When you’re working out what to say in your content marketing it can be easy to get stuck in a selling loop. If your newsletters contain little news and mostly products, sales or offers; if every social media post ends with a “get in touch” then far from actually instigating a sale or booking, you’re probably putting off an awful lot of people.

I get it, it’s like a nervous tick I find with some clients. You can’t get around the fact that you genuinely do want a sale – of course, we are all looking for new business! You’re writing a beautiful observational post – really connecting with your users’ favourite subject matter, and just as you draw to the end… don’t say it… just stop there with your amazing point…gah!

“If you’d like help with *insert your service here*, GET IN TOUCH!”

There it is. The sales pitch.

Don’t get me wrong, of course you are allowed to sell yourself, but what I’d like to ask you today, is to consider your customers. Where are they AT?

Your Customer Journey

The classic customer journey as one that leads people through the following phases:

• Discovery – when they first hear about your business
• Consideration and comparison – when they are interested but still require convincing
• Convinced or committed – they are ready to purchase or book
• Loyal – after using your service, they are delighted by your service and happy to become a repeat customer, and an advocate who will refer you to others

So if you feel like you’re always pushing for the sale, you are probably only really speaking to those at the third step – which will be a much smaller audience than those in steps one and two. Those at all the other steps either aren’t ready to make the sale, or they’ve heard it all before.

What can we offer people at each point to help them along their buying journey?

It’s a matter of considering the client’s thoughts at each stage, and answering their concerns – on the channels that they will be using.

Discovery

In the Discovery phase, potential clients might not even need your product yet, so your goal is simply brand awareness. You might use social media, Facebook advertising (though not to sell), blogging, word of mouth, flyers, posters or conferences. All you are doing at this point is showing your strong branding, differentiating yourself from the competition, making it clear you are knowledgeable and generous. Your goal is not to sell, it’s to get them to your website or your email list.

Consideration

Once they have moved into the Consideration phase, they need proof to convince them further, at this point they’ll have concerns that need answering, prices to be compared. So case studies and testimonials are important, retargeting ads once they’ve visited your site, and ensuring that your website and content provides all the support and answers they need to reassure them that you’re the right choice.

Convinced

People who are Convinced and ready to book or make a purchase now need to be cared for in order to turn them into real fans. So your communication at this point is key to reassure them that they made the right choice – your confirmation and welcome, clear links to support, and your gratitude are all things you can share via email, Facebook groups and your website accounts. The difference between ‘Your order has been submitted’ and ‘Thanks so much for your order, now you need to check your email for your download’ is huge.

Loyal

And finally those Loyal advocates are your best chance for purchases. When marketing to a prospective customer, you only have a 13 percent chance of persuading people in phase 1 to make a purchase but repeat customers have a sixty to seventy percent chance of buying. Plus repeat customers spend more – up to 300% more, because they are certain of the experience they’re going to have. So make sure that you have a blog that continues to serve them, a loyalty programme, a follow up email sequence that has specific messaging for those who want ongoing advice and want to feel part of a community. Provide in-depth training on how to use your products, and regular useful emails (not sales) that continue to provide value.

Very little communication during the user journey is actually about asking for the sale, but most of it is about reaching the customer where they are, and helping them with what they are thinking.

To help with this, try filling out a customer journey map for your key customer personas.

A journey map is an outline of a customer’s experience and how your product or service fits into their lives. Once you’ve got an outline for each customer, at each stage of their journey: you’ll understand more about their feelings, their challenges, and more, and you can figure out what you can do to create a better customer experience. How to help them, how to answer their questions, how to get past their reasons for not buying, and how to SPEAK to them on a day to day basis. Then every time you write a post you can ask yourself – WHO am I talking to, and WHAT STAGE are they at?

Suddenly you’ll have loads to say