Ep 24. Why your best clients never engage before buying (and what this means for your content strategy)

Someone just bought from you and you’re thinking, hold on a second, where did they come from? Because you’ve never seen them engage with any of your content.

Turns out they’ve been on a journey with you for months. You just didn’t see it.

When someone buys from you, it’s not normally a snap decision.

It’s the end result of a journey they’ve been on with you, and that could be for days, weeks, or months.

And most of that journey is completely invisible to you. So let’s talk about that.

If you’re new here, hello and a very warm welcome to Quiet Confidence with myself, Anita Popat. It’s the podcast for introverts who want to market their thing without changing who you are.

So, where I see most people going wrong is you create content as if everyone’s at the same stage of the journey.

You’re either talking to complete strangers all the time, or you’re selling to people who aren’t ready yet.

Today I wanna talk you through what’s actually happening at each stage of that invisible journey, and more importantly, what content you need to create for people at different points, so you’re not just hoping it lands with someone.

Let’s start from the beginning when someone discovers you for the first time.

Maybe your post got shared or you popped up in their search, or someone recommended you, whatever it is, they’ve landed on your profile and they have no idea who you are.

And at this stage, they’re asking themselves one question, which is, is this person for me?

They’re not thinking about buying anything. They’re not even thinking about following you yet. They just wanna know if you are relevant to their world. And this is why a lot of people mess it up because you’re either trying to sell too early or you’re so vague that not really clear what it is that you do or who you work with.

So yes, we need to obviously optimize our profiles to appeal to the people that we’re trying to attract, but they’re also gonna be looking at your recent content.

The content you need at this stage is what I call your North Star content or your origin story. It’s the stuff that makes it really obvious who you’re for and what you stand for, and your bio needs to speak directly to your ideal client, but also weave in a bit of who you are as well.

And your recent post should build on your bio and show your perspective on the thing that you help with.

Have a think about when you discover someone new. You’re not reading their whole back catalogue, you’re just looking at the last few posts, checking their about section and getting a vibe as to whether you’re interested or not.

And you’ve got about three seconds to do this. So your job at this stage is to make those seconds count. Make it really clear who you help and how you help them with some personality, and then let them see if your energy matches what they’re looking for.

If they like what they see they might follow you, or they might just mentally bookmark you and come back later.

Either way, they’ve moved from a stranger to someone who knows that you exist now.

So let’s say someone’s been following you for a bit, or they keep seeing your content pop up and they’re in what I call the consideration stage.

At this time they’re thinking, okay, I like what she’s saying, but is she actually credible? Like, can she actually help me? And what makes her different from everyone else talking about this?

This is where a lot of introverted business owners struggle, because it’s where you need to build authority without feeling like you’re showing off. The content you need at this stage is proof. Not in a “look at how amazing I am” way, but in a, “here’s what I’ve done with other people, and here’s what’s possible with you” kind of way.

This is where you’ll share client stories and results, and not just the before and afters, but the actual journey. Like what was the client struggling with before, and what shifted, and then what’s different for them now.

So take them on a journey of that experience with you.

It’s also the stage where you share your own experience and expertise. Not in a, ” this is my CV” kind of way, but through the lens of, “oh, I’ve been where you are and this is what I’ve learned”.

This is where your perspective really matters because anyone can share tips and tricks, but the way you see your industry, the unique approach you bring and the things you believe in that maybe go against the grain, that’s what make people think, oh, I like the way she thinks about this.

For example, I talk a lot about marketing without the hustle and about protecting your energy, building a business around your nervous system. That’s not revolutionary information, but it’s a perspective that resonates with introverts who are tired of being told just to like post more and show up more.

And more importantly, it resonates with the people that I’m trying to attract. And that’s really important because at this stage, people are also checking if your values align with theirs, and they do this by looking at how you show up, how you talk about your work, how you treat people in your content.

All of this is subconsciously feeding into their decision about whether they’re gonna trust you or not.

Then we move on to the decision stage.

So they’ve been following you for a while. They like what you stand for, they believe you can help them, but they’re still not buying yet because they’ve got a few doubts and this is the messy middle.

They’re thinking things like, oh, what if it doesn’t work for me? or What if I’m not ready? or what if I invest again and nothing changes?

These are the private thoughts that no one’s posting about on social media. They’re the things that are stopping your sweet spot client from saying yes to you, and this is where your content needs to get really specific and address those doubts directly.

So if people are worried they’re not ready, you create content about what ready actually looks like or if they’re worried that it’s not gonna work for their situation. You could share examples of the different types of clients that you’ve helped to help them get over that.

Or if they’re worried about the investment, you can show examples of how clients have made a return on their investment or even what the cost would be to them of not solving the problem quickly.

Essentially you’re having a conversation with the version of themselves that wants to say, yeah, but is scared.

The more you speak to those specific fears and objections, the faster you move them to becoming a client.

This is also the stage where you need to be really clear on what it is that you’re actually selling, who it’s for, the results they can expect, and how they actually work with you.

Because at this stage, they’re ready to buy and they just need to know what the next step is. So make it obvious. Talk about your offers, share how people can work with you, and don’t assume that they’re gonna figure it out by themselves.

Cool. Now you know the three stages that they moved through so stranger, consideration, decision, here’s how to actually use it in your content strategy.

So firstly, have a look at what you’ve been posting recently, and is it all aimed at one stage?

Now, a lot of people only create stranger content because they’re always trying to attract new people, or they’re only create decision stage content because they’re trying to sell.

But if you wanna move people through the journey faster, you need content for all three stages.

I like to think about it as a mix. Some posts are about making your message really clear so strangers know if you’re for them. Some posts build authority and show your perspective and some posts address objections and make it easy to take the next step.

You don’t need to overthink it. Just be aware that different people need different things from you, depending on where they are on their journey.

Pay attention to the questions people are asking you because those questions are telling you exactly what stage they’re at, and also what content you need to create more of so you can address those for other people who might be thinking the same thing.

If people ask you what you do, you need more of that North Star content.

If they ask you why your approach is different, then you need more of that authority content.

Or if they’re asking you like how it works or if it’s right for them, then you need to create more of the decision stage content.

Remember the same person moves through all of these stages so that stranger who discovered you today might be ready to buy in three days or three months.

We’re not forcing here. We wanna attract the people who are ready to do the work and are a hundred percent sure that you’re the one for them.

Because when someone buys from you, it’s not random, right? They’ve been on a journey with you often for longer than you even know.

Without you even realizing they’ve gone from not knowing you exist, to considering if you are credible, to deciding if they’re ready to invest, and your content needs to support them at each stage of that journey.

And when you get this right, your marketing stops feeling like you’re shouting into the void because you are having the right conversations with people depending on where they are, and that’s what moves them from a stranger to a client.

If you’d like help mapping out your content strategy, I have the Content Mixtape, which shares my P squared framework, and also 90 days worth of content that will help you do everything that I’ve talked about.

And if you wanna go a bit more in depth and work with me one-to-one for three months, and really think about your sweet spot client’s journey and create content that meets them at every stage , as well as building a marketing rhythm that really, really feels like you, then Silent Storm is probably the best fit for you.

A huge thank you for listening. I would really appreciate it if you would share this with your network so that I can help even more people build their quiet confidence and make that loud impact in the world.

Speak soon.