October 2004
How Valuable Is Your Content?
Creating customer communications is easy; creating customer communications that are relevant and engaging is another challenge altogether.
By Karla Spormann
Do your print publications or website give your customers and prospects something they find relevant or useful? Sure, you want to showcase your brand, products, and services, but how do you ensure that your customer communications deliver value—and why is that important?
Companies have embraced the idea that, now more than ever, the customer controls which company deserves their attention—and ultimately their dollar. As a result, the marketplace is cluttered with an overload of media messages for an increasing abundance of brands, products, and services.
"Far too often marketers assume they know their target customers far better than they actually do." In order to successfully compete for customer attention, companies of all sizes are recognizing that their websites and customer publications can help them build relationships, cross-sell products, and improve customer retention. The success of these efforts is often measured by readership or engagement—metrics that are made easier by the transparency of the Web.
What drives readership, open rates, click-through rates (CTRs), and ultimately ROI of any communication program? Value. Delivering value is the real key to ensuring that customers engage with your website and read your email newsletter or customer magazine. When customers receive information that is truly relevant to them, it builds confidence and trust in the sender and can create emotional connections with an audience. By delivering this kind of value companies drive preference—and ultimately sales, which is the reason we reach out to customers in the first place.
A Is for Audience
So where do you begin to plan and develop content that your customers will value? The answer is with your audience—the customers themselves.
It's essential to carefully consider your audience's perspective. Consider not only who they are, but also their profile and the kinds of information that will be valuable enough to secure their attention. Consider, too, what other information or content they consume—especially from your competitors. How will your efforts stand out as unique and important?
Far too often marketers assume they know their target customers far better than they actually do; they assume that the message they want to broadcast is the message their customers want to hear. Leveraging outside expertise to better understand your audience is one way to ensure you don't fall prey to old assumptions.
Once you really know your audience, how can you deliver real value? The exact strategy for success can't be prescribed by a one-size-fits-all formula. You can, however, begin to gauge how well your customer communication programs are delivering value by asking a few basic questions:
Is your content organized to support how customers will engage with your website, email newsletter, or print magazine?
Determine if there is a hierarchy of importance to the content you are delivering to your customers. Can your audience easily scan the material to connect with relevant information?
Can you provide content that will support a buying decision in your product category or industry?
Some purchases are complex, requiring careful consideration and information to support the buying decision. You can facilitate the process by providing information that goes beyond product specifics. ROI calculators, for example, give your message additional strategy and value.
For consumer audiences, can you offer relevant lifestyle content to entertain your customers and support your brand?
Many consumer products use emotional triggers and lifestyle attributes to define their brand. Content that puts your product in the context of your customers' lifestyle can deepen your customers' relationship with your brand.
Does your content mix address the broader concerns of your customers?
Often companies are so eager to talk about their products and services that they neglect to address the context by which a customer should choose their product. Demonstrate that your company understands your customers' business or personal challenges and you'll earn their attention again and again.
Ask yourself these questions to focus your efforts on providing valuable content in your communications. Doing so will help you avoid marketing myopia—a syndrome where marketers are so consumed with what they want to say that they lose sight of the value proposition of their communication investment. A customer-centric perspective focused on delivering value will help ensure maximum return on your customer communication investment.
About the author:
Karla Spormann is the president and founding partner of Tendo Communications.
