Effective Marketing
In the Google Partners podcast, Keynote speaker, advisor and writer of NY Times Best Selling book “Be Like Amazon“, Bryan Eisenberg, describes important aspects of journey mapping for successful digital marketing.
He goes into to how to increase marketing effectiveness by understanding the processes, and points of contact, your customers are presented with.
In the “Path to Purchase”, we often focus on the purchase part of it. We ask how do we get there, but in the page after purchase is a simple “thank you, check your email”. According to Bryan Eisenberg, every detail matters.
Every Detail Matters
Some business decisions are made with months, sometimes years, of research and planning. Yet some decisions , sometimes seeming insignificant, are made quickly, as an after thought or in the rush for a deadline.
These decisions in particular can sometimes lead our customers through arbitrary steps, and negatively impact the effectiveness sales. By looking at customer reality data, what do your customers experience in their path to purchase, we can simplify this process and make it more effective. Focus on everything including;
- How long do people wait for a response to emails?
- How many steps must they take to get to that point of contact on the website?
- How can we improve that customer experience throughout?
Some of the best marketing has always been through referrals. By strengthening the relationship with our most valued customers, we can turn those customers into evangelists who praise your business.
People Buy Stories Before They Buy Stuff
John Jantsch from the Duct Tape Marketing podcast said; “People Buy Stories Before They Buy Stuff“. He describes how he has improved his campaigns, by applying a hero’s journey to his customer’s path to purchase. (Read also “The 12 stages of the writer’s journey” as found on Wikipedia)
His process starts by creating a content road map, by asking 3 questions:
- What questions do my prospects and customers have at each of those stages.
- What objectives are they trying to achieve at each stages.
- What content will I need to power each stage.
John Jantsch 7 Stages of the Content Journey
John Jantsch lists the 7 stages of the content journey as follows:
- Know – To learn the best, most profitable ways to run and grow their business
- Like – To better understand what other people are doing to lower expenses
- Trust – To understand what’s possible and legal
- Try – To see if any of the proposed savings apply to their situation
- Buy – To experience a process that feels very professional and give hope of substantial savings
- Repeat – Understand other ways they can gain wealth and possibly set up business to sell
- Refer – To feel proud telling another business owner about a very smart decision they made
The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers
The 12 stages of the writer’s journey as found on WikiPedia;
- The Ordinary World: the hero is seen in their everyday life
- The Call to Adventure: the initiating incident of the story
- Refusal of the Call: the hero experiences some hesitation to answer the call
- Meeting with the Mentor: the hero gains the supplies, knowledge, and confidence needed to commence the adventure
- Crossing the First Threshold: the hero commits wholeheartedly to the adventure
- Tests, Allies, and Enemies: the hero explores the special world, faces trial, and makes friends and enemies
- Approach to the Innermost Cave: the hero nears the center of the story and the special world
- The Ordeal: the hero faces the greatest challenge yet and experiences death and rebirth
- Reward: the hero experiences the consequences of surviving death
- The Road Back: the hero returns to the ordinary world or continues to an ultimate destination
- The Resurrection: the hero experiences a final moment of death and rebirth so they are pure when they reenter the ordinary world
- Return with the Elixir: the hero returns with something to improve the ordinary world
Hero Journeys For Websites
Here is a great example from Better Marketing’s “Customer Journey of the Hero on Your Website“. Detailing how your website could align with every stage of the Customer Journey of the Hero;
- Homepage
- Subscribe Page
- FAQ Page
- About
- Thank You / White Paper Download
- Case Studies
- Product
- Cart
- Checkout
- Members
- Review
- Share
Support Buyer Agency
Inboxes full of unread newsletters, a blurred work- and private life, notifications waking you up in the middle of the night, doom-scrolling on social media and hundreds of pings from abandoned discord channels. These are just a few examples of how people might be experiencing digital overload.
Marketing in 2021 is a time, more than ever before, to be mindful of how we approach and intersect with our customers. This attention to detail can ultimately be a strong way to stand out from competitors, create better relationships with your customers, and ultimately drive sales.
