Content for Your Buyer’s Journey
If you’re pumping out content and social media posts, but none of them seem to drive your audience to take any action, you may need to take a closer look at your buyer journey.
What is a “buyer journey”?
A buyer journey is the experience someone has between:
Initially hearing about you and your solution, and…
Ultimately purchasing it or working with you.
The first thing you need to wrap your head around is that most people don’t just buy something immediately upon seeing it—there are emotions involved.
They want to feel reassured that what they’re purchasing is worth it, and they want proof that it’s actually going to solve their problem.
You can get them to this level of reassurance by guiding them down a buyer journey where they get to know you, then start liking and looking forward to your content, and eventually trust you as an authority who can fulfill their needs.
How do I align my content to the buyer journey?
At any given time, some members of your audience may be just hearing about you for the first time, while others may have been following you for months and are much closer to hiring you or buying your products.
When you create social media posts, emails, blog posts, and other content, you have to make sure you’re addressing the needs of all these different audience members.
Here’s how I like to break down the different stages of the buyer journey and each stage’s needs:
💥 Spark Connection
People who are just hearing about you for the first time need to get to know you and be able to relate to you.
👋🏼 “Get to know you” content might look like self-introduction posts or content that explains what exactly you do/offer.
👯♀️ For that relatability factor, this is where you can add in short Reels or Tiktoks that speak exactly to the way your ideal audience feels about their pain points or common challenges. Or, you can share your personal experience/backstory if it's something your audience can relate to.
🔥 Kindle the Relationship
Once someone knows what you’re about and has a connection with you, you need to keep providing valuable content to build that trust over time.
👩🏼🏫 Content for this stage is educational, either teaching your audience how to actually do something, or teaching them why what you do is so valuable.
Think how-to’s, tutorials, or behind the scenes of your process.
🧨 Ignite Action
Once your audience sees you as an authority, they still need that extra reassurance that you’re not just bullshitting them with pretty marketing (it’s nothing personal, we’ve all been burned by brands’ false promises before!).
⭐️ This is where social proof is key—testimonials from former clients, reviews left on your Etsy shop or other e-commerce site, user-generated content (i.e. customers posting pictures/videos of them using your products).
💁 People also need to know exactly how they can hire you or buy from you. This is where you directly promote your products and services through your content, such as posts that talk about a new product you’ve launched, the details of the service you offer, etc.
Writing value-focused content
One more thing to keep in mind while creating your content—keep it value-focused.
That means stop writing about yourself and what YOU have to offer. Instead, frame everything from the POV of your customer and what THEY get out of working with you.
(I dive into this in way more detail in this blog post if you want to learn more!)
💥 Do you have content that addresses all 3 stages of the buyer journey outlined above? Which type(s) are you missing?