Help potential customers find their way
Five phases of a purchase cycle
Assuming the product you’re selling is a considered purchase, like a service or piece of technology, consumers will go through five distinct phases (discovery, research, purchase, use, and additional purchase) to solve a given issue. Except for the two purchase stages, traditional and new media custom publishing combined with open discussion will move potential customers and existing customers through the other three stages. Here’s a look at each stage in isolation.
Phase 1: DiscoveryThere are an endless variety of ways potential customers can discover your company and its solutions. Here are some common examples:
Your business has an established brand for which you’re always a top contender in your category.
A media entity talking about a specific issue mentions your business as offering a desired solution.
Potential customers ask a trusted friend/expert what solution they’d recommend.
Potential customers go to editorial sites they trust and search for possible solutions.
Potential customers do general searches online to read articles and see what’s being discussed in blogs and discussion groups.
Potential customers happen upon your business serendipitously through traditional marketing or as they’re casually reading or looking for other tangential, yet relevant information.
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Solution finders are self motivated. They want answers, and they appreciate honest and thoughtful explanations. More importantly than the answers, is they recognize and acknowledge the voice delivering those answers. When creating custom editorial content, keep these issues in mind:
You’re not writing sales collateral. You’re creating content to answer a question. If it’s a sufficient “answer” then you’ve sold them on your credibility and your solution.
Put yourself in the mind of the individual or organization with the problem. Different people are brought in at different points in the sales cycle. Do you have the right information, produced in the right way, when that person needs it?
For the audience that doesn’t even know you exist, where do they go to find answers? Where do they spend their time? Find those locations (e.g. blogs, magazines, user groups) and spend time there as well. Participate in discussions even when they’re not directly relevant to your business.
Make sure there’s a division between your editorial content and marketing collateral. It should be instantaneously clear to the audience what is information and what is a sales pitch. Think about a magazine that has an article on the left page and an advertisement on the right page. Editorial separated by advertising is an understood and accepted relationship. Create the same dual tracks.
Purchase should be possible at any moment. Once you’ve created a separation between editorial and marketing, making both visible and available, you’ve given your audience the option to jump to purchase or additional purchase at any point along the sales cycle.
You’re using custom editorial and social media to move a would-be buyer through the purchase cycle. With this understanding, you’re ready to start creating your editorial calendar.
