How to Ace Content Strategy & Reach Your Business Goals Faster
5 Min. Read
“Why aren’t my sales what they should be?” This is a question that keeps many business people up at night. And this problem—falling short of sales potential—doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t care whether you sell products or services, or whether you do business in the US or clear on the other side of the globe. Why is this such a widespread obstacle? More importantly, what can you do to fix it or, even better, avoid it altogether?
Table of Contents
Why Content Strategies Fail
Content that falls short of business goals often does so because the content strategy behind it is half-baked. When we say “half-baked”, what do we mean? Well, one definition of strategy is a set of tactics. Yet, many businesses make the mistake of hanging all their hopes on a single tactic. For example, they may reason, “I have great products to offer. Who wouldn’t be excited to try them out? Once I set up my Shopify store, all I’ll have to do is post pictures of my products to social media and the sales will come pouring in.” This kind of faulty thinking is often a result of wanting the shortest possible route from a to z, or from no sales to lots of sales. But, in most cases, a more robust strategy is necessary to maximize the results you see from your marketing and advertising efforts.
The Key to Content Strategy That Drives Measurable Results
A multi-faceted content strategy is a must because not everyone who sees your latest Instagram post or your Google ad is going to whip out their wallet on the spot and buy from you. In reality, the people who are ready to take such immediate action will probably be a relatively small percentage of your audience.
So how do you keep from missing out on the many potential sales opportunities amongst the rest of your audience? That’s where Conversific comes in. By utilizing your Google Analytics data, Conversific assists you in understanding your customers and identifying different customer types. Of course, the strategic use of content is also key. Specifically, the combination of different content types that can drive the outcomes you want. These content types directly relate to where leads and prospects are in the customer journey.
While it’s not mandatory (or wise, in many cases) to produce a million content types, a handful of well-chosen ones corresponding to each stage of the sales funnel can make a huge difference. What types of content might you consider?
1. Content Types For the Awareness Stage
The earliest in the funnel, the awareness stage is the point at which potential customers are just becoming aware of your company or products and solutions like yours.
These people are nowhere near ready to buy so direct selling only comes off as pushy. Therefore, the goal at this point is simply to educate your audience. This includes calling attention to their pains and challenges, introducing viable solutions, and highlighting the most desirable benefits of investing in such solutions.
What content formats are best to carry this out?
- Blog posts
- Social media posts
- Infographics
- Videos
- E-books
- Podcasts
All of these can set the stage for content designed to pull people deeper into your sales funnel where you can more directly promote what you offer.
2. Content Types For the Consideration Stage
Having established some relationship and trust with your audience during the awareness stage, you’ve now earned the right to speak more openly about what you can do for potential customers. You can do this through:
- Case studies
- White papers
- Emails
- Useful resources
- Events and webinars
At this point, people will be considering ways to fill their needs, overcome their challenges, and meet their goals. So you’ll want to subtly start positioning yourself as the best option for them to go with.
While they still won’t be ready to buy yet, this is your opportunity to share information that will build trust in your expertise and offerings. That way, when it comes time to do business, you’ll be an appealing choice.
3. Content Types For the Decision Stage
After consideration comes the decision stage. Finally, potential customers will be ready to make the call on whether or not they’ll go with your products or services.
This is the make-it-or-break-it moment, the time to swing for the fences in terms of selling. You can tip the scales in your favor and win out over competitors with:
- Comparison content
- Testimonials
- Consultations
- Demos
- Free trials
- Discounts
If you’ve done a good job of educating your audience and sparking serious interest in your business during the first two stages, your decision stage content should be the last nudge they need to become customers. And by being intentional and strategic about how you approach content for each stage, you can bring in more new business than you otherwise would because more people are primed to convert!
Don’t Leave the Strategy Out of Content Strategy
If you’re going to invest in content marketing as a way to achieve your business and sales goals, don’t cut corners. Shortcuts will only end up costing you time, resources, and even sales opportunities that may not present themselves twice.
You need a complete content strategy to truly be successful. So, with your main goals in mind, now is the time to evaluate whether or not you’re producing effective content for each stage of the sales funnel. Only then can you add what’s missing, tweak or remove what’s not working, and see more positive results.
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