The other day I was interested enough in a demo on a company’s website that I filled out a form to view it. Next day, I received a call from a very personable sales rep offering to answer my questions. Smart! They know that a person who checks out a demo is interested and perhaps a prospective buyer. And that’s the kind of lead that Sales wants — a prospect with a high likelihood of buying in the near term.

The demo was a piece of Content. We marketers have been talking about the importance of content in drawing prospective buyers in to the sales funnel. When I wrote newsletter articles about Content and about Inbound Marketing, I encouraged marketers to post digital content suited to different phases of the sales cycle and apply relevant tags and keywords so the content can be found via Search. And of course, we don’t leave it there; we use Social Media to invite people to view the content, because if it’s really good, people will share it with their friends and followers, increasing the volume of interested buyers who visit your website.

Nice! But once the visitor reaches your website and views the content, what’s next? How does a visitor become a buyer? Let’s consider some ways to keep the sales momentum going.

Different content for different stages in the sales cycle
Consider which stage of the sales cycle is served best by each piece of content. Here are some digital content types:
•    Blog posts – May be generated by Marketing or by someone else in your organization
•    Customer reviews – This type is generated by outsiders on other sites.
•    Proprietary research reports
•    Tools – ROI calculators and/or other self-qualifier tools
•    Video – demos, customer stories
•    White papers
Each must carry searchable keywords and tags and a URL pointing to more content. At some point, a prospect may drop from pursuing further information, probably because they have gathered enough for where they are in the buying process. But they know you better now and know how to get back to you when they’re ready.

Different types of content are more useful at different stages in the buying cycle. The vast majority of marketing messages aimed at people do not “reach” them because they are not seen at the right time in the individual’s buying processes. The beauty of Inbound Marketing is that, rather than trying to grab buyers’ attention, you draw their attention at the time when they are already curious, and you lead them to content that explains what they need to know at that stage in the cycle.
•    Attention – Content that is useful at the earliest phases of the buying cycle needs to be educational. Avoid being too promotional at this stage. You’re just helping the buyer sort out your qualifications, attributes and special capabilities. Consider using a White Paper here.
•    Consideration/Interest – Help your prospects identify the attributes that best meet their most important requirements. At this point, a demo video that shows buyers how they can use your product can elevate the prospect to the Desire stage.
•    Desire/Decision – Here is the time to bring in an honest competitive product comparison. Or offer compelling customer testimonials (in text or video, if you can get it). Because this is high value information, require them to register to reach it.
•    Action/Purchase – Provide a Call to Action and link to a landing page where the buyer can take action — buy (e-commerce) or be contacted by Sales. Set up a situation where the prospect can move on the decision. At this point, a promotional offer can seal the deal.

Registration forms – When is it a good idea to ask a visitor to register to see your content? Not until you pass the Attention (education) stage and, at the earliest, at the Interest stage. But keep it simple. Ask for too much information and you discourage people from looking at your content. Definitely gather information at the Decision stage.

Closing the loop – Make sure there is a “next” place for someone who is ready to go on. Use:

• A Call to Action – Include a “Contact Us” or “More…” link on every bit of content, even if you believe it is early in the buying cycle. Make sure the page or email you offer helps visitors move forward in the buying process if they’re ready.
• Share Buttons – Add a Share widget that let’s your readers share the content via email or on their social networks. It gives visitors an easy way to automatically include the URL.

Make sure your content is never a dead end. Make it easy for your prospects to move on to the next step, and always with appropriate content. If you don’t have relevant content for all the stages of the sales cycle, your first job, right now, today, is to make sure to produce and post it and make it abundantly available via SEO and social media.

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