The Client Journey T H E R I G H T C O N T E N T A T T H E R I G H T T I M E F O R T H E R I G H T C L I E N T S & P R O S P E C T S N A M R E H Y B B A Y B Y B D E C U D O R A B B Y M H E R M A N . C O M P About Abby Abby is a content strategist and content coach for small business owners who want to gain visibility for their businesses with personalized content strategies and implemen- tation. She specializes in idea generation and content strategy and delivery so her cli- ents can keep doing what they love in their business while making the marketing piece feel easy. She also hosts a growing membership program, Content Mastery Lab, to help newer business owners DIY their content marketing, because she knows from experience that there’s nothing more frustrating than not knowing where to start. You can connect with her on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn or check out her pod- cast, Stories in Small Business. About Write Solutions Write Solutions is Abby’s “other” baby (aside from her real, human child). It launched in 2007 as a freelance writing business, to help Abby make ends meet while she worked full time in public education. Eventually, something had to give. And in May 2013, Abby hung up her teaching shoes to grow Write Solutions into what it is today. It’s still a one-ish woman show (with a small team of support contractors) and likely always will be because Abby loves the personal connections she gets to make with everyone she works with. Be- cause that’s what this entrepreneurial thing is all about—connections and relation- ships. How to Use this Guide This ebook is designed to get you started on the right path to developing the content that you need to meet your audience where they are in their journey with your brand. This is only the beginning. Throughout the document, take notes on what content you’re currently creating and what you can do more of to help build relationships with those you want to work with and maintain relationships with those you’re currently working with. Then check back and make sure you’re creating the right content for each stage of your client journey. © 2020 • Write Solutions • abbymherman.com 2 Copyright I invite you to use this book to help you grow your content bank for your audience—at all stages of their journey with you. Please don’t steal, reproduce or republish any of the contents of this book. For more information, contact Abby Herman at [email protected]. © 2020 • Write Solutions • abbymherman.com 3 © 2020 • Write Solutions • abbymherman.com 4 Why the Content Journey Matters When you go into business, no one knows who you are. It’s up to you to find your tribe, those people who want and need what you have to offer, and then encourage them to follow you. How you do this is part of the journey your audience goes on before they buy from you. And you encourage the follows and progression of that journey through the infor- mation—your content—you put out there for the masses and smaller audiences, when appropriate (more on that later). But it’s not enough to slap some content on your website or post a bunch of links on Facebook. You need to be able to take your audience through specific checkpoints, both with your brand and with the information you share. Every person who buys from you goes through the same journey. Some just make it through faster than others. The Start of the Journey. While you’re looking to get found, your audience is looking to find you. They need what you have to offer, which is why they’re drawn to you in the first place. They con- sume the content you put out there (also known as mild internet stalking) and gather information about you and your brand. Eventually, they may interact with you until fi- nally—sometimes days, weeks or even months (and months!) down the road—they buy. Every person who buys from you goes through the same journey. Some just make it through faster than others. And every person uses the content you create (as well as outside sources) to make a decision about whether to buy from you and when. This journey matters. And it’s important that you pay attention to the journey as you create content. Because while one piece of content may work at one stage of the jour- ney, you need an entirely different piece of content to move an audience member to the next stage. You wouldn’t buy a big-ticket item from someone you didn’t trust, and you can’t expect someone to buy from you without going through the client journey. © 2020 • Write Solutions • abbymherman.com 5 What are ways you currently nurture your audience—whether they’re still getting to know you or you’ve been working with them for a while? Jot some notes now, before we dive into the stages of the client journey. How do you build trust with your audience? What content do you currently create that’s designed to educate your audience and build their trust? Trust is Huge. You wouldn’t buy a big-ticket item from someone you didn’t trust, and you can’t expect someone to buy from you without going through the first few stages of the client jour- ney. Someone first learns about you through your videos and blog posts—even those they find on someone else’s site in the form of guest blogs. They grow to trust you when you nurture them with valuable emails and trainings as you educate them and give them the information they want. All of this needs to happen before someone buys because you have to build trust and show that you have value to give to them. You reinforce and maintain this trust as you continue to share information in later stages of the journey, but the first few steps are vital. While most content is designed for a specific audience at a specific stage in their jour- ney with you, some content spans multiple stages. Know that one piece of content you create may be consumed by audience members at all stages. © 2020 • Write Solutions • abbymherman.com 6 Your Audience Grows. When you create content that focuses on the journey, your audience will grow in size. But more importantly, they will grow in knowledge. You’ve nurtured and educated those in the first stages of the journey, and they be- come your clients because they need and want more from you. As you work with them, there are opportunities to continue that relationship with more value and bigger offerings—but only when presented in the right way with exclusive content. You see, your audience in later stages of their journey with your brand has more knowledge and expects more content—different content than what you provide to oth- ers. They already know, like and trust you, but they’re looking for more. It’s likely they’ve already bought from you, but are ready to take the next step—a high- er-priced offering or another service you provide. You must continue to nurture this au- dience with additional content directed specifically to them. And you can do that through the six stages of the client journey. © 2020 • Write Solutions • abbymherman.com 7 6 Stages of the Client Journey You know you need to create content for your audience because that’s what draws your audience to you. Content helps you establish a voice in your industry, and it al- lows your audience to grow to know, like and trust you. But when you start to create that content, you need to know who you’re creating it for. There’s a lot of talk about targeting your ideal client avatar, and while that might be helpful, it’s definitely not ideal. Here’s a few reasons why you shouldn’t write your con- tent for an avatar. 1. An avatar is fictional. As in, not real. 2. An avatar is made up of characteristics of someone fictional who you want to work with—not who you’re actually working with. 3. Your actual audience (the real people) are all at different stages of their journey with your brand. 4. Your actual audience (the real people) all face different challenges and they have different characteristics. (Do you really need to know their pets’ names?) Instead, as you’re planning and creating your content, think about who you like to work with (the real, actual people) and who do you want to work with (the real, actual people). You’ll get a lot closer to hitting the mark with your content if you think that way. Who are the people you’re working with now that you like working with? Who are the people you’d like to work with in the future? Think of real, actual humans. It’s okay to name names. Write down what it is that makes these prospects so appealing to you. © 2020 • Write Solutions • abbymherman.com 8 The Content You Need. Once you know who you’re creating content for, what do you need to create? Like most questions relating to business, the answer is, “It depends.” A lot of factors go into deciding what content to create and where to put it.