• by Nina Lentini  @Nina_Lentini, January 21, 2020

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The Challenge

Bloomscape, a DTC plant delivery company, wanted to launch itself in a way that would achieve fast growth, but also bring value to its customers. 

Says Kelsey Cohen, director of growth, "I did not want to repeat the mistakes that I had seen so many other companies make. I have seen and worked for other companies that went full-force for acquisition without a content nurturing strategy and then floundered when they realized continued engagement was important to sustainable growth. 

"I also wanted to make sure that we were making our content work for us on multiple levels."

The Execution

Cohen started with personas and buyer’s journeys. They were well-informed guesses when it launched since Bloomscape did not have any actual customers to help inform it. As it has grown, it has revisited using customer data, behavior, and survey insights.

The idea, she says, is to then create a content strategy and plan that connects your personas to your buyer’s journey.

She started by plotting a persona along the customer journey. "This will provide structure to your content strategy and allows you to focus your content along the needs of your customer, and ensures that your content is proactive and additive."

Next, she asked herself two questions: What does my customer want or need to know at each stage? What is preventing them from moving from one stage to the next?

"Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and consider the roadblocks, pain points, and motivations at each stage of the journey -- paying close attention to the transitions between each stage. These transitions have the biggest opportunity and are where the most customers drop off."

Then she used content to provide solutions and answers. And, finally, she created a content placeholder (title or idea) that would answer the question using the solution.

Cohen cautions that, before you start writing, "make sure you’re creating core content that is proactive, specific, and allows you to learn something about the people who are engaging with it."

She uses a content checklist that can be used as a content brief. Among the questions she asks herself before writing any piece of core content:

• Who am I writing this for? "Engagement can tell me persona alignment."

• What pain point or concern is it addressing? "Engagement can tell me where they are in their buyer’s journey."

• What keywords or phrases am I optimizing for? "Engagement can tell me what is top-of-mind for them."

• Why would someone care? "Engagement can tell me what their motivations and aspirations are."

The Results

In its first two years, Bloomscape has generated millions in sales.

It ships well over 100,000 plants nationwide. 

Key Takeaways

• Create a content strategy that brings value to your customers.

• Use content to provide solutions and answers. Create a road map.

• Have higher expectations for your content. Every piece should tell you something about the person who interacts with it.

• Keep your content simple, focused, and valuable.