Creating content is easy in theory, but creating effective customer journey content is more of a challenge. Many companies struggle to find market fit, and their content often falls short of engaging potential customers. To shed light on this issue, Sara Giddens, an enterprise software marketing leader, joined Jenn Mancusi on an episode of “Marketing, Demystified.”
We’ll review:
- Understanding the customer journey
- Content for the different stages
- Driving the right actions
- Measuring effectiveness
- Choosing the right channels
- Collaboration
- The role of AI
Understanding the Customer Journey
Before diving into content creation, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of your customer journey.
“Sure, everyone can create content. And many do; it’s becoming easier and easier to create content. But truly aligning content with the right stages of the customer journey is really a bit of an art and a science,” says Jenn.
Don’t overlook mapping your content to the customer journey. Understanding the stages, helps you understand what type of content to create.
Explains Sara: “One thing that I’ve done before is sit down with my team and just take a look at our customer journey, start to finish, and look at the content that we have available today. And identify where those gaps are, and then really make an effort to focus on filling those gaps.”
Read next: What is Content Strategy?
Tailoring Content to Journey Stages
Once you clearly understand your customer journey, it’s time to start creating content that aligns with each stage. There are some general guidelines to follow, but keep in mind that specifics can depend on your business and the stage of it.
“First of all, when people don’t know who your company is, or they don’t know anything about you, they’re gonna look you up, right? So you start there with your content. You think about your ad placement and what messaging you’re putting out in your ads at that very top level. You also want to think about your website,” says Sara.
Awareness
At the awareness stage, your content should focus on educating potential customers about who you are and what you stand for. This is not the time to push for a sale but to provide value and establish your expertise.
Consideration
As potential customers move into the consideration stage, your content should shift to more specific information about your product or service. “So I think very early on in the funnel, it’s educational, it’s saying, This is who we are, this is what we stand for the benefits that we bring that type of messaging. And as you work your way down that funnel, then you get really into more like where the proof is in the pudding, so to speak,” explains Sara.
Case studies and more detailed product information are all effective types of content for the consideration stage.
Decision
In the decision stage, potential customers are equipped with the information they need and ready to purchase.
Content at this stage should focus on validating the customer’s decision to choose your product or service.
“So you’re getting into more of your case studies, if you have that, or your peer review sites, you’re directing them there. So they can see that their peers are saying your product is awesome,” Sara explains.
By providing social proof, such as customer testimonials, case studies, and third-party reviews, you can give potential customers the confidence they need to take the final step and make a purchase.
Read next: Why Data-Driven Marketing is a Must-Have Today
Driving Action with the Right Call-to-Action
One common mistake companies make is pushing for the sale too early in the customer journey.
“It’s so common that you are putting out top of the funnel, early awareness type content, and asking people to purchase in the same breath” says Jenn. “It just doesn’t work that way.”
Instead, focus on guiding potential customers to the next logical step in their journey.
Your call-to-action should be clear, specific, and aligned with the customer’s current stage in the journey. For example, if someone is in the awareness stage, an appropriate call to action might be to download an educational eBook or sign up for a webinar. In the consideration stage, you might invite them to request a demo or a consultation.
Measuring Content Effectiveness
To ensure your content is effective, measuring its performance at each stage of the customer journey is important.
“We measure engagement in a lot of different ways. We AB test all the time. But I think ultimately, it goes back to just getting to the next step, right?” says Sara.
Key metrics to track include engagement rates, time on page, and conversion rates. This can guide improvements and adjustments.
“I know, one thing that’s really important that I always recommend is having a customer-centric KPI associated with each stage. Because that’s exactly the thing that you’re going to want to be measuring. Is that touchpoint is actually doing its job?” advises Jenn.
Choosing the Right Channels
Another important aspect of content effectiveness is choosing the right channels to distribute your content. The channels you use will depend on your target audience and where they spend their time online.
“I think it’s really custom, ultimately. So I’ve been in construction software tech for over 10 years now,” says Sara. “Even though the industry is relatively the same as a whole, I think the placement of the content is really unique to each organization. And I think that has a lot to do with your own consumer base and where they are online or in person now.”
Some common channels to consider include social media, email marketing, paid advertising, and industry-specific platforms. It’s important to do your research and understand where your target audience is most active and engaged.
Read next: Unlocking the Power of Video Ads on LinkedIn
“These steps get skipped quite often,” says Jenn. “it’s often just kind of a blanket; here’s our message; let’s put it out to everybody in anybody everywhere. See if it works, when actually like this little bit of research and mapping out can really help you be more efficient when deciding those channels and really help you to not waste marketing spend.”
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Creating effective content is not just a marketing function. It requires collaboration and alignment across teams, including sales, customer success, product, and executive leadership.
“Every strategy will perform better when there’s alignment across teams, regardless of who initiates it, or where it’s ultimately owned and where it lives. But it’s just so important to make sure everybody’s rowing in the same direction,” says Jenn.
One way to foster this collaboration is to create cross-functional committees aligned to different journey stages. By bringing together representatives from each team to focus on a specific stage, you can ensure a customer-centric approach and shared ownership of the customer experience.
“Center the conversation around how to create customer value and customer satisfaction,” says Jenn.
The Role of AI in Content Creation
As artificial intelligence (AI) advances, many companies are exploring how it can enhance their content creation process. While AI tools like ChatGPT can be helpful for generating ideas and assisting with research, it’s important to use them thoughtfully.
“I caution against using something like a chat GPT to write your content, because I think then it gets a little obvious in what you’re creating, but I certainly love the idea of using AI to kind of prompt some ideas, get people talking, you know, bring topics up, and then maybe help shape the direction of it,” says Sara. “At the end of the day, I think that all of the content you’re creating should still have that personal touch.”
AI can also be used to analyze data and assist with customer journey mapping. By leveraging machine learning algorithms, companies can gain insights into customer behavior and preferences, which can inform their content strategy.
Read next: 27 AI marketing tools you have to use today
Final thoughts
Effective content is essential for companies looking to find their market fit and engage their target audience. Companies can create content that resonates and drives action by understanding the customer journey, tailoring content to each stage, and measuring performance.
Collaboration across teams is also critical for ensuring a customer-centric approach and maximizing the impact of your content. AI can be helpful in some ways, but it cannot replace the human touch.
By following these strategies and insights from experts like Sara and Jenn, companies can master content effectiveness and build lasting relationships with their customers.