Digital Acquisition, Part 2: Map the Customer Journey Before You Choose Ads or Content
There is a running debate about whether businesses should cut ads and prioritise content. I want to answer it from a digital acquisition viewpoint rather than a pure marketing or pure sales one — because ultimately it comes down to the customer's journey.
It is not about posting content, or about running ads. Every one of those efforts should match an answer to one question: what is the customer journey for this product or service?
If you focus on one tactic, or on many, without first understanding that journey, you are chasing trends with no end. Throwing all the balls in the air and hoping you juggle them. And usually not reaching the actual goal — more revenue, plus a customer experience good enough to build a thriving business on.
Map the journey before you spend more
Before you invest further in content or ads, or chase another trend, or jump onto another platform: understand and identify the customer journey. That is what makes marketing and acquisition manageable and optimisable.
The point is to make the most out of each step — to create the most value and the best experience at each one. There is a saying that has become true: it is not the cheapest who wins, it is the one who creates the most value. So the question worth asking is how are we stacking value high enough that saying no to the offer looks irrational?
That understanding also simplifies your internal system and process. Once you can systemise and automate it, you reduce the workload on you and your team, which frees them to deliver brilliantly.
Why 80% of content misses
Once you can identify the journey — awareness, consideration, close, loyalty, advocacy — you know exactly which questions customers will ask and what information they need to move to the next stage.
That is usually not in place. You can see it in how most businesses post: product features and promotions. Those work, but only for prospects already at a warm level of intent. Businesses need to anticipate that most of their audience is not ready yet, for several reasons:
- Problem unaware
- Solution unaware
- Brand unaware
This is why educating, inspiring and entertaining matter. They raise the value of what you publish and help prospects move to the next stage more easily.
If all your content assumes the prospect is ready to buy and only needs to pick a brand, you are losing the opportunities sitting one stage earlier.
So create value at different touchpoints, at different journey stages, across platforms, so the engagement never stops. You want to stack touchpoints until a prospect becomes a customer, and eventually an advocate.
The short version
- Research your customer's unique buying process and map the journey.
- Use those insights to shape content and ad strategy — how to bring traffic to your platforms or list, and nurture it with value that helps people decide and builds trust.
- Systemise and increase touchpoints, stacked across the platforms your ideal prospects actually use.
- Use ads to increase touchpoints, top-of-mind presence and visibility.
- Focus on giving value, not on “me, me, me”. Speak to pain points, desires and aspirations, and show how the product is the solution.
- Position as the expert, and earn it. Know your subject and your prospects well enough.
If you want this mapped against your own funnel, book a 30-minute audit and bring one channel and 30 days of enquiries.