Does your 2015 Content Strategy Include Buying Guides and How-to Content? When it comes to engaging with your customer or promotion loyalty, a buying guide or how-to content can be an extremely valuable asset. This presentation covers: The primary benefits of buying guides & knowledge centers. Examples of great buying guides, and what not to do. Best approach to creating buying guide content to support each customer stage.

1. Webinar February 12, 2015
Build customer loyalty with buying guides
1
Boost Conversion and Customer Loyalty
with Buying Guides
February 12, 2015
eZdia’s Content Basics Webinar Series

2. Build Customer Loyalty
& Boost Conversion
with Buying Guides
We’ll be discussing:
• What kind of content works best in Knowledge
Centers.
• The primary benefits of buying guides & how to
content.
• Examples of what to include, best practices, and
what not to do.
• Tips to get started.
Why are we talking about Buying Guides?
• We are Content Creation Platform, currently working
with 70% of the Internet Retailers Top 10 list.
• We are really good at creating content using our
technology based solution and in-house trained
extended workforce.
• Buying Guides can be a hard working content type,
and should be included in your 2015 content
strategy.

3. Webinar February 12, 2015
Build customer loyalty with buying guides
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Monthly Content Series
Today’s Topic:
The Knowledge Center
March, 2015:
Item Setup & Merchandising
April, 2015:
Content Analytics
May, 2015:
Search Landing Pages
June, 2015:
Item Selection
Previous Webinars:
December: Building the best
converting product pages
July, 2015:
Advanced – Product Page
August, 2015:
Advanced - Category Page
September, 2015:
The Style Guide

4. Webinar February 12, 2015
Build customer loyalty with buying guides
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Monthly Content Series
Today’s Topic:
The Knowledge Center
March, 2015:
Item Setup & Merchandising
April, 2015:
Content Analytics
May, 2015:
Search Landing Pages
June, 2015:
Item Selection
Previous Webinars:
December: Building the best
converting product pages
July, 2015:
Advanced – Product Page
August, 2015:
Advanced - Category Page
September, 2015:
The Style Guide

5. Webinar February 12, 2015
Build customer loyalty with buying guides
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Today’s Panelists
Brad Curtis
VP of Global Sales
Alok jain
Co-CEO, CMO
Amanda Frazier
Marketing

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Build customer loyalty with buying guides
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definition: planning for the creation of content that meets your goals
Content Strategy
Successful content requires a great story
to attract and convert your customers,
while delighting your fans.
”
“
Alok Jain
Co CEO, eZdia

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Build customer loyalty with buying guides
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it’s common to consider your customer’s purchase path as a linear process
Customer Purchase Path
awareness consideration preference purchase
loyalty
repurchase
advocacy
Possible
Influence
Point:
Buying guide
from SERP
Possible
Influence Point:
Buying guide in
social
Possible
Influence Point:
Knowledge center
in paid placement
Possible
Influence Point:
Knowledge
center search for
user reviews
Possible
Influence Point:
Knowledge
center search for
maintenance,
tips, best use,
etc…

8. Webinar February 12, 2015
Build customer loyalty with buying guides
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reality is your customer’s journey is really complex and includes many touch-points
The Customer Journey

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Build customer loyalty with buying guides
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most customers are researching before completing a purchase
Research Before Purchase
Digital resources dominate
path to purchases.
More than 80% of online
shoppers in the US begin
shopping with research.
More than 60% of global
internet shoppers research
products online.
36% of consumers spend 30+
minutes comparison shopping
before making a decision.
65% of consumers spend 16+
minutes comparison shopping
before making a decision.
40% of online shoppers say
they consult online reviews
before purchasing.

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Build customer loyalty with buying guides
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days & steps to purchase
Benefits of Customer Research
50%
1+ day
50% of revenue comes from
purchases where
the customer took more than
one day to complete
1+ step
66% of revenue comes from
purchases where
the customer took more than
one day to complete
66%
The more days a
customer spends
researching, the higher
the average order.
The more steps a
customer takes during
their research, the more
they are likely to spend.

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If you wait until your customer is ready to
purchase, you will never convert your audience.
Buying
Guides
influence your customers purchase path with
buying guides and how-to content organized
in a knowledge center
1st question

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buying guides support customer acquisition and loyalty, here’s how
New & Existing Customers
Delights Customers
post purchase, through additional
product info and access to company
Education & Reinforcement
through post purchase
info, customer forum,
best-use, etc..
Re Purchase
encourages loyalty with
additional info, upgrades.
Build Awareness
through visibility, share-ability
and perceived value
Information Gathering
supports research stage
with loads of product &
competitive details
Influences Consideration
engages customer
during consideration
awareness
research
consider
buy
2nd question

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buying guides, how-to and product finders
Knowledge Center Content Types
buying guide
features a specific type of content,
tips for choosing the right one and
how to use. Product specific buy
now buttons are important.
how-to product guide
features expert/authority voice on
how-to use the product, customer
reviews, forum discussions. shop now
button included but not primary
message.
product finder
with the help of on-site search filters,
product finders help narrow a
category of products based on
product details. Sort by price, brand,
product feature, etc…Buy now button
very important

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Buying Guide Components
anatomy of a great buying guide page
clear title
top
selling
products
make it
shareable
buying guide
description (~200
words)
smart
design
Above the Fold Content Below the Fold Content
helpful content
(tips for making a
decision)
helpful content
(tips for product
use)
product
suggestions
compelling
product
images

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eCommerce Retailer Buying Guides
Examples
Flipkart eBay giggle
Good: content organization, simple design.
Bad: no product or lifestyle images.
Good: lots of words.
Bad: no page design, missing images, no
products to buy.
Good: great info, downloadable (yay!)
Bad: missing images, no shop-able products

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non-eCommerce guides and how to’s
Examples
NAIC - Life Insurance Lowe’s Home Improvement
Good: content organization, simple design.
Bad: distracting watermark, lifestyle images.
Good: multi media content, expert voice
Bad: no product links, call to action, or
downloadable option.
Good: great info, strong authority/expertise,
links for more
Bad: not downloadable
BackCountry

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this is where a partnership with eZdia comes in handy
Developing Buying Guides
AGENCY
Define Project
PLANNING CONTENT DESIGN DEVELOPMENT TESTING
Content Outline
Site Map
Wireframe
Copywriting Images &
Other Media
Wireframe
Approval
Copywriting
Images &
Other Media
Delivery
General
Style
Complete
Content
Delivery
Identify
Pages Types
Look & Feel
Look & Feel
Approval
Slicing
Page Types
Interactivity
Server &
Database
Framework
Modules
Upload
Content
Usability
Quality
Control
Final
Approval
Launch
3rd question

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3 Major Steps
Producing Buying Guide Content
1. Work from the Data
Do your homework, Find
the gaps, Do your Keyword
Research and Build Best
Topics
2. Drive from Standards,
Templates & Guidelines
Make it Consistent, Repeatable,
& Valuable to the Customer
3. Test, Sell, Evolve
With a working, repeatable
process in place, Scale up
with quality and volume to
build authority
+ +

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start by identifying keywords, topics, themes to create guides
Collect Data
Refine
Using your keyword tool planner, find the AMS and competition of your
top terms.
Start Collecting:
Build a robust list of possible keywords and topics using keyword ideas.
Start collecting your ideas from these sources:
1. your inbound search terms
2. borrowed from your
competitor
3. keywords in your taxonomy
4. social trends
5. events & holidays
6. customer questions/reviews
1. Eliminate any keywords that
don’t fit brand voice or
campaign goals.
2. Group keywords and assign
respective search engine
rankings plus monthly search
volume.
3. Plan to create guides to
cover based on priority (high
AMS, medium competition or
high AMS, high competition,
etc..)

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build customer personas by researching your current customers
Map Content to Personas
Creating a detailed picture of your target audience helps you
understand what type of content you should create. Who are
your ideal customers and prospects? What are they looking
for? How will your product help them?
Of consumers prefer when
brands personalize their
marketing messages and
offers.
75%
where can you
reach them?
product needs
interests
top concerns
who are your ideal customers?

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Webinar February 12, 2015
Build customer loyalty with buying guides
”90% of consumers find custom content useful, and 78% believe that organizations behind the
content are interested in building good relationships.” via TMG Custom Media
Key Performance Indicators
Visitors
Well written, optimized topics should get 2-4 visits per day per
guide via organic search.
Conversion
Conversion rates of Knowledge Center content can yield about
1/2 of the product pages. Boost with shop-ability, on-page offers.
Average Order
Directly related to the number of days & steps your customer
spends in research before purchase, guides can boost avg order
by 50% or more.
Reach
Good content gets social love! Measuring reach and shares is a
great indicator of helpful content.
4th question

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Webinar February 12, 2015
Build customer loyalty with buying guides
here’s what you can expect in 12-18 months
Building Authority Takes Time
10x
RoAS
Lifespan
= 2 years
3-5 visits
/day/guide
50% lift in
avg order
More than 50% of consumers say that product videos & how-to content
makes them more confident in their purchase decisions.

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Webinar February 12, 2015
Build customer loyalty with buying guides
how long does it take to realize the benefits of a knowledge center
Timeline to Benefits
RoAS
Buying guides often yield 8-10x RoAS. When
we measure overall impressions and secondary
screen considerations — that number gets
much higher. Refreshing content annually can
help boost by 40+%.
Scale
This type of content needs scale. You’ll
need at least dozens of guides to produce
enough visitors to turn into customers.
Nice topic guides will perform best.
Traffic
By the end of the first 3 months, you can expect
1-2 visits/day/guide. By the end of 6 months, you
can expect 2-3 organic visits/day/guide