Mapping content to the customer journey means more than creating blog posts, emails, and other content based on your audience’s needs.
It’s also about understanding the emotions your customers feel at each stage of the journey and creating a content experience that connects with them.
To create a content journey that connects with your audience, you need to understand the eight key touchpoints of the customer journey and how to create content for each stage.
1. Awareness of a Need
Your customer is experiencing some kind of problem or pain point. They may not even be aware of it yet, but they know something isn’t right. At this stage, you want to create content that will help them identify the issue. In HR, using employee engagement survey tools serves the same purpose—helping teams uncover challenges that may not be immediately visible.
For example, “The Side Effects of a Poorly Designed Website” is a blog post that talks directly to this stage of the customer journey. If your website is outdated, it can have a negative impact on your business. But if you don’t know what to look for, you may not even realize how much it’s hurting you. This blog post highlights common issues that can be easily fixed. By reading this, you’ll start to see why a website redesign might be something to consider.
2. Realization of a Need
The realization of a need is the moment when a person recognizes that they have a problem that needs solving. This could be a problem they didn’t know they had, or a problem they’ve been avoiding.
At this stage, a person is looking for information and resources to help them clearly define their problem and decide what to do next. They may not yet know that your company, products, or services can help them solve their problem.
3. Search for Information
The first touchpoint in the customer journey is when a potential customer is looking for information. This is where you can provide valuable, helpful content that educates them on the problem they’re experiencing and how to solve it.
In this stage, you want to focus on creating content that:
• Identifies the problem your target audience is experiencing
• Educates them on the problem and how to solve it
• Introduces your brand as a potential solution
Example content you can create for this stage include blog posts, infographics, videos, whitepapers, eBooks, etc. that educate them on the problem and how to solve it.
4. Evaluation of Options
Once potential customers are aware of their problem, they’ll start looking for solutions. This is where your content can help them understand their options and make an informed decision.
You’ll want to create content that compares different solutions to their problem and highlights what sets your product or service apart. This is the time to get specific and make a strong case for why your solution is the best.
5. Rationalization of Purchase
This is the stage where you need to help your customer evaluate their options. They’ve decided that they want to buy a product that you offer, but they’re not sure which one.
This is where you want to be sure to highlight what makes your product different from the rest. You can do this with a comparison chart, a head-to-head video, or a customer testimonial that speaks to your product’s unique selling proposition.
In this stage, you can also create content that helps potential customers understand why they need to buy a product like yours in the first place. This is where you can create content that speaks to the problem or pain that your product solves.
6. Actual Purchase
You’ve done it. Your customer has now made a purchase. You will want to make sure you have a thank you page on your website for this very moment. This is where you can say thank you and upsell other products or services.
You can also use this as an opportunity to ask for a review or testimonial. This is a great way to get user-generated content for your website and social media.
If it’s a big purchase, you may also want to send a follow-up email to check in and make sure they are happy with their purchase. You can also use this as an opportunity to ask for a review or testimonial.
If they are not happy with their purchase, this is your chance to make it right. The last thing you want is for a bad review to end up on social media where everyone can see it.
7. Post-Purchase Evaluation
The customer journey doesn’t end with the purchase. For many businesses, the post-purchase evaluation is a key touchpoint to consider in the sales cycle.
If you’re a B2B company, you may want to create content that helps your customers evaluate their purchase. For example, you could create a how-to video using an AI video agent that shows customers how to use your product or service.
If you’re a B2C company, the post-purchase evaluation could be a great opportunity to upsell or cross-sell your customers. For example, you could create a blog post that highlights complementary products to the one your customer just purchased.
8. Advocacy and Loyalty
Finally, you want to create content that helps you build relationships with your existing customers. This can help you generate more business from them in the future, and it can help you generate new business through referrals and word-of-mouth marketing.
One of the best ways to create content for this stage of the customer journey is to get your customers involved in your content creation process. You can interview them, feature them in case studies, or ask them to write guest blog posts. This will not only help you create valuable content, but it will also help you build stronger relationships with your existing customers. At the advocacy stage, word-of-mouth marketing becomes one of your most powerful content amplifiers. Tools like ReferralCandy help you transform delighted customers into brand ambassadors — ensuring every content touchpoint, from awareness to loyalty, contributes to measurable growth.
Mapping Content to Your Customer Journey
The customer journey is the process a customer goes through when they are deciding to make a purchase. It is a roadmap that outlines how customers get from point A (learning about your company) to point B (making a purchase). The customer journey is typically broken down into three main stages: awareness, consideration, and decision.
The goal of mapping content to the customer journey is to provide your customers with the right type of content at the right time. This will help you build trust with your customers and increase the likelihood that they will make a purchase.
In this section, we will take a closer look at the customer journey and how to map content to each stage.