3 reasons you need great writing

Up to 80% of your customers search for products and services online before making a purchase decision. There was a 20% increase in this last year alone. 60% of people start searching for your product or service with an online search engine like Google and Bing. Google’s own reports showed that people have completed 60% of their thought process before they are ready to talk to someone about shopping. It is this part of the thinking process (during the research phase) where your content should address your needs, questions, and pain.

As digital marketers and content writers, we talk a lot about the customer journey and marketing funnels. Why? As mentioned above, 60% of your customers’ journey has already been completed before they contact you. Since a strong inbound sales funnel can increase your bottom line, making any salespeople’s job easier and more productive, nurturing your leads with content that aligns with their position in the marketing funnel can provide up to a 20% increase in sales.

Customer journey

A typical customer journey includes 3 phases. Your content strategy should address each phase with articles and other content designed for each phase. The first stage is awareness. This is where your potential customers look for answers, education, data, and “who” can meet their needs. The evaluation stage is as follows. Here your prospects and clients will decide “why” or “if” fits their needs. Next is the decision or purchase phase. This is where they are figuring out “how” to become your customers. So your content should answer the questions: who, why, and how.

1. Great content attracts potential customers

As people begin their search online for a product or service, your content can engage them with articles, videos, and social media posts designed to address their pain, answer their questions, and educate them. They realize you as an option to solve their problem and they begin to trust you and your company has its expert. You become their go-to person for advice and answers to their challenges.

2. Great content converts prospects

This is where your content shows potential customers why you are the best candidate and the expert they need. Guides, testimonials, FAQs, videos, and white papers are options at this stage. Here you are building a relationship and establishing trust between the audience and your brand.

3. Great content closes more customers

In the decision stage, people look at how they can become your customers. Your bid and calls to action at this stage can have a big impact on your conversions. Effective types of content at the purchase stage include case studies, free offers, demos, and product documentation.

Each business will have a different sales funnel sculpted by their unique customer journeys. Understanding your customers, then building a digital marketing funnel around your industry and unique buyers, and creating content that “fits” their needs at every phase of their journey will attract, convert, and close more customers.

Thats not all. The White House Office of Consumer Affairs found that it costs companies six times more to attract a new customer than it does to retain an existing one. With planned digital follow-up activities and a strong understanding of customer service best practices, you can delight your customers by exceeding their expectations. This is where your best and least expensive advertising begins: referrals and word of mouth.

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