Photo by Anna K on Unsplash

Like Us on Facebook

---

Creating content for your business — literally — includes hundreds of moving pieces from content formats to design teams to utilizing the appropriate social media channels that will reach your target audience. This is where content gets interesting because literally every piece of content should serve a purpose for your business.

A Content Mix is a combination of platforms, channels and formats that create an experience around your business, brand & employees. At its basic level, a content mix acts as a directory that will move potential customers through sales cycle & buying process. The key is to have the right amount of content that holds the appropriate information that you want to communicate to your target audience.

Always remember, your content should serve as a vehicle to drive prospects to your products or services. Let’s check out the table below.

Loop Stage	Loop Activity	Content Formats
Target Audience Discovers Content (Awareness)	Prospect enters customer loop.	This includes anything that provides value for your target audience. Such as newsletters, online events, free content, webinars, etc. It helps to know where your target audience consumes the most content. Once you figure that out, you can increase your conversions by focusing your efforts.
Target Audience is engaged (You have their attention)	Target audience engages on social media, signs up for newsletter, leaves a comment/review, etc.	This is a great way to use the data you have gathered from social media, analytics, free content based on feedback, showcases, product examples, etc.
Target audience member converts to potential customer	This is where you engage with your potential customer to figure out where they are in the process. You’ll want to differentiate between a content consumer and buyer.	This is where direct to consumer comes into play. You can send an email, make a phone call, reach out on social media, etc. This is why a perfect content mix is effective because you’re constantly building relationships with your target audience.
Zero Moment of Truth (Potential customer leans toward buying)	A potential customer begins to research your product and is leaning towards buying.	This is where you can create content specifically for this situation. Content that includes customer reviews, success stories, etc. Anything that will keep their attention on your business and keep them moving through the loop cycle.
Potential customer becomes a buyer (Your goal should converting them into a repeat customer)	Your prospect has successfully made a purchase of your product or service.	This stage in the customer loop is where businesses are built. You’ll need to put a focus on value and continuing to present information and providing a service that makes them feel confident in their decision.

When you are developing your content mix your top priority should be defining the purpose of your content. This will include your overall brand goals, business objectives and determining which type of content your target audience identifies with for content marketing purposes.

I want to highlight the need to prioritize, there will be a demand to identify which pieces of content hold priority over the other. Customer loops are mainly about controlling the content experience and developing a content mix will help to bring clarity to your approach. For example, your content mix should include pieces that:

• Advise (Increase awareness)
• Motivate
• Educate (How to)
• Influence
• Entertain
• Evoke emotions
• Create conversations
• Provide perspective (popular or unpopular)
• Enlighten & help

This is why each piece of content holds a certain responsibility to your target audience. Creating a content mix involves creating the perfect recipe for those who are visual consumers, audio consumers and those who consume content by reading.

A content mix puts your business in position to provide the best experience possible for your target audience. The ability to create conversations with your target audiences through content marketing means they are moving through the sales cycle and buying process. No matter, who your target audience is, it’s about eliminating fear and increasing confidence with your target audience as a whole.

Continuously planting seeds and positioning your business as a trusted source. This is essential because the more time your target audience spends in the sales cycle the less need there is to be sold on your products and services. Effective customer loops will inform, persuade, instruct, confirm and entertain your target audience. This is why you should approach your content as an asset class within itself.

---

If you’re interested in learning more about ‘Branding, Marketing & Social Media Insights’, feel free to sign up for my monthly Newsletter.