As you are likely aware after having read our articles and blog posts about content over the years, there are a wide variety of content types suited for every stage of the buyer’s journey from awareness to consideration to close. Let’s look at one of the best pieces of content that can be used as they approach the end of their journey: the buyer’s guide.
After having passed through the awareness stage and the consideration stage, your buyer is just about prepared to make a purchasing decision. Now is the time to strengthen your solution and brand position in the purchaser’s mind. They know their challenge firsthand. They have considered a variety of potential technology solutions to their challenge and now it is time to highlight why your company’s solution is the best option. The beauty of the buyer’s guide is that now it is truly time to present the case for your solution, whereas in prior stages the goal was to empathize and outline all the potential solutions to the challenge they face.
Your buyer’s guide may need to discuss a specific single product or device. For example, you may want to highlight the benefits of a panoramic or multi-imager video surveillance camera. On the other hand, it may be a buyer’s guide for an entire solution such as an access control system integrated to a visitor management system to streamline processes.
Fortunately, your buyer’s guide is going to be heavy on words which is ideal for your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Be sure to include terminology that is common to the industry to ensure your content ranks well.
Pro tip: the title of your buyer’s guide should be well thought out, for this is the one place where your wording is critical, especially when promoting the guide.
Now that you are past the title, be sure to rephrase the challenge and what your product or solution is. Clearly state how it is used as part of the solution, and specifically how the implementation will positively impact the user’s operations, safety, security, or bottom line.
Once you get past the introduction, it is important to remain transparent. While your solution may solve many organizations’ challenges, it is important to continue to state when your solution may not be ideal. This transparency ensures that your reader understands that you are delivering fair advice and are aware that sometimes your solution is not the best answer to a problem. This drives home the fact that your company is a trusted source for reliable information. Plus, it will prevent your sales team from chasing unqualified leads.
Clearly outline the pros and cons associated with their purchasing decision by comparing your solution to other available solutions. Your prospect is likely going to evaluate other solutions and your best position is bring up the alternate solutions’ pros and cons first.
Lastly, explain the purchasing process, how to buy the solution, what to expect from the beginning of the sales process to the last day of installation and final system testing. Mapping out the process reduces the purchaser’s anxiety and clearly sets process expectations for all stakeholders.
Guiding the Process
Deciding on a topic for a buyer’s guide is the starting point. Writing a comprehensive guide, formatting it into an easy-to-read and graphics rich document, publishing it, and promoting it may require a little more help to accomplish.
Don’t forget, this guide is not only answering the final questions of a buyer finishing their decision-making journey, but also likely generating additional sales leads that need to be added to your CRM system. So be sure to tie the guide to calls-to-action and marketing automation that is part of your blog or website system.
Contact Vector Firm today to discuss your content production and marketing needs.
