How To Create Content for Each Stage of the Sales Funnel

Learning how to create content for your target audience takes careful consideration and effort. You must be aware of their wants and needs at every stage of the buyer’s journey. But how do you create effective content that does just that? We’ve got a few ideas.

How To Create Content For Your Customers

When you first hire a digital content writer to support your content marketing strategy, you may find that a one-size-fits-all approach to content best meets your needs. You’ve developed a solid buyer persona and strive to address this audience member directly with your brand offerings.

In addition to tailoring your content to your audience persona, you can provide the right content for the right action at the right time by considering the reader’s position in the sales funnel. Explore the most effective formats to use during the awareness, consideration, decision and retention stages of the purchase cycle.

1.      Awareness Stage

Sometimes called the top of the sales funnel, the awareness stage occurs when the person first discovers your content. He or she has recognized a problem that can be solved through shopping, like the need for an impressive gift delivery for a friend’s birthday. Fortunately, you happen to sell your artisan jewelry through an online boutique and have been experimenting with the use of content to increase awareness of your brand with the help of a website content writer.

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Hubspot notes that at this stage, consumers seek insight about a particular topic, education about the ins and outs of your niche, and resources that clearly answer their questions.

How To Create Content That Helps The Reader

When targeting buyers in the awareness stage, ask your digital content writer to focus on developing the following:

• Complementary online courses, tutorials and videos: Returning to the jewelry example above, maybe you could create a video or infographic that shows potential clients how to choose the right necklace for any outfit.
• Social media posts with tips and tricks: You can pull out some of your best tips from the video to make social shares or even to create an infographic with a sneak peek.
• E-books and white papers that require an email sign-up: For example, go in-depth with a discussion about how you source sustainable gems and minerals for your creations.
• Blog posts that engage emotions and inspire the buyer to act: Ask your web content writer to document the personal story of a satisfied couple who exchanged rings you made on their wedding day.

How To Target the Awareness Stage

You can incorporate your awareness stage content with these keywords to best appeal to consumers perched at the top of the funnel:

• How do I
• What is
• Prevent
• Optimize
• Issue
• Fix
• Where can I
• What should I
• Best way to

See a pattern? All these keywords epitomize the person who is looking for more information about a solution to a problem. Provide this list to your digital content writer as part of your assignment brief, and they will know how to create content that speaks directly to your target audience.

Content in the awareness stage should also seek to boost your SEO rankings with smart keyword usage. In one survey, Pardot found that 70% of buyers turn to Google to find out more about a product or service. If you aren’t ranking on search engines for the appropriate keywords, the readers you need may not come across your content.

1.      Consideration Stage

As the consumer continues to research options, compare offerings and gather information, he or she enters the middle of the sales funnel: the consideration stage. Google continues to be a great spot to search out your audience in this phase, since consumers are diving deep into the data they need to make a decision.

How To Create Content For Interested Readers

This stage is categorized by intense research, so at this phase your website content writer needs to deliver the robust information the buyer needs to make a decision. Examples include:

• Detailed blog posts that provide solutions to common pain points, highlighting your projects. Ex: Compare and contrast your artisan offerings to lower-quality jewelry from big-box competitors.
• White papers and other content that highlights original data and research. Ex: Survey former clients and publish a satisfaction study about your pieces of jewelry.
• Comprehensive guides to subjects within your niche. Ex: Create an e-book about the history and meaning of the various minerals you incorporate in your work. For example, you could develop a presentation that shows off your new line of summer styles.
• Personalized online messaging or phone calls with a potential client. Ex: Simply reach out to see if a client needs any help finding the perfect accessory or gift.
• Podcast production. If you don’t want to produce your own show, try making a guest appearance on a podcast that focuses on fashion, clothing and lifestyle.
• Peer reviews. Solicit information from your most active customers about why they are so loyal to your brand. Ask to publish these testimonials as part of your content. eConsultancy found that 61% of surveyed consumers report that they look to peer reviews when making a purchase.

Anything your digital content writer creates for the consideration phase should position your brand as the foremost expert in your particular area. These pieces should be at least 1,500 words and support one of your brand’s primary pillars. This content offers valuable link building opportunities and provides the evergreen core content you can repurpose into longer offerings that showcase your unique value proposition.

1.      Decision Stage

In the decision stage, your reader nears the end of research and begins to transition from the middle to the bottom of the sales funnel. Consumers at this phase begin to collect information about the purchase process. He or she may have decided on your product but wants to prevent buyers’ remorse with a final confirmation. Learn how to create content that keeps them hanging on.

When your reader approaches the bottom of the sales funnel, be prepared with content that will urge him or her to take the next step.

How To Create Content That Persuades and Confirms

Instruct your digital content writer to craft content focused on your products with attention-grabbing, engaging calls to action. Effective solutions for this phase of the cycle include:

• Case studies about how a reader could conceivably solve a problem by purchasing your product or service.
• Free downloads, product demonstrations and trial offers that allow your website visitors to test-drive your product before they commit to a purchase.
• Product literature in which your website content writer details the features, benefits and unique sales proposition.
• Checklists and interactive tools that let readers explore how your product can solve a problem.
• Comparison charts that rank your product against similar products from your closest rivals, with your web content writer highlighting your strengths in the market.
• Worksheets and calculators that show readers how much money or time they could potentially save by using your product.

These types of content are uniquely designed to help users who are in this stage. Reaching out to them in a way that legitimately helps them during the decision process will not only build trust but guide your potential customers all the way to the goal.

1.      Retention Stage

Individuals in the retention phase of the buying cycle may reenter the awareness phase to start another purchase.

How To Create Content That Brings Customers Back

To retain consumers, you should focus your content on customer satisfaction and on addressing any existing concerns about the initial purchase. Connect with former buyers by sending them:

• User guides. Ex: Send reminders about warranty information or how to clean and care for jewelry.
• Surveys about product satisfaction, which have the added bonus of driving your future marketing endeavors.
• Details about coupons, sales and promotions.
• News and events about your brand.
• Catalogs that highlight your new products.
• Loyalty programs, such as a coupon for reaching a certain order amount within the quarter.

After customers have exited the funnel, your digital content writer should focus on encouraging continued connection with the brand. Content at this phase should once again entertain readers, as well as engage, impress and cater to their needs. Your goal here is to build the type of enduring relationship that fosters fierce customer loyalty.

Create Quality Content At Every Stage

It’s obvious how important it is to learn how to create effective content at every stage of the sales funnel. For customers who search online, content is the most powerful form of communication that they have with you. Invest in quality writing that compels and guides your potential customers. As your content marketing strategy grows, you need a digital content writer or agency that can handle a diverse array of content needs, from an online product catalog to a social media blurb.

Want to know how to create content for your target audience? At BKA Content, we offer our clients a seasoned team that has a web content writer with the experience to create every content type on your marketing calendar. Whether you need an occasional article from a website content writer or comprehensive managed services for a large project, complete our online form today to schedule a consultation about your content marketing strategy.