Content is the basis of inbound marketing. It allows us to attract qualified traffic to our site and thus attract potential customers that we can lead towards the final sale.
The secret to a good content strategy is to fully understand the consumer’s journey, the moment in which they find themselves and what we should offer them at any given moment.
Creating for the sake of creating is useless. There must be a goal behind all content. Every message we send to the potential customer must have an intention and nurture the user so that they get closer and closer to the moment in which they decide to purchase.
One way to structure this route is by creating a content map to keep the conversion funnel in mind at all times.
Types of leads depending on the phase of the conversion funnel
We must understand the inbound marketing process in order to adapt our content to this reality in the form of a user journey: from the moment they give us their data for the first time until the moment they are ready to close the sale.
- Prospect. This is everyone who has not yet reached us, but who has a need aligned with what we offer as a company or brand.
- Visitor. This is someone who, through the informative searches they have carried out, has arrived at our website, online shop, social networks, etc. and has decided to consume our content, but about whom we don’t yet have information.
- Lead. This is a contact that has already registered on our channels or website and has left us their data. It’s someone who we can already put a name and email to and start sending them personalized content depending on the information they have left us or based on their habits and interactions.
- Client. They have already closed a sale with us, and the work of loyalty and customer service begins.
- Subscriber. A customer is always our best brand representative and subscriber, so we must take care of them and continue to bring value to them. They can even be converted back into customers.
Within leads there are several categories, depending on the information we have about them, whether they fit our buyer persona, and how close they are to purchasing. The two most important types of leads are:
- MQL or Marketing Qualified Lead. This is a type of lead whose behavior and interactions have followed a series of patterns established by the company within a digital marketing strategy and that has a high probability of becoming a future customer.
- SQL or Sales Qualified Lead. This is a potential customer of the company, analyzed and defined, first by the marketing team and then by sales. This type of lead is considered to be ready to move into the sales process where the human factor will take action, since up until now many processes in CRM have been automated.
The best content for the recruitment phase
In this stage we seek to attract traffic or, in other words, make strangers become visitors to our website.
The right content here will be more generic – it will be focused on resolving the questions or problems of users and it will somehow have to do with our company.
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In order to detect the most common searches made by our buyer persona, we can perform keyword research related to our sector or take other actions such as analyzing the competition.
- Blog articles. Focus on adding value to potential customers and make them dynamic and readable. Don’t forget to write with an SEO mentality so that they position well in search engines and attract the desired traffic.
- In-depth guides. These contents are intended to resolve all the visitor’s questions on a specific topic. The format may be a long article or an ebook.
- Video tutorials. They are very successful because they are useful, direct, and are in a format that is the most frequently consumed today.
- Podcast. This is another successful way to attract quality traffic, and they also help you boost brand recognition and position yourself as an expert in an industry.
The best content for the conversion phase
At this point we’re looking for the visitor to leave us their data and end up becoming a lead.
The easiest way to achieve this is through landing pages: a type of page specially designed to attract leads.
Other important factors of a landing page are a form and a call to action. In the form you should ask key questions that will help you understand whether the person registering is an MQL or not.
Here are some examples of the best content for this phase:
- Webinars. They are especially useful for B2B businesses because they provide training, knowledge, and position you as an expert. Users can interact with you and resolve all their questions live.
- Free sample or trial period. This way they can try us and discover the product or service. Make sure it’s clear what the conditions of the promotion are and how long the trial period will last.
- Testimonies and case studies. Having other customers recommend you is the best since the recommendation is from someone who before buying was in the same situation as the current potential customer. Success stories can help the lead understand the benefits they can get if they buy from you.
The most important metrics in each phase of a conversion funnel
The best content for the sales phase
You have the lead’s contact details and you have established a relationship with them.
The idea here is to nurture the customer with content of value to bring them closer to the decision to purchase. This process is called lead nurturing.
The most used content in this phase includes:
- Trial periods can help us capture leads, as we saw in the previous section, but they can also help give the lead the final push to decide to close the sale.
- Coupons and discounts are always a big incentive to generate purchases. Try using the “limited time” trigger.
- One tool that can help to close a sale is to offer free personalized advice. With a face-to-face conversation you can resolve the potential customer’s remaining doubts.
The best content for the loyalty phase
Our relationship with the customer does not end with a purchase – we must work for their loyalty. For two reasons – 1. so they will recommend us to other consumers, and 2. so they buy our product or service again. A client can always restart the funnel process and purchase again. It’s always easier with these clients because there’s knowledge and trust.
These types of content are recommended:
- Exclusive products always make the customer feel important. For example, having priority access to a launch or being able to reserve the product in advance before anyone else can.
- Content that conveys the values of the brand and makes them feel like an integral part of the community. If we make these shareable, we will also be able to make it viral and make it become a recommendation.
- Offers and discounts specifically for former customers. This is even better if they can be customized from demographic or behavioral data. For example, offer a discount for the anniversary of the day they first purchased.
- Celebrate special dates together such as Valentine’s Day or Black Friday.
