Content Marketing for Beginners: What It Is and Why It Matters

by Emma Concepcion Bringuela  
April 18, 2023 • 5 minute read

How Content Marketing Works

Content marketing can help your business attract more potential customers. By sharing your content, you also persuade them to consider your service or product and later on, make them purchase it.

In order for you to achieve this, you need to create and share relevant and engaging content at every stage of the buyer’s journey, from the awareness stage to the closing stage.

You may think it is a complex process, but it actually makes your strategy simpler. Let’s take a closer look at how businesses use this strategy in each sales cycle stage.

1. Awareness Stage

During the awareness stage, you create content that offers value without being too salesy or overly promotional.

Since your main goal here is to increase brand awareness and product awareness, your content should make your customers aware of their needs or problems. This is where your blog excels. You can create educational blog posts by using AI tools like ChatGPT for your articles and social media posts to introduce your brand. 

Here are the following types of content you create during the awareness stage:

1. Blog Posts and Articles

2. Infographics

3. Videos

4. Lead Magnets

5. Social Media Posts

6. Podcasts

7. Newsletter

Tips:

• Don’t be too salesy: Education goes first

• Tell your target customers about possible solutions to their problem

• Provide how-to guides that are both practical and educational

2. Consideration Stage

The main purpose of the consideration stage is to provide content that assists potential buyers in considering your product or service as a possible solution to their problem.

This is your chance to give them more detailed information about your services or products. By providing content in the consideration stage, you place your items or services on your prospective client's shortlist of options that can be used to help them resolve their problems.

Building trust with your target audience is the goal of producing such material. This is because prospective customers want more than merely to make a purchase. They want to support a company they have faith in with their money.

Creating content that identifies your brand as reliable will aid in the conversion of leads to customers.

Here are the following types of content you create during the consideration stage:

1. Educational Resources (Case Study, White Paper, etc)

2. Product demos

3. Comparison guides

4. Software downloads

5. Webinars/Events

6. Useful Resources (Swipe File, Checklist, etc.)

7. Catalogs

8. Expert Guides

Tips:

• Share the advantages of using your services or products

• Show all solutions to the prospect and give comparison data

• Create content that is half-educational and half-promotional

• Move your prospects to the Conversion or Decision stage steadily and slowly

3. Purchase Stage/Closing Stage

This is the final – conversion- stage of the buyers’ journey. Your primary goal here is to help your potential customers make a final decision and become your clients based on the research they have done.

During this stage, your target customers have become more loyal to you so you need to educate them less but promote more of your services.

Your target may be reading your blogs or articles but you will need to create content that will help her decide between you and your competitor to move her through to purchase.

Here are the following types of content you must create during this stage:

1. Customer Stories

2. Comparison Data

3. Mini-Classes

4. Webinars/events

5. Demos

6. Free trials

7. Estimates and quotes

8. Vendor & product comparisons

9. Coupons & discount codes

Tips:

• Your prospects are close to this stage so help them to make a final decision in your favor

• No, it’s time to fully promote your product. Don’t educate.

• The best option here is to provide a free trial.

• Offer a demo and discounts!

Now that you are aware of the buyer’s journey, you can now create content to convert a prospect from the awareness stage to another and become a client in the final stage.

Related article: Top 10 Digital Marketing Skills to Learn and Earn for 2023

Benefits of Content Marketing

1. Engage with potential customers

When businesses understand their potential customers’ interests and needs, they can personalize their content to give value and address customers’ pain points. With content marketing, businesses have the ability to create valuable, relevant and engaging content that would make their prospects turn into loyal customers and become their clients in the end. 

2. Increase brand visibility

Businesses may now produce content that is customized for their intended audience thanks to content marketing. They can apply their content strategy, which will help them in producing content that is worthwhile and pertinent to their potential clients.

They have the ability to reach new clients, raise brand recognition, and establish their brand reputation once they have posted their content about their services or products across channels like blogs and social media.

3.  Generate leads and drive sales

Content marketing can help businesses generate leads by providing content that offers solutions to the prospect’s problem. During this process, showing all the advantages of using the services or products can create more leads and drive more sales.

Read More: Unlock Your Business's Potential with Facebook Ads

Conclusion: