How Content Can Be Helpful In The Awareness Stages Of Sales Funnel

Content is not just the king in the domain of marketing but it is not turning out to become the kingdom itself. Whether we talk about the awareness stage, the evaluation stage, or the purchase stage, content plays a key role in pushing the audience down the sales funnel to make them loyal to your brand. And its greatest importance is in the first stage, i.e., awareness stage.

Making the audience aware about your product, service, or brand is of utmost importance and content can be the tool to spread the word. Offering rich and informative content can help you introduce your business to your audience and create its value in their minds. Whether you bring together your own team or take the content writing services of an expert, your content can work wonders in the awareness stage of your audience. Here's how.

Defining The Stages Of Audience Awareness

Before getting into the different techniques of content marketing to develop your audience's awareness at different stages, it is important that marketers understand the different stages of audience awareness. Pushing the customers through the funnel at different stages of audience awareness journey is made possible if the marketer knows each stage well. Let's read about each stage of audience awareness and how content marketing can help you push your audience further towards conversion.

• Totally Unaware This is the stage where you know there is a pool of buyers out there but none of them are aware of your existence. They are totally unaware and don't even feel the need to know about your product/service, let alone, use it.

How Content Marketing Can Help?

Creating awareness among the new audience is something that content marketing would certainly help you achieve. There are a number of content marketing techniques like writing info-rich guest posts, showing leaders interviews in videos as well as written, getting influencers to promote your content, creating content with keywords around your product/service's main offering, etc. Strategic content

• Aware Of The Problem The next stage in the audience awareness journey is to make the audience aware that they have a problem that needs to be fixed. This type of audience can be found on search engines helplessly typing in their problem to know more about it and its solution. Every marketer needs to leverage the instinct of audience to find solution when they face a problem.

How Content Marketing Can Help?

Offering content that answers the how, why, and what regarding the value of your product/service is a must to spark the need for your product. Your content should be able to educate this audience about their problem and its potential solution. Different social media channels like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram etc., can also be used to put forward your thoughts and make your audience aware about the problem and how you can offer a solution to the same. Blog posts targeting the importance of your service or solution can also help in catching the attention of the audience at this stage.

• Aware Of Its Solution Once the audience is aware that they have a problem that needs to be fixed, they start looking for a solution for the same. These are the advice seekers who are looking to find the right solution to their problem. You can easily find this type of audience on content pages where you are offering solutions to certain problems.

How Content Marketing Can Help?

The problem-aware audience always seeks for answers. And where does it turn to seek solutions for its problems? Google, Yahoo, Bing, or any other search engine! As a content marketer, your goal should be to ensure that your content offers substantial answers to the problem your product/service targets to solve. Well-targeted advertising and SEO-friendly content are your power tools here. Whatever channel or type of content you use, ensure that it offers real answers and effective solutions. Delivering content linked to topic-focused landing pages can target this audience and push them to the next stage.

• Aware Of Your Product/Service Once aware of the solution, the buyer is then pushed to the next stage where he/she is made aware of your brand and that you are offering a solution. These could be called the virtual window shoppers who visit your online store or website but do not trust you enough to buy it. This audience can be easily found on your email lists, landing pages, and even as visitors on your product/service pages.

How Content Marketing Can Help?

A well-planned content marketing strategy can be the most effective in this stage of audience awareness as all they need is a little push to convert into buyers. Offering the content that lets them trust and know more about your product/service can trigger them into making a purchase. Other forms of content that can offer reassurance and make them trust your product/service are testimonials, reviews, influencer reviews, etc. Go through the email list or list of visitors on your page who have added the product in the cart but are a step away from making purchase. Target them and offer personalized content, emails, notifications, etc., to ensure conversion.

The importance of content in the awareness stage of marketing is certain. It is also hinted in the fact that nearly 71% of buyers consumed blog content before they made a purchase. Making the audience aware of your product is just the beginning of the sales funnel. You need to make them consider your solution and ensure them that it is better than the rest through comparison. Content like testimonials, videos, stat-based reports, etc., can be of great help in pushing the buyers down the sales funnel and finally converting them into buyers. In fact, even after the purchase, great content marketing strategy with personalized content can make them loyal to your brand and make them come back for more purchases afterward