How to Help Customers Discover Your Offer

Strategic thinking and a plan lie behind content that helps you acquire customers. Before you start thinking about SEO or Knowledge Graphs you need to start with a basic understanding of how people discover and react to your product. 

Good content answers questions. The best content answers questions customers didn’t know they had. The focus of content to present your product needs to help future customers understand their need and present your product as the solution. 

The user experience with your content is the prime mover to capture a customer’s attention, educate them to build awareness, and demonstrate how your business can help.

In a recent interview on Search Engine Journal, Mark Traphagen of SEOclarity states,

“Because the big picture is, what Google is moving toward and pushing toward and getting better and better at, year by year, is matching that user experience – matching what the ideal Google user is actually trying to get to and to use.
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Understanding how awareness works is the base for educating site visitors to respond. There’s a hierarchy of knowledge and your content needs to lead your prospective customer through the stages.

A brief look at the stages will help you underpin how your content leads visitors to see your product as an answer.

Unaware

The very first stage is that someone is unaware of a need. Many businesses are so familiar with their offer that they skip this critical step in building awareness. 

A strong headline that poses a question about the situation that creates the problem a user searches for is one of the best tactics in your overall strategy to bring awareness about your business.

Problem Aware

At this stage your visitor may have a need that needs to be filled but does not know how to go about solving the problem. Clearly outline the problem and underscore how the problem is a pain point in the prospect’s life. Your potential customer will identify with the situation and, seeking a solution, will be open to how your business provides a solution.

If you remember long direct mail letters with pages and pages of people suffering before an answer you’ll know why problem awareness is key to making a sale.

Solution Aware

Solution awareness focuses your potential customer on the fact that their problem can be solved. This prompts thinking about finding the best solution for their need. Until a prospect knows they can find a solution, they will not take action.

Focus on the solution your product provides rather than features. People buy on emotions - even when they think they are making a rational decision. So, solution awareness is critical to making a buying decision. 

Product Aware

Delineate the benefits of your product using underlying features to illustrate how your business can help your customer with the solution.Tie the benefits to the way your product provides the solution.

Many businesses start with this step without building the foundation with the preceding awareness steps.

Every mention of your product needs to underscore how the product meets a need and solves a problem for your customer. Tied together with the problem your product becomes the necessary solution.

Awareness

Once your prospect is aware of your product as the solution and buys in they become a customer. Keep customers informed about any updates or upgrades. In addition, keep them aware of the solution. 

Augment your content by directly connecting through email to keep your customers informed.

Plan Your Strategy-Based Content

As you develop your content strategy address all the stages to lead your prospect toward a decision. If you omit a step in planning your content, both on your website and in social media, even though your prospect may not know why, they will hesitate in making a purchase. 

If you think this is a fluff piece, think again. Without a full strategy, your marketing content will miss critical steps along the buying journey.

If you want help designing your strategy. Get in touch now. We can work a solution to your content strategy that will boost interest and lead to sales.