Effective website content is customer-centric. Why? Because the content needs to be valued by your consumers, which means it needs to be important to them. Customers are your business. Understanding your customers, especially your best customers, is a vital part of any successful business. It’s also crucial to effective website content, which keeps your patrons engaged with your brand and coming back to buy more.
You will no doubt be thinking,
“But I know my customers.”
While most small business owners can describe their clientele to some degree, it’s from their own point of view. It’s inside out. It’s harder to imagine how your customers perceive you and how they describe your business. This outside-in view can be eye-opening, even humbling, and can transform the way you do business and write effective website content.
20 Things Your Customers Know
Here are 20 things your best customers know:
- Your products’ strengths
- Your products’ weaknesses
- Where to find your product
- Where to find your competitors’ products
- What your product costs
- Your promotional calendar
- What your product really costs
- What your competition’s products costs
- What your clients’ options are about you
- Your competitors’ products’ strengths and weaknesses
- What your consumers are worth to you
- That they can leave at any time
- What they wish you offered
- What frustrates them
- What your “brand” stands for
- What your competitors’ brands stand for
- Where your brand falls short
- Where your competitors’ brands fall short
- What makes them happy
- What makes them angry
I hope you made it through the whole list. I hope you recognize what this means to your website content. When they get to your site, they already know a lot, don’t tell them again. Show them how you are different, show them how your product or service solves their problems more effectively. If you acknowledge them as the experts they are you are more likely to keep them engaged.
Effective Website Content is Based on Your Customer’s Reality
Take the time to review your website’s content through your customer’s eyes. Why? Because the only “reality” is their reality, and their reality is all about what’s good for them.
While you are concerned with all the details and intimate facts about your products, you are living in a box and are not reaching your clients. Without effective website content that speaks to your patrons’ pain points, you are just another dot swirling around their heads.
Surveys are good tools for this. Add a survey to your next email campaign. Ask your list about their wants and needs. Then report the results in a subsequent email. Or go old school and talk to them. You will find they are quite willing to share their perspective. Use the insights to increase the relevance of your website’s content, use what you learn and put emphasis on the big things that are important to best customers.
Humility is Important
You work for your clientele, and they are vital to your business, so treat them well. You aren’t their only choice, and they are undoubtedly already using your competitors’ products, which is especially true for heavy category users. So when writing your content, don’t talk down to your customer. Treat them with respect, offer them insider information that they want to know, and give them special deals to show that you value them.
Don’t take your best customers for granted. As in any relationship, you want to court your best clients. Ask them what they really want and deliver it. Start a conversation, and give them direct ways to contact you when they want to connect. Give them exclusive discounts. Show your appreciation and show it regularly.
Another fundamental principle to keep in mind is not to waste their time. Like everyone else, your shoppers are inundated with information from every angle, so don’t clutter their inboxes or spam their social media feeds. Keep your communications regular, but also keep them to a minimum. Allow consumers to customize what type of information they receive from you and how frequently they receive it.
Use these insights to develop effective website content, content that creates value and keeps your consumer coming back to you.
Author: James Hipkin
CEO, Managing Director
James brings over 30 years of professional sales, marketing, and marketing consultation services to the table. Serving global brands along with small businesses, Hipkin leads a highly-skilled team of full-time developers, producers, and project managers who are committed to your success.
An excellent communicator and inventive problem-solver, his creative vision and bottom-line sensibility have proven successful at building productive, long-term partnerships with both employees and clients.