What is Customer-Centered Content?

So, what is customer-centered content? I remember reading an excellent post from Story Needle Sincerity in Content Marketing, which led me to ask what do content consumers want from content marketers. What is sincere content marketing? It’s certainly not the many Ad-polgies I see everyday. The Story Needle post hits the nail on the head with, “The path to sincerity involves clarifying what the customer wants. Too often brands assume customers will share the same outlook that they are promoting. The goals of building an audience for a brand can get warped into making the audience into the brand.” The question is, what content do customers want? What is customer-centered content?

Customer-Centered Content Explain the Benefits 

When it comes to product content, most consumers don’t want to know how the product was built. However, I’ve seen post after post that share product details, from design to the materials used in the manufacture of the product. What people want to know are the benefits—what it does for them.

Don’t confuse sharing the advantages of a product with the benefits. If you outline the advantages, you might assume that consumers will understand the benefits, but why force readers to take that leap? For example, I could say the advantage of a programmable thermostat is that once set, the consumer doesn’t have to do anything, but that’s not the only benefit. The benefits are that it’s a time-saving device that can be used to lower utility bills while making the home more comfortable. The benefits are it saves consumers time and money while improving home comfort.

Share Your Audience’s Pain

A few years ago, my teammate at the time, Eric Benge, wrote a series of blog posts titled Tech Talk. The posts were primarily about vehicle graphics design. One of his first posts was Tech Talk: Outlining Text.  

Eric explains how customers can save or “outline” a font during the artwork submission process to get precisely the font they want. The first draft was well-written and Eric did an excellent job educating non-designers in simple terms that anyone could follow, but it was missing something. It didn’t have a human connection. I asked Eric why he had written about the topic, and he explained it was a common problem that caused pain for both customers and providers. I advised him to begin the post by sharing the pain. He added, “If you’ve ever experienced a print provider unable to convert text to artwork because the font wasn’t on file, you know it can be a frustrating process to remedy. The good news is — this can be avoided, and here’s how.”

Solve Problems

To do this, you need to know your audience and understand the most common and frustrating problems they share. The obvious next step is to offer a solution.

Every minute of every day, people search online for solutions to their problems. If you understand your target audience’s problems and have the solutions, don’t wait for them to find you. Don’t assume that they’ll magically appear at your door (website) and purchase your offering.

Use content to promote your solutions. Write blog posts, shoot videos, offer a free e-book, post case studies, create infographics, and do all the above if you can. When consumers search the internet for answers to their problems, have the content that shares the solutions.

Make Your Clients Feel Special

How do you make someone feel special? One way is to include them in the conversation. For example, run a survey and ask their opinion.

Write about your customer. One of the things people like most to discuss is themselves and their organizations. So, why not feature your top customers in content?

Let your audience in through the back door. Share behind-the-scenes and insider information with your clients and potential customers.

What is Customer-Centered Content Marketing?

The easy answer is any content that puts the customer first. You do that by sharing the benefits, not the features, of your product, by making your prospects feel special, by sharing their pain, and by solving your audience’s problems, finally, by asking yourself who you’re creating content for. Too many content marketers create content for themselves or their organization, not for their customers.

 How Can I Help?

Let me know if I can offer any help or advice. If this post struck a nerve, you might want to check out my book, How to Stay Ahead of Your Business Blog Forever. The book is full of action plans to create a blogging/writing system that works for you.

If you enjoyed this post, you might like How to Make the End of Your Blog Post a Beginning.

Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplas

 

 

 

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