How to Use Content Mapping Software to Boost Sales (Examples)

One of the most powerful marketing tools in your arsenal is your website's content. Its ability to reach and influence your target audience is rarely matched. So why not take advantage of it and make the most of each piece of content you create?

This is where content mapping comes into play.

Content mapping lets you plan your content strategically so that every prospect is well-informed about your brand's products and services.

This increases your chances of converting them into customers and hopefully, establish customer loyalty.

Let's talk about content mapping in detail and highlight the top content-mapping software available to take your sales funnel to the next level.

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What is Content Mapping?

Content mapping is the process of structuring your content to fulfill the user's needs at each step of their buying journey.

Whether users are at the awareness or consideration stages, content mapping provides relevant content to help them make informed decisions about your products/services.

One of the key concepts of content mapping is using a content map. This serves as your strategic blueprint in directing how to create your content and where you should position it.

You want each piece of content you produce to serve a purpose. Mapping content achieves just that and allows you to create a strategy that helps you achieve your business goals.

Why Do Businesses Need Content Mapping?

Content mapping does more than just guide your prospects in their buying journey. You'll find this process highly beneficial in:

Organizing Your Content

Content mapping helps in structuring and organizing content systematically

Visual outlines of how different pieces of content relate and fit within the broader strategy make it easier to maintain a coherent and consistent message across various platforms.

When you organize content this way, it's much easier to see which pieces contribute to specific goals.

Engaging Meaningfully With Your Target Audience

Mapping content to specific stages of the buyer’s journey allows businesses to tailor their messages to address the needs and concerns of their audience.

An engaged audience is more likely to interact with the content, share it, and make your brand more discoverable online.

Streamlining Content Creation

As we've said before, content mapping is your blueprint for content creation. Each piece of content you create has a definitive purpose, which makes it easier for you to brainstorm ideas for your next post.

When it comes to content creation, it's not just about the quantity of posts. It's about the quality of the content that will bring the results you're looking for.

Improving Metrics Tracking

A content map makes it easier to track the performance of different content pieces and their impact on your overall content strategy.

When your content aligns with specific goals, tracking metrics becomes easier.

For example, if your content is geared toward lead generation, you can measure its performance through conversion rates.

This data-driven approach facilitates continuous improvement and optimization of the content strategy.

Examples of How Content Mapping Works

To get a better understanding of how content mapping works, picture this scenario in your head.

Let's use a hypothetical company called "TecWorks", a software company specializing in project management tools.

1. Initial Challenge

TecWorks found it difficult to attract leads through their website. Despite offering high-quality products, the online traffic wasn't enough to generate sales.

They needed a more effective way to engage with prospects and guide them through their sales funnel.

2. Content Mapping Strategy

After brainstorming ideas, TecWorks decided to do content mapping. They started identifying their buyer personas—project managers, IT directors, and small business owners.

Each persona had unique needs and challenges, which meant TecWorks needed to create content suited to each persona. They then mapped the buyer’s journey into three stages: awareness, consideration, and decision.

3. Execution

• Awareness stage: TecWorks created blog posts and infographics to address common project management problems. These pieces aimed to attract visitors by providing valuable, easily digestible content.
  For example, a blog post titled "Top 5 Project Management Challenges and How to Overcome Them" resonated with project managers seeking solutions to their daily hurdles.
• Consideration stage: In the consideration stage, they offered detailed case studies, whitepapers, and webinars. These resources were aimed at prospects who were aware of their problems and actively searching for solutions.
  A case study titled "How XYZ Company Improved Project Efficiency by 30% with TecWorks" provided tangible proof of their product's effectiveness.
• Decision stage: Finally, for the decision stage, TecWorks offered product demos, free trials, and detailed comparison guides. These were designed for prospects ready to make a purchasing decision.
  A comparison guide like "TecWorks vs. Competitors: A Comprehensive Comparison" helped potential buyers see the unique advantages of TecWorks' offerings.

4. Outcome

TechWork saw big improvements once they aligned their content with their prospects' needs and questions.

Website traffic increased, engagement rates soared, and, most importantly, lead conversions improved dramatically.

This strategic content mapping allowed TechWorks to provide the right information at the right time, effectively nurturing leads and driving sales.

Top Content Mapping Software to Boost Sales

Regarding content mapping, you'll need more than just Google Docs. You need a variety of tools to create your own content map and

1. Keyword Research Tools

Keyword research tools provide valuable insights into the terms and phrases your target audience uses when searching for information online.

These tools are important when creating a content map, as the keywords will have a big impact on the type of content you need to create.

Rankify

Rankify is the perfect keyword tool for content mapping as it provides accurate keyword suggestions by considering search volume, keyword difficulty, and buying intent.

It's fairly simple to use too. Just describe your business or topics semantically and it'll generate comprehensive keyword lists for you to use.

Its core content mapping features include:

• AI-powered keyword analysis
• Accurate keyword suggestions based on search volume, difficulty, and buying intent
• Semantic business/topic descriptions for comprehensive keyword lists
• Bulk copy and paste functionality
• Keyword segmentation

2. Diagram Applications

Diagram applications are what bring your ideas to life. They visually represent your ideas and organize them to make them easier to understand

This visual clarity helps you connect the dots between your content pieces and the roles they play in addressing users at each stage of the buying journey.

Lucidchart

Lucidchart is a concept map creator that lets you create concept maps and similar diagrams.

It's got a bunch of concept map templates that you can use to visualize complex ideas quickly and turn them into topics for your content ideas.

The drag-and-drop functionality and AI-driven features paint a clear picture of how your content map should be laid out.

• Customizable shapes and lines
• Layers and grouping
• Conditional formatting
• Presentation mode
• Drag-and-drop interface

MindMeister

MindMeister makes it easy to create mind maps for your content mapping strategy.

Its visual presentation features let you create clear, compelling structures for your content ideas. This helps in understanding the overall flow and relationships between different pieces of content.

• Mind map templates
• Export options (PDF, Word, PowerPoint, etc.)
• Note-taking and attachments
• Icons and images
• Customizable themes and styles

3. Customer Journey Software

Customer journey software helps visualize and analyze the various touchpoints a customer experiences with a brand.

From the awareness stage to the decision-making stage, this software helps businesses understand the paths their customers take, identify their pain points, and match the solutions with their brand's offerings.

Smaply

Smaply helps with content mapping through a structured approach to visualizing and analyzing customer journeys. Users create detailed journey maps that highlight every touchpoint a customer experiences with a brand.

Mapping out these interactions reveals key moments where content can address the customer's needs, answer questions, or resolve pain points.

• Customer persona creation
• Touchpoint analysis
• Journey mapping
• Cross-channel mapping
• Customizable templates

4. Task Management Tools

You need task management tools when creating content maps to break down the process into smaller, manageable steps.

You can track the progress of the content map, set automatic reminders, and alert teams of upcoming deadlines. The best part is these tools also come with diagram creation to help you in the content-mapping process.

Notion

Notion's task management features and integrated mind-mapping support make it the ideal tool for tracking and creating content maps. You can start with broad categories and then drill down into more specific details to cover the topics for which you need to write content.

• Customizable databases
• Inline comments and discussions
• Kanban boards
• Embedding options (videos, images, links, etc.)
• Markdown support

5. Analytics Tools

Analytics tools are key to content mapping as they help identify which types of content are relevant to your target audience.

Analyzing metrics such as engagement rates, traffic sources, and user behavior can help with creating buyer personas and tailoring your content according to their needs.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is excellent for content mapping because it tracks user behavior, showing which content engages visitors the most.

It provides metrics like page views, average time on page, and bounce rates to help you identify top-performing content.

Segmentation features allow for analyzing specific audience groups, enabling personalized content creation.

• User behavior tracking
• Page views
• Average time on page
• Bounce rates
• Audience segmentation

Step-by-Step Process of Creating a Content Map

To make sure your content mapping efforts deliver results, you need to know how to create a content map. Here's how to do it:

1. Identify Target Buyer Personas

The first step in creating a content map involves identifying your target buyer personas.

A buyer persona is a profile depicting a specific customer based on information like age, gender, income, and more.

This persona displays unique behavioral traits like buying patterns and product preferences. Buyer personas cover a broad scope of customers, and to create a content map, you need to categorize your buyers into these personas.

Example 1: Tech-Savvy Millennial

• Age: 29
• Occupation: Software Developer
• Interests: Latest gadgets, online shopping, tech reviews
• Shopping Habits: Frequently purchases electronics and accessories online, values fast shipping and customer reviews, prefers mobile shopping.
• Pain Points: Slow delivery, complicated return processes.

Example 2: Busy Working Mom

• Age: 35
• Occupation: Marketing Manager
• Interests: Family activities, time-saving products, health and wellness
• Shopping Habits: Buys household items, kids' products, and groceries online, values convenience and reliability, and uses subscription services.
• Pain Points: Inconsistent product quality and lack of time for in-store shopping.

From there, create buyer personas based on market research and insights from your actual customer base.

2. Determine Lifecycle Stages

After identifying your target buyer personas, the next step involves determining the different stages of the buyer's journey or lifecycle stages.

These stages typically include awareness, consideration, and decision.

• In the awareness stage, potential customers become aware of a problem or need.
• In the consideration stage, they research and evaluate different solutions.
• In the decision stage, they prepare to choose a specific product or service.

Mapping out these stages lets you create content that aligns with each phase of the buyer’s journey. This ensures you provide the right information to prospects and guide them in making informed purchasing decisions.

3. Brainstorm With Concept Maps

This stage is where a concept map maker can prove quite useful. Use this tool to connect ideas and visualize complex thoughts to form your content map.

Start with placing your main topic or goal at the center of the map. Then, branch out with related subtopics, ideas, and themes.

Using concept maps, you can effectively plan the scope of your content and ensure comprehensive coverage of all relevant topics.

4. Organize and Prioritize Content

Following brainstorming, the next step involves organizing and prioritizing the content. This involves categorizing the content ideas generated from the concept maps and arranging them in a logical sequence.

Consider the needs and preferences of your buyer personas and the different lifecycle stages. Prioritize content addressing the most pressing questions and challenges your audience faces.

Also, consider the format and medium for each piece of content (blogs, videos, infographics, whitepapers).

A content calendar helps schedule and manage the content production and distribution process.

Organizing and prioritizing content ensures a strategic approach to content creation, maximizing its impact and effectiveness in achieving your marketing goals.

Best Practices When Using Content Maps

Follow these best practices when using content maps, and you'll be on your way to creating better content:

Aligning Content With Customer Journey

Content should be mapped according to the stages of the customer journey.

For the awareness stage, focus on educational and informational content that addresses the common problems or questions your audience might have.

In the consideration stage, provide more in-depth content such as case studies, whitepapers, and comparison guides to help prospects evaluate their options.

Finally, for the decision stage, offer testimonials, product demos, and free trials to encourage conversion. These steps will guide your content creation and meet your audience's needs at every stage of their buying journey.

Keyword Research and SEO Integration

Effective content mapping includes thorough keyword research to identify the terms and phrases your target audience uses when searching for information online.

Tools like Rankify generate relevant keywords, blog topics, and FAQs based on your seed keywords or business description.

After you enter the keyword, you'll be greeted with numbers showing search volumes and keyword difficulty. Rankify then organizes the keywords into lists for easy management.

Integrate these keywords naturally into your content to improve your search engine rankings and drive organic traffic.

Create a Content Calendar

A content calendar is your scheduled guide on how often you should publish content on your website. Once your content map is complete, create a content calendar to ensure you have a steady stream of high-quality content.

When creating a content calendar, prioritize the most important topics your audience is currently searching for. This will allow you to plan timely and relevant content that captures their interest.

Use Multiple Content Formats

Diversifying the types of content you produce can maximize your impact by reaching a broader audience.

Different people consume content in different ways; some prefer reading blog posts, while others might favor videos, infographics, podcasts, or social media posts.

Try different formats to see what works best with your audience and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Start Creating Detailed Content Maps With Rankify

Rankify is your best bet when it comes to in-depth keyword research. Create content maps that cater to your target audience using our AI-powered SEO keyword tool and watch how impactful your content can be.

Sign up for a free trial today and discover how Rankify can help with your content mapping process.

FAQ About Content Mapping Software

What's the difference between a concept map and a mind map?

A concept map visually organizes relationships among concepts using labeled connections, while a mind map focuses on hierarchical information with branches radiating from a central idea.

Does every business need a content map?

Yes. A content map is part of your overall content marketing strategy. Use it to create relevant content and reach your audience.

Can content mapping be used for different types of content?

Yes. You can apply the concept of content mapping to any type of content. Whether blog posts or social media posts, the key is to tailor the content according to the needs of your audience and where they are at the buying stage.

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