Using Content to Drive Your Customer Experience Strategy

In a recent Marketing 360 post, we emphasized the importance of building thematic content collections that matter to customers rather than one-off pieces on a campaign-by-campaign basis. So what is the significance of thematic collections and what do they help us achieve? The answer is a simple one: they are a powerful driving force for customer experiences.

Before delving into the role of content in customer experience, let’s take a minute to discuss what customer experience is. Although at first thought it might seem that customer experience is synonymous with customer service, that is actually not correct. In a Content Marketing University module, Robert Rose very wisely explains, “As I like to say, customer service is what happens when the customer experience breaks down.”

While it used to be that the main way customers engaged with brands was to call a hotline when they needed help, times have changed. Today’s digital world provides a multitude of opportunities for customers to interact with brands — be it to share their opinions (positive and negative alike), learn how to use the products, provide creative ideas for new features, and beyond. In fact, customer experience is really the sum of all interactions a customer has with a brand, as early as the initial discovery of the brand or one of its products. Customer service, while an important piece of the equation, is definitely not the only factor.

Companies that want to cultivate a positive customer experience go the extra mile to understand their customer’s needs at every touchpoint, thereby building loyalty and trust over the course of the relationship. With the naturally skeptical scientist crowd, life science companies have to work hard to gain that trust. If every interaction with a brand is a positive one, the scientist will be more likely to remember the brand as a reliable resource.

Consistency in messaging is one way to deliver a positive customer experience. Have you ever found a restaurant on a website, then discovered it was closed when you got there? Marketing and sales need to be in alignment. We worked with a Fortune 500 research tool provider to ensure consistent messaging across departments in advance of a major campaign that we anticipated would generate a lot of interest. We trained the sales reps using the same messaging that informed the marketing campaign. In this way, scientists who saw the ads or editorial and contacted the sales team received the same messaging, providing for a seamless customer experience.

Circling back to content, a key advantage of thematic collections is that they can provide an ideal means to strategically guide a customer through the sales funnel. It just requires carefully planning and creating content that addresses your customer’s needs and interests at the various stages in their buyer’s journey.

Contact us if you’re interested in learning more about creating a customer experience strategy.

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