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Here’s an important fact – Most of the content we consume on the internet is designed to enhance the customer experience while guiding us toward making a purchase. From every blog to every article you read, the Call to action is directed toward getting you to sign up or purchase something.
An article like “5 best hotels to stay at in Las Vegas ” is usually aimed at getting you to book a room in one of these hotels. But why?
A simple reason is that most of the content that you come across is part of a content marketing funnel. And in this funnel, content is the driving factor behind converting you. So, how does it work?
Walking Through a Customer Journey Whether it’s making a purchase, booking a consultation call, or signing up for a trial, most of the content on the internet is designed to enhance the customer experience while driving some sort of action.
A customer journey, which is referred to as a funnel , is a multi-stage process that a ‘potential’ customer goes through before they make a purchasing decision.
A funnel will consist of the following stages:
Awareness Stage Interest Stage Consideration Stage Decision Stage Retention Stage Advocacy Stage In order to make the transition from one stage to another smooth, you need a strong content strategy that ensures every stage is addressed effectively, enhancing the overall customer experience throughout the journey.
Let’s talk about each of these stages individually and how content plays an important role in them.
1. The Awareness Stage The first time a potential customer walks into your content marketing funnel, it should be a given that they don’t know anything about your business or the customer experience you offer whatsoever.
It’s your job to make them aware of what you do, how you can be of value to them, and how your offerings contribute to a better customer experience.
The awareness stage is your Top-of-funnel (TOFU) content that focuses on introducing your brand and showcasing the customer experience you provide to these customers. Some of the most common types of content at this stage include:
Educational Content Most times, a potential customer lands on your website seeking information or trying to find some sort of answer to their question.
To satisfy their search intent , you can produce informative and detailed content on the questions they are trying to find the answer to.
In this case, the following things will work out the best:
Blog posts Articles Infographics Case studies The more detail you provide about a question, the better chances you have of becoming an authoritative source in your industry. This could also mean that your website is likely to get referrals and links from other websites in your industry .
Social Media Content Social media still remains the quickest and fastest way to generate awareness about your brand while improving the overall customer experience through engaging content.
Brands like GoPro heavily rely on Instagram to showcase their products and use cases.
Sharing engaging and sharable content that’s bound to attract new viewers plays a very important role in building the popularity of your brand and enhancing the customer experience.
Across social media, you can use the following platforms for the following types of content:
Instagram or YouTube for short videos Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter for pictures YouTube or Instagram for long videos Twitter or LinkedIn for textual posts Search Engine Optimized Content SEO, in 2023, is beyond keywords and just on-page SEO. Instead, SEO now is about authority and how it impacts the customer experience.
In terms of SEO, quality content plays an important role in enhancing the customer experience. Most importantly, this quality content needs to satisfy the search intent around particular keywords that you are trying to rank for. This content should also precisely focus on being the source of information for a particular topic.
Brian Dean, in one of his YouTube videos, explains in detail how you can rank your website across search engines and build links organically that make more users get introduced to your brand.
2. The Interest Stage The next stage in making a purchasing decision is the attraction a potential customer has towards your brand. This stage is called the interest stage.
At this stage, the customer probably has either heard of your brand before or is compelled by something that you’re offering. Here’s what works at this stage:
Case Studies As customers move into the interest stage, they would want to learn more about your brand and the things you have done over time. One of the best ways to showcase your brand’s abilities is by creating case studies.
These case studies, when presented with real-world examples of how your brand has solved similar problems for others, will be very impactful in terms of building your credibility.
Viral Loops , an internet marketing service, is one of the best examples of creating compelling case studies.
You can create case studies in the form of landing pages that your customers can access. These case studies could also be unlocked by entering email addresses – allowing you to collect leads. Webinars and Workshops Webinars and workshops are a direct connection between you and your potential customers, providing a unique opportunity to improve the customer experience by showcasing your expertise. An interactive session with your audience showcasing your product, service, and its use cases will help them understand your brand better and convince them to make a successful purchase. These interactive sessions provide an opportunity to showcase your expertise, address specific pain points, and foster a deeper connection with potential customers.
At this stage, your webinar/workshop could have the following structure content-wise:
An expert from your company explaining the use cases of your brand. A few past customers explain their experience with your brand. A guest [potentially an expert from your industry] showcasing how useful your products or services are. Email Newsletters Email still remains the most efficient method of establishing a direct line of communication between your brand and potential customers, enhancing the overall customer experience through personalized insights. Send out regular newsletters that include:
Valuable insights from your industry The current news from your industry Updates on your products and services Customer testimonials and social proof Most importantly, a newsletter can remain an individual attracting point of interest for your business.
Finshots , a popular media company, does a great job of this. Their newsletters talk about daily stories around the world in the financial industry. However, towards the end of every newsletter, they also throw some light on their insurance company and how it has helped past customers.
Email newsletters can keep your brand top-of-mind as potential customers move through the consideration stage.
3. The Consideration Stage The consideration stage is the Middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU) stage and is an important step in terms of making a customer feel at home with your brand.
Your potential customers would compare your brand with others, learn more about your brand, and even explore other options.
At this stage, the content you offer them will play a significant role in their decision-making process. Here’s how you can absolutely nail it:
Offer Comparison Guides The consideration stage means that customers are weighing the pros and cons between your brand and your competitor. It’s a major responsibility to make them lean towards your brand.
Make these guides put your and your competitor’s brand head to head and talk about how your product will offer a customer a better experience. Create comparison guides that will highlight your brand’s strength over your competitors. Create comparison guides on weighing the pros and cons of your and your competitors’ brands. Customer Reviews and Testimonials Social proof is the biggest weapon you have in your arsenal, as it directly impacts the customer experience by building trust and credibility. It is a direct indication of how well your products or services are received by your past customers.
By featuring genuine customer reviews and testimonials, you’re putting the quality of your products and services on display. The better your reviews, the shinier these testimonials seem.
CRED , a popular Indian credit card bill payment platform, has a very stylish and on-point review system on display on its homepage.
Product Demonstrations Demos are extremely powerful in convincing your customers about the use cases of your products or services. You may already have a ‘Features’ page on your website, talking about everything you offer, but demonstrations take the customer experience a step further by showcasing practical value.
But practicality is what drives a purchasing decision.
A product demonstration will put your product directly in use, allowing a customer to exactly understand what it does and IF IT COULD HELP THEM. You can craft a perfect product demonstration by:
Recording your screen and showcasing how your product works. Showing your face and recording a voiceover on top of everything you do on the screen. Showcasing the most important features that your customers may have the most questions about. Airtable is a perfect example of how a product demonstration should look like.
4. The Decision Stage The decision stage is part of the Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU). It’s the stage where the people interacting with your content will shrink yet the purchasing intent is finalized. Given the proper encouragement, your potential customers will be more willing to interact with your content and make a final decision. Your goal here should be to give them all the relevant information they need to make this decision.
Here’s what can help them:
Pricing And Feature Comparison After customers browse the catalog of your services and its features, you need to offer them options . Providing multiple feature comparisons will help them make a final decision confidently, enhancing their overall customer experience and ensuring they buy the exact plan that complements their needs. At this stage, your content needs to be precise and on-point. Proper information about every feature. No irrelevant information.
Kaiber AI , a video-generating AI tool, is a perfect example of how pricing and feature comparison is drawn.
FAQs and Customer Support Content At the decision stage, questions are almost inevitable. Your customers might ask questions about your product, how long their plan is for, or if they will get a refund if they don’t like your product.
Address these common questions through a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section or use knowledge base software to provide detailed, easily accessible answers that empower customers to make informed decisions and reduce the need for direct support interactions
Make sure that you’re extremely detailed with every single answer you put across for every question. The more in-depth an answer is, the better a customer understands. As part of making a decision, you can offer detailed customer support content to provide assistance to your potential customers. Navigate them to your contact pages or your helpline numbers, if any.
5. The Retention Stage Even though customer retention isn’t part of every traditional content marketing funnel, most companies have added this additional step to keep their customers in the ecosystem. Your overall content strategy should aim towards keeping your audience engaged – even after they have made a purchase.
Here’s what you can offer your customers at this stage:
Educational Resources The relationship between a customer and your brand doesn’t end after they convert. In fact, that’s where it actually starts. Providing educational resources at this stage is crucial to enhance the customer experience, help them understand your product well, and keep using it.
Content-wise, make sure that you have enough user guides, tutorials, and best practices that can help your customers make the best from your product or service.
Onboarding Guides Onboarding is an important step in improving the customer experience and ensuring the transition from a potential customer to a regular customer is smooth. A well-designed onboarding guide (usually in the form of an ebook or a video ) will help your customers quickly become proficient users and reduce churn.
Customer Success Stories Putting light on how your existing customers have benefitted from your product will significantly motivate your customers to harness the maximum potential of your product. These success stories can be in the form of small videos or testimonials. Collect genuine testimonials from past customers and celebrate your past customers’ accomplishments to inspire new customers to unlock similar value.
6. The Advocacy Stage After a customer has finally converted, it’s time to provide them with the resources to help them market your brand for you. There are multiple methods to do that.
However, here are a few important methods that you can leverage:
User-Generated Content (UGC) One of the best methods to encourage interaction through your brand is to encourage your customers to create and share their own content related to your brand. Some of the common examples of user-generated content include:
Reviews Tagging you on social media Videos on your product UGCs serve as authentic endorsements and can be a powerful driver of brand advocacy.
Referral Programs Referral and loyalty programs are one of the most effective ways of marketing a brand in today’s time, especially when they elevate the overall customer experience by rewarding loyal customers. Satisfied customers are very much willing to recommend your brand to their social circles – enabling your brand to grow while making them money at the same time.
Uber is one of the best examples of how referral programs work.
Implementing a referral program that rewards customers for successful referrals can amplify your customer base while rewarding loyal advocates.
Exclusive Content Exclusive content is almost becoming a necessity for brands to have an upper hand over their competitors. This is because exclusive content would be available to only your customers and not the general audience – making your exclusive program almost a member’s club that only a selected group of audience could be a part of.
Reward your most loyal customers with exclusive content such as sneak peeks of upcoming features, special offers, or behind-the-scenes insights.
Conclusion Creating high-quality content is essential for gradually guiding potential customers toward making a purchase; however, optimizing just one part of your funnel won’t achieve the desired results alone. To maximize impact, it’s crucial to leverage various content marketing methods and develop a comprehensive content strategy that prioritizes the customer experience at every stage.
