this content is to get their target avatar (very close to the buy stage) to go ahead and make a commitment and sign up for this workshop.
Buy Intent Content Example 2: Product Pages
Companies that sell physical products need product pages.
Scentbird is a subscription based program where you can get designer scents every month for a fraction of the cost.
So, they have written content that shows the customer how their subscription program works by detailing, in three steps, the quick easy process designed specifically for them.
Search Question: How does scentbird work?
This product page is designed to pull people in that are in the buy mode with buy intent, and it was created by a content marketer that understood what type of content the company needed on this page to satisfy that intent and make the sale.
Buy Intent Content Example 3: Ads to an Offer
When people are in buy mode, ads are a great way to remind them why they should go ahead and make the purchase.
Search Question: Is there a doggie daycare in Atlanta?
In this example, Dog Days Midtown ran a Facebook ad to satisfy the intent of someone looking to groom or board their pet. They show happy puppies in the neighborhood being taken care of at their facility.
Facebook ads as well as Instagram ads are a great way to reach prospects. And if you want to reach a younger audience, adding TikTok to the mix is a smart option. If you want more information, check out this article from Jungletopp for a head-to-head comparison of advertising using Facebook or TikTok.
Content That Satisfies Succeed Intent
After people buy, marketers still have an opportunity that many businesses don’t capitalize on.
Helping the customer succeed!
What if you could continue to make your customer happy…happy enough for them to endorse your product or service to others?
If you want to build a sustainable business, it’s an excellent idea to anticipate success level intent with the right content.
At this stage, your content should serve the purpose of getting more positive reviews and more referrals.
A business owner may say things like, “We are getting asked for a lot of refunds.” Or, “We are getting a lot of bad reviews.” Or, “We never get referrals from existing customers.”
Content for the Succeed stage:
Support Pages
FAQ Pages
Blog Posts
Podcasts
Free Videos
Email Newsletters
People that buy from companies (that are happy) often go back to this level of content. They love to read blog posts, watch podcasts, and continue a relationship with the business.
And, if businesses are smart, they will use this type of content to continue to foster a relationship with their customers.
According to Allan Dib, author of The 1-Page Marketing Plan, “Most businesses have a rich ‘diamond mine’ in the form of existing customers.”
These people have already bought! They will buy more if they have good reason to.
So, give them a reason!
Write compelling content so they can continue to succeed.
Succeed Intent Content Example 1: Free Video
One clear example of how to help a customer succeed with his/her purchase is to give them directions for their product.
I recently purchased a pair of glasses from Warby Parker, an online company that provides eyewear. They’re great! The process was easy, and I received a beautiful pair of prescription glasses.
But when I received the glasses, the arms were stick straight which made my glasses loose on my head and slide right down my nose at regular intervals throughout the day.
Complete annoyance.
So I Googled, How do I adjust my glasses? This is what popped up.
I didn’t even do a branded search when I asked that question.
Warby Parker anticipated that I might need a little help with adjustments and provided content showing me exactly how to handle my problem…and Google understood my intent and therefore connected me to that video.
It worked like a charm!
So, not only did I benefit from this content…Warby Parker did too.
Here’s why:
The 3-part chain reaction:
Now I’m planning on purchasing some prescription sunglasses from them. (And they’re expensive! But I don’t care.)
I have told all my friends how great my experience was.
One of my friends purchased a pair of glasses after hearing my story. (And now she’s passing the word on.)
Win, Win.
Succeed Intent Content Example 2: Email Newsletters
Email Newsletters can serve a few purposes, but speaking specifically to succeed intent, they can do things like offer ideas of how to use your product or service, or even send regular tips and tricks for anything within that product/service topic.
Squarespace is a website builder. It’s actually the one I use, and I LOVE it.
Paige Brunton is a Squarespace expert that sends out a newsletter with a lot of great ideas on how to optimize your website on the Squarespace platform. She also goes beyond that to do some deep dives (for beginners) on SEO.
Here’s how someone with succeed intent might get connected with this newsletter.
Search Question: Will Squarespace SEO help me rank?
This example was of a newsletter Paige sent out to address some common misunderstandings of Squarespace.
I had a lot of questions at the time about SEO on Squarespace. I ran across one of her articles about using some advanced options on Squarespace and from there signed up to receive the newsletter because I saw that it offered valuable information .
I always look forward to her newsletters because even though she sells her own training courses, she is very generous with the information that she sends out to Squarespace customers.
Final Thoughts
So, as we wrap up this article, It’s important to understand that this was a decent smattering of content examples, yet it’s just a sliver of all the content available at each stage of intent.
There are countless ways to satisfy intent at each stage when you focus on:
Producing quality content that connects you to prospects
Solving problems
Building relationships
Creating an experience that turns customers into raving fans
Ok, let’s circle back to the objectives of your client and put it all together by looking at this visual to understand how intent, buyer’s journey, and content all fit together.
It all begins with listening to your client and determining the right content strategy for them. Your client wants to achieve one or all of the items shown in this funnel example.
You can use this visual to see intent at each stage of the buyer’s journey (research, compare, buy, and succeed), and the content that works at each stage of the journey.
Starting at the top of the funnel (TOFU) your client wants increased awareness and more leads.
That means people are in research mode and they need top of funnel content.
That’s content that increases awareness and brings in fresh people—things like blog posts, podcasts, and videos are recommended at this stage.
At the middle and bottom of the funnel, your client wants new customers and to sell more to the ones they already have.
That is when they have potential customers comparing and ready to buy, so the content that works best at those stages are items like comparison pages and sales letters.
Finally, you have post-purchase funnel content. This is when the client wants positive reviews and referrals.
Remember, this stage is crucial.
This is when you cater to your client’s ‘diamond mind,’ and create a tribe of happy customers with content that satisfies the succeed intent like support pages, email newsletters and blog posts.
Key Takeaways
Uncover what your client really needs by having a conversation and listening to their business goals.
Gain a deep understanding of the client’s ideal customer.
Anticipate the customer’s intent at each stage of the buyer’s journey.
Create a content strategy based on your client’s needs and customer’s desires.
Produce compelling content that matches customer intent at each stage.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
You don’t have to be a veteran marketer with years of experience to get started and be successful.
Success comes by listening, learning, and creating content that people need.
AND doing it well.
Warm wishes and good luck with your journey of content marketing!
