16 Jan Creating Customer-Centric Content
As a follow-up to my previous blog post on creating Personas, today I would like to discuss creating customer-centric content. First things first. Before you can create “customer-centric” content you have to understand what that term means.
According to Business Dictionary.com the official definition is:
- “Creating a positive consumer experience at the point of sale and post-sale. A customer-centric approach can add value to a company by enabling it to differentiate itself from competitors who do not offer the same experience.”
Not to quibble, but I like my definition better.
- “Creating a positive consumer experience at every touch point from the first contact through to the 1,000,000th visit. Leveraging people, processes, technology and expertise to meet and exceed customer expectations. Every time.”
Either way, the point is that you need to provide your customers with an experience that is designed to meet their needs. This concept can get a bit tricky when it comes to marketing. The number one reason why customers are not engaging with your content is that you didn’t build it with them in mind. Most likely you built it designed to address your preferences and needs instead. For instance, let’s say that you want your customers to sign up for your newsletter. It will have lots of good information, but in particular will provide them with special offers for your product. Now your goal is to sell product. Your customers goal is to not get bombarded with emails designed to sell things to them. This is business, so you can’t just send out fluffy emails of dancing cats, you do need to sell product. So what’s a business owner to do?
Start with defining your company “voice”. You personally might be really laid back and speak casually, but if your customers are in a corporate environment you better make some adjustments. You will need to define a “voice” that will speak in a way your customers will understand.
For example, let’s say that you own a eyeglass business. Here are 3 different ways you can say “We sell glasses” each targeting a different persona.
- “Hola, friend. Meet your new frames.” Probably targeting a younger, more casual, fashion conscious consumer.
- “1000’s of styles to choose from.” This customer wants selection and not a lot of fluff.
- “Stylish Children’s Glasses.” You are talking to a parent that wants their kid to look cool.
The good news is that if you already have your Personas defined then identifying your voice shouldn’t be too difficult. Just make sure you are thinking about them when you develop marketing material.
Now you know how you are going to speak to them, you now need to define what you are going to say. The golden rule is to not confuse your customers. It is especially important that you know your 2-3 core messages and reinforce them continuously. In a nutshell, stay on message.
Your key messages describe what your business does and how it will help your ideal customer. Staying with the eyeglass business example and leveraging one of my all time favorite companies, Warby Parker. If you look at their marketing material they have a few key messages. Such as,
- They sell glasses.
- You can try them on at home for free.
- They are stylish and affordable.
They make it easy to understand what they do (sell glasses), how they do it (free at home trial) and what makes them stand out (stylish and affordable). No matter where you look, you will see these same messages reinforced with a their unique voice and also supported with relevant images and branding.
Now it’s your turn.
- Do you know your ideal customer?
- Tip: You can have more than one Persona.
- Are you speaking to them in a “voice” that will resonate with them?
- Tip: Separate your personality from your business.
- What are your 2-3 core messages?
- Tip: Focus on solving their problems and addressing any objections they might have for engaging with you.
Once you get a good handle of these aspects of your business, then you can truly start to create customer-centric marketing content.