Have you ever been solicited by a company that you already do business with? It happens to me all the time. Don’t these companies know that I am already part of their value chain? So, why are they spamming and cold calling me? I feel like I am being taken for granted, and I look for an excuse to “escape” through the bottom of their sales funnel. Don’t let this happen to your customers by neglecting their content.

Content for the Invested Buyer must be exclusive. It should give the buyer a sense of being a member of a select group, and be reframed for the customer relationship. Just as a parent doesn’t talk to a teenager the same way he talks to a toddler, you can’t afford marketing material that talks down to your customers.

How can your content foster the stakeholder relationship with your Invested Buyers?

• Inform, don’t educate. Your customer has “graduated,” As an Invested Buyer, she is now your peer, not your pupil. Content should be informative, like a newspaper, not educational like a textbook.
• Treat customers as members. Communicate exclusivity and the elevated status you give your customers. Sneak previews of new information, and “insider” tips that don’t upsell, set the right tone.
• Don’t take the customer for granted. Don’t let customers leak out of the end of the sales funnel, only to get swept up by a competitor. Analyze your overall marketing plan for an appropriate proportion of effort for marketing to customers.

Most importantly, remember that your customer is still in a buying cycle in which she has claimed control. Allow her to retain that sense of control in a peer relationship. It’s been a long and hopefully rewarding journey for both of you. Give your  Invested Buyer the special status she has earned. Read more about content for the complete four-stage buying cycle:

Click here for Stage 1: The Unaware Buyer.
Click here for Stage 2: The Tentative Buyer.
Click here for Stage 3: The Engaged Buyer.
Click here for the Introduction to the Four Stage Series.