The Buyer's Journey, Part 2: Content to Attract + Engage + Delight

(Updated March 31, 2022)

In last week’s Growth blog, we talked about how the Buyer’s Journey mirrors the journey of the hero and therefore decided to call our prospective clients “buyer heroes” (because they are).

This week, we’ll show you how appealing to the buyer hero at every step of their journey with valuable, high-quality content that aligns with their needs at each stage is fundamental to creating the trust that will make them yours forever (and inspire them to bring their friends).

Each part of that journey is an opportunity to nurture the buyer, and offer solutions to the problems that put them on their journey in the first place. It’s important to remember that each stage requires a different type of content.

With that specific help in mind, we’ve put together a quick guide to help you determine what kind of content goes where—with a little bit of why thrown in for good measure.  

Awareness Stage

In the Awareness Stage, the buyer knows they're experiencing a problem, but they may not have decided how to solve it.  It’s up to you to let them know what resources are available and the solutions that you offer.

Information that comes to them where they live (and quickly) is the best way to get their attention and keep it. Content for this stage includes informative blog articles, social media posts, and search engine marketing.

In this stage, your content throws a wide net that catches the most heroes (mix metaphors anyone?) or potential buyers. 

Blog Article

In your blog, you should offer relevant, helpful articles that say “hey! I see you there scratching your head. Come over here, friend, and let us help you. We have snacks!”

Here, a snack is just a metaphor for bite-sized pieces of information that are crawlable by Google and boost your SEO so that your buyer hero can see you waving. 

Blog articles should: 

• give your reader something of value
• introduce them to your brand, and
• make them feel warm and fuzzy because we all need more of that in the world. 

Social Media Post 

Want to help more buyer heroes?

Social media!

Statistics on social media users out of the Pew Research Center show that seven out of ten Americans engage in some form of it (top of the list: Facebook and YouTube).

SEVEN OUT OF TEN.

That’s a lot of opportunities to be helpful. 

Focusing every word that you post on being of service makes it easy to attract the heroes who need what only your business can do for them.

This should be engaging, branded content that can be drilled down very quickly and read in under a minute on a social platform of your choice.

Or, let your content do double duty and post your blog post there. 

Bonus: Blog articles that meet the needs of your sales team get shared by your sales team. What does that do? Enhance sales conversations that drive sales, of course. 

Whitepaper

Whitepapers are authoritative, deep-dive reports that help solve a problem that’s specific to what you do in your business + how you’re uniquely qualified to solve it.

These reports are usually done by your business to determine best practices anyway, so you may as well gussy them up and create a downloadable link on your website for when your buyer heroes want to sink their teeth into the specifics of how you can help them.  

Checklist

Everyone loves to check items off of lists, especially when many steps have to be taken to complete a task.

Show the buyer hero the steps that you recommend they take to move out of that pit of despair and into the light of day.

Here's an example of a checklist we created to help our customers migrate their data to HubSpot (which is what our business does most often): 

Plus, checking off steps on a list makes your hero feel accomplished, and we all need that. 

How-To Video

ThinkwithGoogle.com reports that the watch time of how-to videos increases more than 65% year over year, so a video that shows how you solve a specific problem goes a long way toward moving your buyer hero toward the knowledge they need to move in your direction. 

Kit or Tool

If you’ve ever needed something done quickly and had no idea how to do it, you know that finding a tool or a kit with templates and examples that show you exactly how is like running for your life and suddenly finding an open door.

Imagine creating that feeling for your potential clients. 

HubSpot is that open door for a great many users who need marketing + sales + service assistance. They offer free kits and tools for just about anything—including how to make kits and tools!

Check it out: 

Ebooks

Combine your related blog articles seamlessly into an ebook and offer it for free. Growth offers this service to help build content that drives sales for our clients.

An ebook allows your buyer hero to read your long-form content in a downloadable format that lends massive value—especially if it’s offered for free on your social media. 

Take a look at our free ebook.

It digs into what to look for when hiring a marketing agency (like ours!) and, at the same time it shows our potential clients not only what we do but how we can be of service to them. 

Educational Webinar

Design a presentation of what you do to help others and schedule a webinar to show it off (because it’s awesome, and the world deserves to see it).

You can stream it live or recorded to show people what you do and how well you do it. Generating leads this way is well worth the effort of creating presentational content that is interactive and informative. 

Consideration Phase: Engagement

Because you’ve waved them down with your super-educational and helpful content, your buyer hero knows exactly what they need, and if you continue to build a relationship with them by providing them with next-level content, you’re more likely to win them over for good.

In this phase of the buyer hero’s journey, woo them with all the fancy coffee and chocolates you save for guests, (i.e. the really good stuff). 

Product Comparison Guide

This guide lays out the facts about what you do vs. what your competitors do. It's invaluable when the buyer is standing at a fork in the road. 

Case Study

Show the buyer examples of the recent success you've achieved by presenting social proof with a case study. All the best reviews you’ve received from real clients should have a nifty spot on your website because the real future of your business is referrals and raving fans. 

Buyer heroes want to see that they’re headed in the right direction with you, and, more and more, they depend on the heroes who went before them to give them a resounding “YES!” So, show them all your yesses. 

Free Sample

When you go to the grocery store and someone cooks up a free sample for you, did you ever wonder why they’re not standing outside the store?

You’re being engaged to buy, not to come into the store.

If you're struggling in a sales conversation, give your buyer hero a taste of what you can do for them by offering something you do for free.

It’s a moment to build trust, too. 

Decision Phase: Delightful!

Now that you have your buyer hero’s full attention, it’s time to break out the good china and serve up a smorgasbord of content to show off the best of what you can do for them.

Think content that you might normally keep behind a paywall or services that are not as boutique as your premium package but that still show off exactly what your team can do. 

Remember, if you have a spirit of service, keep this in mind: how can I help you. You’ll win over the right buyer heroes who will walk with you to the end of both your stories—and they’ll bring their friends. 

Free Trial or Live Demo

Everyone knows how good it feels to get a chance to try something before you buy it. True success stories in business are some that allow users free access to some form of their service for free forever.

Spotify. Hulu. YouTube.

These SaaS companies allow full access to their services with the caveat that you’re okay receiving advertising while using them. 

But you don’t have to offer your entire store for free to show the buyer hero how valuable you can be to them; you just have to give them a peek.

Want to know what you can offer as a free trial or live demo in your marketing? Let us take a look and show you what you can do. 

Consultation Offer

Similar to a free trial, an offer to consult your potential client with the specific knowledge you have is a fantastic way to build trust and delight your buyer hero with your ability to meet their needs.

Law firms do this industry-wide, and it works. 

It’s also a great way to figure out if this buyer hero is the right one for YOU, too.

You may realize that what they need is not in your wheelhouse at all, and that can save you both a great deal of time and money. 

Coupon

Offering a lower percentage on the price of your premium service for a limited time or from an affiliate website or advertising service can provide an incentive to buy quickly, and it adds value for your hero who may feel like they’ve found a large bill in plain sight under a gold nugget paperweight.

And they have. 

Get this: the first documented coupon was used by Coca-Cola in 1886 when the company was in its infancy, and by 1895, it was sold in every drugstore in America. The concept still works today. Think Groupon, right? 

Attract, Engage, Delight = Growth

Throughout the journey of our buyer hero, offering up different options that are appropriate for where they are on their quest shows that you know what you’re doing. This builds trust and mutual respect that can truly last. 

Think about a company that wowed you lately.

What did they do that sold you and made you tell everyone you know? Think about that and see if your experience aligns with where you were on your journey at the time.

How can you do that in your own business? 

And don’t forget to ask us! We’re Growth experts, and we're happy to help you layout the perfect content dish for all your buyer heroes.

Happy Trails, friends!