The objectives
Content is king, but creating content that effectively guides prospects through the buyer journey requires a deep understanding of their needs at every stage. Creating content that resonates with prospective buyers at every stage of their journey is essential for driving conversions and brand loyalty. However, even the most experienced content marketers can struggle with optimizing content formats and messaging for each stage of the buyer journey.
Our client, a global software leader, sought to refine its content marketing strategy by better understanding what types of content and formats are most effective at each stage of the buyer journey. Additionally, the client wanted to establish best practice guidelines for its content marketing team to use for copywriting, art direction, video creation, and more.
our approach
Illuminas designed a mixed-mode research study that would provide actionable insights to help the client refine its content strategy. The results would be used to guide their content creators—writers, art directors, and creative technologists—on how to produce content that is not only relevant but also engaging and impactful.
To address the challenge, we designed a two-phase research study titled “Content Journey.” This study aimed to uncover how different types of content and formats influence prospects’ behavior and decision-making at various stages of the buyer journey, from awareness to decision. By combining quantitative and qualitative methods, we provided the client with a comprehensive understanding of how their content performs.
Phase 1: Content Audit via an Online Platform
The first phase of the study involved a content audit, where participants were given access to an online platform containing five pieces of the client’s content:
- A detailed whitepaper
- A conversion-optimized landing page
- A short-form explainer video
- A data-rich infographic
- A thought leadership blog post.
Participants had one week to review the content at their convenience, ensuring a natural engagement with the materials. Following their interaction with each piece of content, participants answered a series of quantitative questions designed to capture insights related to:
- Buyer Journey Stage – Which stage of the buyer journey (awareness, consideration, or decision) the content was most useful for
- Engagement – How captivating and engaging the content was, and whether it held their attention throughout
- Visual Appeal – How effective and compelling the visual elements (e.g., imagery, infographics) were in communicating the message
- Content Credibility – How trustworthy and authoritative the content felt
- Likeability – How much the content resonated with their preferences, style, and tone
- Persuasiveness – Whether the content successfully conveyed the value proposition and influenced their perceptions
- Clarity – How clearly the core messages and value propositions were communicated
These variables helped us capture not only functional aspects of content but also emotional and psychological impacts—factors critical for driving engagement and conversion in content marketing.
Phase 2: In-Depth Interviews
In the second phase, we conducted in-depth interviews with the same set of participants to gain richer insights into their content journey. These interviews allowed us to explore the nuances of how content influenced their thinking at each stage of the buyer journey.
By using a Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework, we focused on what “jobs” prospects needed content to perform at each stage of their journey. For example, during the awareness stage, content needed to educate and build credibility, while during the consideration stage, it needed to provide more in-depth information and support comparisons between options.
The interviews also allowed us to dive deeper into participants’ reactions to specific content elements identified in Phase 1, such as how well the visuals communicated the message, how engaging the headlines were, and whether the layout helped or hindered the user experience.
the outcome
The findings from the Content Journey study provided the client with critical insights to reshape its content marketing strategy. One of the most significant discoveries was that certain content formats had been misaligned with the wrong stages of the buyer journey. For example, whitepapers, which were assumed to be valuable during the decision stage, were actually more effective in the consideration stage, while infographics proved to be more useful than anticipated at the decision stage.
Based on the insights, we helped the client map the right content formats to the appropriate stages of the buyer journey. This alignment enabled the client to refine its content strategy, ensuring that each piece of content served its intended purpose and resonated with prospects at the right time.
Additionally, the feedback gathered on content elements—such as visual imagery, credibility, engagement, and likability—provided a foundation for the creation of a best practices guide for the client’s content marketing team. This guide offered clear recommendations for crafting content that not only captured attention but also built trust and inspired action. With a strategic roadmap in hand, the client is now better positioned to create content that truly connects with their audience and drives measurable business results.