You’ve just crafted an exceptionally readable and relatable post for your sales blog – complete with a clear opening, a value-packed middle and a compelling conclusion. If this is where your post ends, you’re missing the most critical element of your blog strategy – I’d even go so far as to say, you’ve missed the point of maintaining a business blog. Including a call-to-action (CTA) that guides the visitor to one of your content offers is a crucial step in turning the casual visitor into a lead.
By offering content that’s valuable enough to your prospects that they are willing to give you their contact information to get it, you gain important insights into who your potential customers are and you receive that all-important lead.
From a marketing perspective, a business blog is a tool used to help prospects move through each stage of the buyer’s journey – also called the digital marketing funnel – and your blog should include content offers that match each of the three stages. Below is an overview of the three stages and the types of content offers that work well for each.
Awareness
A large portion of your blog posts are going to be geared toward people who are in the first stage of their journey – awareness. At this point, they have just become aware that they have a need or a problem to solve. A person who comes to your website in the awareness stage is looking for insights, opinions and other data to help them understand how they might solve their problem. Content offers that work well when someone is in the awareness stage include:
- Ebooks
- Tip sheets
- How-to guides
- Tutorial videos
- Checklists
- Cheat sheets
- Whitepapers
- Industry reports with original research
- Templates
- SlideShare presentations
- Online courses
- Exclusive updates
Consideration
Once your prospect has done some light research into ways to solve their problem, they’ll move on to doing more in-depth research – usually into which company has the best solution for them. Consideration stage content offers should make it obvious that your company is an industry expert. Here are a few content offers that can make it easier for your prospects to consider your business as the right choice.
- Case studies
- Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
- Data sheets
- Demonstration videos
- Live webinars
Decision
The final stage of the buyer’s journey is the decision stage. This is when a prospect is ready to make a purchase. They may be ready to speak to a salesperson or they may have a few final questions to ask before they make the decision to go with your company instead of the competition. This stage is where your content offers should be specifically about why your business is best. Examples of decision stage content offers include:
- Demos
- Free trials
- Estimates
- Free consultations
- Coupons
The value of your content offers should generally increase with each stage of the buyer’s journey. The more value you provide, the more detailed information you can ask for in return.
Don't have the time or the staff to create a professional blog that boosts sales? If you're not sure whether outsourcing your content writing is for you, download a free copy of our ebook, Outsourcing Content Creation: 6 Essential Questions for Choosing the Right Partner.
About Virtucom Group
Consistent business blogging yields results – more clicks, more subscribers and – ultimately – more conversions. Whether you’re writing an automotive blog, an accounting blog, a healthcare blog or a home renovation blog, blogging for business and content development are useful for any industry. Follow the content writers at the Virtucom Group blog as they share digital marketing tips and discuss website content writing services that can optimize your business blog.
