Many business owners go about their content marketing strategy all wrong. Yes, it’s true! We spend so much time, money, and effort trying to chase shiny new clients that we forget about the customers we already have. Yet they are the ones who have allowed us to get here in the first place.
So, why not focus more of your content marketing efforts on retaining existing customers rather than chasing down new ones? This is how you do it.
Lou Cimaglia, the former Senior Content Strategist at Liberty Mutual, says it’s all about the user experience, or UX for short. He defines this as “the creation, organization, and deployment of content to improve the customer experience.”
The experiences a customer has with your business are the key to retention. And the secret to the best UX content strategy, Lou Cimaglia says, is this 3-part approach: “educate, advocate, and reciprocate.”
Let’s jump into each part and how to use it.
Educate
Education is the key to optimizing content for your customers and making it accessible and easy to understand. The best way to do this is to think like they do!
Look at the content you’ve been putting out and think about a question a customer might have about that product or service. Does the content you’re producing answer that question? If not, it’s time to revisit some of the material you have been putting out and make it more helpful.
If customers understand how your services work, they’ll likely refer them to others or use them again.
Advocate
Sometimes, customers don’t always know the best option for their needs, especially if they’re in a jam and need a fast fix. Make it easy for customers to rely on your services when needed.
Here’s how to make the buying process easier for your customers:
- Chunking Information: Make your content short and easy to understand.
- Plain Language: Avoid using fancy vocabulary or jargon.
- Reductionism: Tell them what they need to know! Don’t swamp them with a ton of information they might not need.
By using your content to make buying more accessible, you’re setting them up for success with a better user experience.
Reciprocate
Customers deserve to know how much they mean to your business. Conveying your gratitude should be more than a rewards program or BOGO deals once a quarter. Help your buyers feel seen and appreciated!
Here are 2 sure-fire ways to design your content to show your gratitude.
Find What’s Familiar. Look at your demographic and nail down their values. Customers will feel more connected to your brand if you support the causes or issues they care about. They want to see that you stand on common ground.
Personalize It. People like to feel as if you’re speaking directly to them. Buyers are more likely to spend their money with someone they consider a friend. Friends typically continue to support friends.
To start using these retention strategies in your own business, take a hard look at the lifespan of your customer base. Where are they falling off? When you find that point, determine the decision the customer faces, the one where they ultimately choose “no thank you.”
Once you know where customers are opting out, focus your education and advocacy efforts there. Remember: Think like your customers. Produce content that will sideline any possible issue they might face before it ever happens. There you have it! Using these proven content marketing strategies will enhance the user experience for your customers and increase retention. Now that’s how you do content marketing the right way.
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