C H A P T E R  2

The Early Stage

The Early Stage

Enter the Funnel

Welcome to the top of the funnel! In the early stages of the buying cycle, the people who consume your content are more or less strangers.

They may have never heard of your brand or your solution before. In fact, they may not even be aware they need what you have to offer. This is your chance to introduce your brand and build rapport by showing them that you’ve got something worth paying attention to. You’re beginning the dialogue.

Now’s not the time to try and push for a hard sale. Instead, you’ve got to generate interest and create awareness.

Early Stage of the Buyer's Journey

Your interactive content in the early stage of the buyer’s journey must get the buyer’s attention and then convert that attention into engagement.

Your interactive content in the early stage of the buyer’s journey must get the buyer’s attention.

But one-time engagement is not enough. Your ultimate goal is to use those brief interactions to open doors for further, more targeted engagement down the line.

Your visitor wants to know

Checkmark
Who is this company?—What does your business do, and what makes you unique?
Checkmark
Why should I care?—Is there something about your brand that’s compelling?

You want to know

Checkmark
Who is this visitor?—What’s their name, and how can you follow up with them?
Checkmark
How engaged are they?—Is this person genuinely interested? Are they actually consuming the content you’ve provided beyond a simple click or view?
Checkmark
What are they most interested in?—What parts of your content did they find most engaging, and what does that tell you about them?

A Clearer Picture

As you start picking up these basic insights, you paint a clear picture of the visitor that will empower your business to market with more specific content that’s compelling to them.

Effective Interactive Content Types for the Early Stage

When attention is the name of the game, entertainment and education go hand-in-hand.

To rise above the clutter of static white papers, eBooks, infographics and webinars, you can use interactive content during the early stages of the funnel to generate social shares and differentiate your brand while collecting some preliminary information about your visitors without overwhelming them with long forms or surveys.

Symantec Infographic

Interactive Infographics

Transform facts, soundbites and statistics into easily digestible, entertaining content that’s fun to consume. Using an interactive infographic early in the buyer’s journey will help you generate social shares and increase your reach, while also giving you a highly measurable way to gauge which factoids and insights are most compelling for your prospects.

View Examples

Symantec Infographic

Interactive Infographics

Transform facts, soundbites and statistics into easily digestible, entertaining content that’s fun to consume. Using an interactive infographic early in the buyer’s journey will help you generate social shares and increase your reach, while also giving you a highly measurable way to gauge which factoids and insights are most compelling for your prospects.

View Examples

Marketo Lookbook

Lookbooks

If you’ve got a visual product or concept to communicate, a lookbook is a gripping way to nab and hold a visitor’s attention while giving them a unique way to discover your offering and see your value.

View Examples

Marketo Lookbook

Lookbooks

If you’ve got a visual product or concept to communicate, a lookbook is a gripping way to nab and hold a visitor’s attention while giving them a unique way to discover your offering and see your value.

View Examples

AthenaHealth Infographic

Interactive White Papers

Instead of a lengthy resource that a visitor will skim through and discard, transform static white papers into an entertaining asset they’ll want to share. The information is typically richer than an infographic, giving you deeper insights into what information your visitor found compelling.

White papers are especially useful in the early stages for building brand credibility and establishing thought leadership. They’re great targets for social sharing, and with such high conversion rates for lead-generation, you can use a downloadable PDF version to capture the visitor’s contact information and put a name to the data you’ve collected.

View Examples

AthenaHealth Infographic

Interactive White Papers

Instead of a lengthy resource that a visitor will skim through and discard, transform static white papers into an entertaining asset they’ll want to share. The information is typically richer than an infographic, giving you deeper insights into what information your visitor found compelling.

White papers are especially useful in the early stages for building brand credibility and establishing thought leadership. They’re great targets for social sharing, and with such high conversion rates for lead-generation, you can use a downloadable PDF version to capture the visitor’s contact information and put a name to the data you’ve collected.

View Examples

Orbitz Quiz

Quizzes

Addictive and incredibly shareable, quizzes are ideal for generating leads and creating a buzz on social networks. People like to compete for recognition almost as much as they do tangible prizes, and while they’re filling out a quiz, you’re learning who they are, how they think and what they care about – all meaningful feedback for a sales team!

View Examples

Orbitz Quiz

Quizzes

Addictive and incredibly shareable, quizzes are ideal for generating leads and creating a buzz on social networks. People like to compete for recognition almost as much as they do tangible prizes, and while they’re filling out a quiz, you’re learning who they are, how they think and what they care about—all meaningful feedback for a sales team!

View Examples

Getting to the Next Stage

Getting to the Next Stage

While sometimes your visitor might move very quickly from initial awareness to consideration (becoming a qualified lead), most of the time, it’s going to take some nurturing.

Unlike static content, which tends to treat every early-stage lead the same way, you can use the feedback you’ve collected from your interactive content to help your lead transition to the next stage by using targeted remarketing and e-mail nurturing campaigns tailored to them.

Aware & Ready

As your lead becomes more aware of their need and identifies their pain points, they’ll eventually be ready to take the next step and start qualifying solutions–and that’s where the objectives of your content start to change dramatically.

©i-on interactive, inc.