Content mapping is a marketing technique that matches your messaging to key stages in a shopper’s online purchasing journey.
This technique requires understanding shopper motivations throughout the buying process. Marketers can use this knowledge to create relevant, valuable content to attract, engage, and retain shoppers.
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An e-commerce content map starts with completing three separate tasks:
- Know your customer. What motivates customers at each stage of the buying process?
- Know the product. What value does your product provide to shoppers? What differentiates the products sold and the store itself?
- Catalogue content. What content has your business already produced? How does that content align with shoppers’ purchasing journey and the value of your product?
The journey to purchase
Each task is important and nuanced, but in this article we’ll focus on knowing your customer. Their Journey From consideration to post-purchase.
Several models can help you understand the journey that consumers take to become familiar with your brand or product and ultimately purchase it. Models well suited to content mapping are: McKinsey & Company Customer decision-making process FrameworkIt has four buying phases:
- First consideration. People have a need and start looking for a product.
- Positive evaluation. People gather information and compare options.
- closure. If I’m happy with the reviews I’ll buy it.
- After purchase. Customers experience the product and form opinions about future purchases.
A merchant’s marketing team should interview customers and prospects to understand what motivated them at each stage. The goal is to identify what content will help move shoppers toward a final purchase.
Your content map should understand the details of your buyer’s journey, such as why someone moving from Mississippi to Arizona needs skin cream.
Let’s consider a real-life example: Margo moves from humid Mississippi to dry Arizona for a new job.
She soon noticed that her elbows, heels and knuckles were dry, cracked and itchy. The water-based lotions she’d used for decades weren’t working. She needed something better. Initial Consideration step.
Margo searches Google Actively evaluate Regarding options for dry skin, she found that creams contain relatively more oil than lotions and therefore work better in dry climates.
During the active evaluation phase, Margo came across a video that explained how lotion dries chamois cloths. It was a great piece of content marketing from a direct-to-consumer cream brand. Margo closure You are now ready to buy from a store that has gone through the steps and produced a helpful video.
When the new cream arrives, Margo experiences its regenerative powers. She After purchase Stage. The cream met her expectations, she will probably buy from the store again and will also listen to additional recommendations.
Content Mapping
Examples allow content marketers to compare and connect the value of their product, existing content, and shopper motivations. At each stage.
Marketers identify and fill content gaps to create comprehensive stories that engage shoppers like Margo throughout their buying journey. This is content mapping.
Learn how your marketing team can execute a content map different It depends on the merchant. However, General structure.
Continuing with our example of a business that sells skin cream, let’s use Margo’s story to represent a customer with similar motivations.
Initial Consideration
- Margo’s motivation. Find a solution for her dry and itchy skin.
- The seller’s marketing goals. Make Margo aware of the brand and educate her on possible solutions.
- Type of content. Blog posts about moving to Arizona and caring for dry skin. YouTube videos about the same, engaging social media content, and easy-to-follow infographics on why certain products work well in dry climates.
Active evaluation
- Margo’s motivation. Understand which products will be most effective for her needs.
- The seller’s marketing goals. It answers her questions and provides comprehensive information to help her compare her options.
- Type of content. A detailed guide comparing creams and lotions, or a compelling video demonstration, such as an example of a chamois cloth, can help Margo understand her dry skin and which products can help improve it. This phase is also a good time to use customer testimonials to build trust.
closure
- Margo’s motivation. I am ready to buy a product that will do better than her lotion.
- The seller’s marketing goals. We care about product quality and make the buying process easy and worry-free.
- Content TypeProduct pages with detailed descriptions and reviews, clear FAQs that address common concerns, and more social proof to encourage purchases.
After purchase
- Margo’s motivation. Experience the expected effects of the cream and consider your future purchase.
- Merchant Marketing GoalsEnsure Margo’s satisfaction, encourage repeat business, and foster brand loyalty.
- Type of content. Follow-up emails that provide usage tips or additional product recommendations, invitations to join loyalty programs, how-to guides to maximize the product benefits, surveys to gather feedback for continuous improvement, etc.
Suggest a blog post or video about dry skin in Arizona Initial Consideration Phase It’s completely different from writing or creating. create Aligning content with buyer behavior goes beyond the purpose of the map. Content Marketing Come in.
