From pain-point, to search, to purchase, your marketing needs to be there at every stage.

The pain in my elbow isn’t going away.  I may have a serious problem.

I go online to get some information.  I’ve heard the term “tennis elbow” before, so I start with that search.

I get some information from the Mayo Clinic that describes my symptoms – this is a step in the right direction.

Only I don’t play tennis enough to develop this problem.

I suspect that what’s causing it is sitting at the computer all day working.  So I search on “tennis elbow from working at a computer”.

With that search, I find several more terms including “mouse elbow” and “computer elbow”.  I search on these for more info.

Here, the opportunity to introduce a product solution first appears.

With these searches, I have identified myself as a possible consumer for several products, including desk elbow supports, padded mouse pads, and ergonomic mouses.

If I had an eCommerce site retailing ergonomic mouses, I would:

• Create an informational landing page describing what “mouse elbow” is and how it can be relieved.
• Optimize the page to show up organically for the varied phrases around “mouse elbow”.
• Develop the content so it provides useful information to the visitor while leading them to further explore my product.
• Link to my product page where the visitor could learn about my product and make a purchase.
• On both the informational page and product page, include product reviews to build credibility and trust.
• Run paid search ads for both this page and also directly to my product page for these search terms.
• Set-up remarketing so that if they don’t buy at first, my site stays top-of-mind as they continue to feel pain while sitting at their computer.

At this time, I’m a hot buying lead for anyone selling ergonomic mouses.  Unfortunately, no retailer hit on all the steps I just laid-out, so I’m not yet sure where I’ll buy mine.

I’m likely to check out some online reviews to see what looks the best.  This will influence my buying decision.  If I’m a retailer, I also want to optimize content for “ergonomic mouse reviews”.  I’d probably create an additional informational landing page with details on how to choose this type of mouse, including links to my products reviews and product page.

This process epitomizes a typical online buying cycle.  To plan out this type of content for your eCommerce website, consider two types of searches.

Exploratory Seeking

Online consumers often search for solutions to a known problem.  That is, they know they have the problem but aren’t certain what will fulfill it.  For your SEO, you can target keyword searches people are likely to use who have the problem you solve and are exploring solutions.

I Don’t Know What I Need to Know

It’s also common for people to refine searches based on the results of previous searches.  This happens when the consumer doesn’t know what products or solutions are available, and they learn by refining their searches.

For example, I was shopping for a road bicycle I could ride on dirt.  I searched on that topic and found out about cyclocross bikes.  These are dirt road bikes, but they’re designed for racing.  In an article, I saw the term “gravel bike”.

I looked this up and saw an article entitled The Difference Between Cyclocross Bikes and Gravel Bikes.

This article was optimized by an eCommerce site that sells bikes.  I found the article helpful but was not ready to buy.

However, they pixeled me to get retargeting ads on my Facebook News Feed.  Soon, a deal on just the type of bike I wanted appeared.

I came back to the site and bought the bike.

This is the essence of content marketing.  You provide original, useful information that helps people understand what they can do about their problem and creates awareness of your product as a possible solution.

When you, as a retailer, can interject yourself into the search process with a solution that genuinely helps solve the problem, you have a great chance to get the sale.