Have you ever wondered "why does every marketer seem to be so focused on content"?

It's not because we love writing or creating videos or webinars. (Some of us do, but that's not the key driver...)

It’s because content delivers a ton of value, both technically and personally.

On The Menu For This Week’s Tapas:

• [INSIGHT] 🔍 How buying behavior has shifted
• [STAT] 📊 We scroll ~100 miles...
• [ACTION] ✅ 3 Content Pieces to Make First

So... why do we need content?

Content helps:

• Build trust
• Establish expertise & authority on a subject
• Increase like-ability + connection
• Customers make purchasing decisions

According to Google, there used to be only 3 steps in the buying journey.

1. Stimulus: The introduction to your brand as a solution for whatever problem you solve.
2. 1st Moment of Truth: The customer evaluates your product or service on your website or in-store before buying (which could happen long after the initial stimulus--this is why all marketers have a love/hate relationship with the word "attribution").
3. 2nd Moment of Truth: The customer's experience post-purchase.

Keyword: USED TO BE...

Google’s newer research shows there are now at least 4 steps in the buying journey. The newest one is where the majority of content lives:

1. Stimulus: Same.
2. Zero Moment of Truth: Customer does their own research. This is where most content plays a crucial role.
3. 1st Moment of Truth: Same.
4. 2nd Moment of Truth: Same.

Introducing: The Zero Moment of Truth

Customers will make decisions about your product before they even try it.

(Talk about judging a book by its cover!) But can you blame them?

We're bombarded with information.

• The average American spends 7 hours and 3 minutes looking at a screen each day (Exploding Topics).
• Approximately 402.74 million terabytes (4027.4 petabytes) of data are created each day (Exploding Topics).
• In the top 10 states, users scroll over 90 miles a year with some nearing 115 miles (TollFreeForwarding).

We're getting ads, recommendations, unboxing videos, and more shoved into our eyeballs at warp speed.

So when we make a decision to make a purchase, we have almost unlimited resources to check before we spend our hard earned cash.

If you don't have the content available to peruse through, you face several risks:

1. You can't make a compelling argument for why you're the right choice against your competitors.
2. You don’t show benefits of your products or proof that you can help.
3. Customers can't find you in the first place.

The First 3 Content Pieces You Need for the Zero Moment of Truth

1. FAQs: Answer common customer questions.
2. Proof Points: Share satisfied customer stories like case studies or testimonials. (BONUS: Outline why they chose you over competitors).
3. In-Use Visuals: Help your customer visualize using your product. You can pull from photos, videos, demos, or user-generated content.

Your Key Takeaway: You don’t need a massive content library to win over customers.

You just need a few content levers to share with your best-fit and most-aware buyers.

If you start with what you have and stay consistent, your customer will recognize the value you bring.

Remember: Each question you answer, every customer or founder story you share, and every image/video you post brings you closer to earning trust, being found, and becoming the obvious choice in your industry.

Here’s to building trust, one piece of content at a time, 🥂

P.S. Wanna read more about the research from Google?

The ZMOT book is available as a PDF online to read FOR FREE