#099 - Buyers Journey: How To Create Marketing Messaging That Connects

Show Notes

With a vast amount of information available and accessible online, today's buyer is more informed prior to making a purchase, than ever before. This means that to be successful in sales business owners must adapt their marketing and messaging mindset from selling to helping. 
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In this episode, Lori Vajda and Nola Boea explain everything you need to know to create the kind of content your prospective buyers are searching for.

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In This Episode You’ll Learn 

• The ‘Buyer’s Journey’ and what it means in marketing
• What your ideal buyer is doing during the awareness stage.
• Why you need to create informational, not salesy, content that educates prospects along their path to purchase.
• The best types of content that best outline the problem that your prospective customers are experiencing. 

Key points Lori and Nola are sharing in this episode:
(02:46:14) Why it’s important to create content that uniquely matches each stage of the buyer’s journey. 
(06:43.90) How messaging that focuses on this first and this next can move the prospect to a buyer.
(11:44:04) To engage your ideal reader's attention, this copywriting trick is the key to you success.
(15:13:69) Here are 7 ideas for creating the type of content that best matches stage 3, solution aware, shoppers.

Resources 
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Transcript

[00:00:00] Nola: You created your business to help people. Unfortunately, it's likely that your ideal customers aren't even aware that they have a problem, let alone that you have the perfect solution. So how do you as a business owner attract and convert prospective buyers? One major way is with compelling content, the kind of content that can take a perspective buyer from their current situation and guide them all the way to a solution, which ideally is to purchase your product or service. Stay tuned friends. Because in this episode, we are focusing on the types of messaging that solution aware shoppers can identify with, so you can convert them into customers.

[00:00:40] Announcer: You're listening to the Sticky Brand Lab podcast where time strapped professionals, like you learn how to create a business you love in as little as three hours a week.

[00:00:51] Lori: Nola, are you familiar with solution focused marketing or solution focused selling? Have you ever heard that term before?

[00:00:56] Nola: While I haven't typically called it that I do know that today's marketing best practice is to show how a product or service solves a problem and describes the ultimate benefits a buyer might experience. So I suppose that's solution-based selling, right?

[00:01:13] Lori: Exactly. And solution-based selling was really very popular in the 1980s. Not so much now. There's been some other focuses for selling techniques or selling philosophies, but the idea of it referred to uncovering a customer's pain points and then matching the right product or service that addresses that problem. To match the right solution. You have to create compelling content that perfectly aligns where the buyer is. And what I like to think about this approach is that the focuses on more of the why over the what of the potential sale. So what you're selling takes a backseat to why your prospect would benefit from it or why they would need it.

One of the strengths of solution focused selling or solution focused marketing, even, is that your ideal customers won't feel like they're being sold a bunch of features, but rather that they're getting answers to issues or concerns that they've been either dealing with or that they've become aware need to be dealt with. So to me, this perfectly aligns with our topic today, which is creating messaging that matches stage three of the buyer's journey, which is the solution aware stage.

[00:02:34] Nola: I agree. This really does align perfectly with that topic. Would you mind explaining to our listeners why entrepreneurs should understand the entire buyer's journey in general?

[00:02:45] Lori: Absolutely. Because the buyer's journey focuses on providing solutions that help customers move successfully through each stage of their decision-making process. And solution-based marketing might just be the best way to take a prospect and turn them into a buyer. More importantly, when you create messaging that meets prospects where they are, you're far more likely to lead them to the natural conclusion, which is what we were talking about before, that you are the solution that they're looking for.

Now in episode 77. We went through the five stages of the buyer's journey, but I am just going to repeat that here for listeners who might just be tuning in. So, there are five stages. Some people only refer to three stages, but I like to think of the five stages because it helps you think of it in smaller steps.

In the case of stage one, which is the unaware, our recommendation, you could say that yours and mine is we believe, don't even waste your time creating content for perspective buyers who are in this stage, because just as the name implies, they are not even aware that they have a problem. So trying to make them aware is a lot of work for very little outcome.

But stage two, however, is the problem aware stage. And just as that name implies, somebody recognizes that there's a problem. They just don't know anything about it. So when they're looking for a solution, what they're really looking for is a solution to, is this really a problem or is this just in my head?
Now when they get to stage three, which is today's topic, solution aware, they recognize that they do have a problem and there are solutions out there, but they're not familiar with any of them. And stage four is product aware. At this stage, they already are aware what the solution is to their particular problem. And now they're looking for products that relate to that specific solution.

And in stage five, they've probably narrowed it down to between you and one other person. And just as a reminder, you and I did episode 84, which went into great detail on stage two. So listeners, if you wanna get a better understanding, check out episode 84.

[00:05:26] Nola: Speaking of talking to a buyer or prospect, and meeting them where they're at on the buyer's journey, where would you say a buyer is at when they are seeking solutions and how do you address those people?

[00:05:40] Lori: That's a really good question, because you know, when we talked about stage two, which was the problem aware stage, we said, what that means is exactly what the title says. But here at the solution aware stage, a prospective buyer knows the results they want, but they're not aware of which products or which services are going to help them get that result. So they're doing research to find a solution and where they're likely doing that research is yes, it does include Google search, but here they're more likely to reach out to friends, family, colleagues for recommendations. So they're really just trying to find out if the problem they're experiencing, if a solution even exists. And here you as the business owner, you're wearing many hats. And some of those hats include being the marketer and being the salesperson. So when you are developing messaging, you want messaging that focuses on education first and promoting your company second. Why? Because remember at this stage, prospective buyers are looking for information and they're gonna be on Google doing searches. And you want your content to come across like a trusted colleague. So you want your marketing material to have a tone and emotion that is conveyed in what they're reading. This is also the stage of the journey where content marketing will help you shine as a subject matter expert.

[00:07:26] Nola: Great. Let's talk about the marketing goal of stage three of the buyer's journey, the solution aware stage.

[00:07:33] Lori: Okay, let's do that. Let's do that.

[00:07:38] Nola: Cause that's why we're here.

[00:07:40] Lori: That's why we're here.

[00:07:42] Nola: Well, at this stage, your job is to create content that is focused on the solution. And again, you're not pitching your product or service. Rather you're positioning yourself as an industry expert who knows how to solve the buyer's problem. Now, here's a couple tips. Something to know, is that a major challenge with those buyers that are in the solution aware stage is that they are experts at procrastination. They're gonna be researching and researching, and they're probably not gonna do anything else until they are repeatedly nudged to do so while their problem continues to deteriorate.

[00:08:20] Lori: We probably all know people like that in our lives. They continuously talk about the problem that they're having, and in our minds, we're thinking, then go solve it.

[00:08:28] Nola: Right.

[00:08:29] Lori: But that's the next stage. That's stage four in the buyer's journey. At stage three, they recognize they have a problem, as you've said, but they're not really invested. It's not so much of a pain point that they're actually ready to invest in a solution, which is why they continuously research what's available.

[00:08:52] Nola: Until that problem is critically urgent. So while they're researching, you want to make sure that you've created content that contains topics this target audience will find information that they need, and that will guide them to choose eventually the right product, namely yours. So here are some tactics to apply while you're creating that content.
Be sure to include keywords that your prospect is going to use during their research. For example, in all vulnerability here, one of my problems is, I'm very much over 40. And I still get zits. That is a problem.

[00:09:43] Lori: Yes.

[00:09:45] Nola: And I couldn't say I always have, but it's been very strange. So. What will I research now that I'm problem aware and may be thinking solutions? Well, I'm going to be looking at what causes zits in people over 40. What are those things? Sugar. My makeup, or is it hormones?

 Let's say you have a special solution, you know, a skincare regimen. So you wanna be sure to include keywords. Like acne for mature women or something like that. And the whole point is you wanna create content that's optimized for search engines. So you really wanna get into your customer's head. What is it they're gonna be looking for? What is it they're literally gonna be typing in when they're searching for solutions. This is the time when you can start talking or introducing your product, but don't talk about it too much. You really wanna focus in on saying I hear you and hear some solutions, and start name dropping your product.

[00:10:49] Lori: A good way to think about that, I think is the who, what, where, when, how and why. If you think about questions from that standpoint, that will help you to address some of the ways that not only prospective customer search, but how you are the solution. So in your example with acne,

[00:11:11] Nola: They're not really acne, it's just little zits. I'm sorry.

[00:11:15] Lori: Okay. What causes little zits? Why does it happen in warm weather versus cold weather? How can you get rid of small zits? What's the quickest remedy? But initially if you set up the who, what, where, when, why, and how, developing questions that way, then you are answering them with you being the solution.

[00:11:40] Nola: And we're gonna have more questions later on.

[00:11:42] Lori: Absolutely. Now, when you're thinking about the strategy or an approach, be sure you're engaging the reader's attention by developing titles or what we call headlines and sub-headlines. And a good way to think about that is if you're in the supermarket waiting to check out and there's a magazine rack, you'll notice that your eyes gravitate to titles on the front cover, those are headlines, that grab your attention. And if it really grabs your attention, you might pick up the magazine and purchase it to read that article later. Or if you're waiting a long time, you might open it up to see if that paragraph addresses your curiosity, and then if it does you make the purchase. So that's what an engaging headline does for a reader. It really captivates their attention.

Which leads to the second thing you wanna think about is creating irresistible content. That content should be free as well as content for opting into an email list. So you can turn those prospective clients into ongoing customers who can receive your offer. And a good way to think about that is when you're developing opt-in content, that really help the reader or the prospect feel smarter, competent, secure. So for example, you might give them a user's guide. You might give them a checklist, a template, a comparison guide, a fact sheet, something that informs them, but cuts the learning curve short.

[00:13:22] Nola: Let me just add to that. It's just a very slight sidebar that may apply to some of our listeners. Very often when you're creating a product, people will put that on Amazon. They might also offer it, whether it's a book or a gizmo or some kind of other product, they might put it on their website where somebody who's reading their blog or reviewing their video might naturally purchase it off their website. Or if you've done this, they might go to Amazon to see if they can either get it at a better price or get it with free shipping because they are an Amazon Prime member. Now that is certainly a solid strategy, especially for the volume of buyers. However, one disadvantage is that when they buy your product off of Amazon, they become Amazon's customer. Amazon has all of that customer information. So it's makes it very difficult for you to establish a relationship. There are still ways perhaps in the delivery. But if you can capture that person's email address before they've hopped over to Amazon, in the course of them researching that topic, then they are your customer. You have that relationship. You can continue to connect with them.

[00:14:39] Lori: One thing to keep in mind, and this is our third tip to a strategy approach, is you wanna be sure to keep the ratio of informative content to sales content high, to build rapport and interest. Or as we like to think of, to build curiosity, because if you're pushing the product, your sales content over the informative content, it feels very pushy. It feels icky.

Yes, so with those three tips in mind, here's some ideas for the type of content that matches really well. Webinars, particularly free and low cost of admission type of webinars.

Videos work well. And a good way to think about that is short videos, like giving them a sample of what it's like to work with you, how you deliver information, how you connect with your buyers or your audience.

Another great tip is podcasts. And it's not so much for you to produce a podcast, but for you to be a guest on other people's podcasts, giving you the opportunity to talk in small snippets about particular problems that listeners could have, that you are a solution for.

Another type of content to create is, you could aggregate research or industry trend and develop a report. So you become a resource or a go-to source for listeners.

White papers, this gives you an opportunity to share your philosophy or your viewpoint. You could develop a buyer's guide answering or addressing the how-to kind of style so that it's not just educational, but practical. Here, it gives an opportunity to give tricks, hacks that they can do to shortcut their learning.

And then, the kind of sales material that you could develop would be a product comparison. So it shows what the benefits of using your product or service are compared to competitors in the same marketplace.

Now, a tip to keep in mind when developing compelling content are topics that ask and address questions your ideal customer has in mind. So your titles, as we alluded to, those great headlines, might be, How To. The Best. The Top 10. The Top Seven Ingredients for Home Organic Remedies for Zits, for example.

[00:17:29] Nola: Thanks.

[00:17:31] Lori: You're welcome.

[00:17:34] Nola: You know, it might be helpful to consider some of these questions that we're about to tell you, which we found on HubSpot. Think of them as ways to come up with content to write or even topics to choose. So we're going to just tag team and tell you five questions or five lines of questioning.

First off, how is life easier with your product or service? What challenges or tasks are eliminated or reduced? For example, Canva is a platform that makes graphic design for DIYers much easier. With their templates and their tools, they are able to reduce the challenges that are related to creating pretty content.

[00:18:24] Lori: Perfect example. A second question to keep in mind, does your product save the buyer time? And if so, how much time? What could they accomplish in those minutes, hours or days because they're using your product?

[00:18:39] Nola: Another question to answer is, does your product or service save the buyer money? And if so, how much, what could they accomplish with that amount? And that you could now take that train of thought and just transfer it to any other app or product or money saving solution that you're providing.

[00:18:59] Lori: Yeah. I love that. The fourth consideration or question to think about is how does your product influence others' perception of your prospect? Do they look more credible, important, effective, or successful? And a way to think about this is, is your product or service B to B, rather than B to C? So if you are a business and your clients are business owners, then does your product or service elevate them in the eyes of their customer?

[00:19:32] Nola: And fifth question to answer is what is the impact on your prospect's bottom line one month after buying your product? Six months after? A year after? When I think of that question, I often think of buying a riding lawnmower versus paying a landscaper. So good example, six months down the line, there will be a certain amount of savings and a year or more down the line, there's definitely a payoff that could then be invested in something else.

[00:20:04] Lori: Yeah. Like a better lawnmower. Just kidding.

[00:20:08] Nola: There's that.

[00:20:11] Lori: The most important thing here to remember is, your goal is to move people down the funnel to the next stage in the buyer's journey. When you know which stage of awareness your prospective buyers are in, you'll know what you need to say and what they need to hear in order to move them closer to the sale. Awareness matters because it helps you as the business owner know what types of conversations your customers want to have. And your goal is to give them the right information at the right time. It also helps you join the conversation that they're already having in their head.

[00:20:51] Nola: Well said. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. We hope it makes all the difference in you getting started on your business so you can create your best and most exciting life. If you found the information shared here today, helpful. Let us know by posting here where you're listening or on our Facebook page.

[00:21:09] Lori: Not sure how to turn your idea into a profitable side business? Contact us at stickybrandlab.com/contact. We'd be happy to help you.

[00:21:19] Nola: Be sure to come back next Tuesday and every Tuesday for another informative, inspiring and motivating episode. And remember action creates results. So tap into your desire to create a business and brand you love by taking 1% action every day. Small steps, big effects.

[OUT-TAKE]

Nola: Then we insert our announcer here. You no, I'm not gonna say it.
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[00:21:46] Lori: fine.