Your company may utilise content marketing to acquire leads, present a case for your product or service while someone is deciding what to buy, and complete sales.
To use it effectively, you must give the appropriate material at each stage of the sales cycle, from awareness to consideration to purchase. If this seems hard, don't worry: approaching content in this manner really streamlines the process.
Here's how organisations utilise content marketing to engage and sell at each stage of the sales cycle.
Awareness stage
At the beginning of the sales process, your content should address your audience's key issues. Writing about their problems, difficulties, and concerns provides you the best opportunity of interacting with them. At the awareness level, the content should be educational and provide how-to guidance. Save your selling for the periods of contemplation and closure.
Articles, blog entries, e-books, videos, and newsletters are the best types of material for this stage.
Examples:
In the spring, a restaurant writes a blog post about how to plan a menu for a graduation party.
A bike touring company produces a short video titled "3 Ways to Choose the Right Bike Trip."
A design company publishes an e-book titled "Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Architect."
Consideration stage
During the consideration stage, content should provide a combination of useful information and marketing. It should inform the reader about the features or functionalities to search for and how different features fulfil their needs. Of course, your content should be geared toward what your company has to offer.
Case studies, how-to articles, how-to videos, and checklists/worksheets are the best content for this stage.
Examples:
A cloud-based phone system provider develops a checklist named "8 Ways to Improve Your Phone Customer Care" that outlines the capabilities and functionalities that enable exceptional customer service.
A landscaping company develops case studies on "The Biggest Mistakes Most People Make When Hiring a Landscaper."
Closing stage
When a prospect is on the verge of making a purchase, content marketing is critical. At this point, you may concentrate on sales as long as you continue to emphasise why you're the greatest option rather than just how good your services or goods are.
Your main message should be your experience, knowledge, and the unique benefits of what you sell.
Case studies, user-generated content, a buyer's guide, a product film, and a research report are all good options at this stage.
Examples:
A consulting firm develops a study report demonstrating that organisations that participate in strategic planning, external evaluations, and other services—defined by the services they provide—experience better growth.
To highlight its wide capabilities, a design studio develops short movies demonstrating the variance in its work across several sectors.
