Ep 42. The new customer journey and what it means for your marketing

Content marketing looks really different now.

I want to talk about this squiggly customer journey today, because traditionally we talked about a linear funnel. I hate that word, but there’s no other way to describe it. Nowadays, a lot of algorithms are shifting towards serving us more interest-based content, which means that followers of accounts don’t really matter anymore.

It’s more about creating content that will resonate with your audience and they’ll find you through different touch points depending on where they hang out and how they like to consume content.

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

So there used to be this idea of a neat, linear journey, right?

Someone sees your content, they follow you, you warm them up, and then they buy. Traditionally in the funnel, it was awareness at the top, consideration in the middle, and then purchase at the bottom. Very tidy, very logical, right?

People are much more savvy now. They’re not passively moving through stages. 

They’re doing their own research, lurking, collecting little pieces of you from completely different places, and then they’re deciding in their own time whether they want to go deeper into your world.

And that entry point could be anything. It could be a post you shared eight months ago that someone saved and they keep coming back to it.

It could be a podcast episode or a blog they found through search.

It could be a screenshot in a WhatsApp group.

It could even be a friend saying, you need to go and look at this person, or you might have connected with them at an event, and then they see your content online.

Every single one of these moments – every post, email, conversation, every time someone comes into contact with you and your work, that’s what we call a touchpoint in the marketing world. And the thing about touch points is that some people might only need one or two before they’re ready to reach out. Others might need 20, and both of them are valid.

Now you’re not really going to know how people found you or how many touchpoints it took for them to work with you unless you ask them of course. Even then I bet they might forget some of them. We live in a world made up of so many little moments that it’s easy to forget. I might see you at a networking event and then I might see your content online, and then I might listen to a podcast episode and if you ask me, what was it that swayed you?

It wouldn’t be any one of those things. It was probably a mix of them all. I probably would’ve took something different out of each one of those touchpoints that layered onto building trust in you to be the right person for me.

[00:02:16] If someone can land on any piece of your content first, what does that mean for how we need to create content now? 

The first thing is to always treat everything as a potential first impression, which means that the first thing someone might read from you could be that personal story you shared, an educational post, or an opinion about something.

Whatever piece of content they land on, it’s will form their whole impression of who you are and whether you’re worth following. 

Now, this isn’t about putting pressure on every post. It’s actually the opposite. It’s about trusting that when you consistently show up as yourself, each thing you create is doing it’s job regardless of when someone stumbles across it.

So it should obviously work for your existing followers, but it should also make sense to new ones too. This is why I always say hello to new listeners on every episode, and you may have seen people introduce themselves after a few seconds in those talk to camera videos. That’s just so if someone’s joining the podcast from this episode (hello, if you are) I’m not relying on them to figure out what this podcast is about. I’m welcoming them into my world.

The way the algorithms are working right now, it’s serving content based on the interests of the person, which means your content could pop up on someone’s feed who’s not following you yet, all because the platform thinks they’ll be interested in your subject.

That’s really exciting, right?

[00:03:27] So with this in mind, and people being much more savvy, they’re not really following you for your tips or your frameworks or your educational posts. Obviously that’s useful stuff, but they’re really following you for YOU.

They’re following you because of your perspective and the way you explain that framework or some educational news they might have been able to Google. They want your opinion or your angle on a particular topic or a framework that fits your style, that’s going to make it easy for them to understand. 

And you can do that by weaving in stories and experiences and the things you’re into as a human being.

That’s what actually creates the feeling that makes someone want to follow you, because that human stuff is the glue, right?

I’ve said it before, if someone feels like they’ve got the same values, similar interests, or they’re just a similar personality to you, you’re likely to be drawn towards them right?

To be honest, for us introverts, this is genuinely good news because the stuff that feels natural to us, the depth, the nuance, the thoughtful take on something is exactly what’s gonna create that feeling of, oh, I belong in this space. You don’t have to be loud or everywhere. You just have to be real in the way that you offer your commentary and thoughts and opinions on the subject that you are an expert in.

And you have to remember that if someone finds you through a podcast episode and then goes to your Instagram and then goes to your email , all of these moments are touch points and they all need to tell the same story or evoke the same feeling, so you need to make sure you’re using the same tone of voice, and it all feels like you.

How many times have you read something online and then met a person in real life and thought, Hmm, there’s a mismatch here.

The biggest compliment I get from people who know me when they read my content online is that, oh my God, I can really hear your voice in your writing.

And the other way around. If I’m meeting someone new that I haven’t met before, but they’ve been reading my content, they always say, oh, your content really sounds like you, and this is what I want you to get to, right?

We don’t want to be a news reporter or version of you. I just want you to be you. The way you’d be talking to someone over a coffee.

[00:05:10] All of your content across all of your touch points should feel like the same person’s written it because this consistency of your voice and the feeling and the messages that it carries with it, it compounds over time and builds trust without you, or even the person who’s consuming it, noticing that it’s happening. That’s what we’re going for.

Because when every touchpoint reinforces the same feeling, every new piece of content will add another layer of trust onto your brand image even more. And eventually that’s gonna make someone think, yep, I trust this person. I wanna work with her.

[00:05:39] Just to bring the secret admirers back in here, so if you haven’t listened to the episode, that’s my word for people who are lurking. I don’t like the word lurkers, but there’s loads of people online who secretly admire your content, but they won’t actually like or comment on it. So someone might be collecting those touchpoints for months before they even say a word to you.

I’d say, well over 90% of my clients never like or comment on a post before they get in touch. They’re just quietly building up enough of a picture to feel ready and the consistency of me showing up is what keeps them coming back and getting in touch at some point.

[00:06:08] Although there’s not a linear journey as such, the one thing that doesn’t change though is the importance of mixing up the content that you create, because even though you can’t control which way someone lands on your content, you can make sure there’s something for them when they do arrive in your virtual home.

You want a mix of content that welcomes someone brand new and makes them feel like they found the right person. And that can be as simple as an intro post that’s pinned to the top of your profile. I’ve got an example of that on my Instagram profile if you wanna go and have a look.

And then you want content that deepens the relationship with someone who’s been quietly watching for a while. This is normally your followers who need a bit of nurturing, and then you want content that moves someone who’s almost ready.

This piece of content’s going to just slightly tip them over the edge and get them closer to working with you.

[00:06:51] So instead of mapping a linear path, list all the places that you’re showing up at the moment.

Do they all work together?

Does it all carry the same message?

Do they all feel like they’re written by one person?

Does your Instagram feel like the same person who writes your emails and does your podcast feel like the same person who shows up on a discovery call or at a networking meeting?

[00:07:09] Does someone who finds you for the first time through any of these, get the same feeling as someone would if they were following you for a while?

I don’t want you to overthink who’s at which stage. You really can’t know that. But if you’ve got a good mix, it doesn’t matter. Everyone will get something valuable, whether they’re an existing or new follower.

[00:07:26] Now, before you can do any of that work, you obviously need to get really clear on what you actually stand for. So your messaging, because you can’t build touchpoints that resonate if you’re not sure what feeling you’re trying to create in the first place.

This is the work that we do inside Silent Storm, my one-to-one marketing program. It’s where we spend a lot of time getting crystal clear on what your unique angle is, but also who the people who would benefit from it most are.

We do that through a load of exercises, but also market research as well. So we’re not just plucking ideas out thin air. We’ve got evidence-based research layered on with your unique USP on top. I’d love to work with you one-to-one if that’s something that you’d be interested in. You can get all the details here.

If you’re already clear on all of that and you just like a bit of help with the mix of content, then the Content Mixtape is the next step for you. It’s got my super simple P squared framework, which will help you figure out what that mix of content will look like. Then you’ve got 90 days worth of prompts to help you map them out.

Until next time. Remember, there’s no single path to you anymore. Your customer’s gonna be going through a squiggly journey.

So keep showing up as yourself and embrace that quiet confidence in your content so the right people can find you and you can make that loud impact in the world. Speak soon.