The Marketing Section outlines the tactics and key message used by the marketing department to maintain a presence and provide the best experience possible during the prospect’s journey. This section is influenced by the Persona Section, and will change as new marketing initiatives are introduced.
As we complete this section, we are evaluating both current marketing activities/collateral as well as brainstorming new marketing activities and collateral. The key is to start small and only bite off the minimum amount of change required to have a positive impact on the persona’s journey. More tactics and content can be layered on as we learn more about what works and what doesn’t. Once the customer journey has been documented, we can perform a content audit to identify how current content meets the audience’s needs, and where we need to modify existing or create new content.
Important Note: Before reading any further, you must download the free customer journey template. When the template loads, you’ll be prompted to subscribe for free to IterativeMarketing.net, where you will gain complete access to our premium content. The rest of this post will be very hard to follow without it.
Important Note #2: This is the third blog in a five-part series. Check out the remaining blogs for details on completing other sections of the customer journey: Mapping the Customer Journey; Mapping the Customer Journey: Persona’s Perspective; Mapping the Customer Journey: Sales’ Perspective; Expanding The Customer Journey (reference this blog to break the consideration states into more actionable segments).
Step 8: Inbound Insertion Point (Row 15)
The Inbound Insertion Point is when a prospect may opt-in to receive our content, and provides their contact information in exchange for access. Not every state in the customer journey will have an inbound insertion point, but identifying opportunities for them is key. It is at these inbound insertion points that anonymous activity becomes known and we build and segment our database.
Questions to ask to uncover if there is an opportunity for an inbound insert point at this state:
- Is the persona invested enough to give us their personal contact information?
- If so, what content would the persona be willing to give up their personal information for?
- How will contact information be used?
Step 9: Specific Tactics (Rows 16-20)
The next few rows document the specific tactics used by the marketing department to meet the needs of the persona at that specific state in the customer journey. You should feel free to customize these to match the online and offline media and tactics you use to connect with this persona.
Questions to ask to uncover the right tactics at this state:
- Where does the persona get their information?
- How do they interact with each of the tactics/channels listed?
- What is their comfort level with technology?
- How can we mix online and offline interactions?
Step 10: Key Marketing Message (Row 21)
The Key Marketing Message aligns what the persona needs to hear (identified in the Persona Section Row 9) with the messaging of the brand. By aligning our messaging with their needs and insecurities within the consideration state, we create collateral that resonates consistently across all tactics.
Questions to uncover the key marketing message at this state:
- What is the one message about the product or brand that will help the persona most at this state?
- How does this message support the brand attributes identified at this state?
For advice and tips on uncovering your customer journey, join the Iterative Marketing Community on LinkedIn.
Don’t forget to check out our next post about documenting the customer journey from the perspective of sales.
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