A Simple Framework for Performance-Oriented Content

For many marketers, content is hard. While central to any story telling exercise, content is often hard to produce, difficult to get alignment on from subject matter experts and can feel like a guessing game on if your audience will have interest in it. But when it's as easy as using ChatGPT to whip up a blog post we're facing a proliferation of content just for the sake of having content. Truly effective content is empathy-driven - tuned to what prospects do, think, feel and understand as they travel through their buyer's journey. It is oriented to delivering value at each step along the way. This is especially crucial for B2B companies with long, complex sales cycles. You need content that nurtures leads, builds trust and ultimately converts.

So how do smart marketers do it? They use a deceptively simple strategic content framework.

Conduct a Customer Empathy Mapping Exercise

The first step is getting crystal clear on your target customers - their challenges, motivations and goals. An empathy mapping exercise lets you dive deep into your customer's world.

Start by creating categories for:

• Do - What behaviors do prospects exhibit as they recognize they have a problem, research options and evaluate solutions? This  includes behaviors such as using search engines, asking for help on social media and attending conferences.
• Think - What are the mental models that prospects use when considering their problems and potential solutions. This includes questions about transparency, liability, effectiveness and ROI reporting.
• Feel - Customers evaluate logically but often make purchase decisions emotionally. What are the desires and fears that drive them? This includes fear of failure, looking bad to a superior and feeling uneducated.
• Understand - What do they currently understand about their problem and perceived solutions? This includes exposure to pricing models, past experience with similar products and certain language they're using to ask questions.

Write out columns for each and populate each category with a list of detailed insights based on market research and customer conversations. This exercise shifts your perspective from inside your business to through the lens of your customer.

Pick Three Key Customer Pain Points

Once your empathy map is complete, analytically select three pain points of your customer's experience. These will tie directly to the topics and focus for your content.

For example, common customer pains could include:

• Overwhelmed by complex software options
• Uncertain how to navigate compliance
• Struggling with integrations

The pain points you choose should resonate broadly with your target audience and relate directly to your solution. You want content that speaks to their struggles.

Define Three Desired Outcomes

With the top pain points selected, determine the desired outcome for each. What is the customer's goal related to overcoming each challenge?

Desired outcomes might be:

• Gaining clarity on which software best fits their needs
• Understanding compliance requirements and how to address them
• Implementing the right integrations smoothly

Outcomes are the benefits your customers want to achieve. Your content should clearly connect to moving customers closer to their goals.

Map Content Types to Pain Points and Outcomes

This next step is where strategy meets execution. With customer pains and desired outcomes defined, map out content formats that align with each to guide prospects step-by-step.

For example:

Pain: Overwhelmed by complex software options
Outcome: Gaining clarity on best software fit
Format: Blog post - "How We Chose Our Industry's Top Software Platform: A Criteria Breakdown"

Pain: Uncertain how to navigate compliance
Outcome: Understanding compliance requirements
Format: Ebook - "Compliance 101: A Guide to [Industry] Compliance"

Pain: Struggling with integrations
Outcome: Implementing integrations smoothly
Format: Webinar - "Top Integration Strategies for [Software]"

Shape your content roadmap by connecting pains to outcomes to tactical content assets. Focus on what combination of blogs, ebooks, webinars, etc will move each customer closer to their end goal.

Executing a performance-focused content plan with these strategic foundations will drive higher conversion rates by providing true value to your audience at different stages. Plus, you'll gain data on what content best resonates to inform future initiatives.

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