Travis Jamison, Author at Social Media Strategies Summit Blog

Investing in high-quality content is always an excellent way of reaching, engaging, and offering value to your audience. However, to ensure that you’re getting the best possible results, you must understand that one size does not fit all. Industry experts will argue that the best way to create content is to produce articles, videos, visuals, etc., that target specific stages of the buyer’s journey. So if you’re looking to create content for the top end of your funnel, you will want to capitalize on awareness. That is, you will want to invest in media that will acquaint your target audience with your brand, your products, and the ways you can offer solutions to problems. But what exactly is the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey? And what type of content will work to engage the people inhabiting it? Let’s find out. What is the Awareness Stage? To best understand how to capitalize on awareness, you must first comprehend the entire buyer’s journey. In other words, you must learn how the sales funnel works. Essentially, consumers don’t just decide to purchase a product from a brand. Instead, they go through several stages (HubSpot, for example, identifies three) during which they: Become aware of needing a solution to a problem. This is the awareness stage. Explore different solutions, considering the benefits each one offers. This is the consideration stage. Decide on a particular solution that promises to meet their needs in the best way. This is the decision stage. When creating content for the top end of the funnel, you’re introducing your brand to potential customers from the very beginning of their buyer’s journey. Be it content in the form of text, video, audio, visual, social media post, or webinar, the goal should be an offer of trustworthy information. You’re aiming to become the preferred solution provider to the problem in question. In addition to sharing your knowledge, you will also want to make sure that the content facilitates lead generation. Furthermore, it should work to (gently) move consumers further down the sales funnel. And, it should contribute to your branding efforts, positioning up your brand as an authority within an entire industry niche. With all this in mind, there are several possibilities for investing in awareness-targeted content. The following are a few ideas well-worth exploring. 1. Publish High-Quality Ultimate Guides. If there’s one format you should consider investing in when targeting consumers in the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey, it’s ultimate guides. You see, in 2021, consumers want convenience – and not just when shopping online. Source: linnworks.com Their preference for seamless experiences and well-integrated purchasing options extends to website and social media content as well. So, investing in the production of resources that answer all the questions consumers may have during the awareness stage of their buyer’s journey makes for an excellent strategy in generating viable leads. For two great examples of how you can structure insightful guides that target consumers in the top section of the sales funnel, check out the very different approaches by Aura and Anchor. Example #1: Aura. The first brand employs a traditional approach – it invests in blog posts that explain various aspects of Amazon selling. So, in this beginner’s guide to Amazon PPC, the brand uses its experience and industry know-how to help new sellers get started with advertising in one of the world’s most competitive marketplaces. The post in question includes a general description of how advertising works on Amazon, explains how to get started, introduces key terms and common methods, and offers insights on performance analysis and optimization. But more than that, it’s a well-written piece that’s fully optimized for SEO and readability. Moreover, it introduces further resources for those ready to dive deeper into e-commerce and invest in specialized software. Source: Goaura.com Example #2: Anchor. Conversely, Anchor commits to doing what it does best: podcasts. Having created the I Should Start a Podcast series, this brand manages to tackle two challenges effectively: It offers an in-depth guide for all potential customers who are toying with the idea of starting a podcast. It uses the advantage of the audio format to win position zero on Google and beat millions of other content creators targeting the same audience. Source: google.com 2. Tackle Challenging Questions. While there is no doubt about the importance of making the most of every awareness-building strategy out there, it would be crazy to limit yourself to picking only the low-hanging fruit. That’s why, if you want to reach as big an audience as possible, you will have to invest in content that answers both general and specific consumer needs. Targeting low competition keywords is an excellent way to do this. Especially since it allows newly established brands to compete with popular mediums with high reaches. So, if you’re thinking about investing in content for the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey, make sure that you do thorough keyword research and don’t shy away from taking a deep dive into a specific subject. To get outstanding results, you’ll also want to explore formats other than blog posts. Generally, multimedia will produce higher engagement rates than text. Podcasts, for example, have seen tremendous growth in popularity over the past two decades, with 57% of Americans being familiar with them. And video performs even better, with 27% of viewers watching 10+ hours per week. Source: statista.com Example #1: Adbadger. For inspiration on how you can expand your content calendar with different formats, check out what Ad Badger is doing with its podcast. Operating in a niche that is already very specific, this brand manages to stand out thanks to an original approach. It optimizes its content for SERP positioning and makes the most of its audience’s preference for multimedia formats. So, for example, if a person searches “should I segment branded keywords in amazon PPC,” they will get a link to Ad Badger’s podcast among the top results, helping the brand effectively beat competitors whose content relies on “plain old” text. Source: google.com Example #2: Espro. For a slightly less technical example, check out this post on the connection between water quality and coffee taste from Espro. Although it sticks to the standard blog post format that many of its competitors use, Espro does a great job of answering a highly technical question by using a combination of text and data. It includes a handy chart that informs coffee lovers on the exact water characteristics at-home users should aim for when brewing coffee. Source: espro.com Following this approach, the brand proves that offering helpful answers to complicated questions doesn’t require a complex production process. However, what it does need is targeting a wide variety of keywords. Moreover, it necessitates a fully consumer-oriented approach. Get it right, and this strategy will make for the perfect way to move your target audience from the top of the sales funnel towards the consideration, and ultimately, the decision stages of their buyer’s journey. 3. Compose Authoritative How-To Guides. When targeting the top end of the sales funnel, it can be easy to zoom in on generalized, beginner-friendly content that doesn’t get too technical. And in most cases, that’s not a mistake. After all, awareness stage content needs to be approachable, easy to understand, and reader-friendly. Nonetheless, it’s important to remember that not all your potential customers require you to introduce them to basic concepts. Whether they’ve already done some research or have previous experience in your niche, they might be looking for instructions on how to solve their specific needs. In these cases, composing how-to guides for your potential clients can be an excellent strategy, especially if you’re aiming to produce content for the lower end of the awareness stage and looking for opportunities to subtly move your audience down the sales funnel. Example #1: ASICS. For example, this pronation guide by ASICS makes for an excellent instance of content targeting the interest stage. It offers some basic information on the subject of pronation. But, instead of getting stuck on the definitions, it focuses on the actions runners can take to use the knowledge about their physical features to identify the products that will serve them the best. This guide includes actionable steps runners can take to identify their pronation type, including professional-grade and DIY solutions. Then, it teaches them how to choose footwear, listing desirable technical characteristics for each product. Source: asics.com The company could have made its content even more effective at targeting the top end of the funnel by including links to specific products or product categories. That way, they’d make it even easier for consumers to move through the buyer’s journey. Example #2: PresetLove. For a slightly more thought-through example of a how-to guide aimed at the lower end of the awareness stage, you can check out this post from PresetLove. As a step-by-step instructional resource, PresetLove’s article educates its readers on a technical process that might come off as intimidating to those new to photo editing. However, thanks to on-page anchor links, GIFs, and detailed explanations, it makes the technical side of installing Lightroom presets less daunting. Source: presetlove.com Additionally, this resource goes even further in moving consumers down the funnel. It actively presents readers with suggested products they can try based on the version of Lightroom they use. The strategy may not guarantee that every single reader will convert into a customer. But, it does prevent the issue of consumers coming to the page, educating themselves on the topic, then leaving to spend their money with a competitor. 4...

6 Ways to Create Marketing Content That Stands Out From the Noise

Capitalizing on Awareness: 5 Ways to Create Content for the Top End of Your Funnel

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