The internet is the perfect first date for companies and customers. Customers will visit your website, see what you’re all about, and figure out if they should make the commitment to buy. 77% of adults go onto the internet every day and 26% are constantly online. As a result, it is imperative that companies are prepared when potential customers come along to check them out. The key to being prepared is quality content!
Converting Leads
Customers are no longer looking for slick words and flashy ads. They want information. The idea is to have customers find you on their own and engage when they are ready to learn more. But to do so you need to have the right content available at the right time in the right places. It’s clear that content is a huge asset to the customer journey. At each stage, good content will educate, address concerns, and answer questions associated with the stage. This builds trust and converts leads into customers.
Follow these six steps to streamline your content strategy to drive conversions:
1. Identify your Audience
Firstly, you must first identify your target market. Who is your audience and what are they looking for? What information are they seeking and what topics resonate?
Secondly, when you know your target audience you have a guide to what content to create. You should create content that addresses their pain points in a form that they are most likely to consume. The content needs to provide information that is useful to that audience and located in a place where they will find it.
But if your content isn’t targeted then it will not resonate with any audience and your customers will not see the value in whatever it is you are offering. Make sure that you do not create content for your peers but for your buyers. If you are unsure if your content is hitting the mark, talk to your customers to get feedback about whether it is resonating.
2. Create Buyer Personas
A buyer persona is a detailed description of your average customer. Who are they? What’s their job title? What do they like? Where do they go for information? When you know exactly who your customer is you can make better decisions in the content creation process. You can target your messages to each buyer persona’s pain points to provide them with the information they need most. To create buyer personas, check out your data. Also, consult with your sales team to find out exactly who they are interacting with.
3. Find the Right Content Ideas
Now that you have a thorough idea of who your customer is, take the time to look for the right content topics and ideas. However, there are millions of ideas in the sea, your content must be relevant to your customers. Relevant content is what will capture your audience’s attention. To find out what questions your audience is already asking, consult with the sales team, the customer service team, and the product team. This will help you to keep your finger on the pulse, giving you insight on what your customers want to know.
4. Right Content, Right Time
Now that you have your quality content it is now time to figure out the best time to release it. For this, we want to look at the sales funnel. Really take a look at the way your sales funnel is set up. Every piece of content you have must correlate with a stage in your sales process. But to do that, figure out what information your prospects will be looking for at each stage. As a result, you can provide content that progressively educates your prospects and moves them through the sales funnel.
5. Distribution Strategy
Now that you have quality content and you know when you need to release it, let’s figure out how and where you should distribute it. This goes back to your buyer personas. On the other hand, knowing everything about your buyer means that you know where they hang out on the internet and what format of content they like to consume most. This will help you figure out how and where to release your content.
However, content is so fluid that it is not a one size fits all. As a result, you should repurpose the content you create to make use of the same information in different formats. For instance, if you had a webinar about a topic, you can then use that webinar to create an ebook, a blog post, and an infographic.
6. Motivate!
Now all of this content will be for naught without an ‘ask’ at the end. What do you want your customers to do? Content may bring in a lot of leads but you have to motivate those leads to take action in order to convert them. As a result, it is important to have a strong call-to-action (CTA) at the end of each piece of content. Whether you want them to sign up for your newsletter or fill out a form, ask for an action to close the deal!
With these six steps, you will be well on your way to moving buyers along the sales funnel and convert your leads to customers. To find out more about converting leads with a marketing automation set-up, contact us now!