All users go through a decision-making process before making any online purchase. We detect a need, we look for possible solutions, and we choose the one that inspires us the most confidence. From a digital marketing perspective, it is essential to be aware of this process when it comes to optimizing our content strategy. For this reason, at SEOCOM Agency we want to take a closer look at what the buyer’s journey is and how to create content that adapts to its different stages.
What is the Buyer’s Journey: key to creating valuable content?
The concept of buyer’s journey refers to the active search process of a potential consumer, from the initial research to the final purchase or contract. Not only that, but the buyer’s journey is also one of the fundamental pillars when it comes to segmenting and personalizing your content strategy.
Defining your strategy based on the different stages of the buyer’s journey will allow you to personalise the experience of each user or buyer person, regardless of the stage at which they start their journey, and thus guide them strategically towards your product or service.
If anything has been proven in recent years is that, beyond the content itself, interaction and education is a safe bet to attract and convert your target audience. In addition to satisfying their needs, sharing relevant content will allow you to position yourself as an expert in your sector.
Now, how can you integrate the buyer’s journey into your content strategy? Let’s start by reviewing some previous notions.
Basis for planning your content strategy
Content marketing is a technique based on the creation of relevant content for the user and its subsequent distribution through different channels. It is the basis on which all other marketing actions are based, which is why you should make sure that your content always meets the following requirements:
- Be contextualized.
- Respond to the user’s search intention.
- Be in the right format and in the right channel.
- Be optimized for search engine positioning.
Fulfilling these requirements and being aware of the 6 questions you should answer before publishing content will ensure that your content will generate organic traffic to your website. But to build really strong relationships with your target audience, you need to combine different types of content. In this respect, a particularly useful division is according to their exclusivity, and two general types of content can be distinguished:
- Open (promotional) content: does not require users to leave their personal details. For example, blog posts or videos.
- Closed (transactional) content: users must provide personal data to access the content. For example, through a form.
While the former will allow you to attract your potential audience, the latter will allow you to collect data of interest in order to personalize the content offered to them and convert anonymous users into customers.
Topic clusters and SEO optimisation
The topic cluster or content cluster is a perfect example of the relationship between SEO and Inbound Marketing. It is a structuring of the contents according to keywords that allow you to relate a main generic topic relevant to your brand with different more specific sub-topics. It is composed of the following elements:
- Core topic: a generic topic, with a high number of searches and a key importance for your brand.
- Pillar page: web page that you are interested in positioning and that displays all the contents related to the core topic.
- Subtopics: secondary topics of a shorter nature, related to the core topic but which respond to a specific search intention.
What will you achieve with the implementation of the content cluster? Defining the way in which your contents are structured and related will allow you to:
- Improve your visibility in search engines with core and strategic topics.
- Improve the structure of the contents on our website.
- Consequently, improve the browsing experience of users.
- Spread the success of your contents. If one of your contents is successful, it will generate a chain effect.
- Push backlinking.
Moreover, the definition of a content cluster will also help you when creating an editorial calendar for your blog, because thanks to it, you will be able to focus on fascinating proposals for your strategy.
How to create content for the 3 stages of the Buyer’s Journey
Once you have applied the above guidelines, you will be able to go deeper into your goal: to attract traffic that faithfully represents your target audience, in order to solve their problems and exceed all their expectations. Not surprisingly, the quality of traffic is more important than the quantity.
To guarantee this quality, you must create content adapted to the different stages of the buyer’s journey. We analyze them below.
Recognition stage
In the recognition stage, the user is aware that they have an unmet need. In a more or less defined way, in this stage they embark on a road to search of an answer to their problem.
To define your content strategy for this stage, you need to understand what the user’s need is so that you can offer them the appropriate content, either by helping them to better define their problem or by making them more aware of it.
But your content should not only describe and highlight the problem, it should also demonstrate your experience, professionalism and knowledge in the sector.
Blog posts are the format par excellence of this stage, and are usually approached from the following perspectives:
How to analyze…?
How to know if…?
How to solve…?
Preventing…
Risks of…
Consideration stage
At this stage, the user is already aware of his need, and the next step will be to know and detect the different solutions offered by the market. This is the ideal opportunity to convert the anonymous user into a contact in your database (for example, by asking for their email address in exchange for content) and to collect personal information that will allow you to offer them a personalized experience.
In this way, you will be able to move them along the conversion path and prepare them for the purchase. And, at the same time, you will be reinforcing the customer cycle and your company’s image.
At this point, content such as e-books, white papers and testimonials tend to work very well. Your content should provide the solution to your buyer persona’s problem. You can find inspiration in these approaches:
Tools for…
Solutions for…
Processes…
Providers of…
Decision stage
Once the user has reached this stage, he/she has already been able to learn about the different options available on the market. Your content should now focus on helping them choose the best solution: yours. To close the buying cycle, you must answer specific questions about your product or service.
To reinforce their trust in your brand, we recommend that you provide them with the experience of other users and their high level of satisfaction. Social confirmation through reviews and opinions will give them security when choosing you.
The contents included in this last stage of the buyer’s journey respond to the following structures:
Comparison of…
Pros and cons…
Opinions…
Understanding the buyer’s journey as a cycle, not a funnel
If you manage to create really effective content in each of these stages of the buyer’s journey, you will position yourself as a reference both in the market and in the trust and loyalty of your users.
But remember that the buyer’s journey does not end with the purchase or contracting of your service. The buyer’s journey, rather than a funnel or conversion funnel, is a cycle that feeds back on itself. You must make your customers fall in love with you so that they become your biggest promoters. But how to achieve this, we’ll leave that for a future time 🙂
