Think Like a Buyer: Researching Commercial Intent Keywords in Manchester
As the founder of an SEO agency nestled in the heart of Manchester, I’ve learned that successful marketing campaigns are built on a solid foundation of keyword research. And when it comes to generating qualified leads for our B2B clients, understanding the commercial intent behind user searches is paramount.
You see, the best lead generation strategies don’t just happen by chance. They’re the result of thoroughly researching your buyer personas and the specific keywords they use when they’re ready to make a purchase. It’s all about putting yourself in your customer’s shoes and thinking like a buyer.
Uncovering the Buyer’s Journey
Now, I know what you’re thinking – keyword research sounds like a tedious, number-crunching exercise. But trust me, when you approach it with the right mindset, it can actually be a fascinating glimpse into the psyche of your prospective customers.
As the team at Digital Media Stream eloquently put it, “The best B2B Lead Generation campaigns are built on a sturdy foundation of keyword analysis and buyer persona research.” By combining these two critical elements, you can craft content that delivers the right message, to the right audience, at the right time.
Let’s dive in and explore how we can leverage this approach to uncover the commercial intent behind the searches of your potential customers in Manchester.
Creating Buyer Personas
The first step is to get to know your ideal customer. Who are they, and what are their goals, challenges, and pain points? Digital Media Stream uses the example of a company called Acme that provides leadership and management training courses. Their ideal customer is a fictional persona they’ve named “Team Leader Tracey” – a woman who wants to improve her prospects for a promotion to a managerial role.
By fleshing out the details of Tracey’s personal profile, career aspirations, and the barriers she might face, we can start to understand the types of questions she might be asking when researching how to advance her career. These questions will form the foundation of our keyword research.
Identifying Buyer Keywords
Now that we have a clear picture of our target customer, it’s time to put ourselves in Tracey’s shoes and think about the keywords she might use in her searches. Tools like AnswerThePublic and AlsoAsked can be incredibly helpful in this process, as they generate a visual display of frequently asked questions based on a given search query.
For our example, we might uncover keywords and phrases like “how to become a manager,” “management training courses,” “leadership skills for managers,” and “team leader to manager transition.” These represent the various stages of Tracey’s buyer journey, from initial awareness to her final decision to enroll in a management training program.
Refining and Segmenting Keywords
With our initial list of buyer keywords in hand, the next step is to refine and segment them based on search intent. As the team at Impression Digital explains, there are four primary types of search intent:
- Informational: The user is seeking information, such as “how to become a manager.”
- Navigational: The user is looking for a specific website or page, like “Acme management training.”
- Commercial: The user is researching products or services, such as “best management training courses.”
- Transactional: The user is ready to make a purchase, searching for terms like “management training course pricing.”
By categorizing our keywords into these intent-based buckets, we can start to develop a content strategy that addresses the needs of our buyer at each stage of their journey. This will ensure that we’re serving up the most relevant and valuable information to move them closer to a purchase decision.
Leveraging Keyword Data
With our keyword list sorted and segmented, it’s time to dig into the data. Tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz can provide valuable insights on search volume, keyword difficulty, and the competitive landscape. This information will help us identify the most promising opportunities to target.
For example, we might find that “management training courses” has a high search volume and relatively low difficulty, making it an excellent primary target. But we’d also want to include a mix of long-tail, lower-volume keywords that align with the various stages of Tracey’s buyer journey, such as “how to become a better team leader” or “leadership skills for new managers.”
Creating Engaging Content
Armed with our refined, segmented keyword list, we can now start crafting content that speaks directly to our target audience. This might include blog posts, landing pages, product comparisons, and even interactive tools or assessments – all designed to guide Tracey (and buyers like her) through the sales funnel.
The key is to create content that not only aligns with their search intent but also feels genuinely helpful and valuable. At our SEO agency in Manchester, we’ve found that taking a human-centric approach, complete with relatable stories and a touch of humor, can be a powerful way to connect with our clients’ customers and position ourselves as trusted advisors.
Measuring and Optimizing
Of course, the work doesn’t stop once the content is live. We need to continuously monitor its performance and make adjustments based on the data. Are we seeing the right kinds of traffic? Are users engaging with the content and moving further down the sales funnel?
By staying agile and responsive to the evolving needs and behaviors of our buyers, we can refine our keyword strategy over time and ensure that our content continues to deliver maximum impact. After all, the ultimate goal is to position our clients as the go-to experts in their field, earning the trust and loyalty of their customers in Manchester and beyond.
So, there you have it – a comprehensive roadmap for thinking like a buyer and uncovering the commercial intent behind the searches of your potential customers. It may take some time and effort, but the payoff in terms of qualified leads and increased revenue is more than worth it. Now, let’s get to work!