Open for a BIG announcement! Plus, my framework for content marketing...

Hello and Happy Tuesday!

Welcome to all of my new friends I met last week at ICS, CMC, and FUBCON!?

I’m THRILLED to announce the launch of my podcast! It’s been a long time in the making. The first two episodes are live now, and new episodes will be released every week, brought to you by my friends at Total Expert .?

Every episode will feature a customer experience expert or leader from a brand who’s crushing the CX game. My guests for the first two episodes are customer experience legend Shep Hyken and Nashville-based portrait photographer Fizzah Raza. Check them out now and, if you’re feeling generous, please leave a rating or a review! They’re both very helpful in getting new listeners to discover the podcast.

Speaking of content, I loved chatting with all of the content marketing specialists at Content Marketing Conference on Thursday last week. Their insightful questions at the end of my keynote inspired today’s newsletter, which is all about using the SUPER framework to power your content marketing strategy — or starting one, if you’re not already creating regular content. ??

Enjoy!

Brittany

S: Start with your Story

I often say that everything is experience. Every single touchpoint says something about your brand and has the ability to shape a customer’s perception of you. I spoke to hundreds of copywriters at the Content Marketing Conference who are used to telling their story through blogs or social posts. I challenged the attendees to look at the smaller, maybe even non-written forms of communication that have just as great of an opportunity to tell a brand’s story. The signage in your store, the packaging of your products, and the emails your customers get when they subscribe to your newsletter are all chances to share your story and capture your audience’s attention. Whatever it is that you’re creating or curating on your platforms, make sure your voice is at the center of it.?

U: Understand your Customer’s Story

The purpose of content marketing is to provide valuable information to your customers, so it’s imperative that you understand what they’re looking for to inform your content strategy. If you’re a realtor, what are some of the general topics that a buyer might be interested in? Are the majority of your clients first-time homeowners? Or are they mature buyers that are purchasing vacation homes? Having this knowledge of your customer base will help you identify the type of blog posts and newsletters you create, which will help you stay relevant and top-of-mind to your audience.?

In addition to uncovering your customer’s story through active listening, you should continue to learn about them through your data. With a quick look at Google Analytics or the dashboards on your social platforms, you can easily identify the topics that are resonating with your audience. What are people downloading or ‘liking’ the most? What about their consumption patterns? Are the newsletters that are sent in the morning opened at a higher rate than the ones sent in the evening? Do people like Instagram reels or carousels better? Paying attention to these details will help you improve your content strategy and form stronger connections with your customers.?

P: Personalize

Someone asked me a great question about how to use personalized data in a way that doesn’t come off too creepy. According to McKinsey , 71 percent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, and 76 percent get frustrated when this doesn’t happen. But we all know there’s a fine line between being attentive to detail and being a flat-out stalker.?

My advice is to gradually gather data from your customers and then use it once you’ve had a conversation about it. I like to compare it to dating. Before you go on a first date with someone, you’re probably going to stalk their social media profiles. However, you definitely shouldn’t ask them how that music festival was in 2015 until they volunteer the information.? Wait until you’ve collected that data firsthand before using it in your interactions, or you’ll come off as creepy.

You might not know highly detailed information about your customers or prospects right away, but you’ll probably know enough to provide them with something relevant. A great example is Quizlet.

If you aren’t familiar with Quizlet, it’s a website that lets you create and store your own digital flashcards and study guides. Quizlet creates awesome content for their active customers through newsletters, like the one below.?

The subject line grabs readers’ attention right away:? “Stressed out? Open for pictures of cute animals.”?

In the body of the email, it says “Your study reminder: research shows that taking breaks from studying to refresh your brain and body increases your energy, productivity, and ability to focus.” Then, they link to a custom flashcard set of adorable baby animals.?

How great is that? They know that most students start studying for exams in November, and they can likely gauge their most active accounts in any given week. They might not have data on the subjects that everyone’s studying, but they know enough to provide relevant content. Plus, they’re able to position themselves as helpful and caring, while driving customers to their website to try Quizlet Plus.

E: Exceed Expectations

When used correctly, you can use your content to exceed customers’ expectations. I advise people to write down all of the questions a prospect or customer might have about your business or industry. Then, you should record videos of yourself answering all of these questions individually. If you’re answering especially complex questions, you might even want to create a Loom video so you can record your screen and walk your audience through a multi-step process. Every time a customer asks you one of these questions, you can reply with a link to a video, which will enable you to resolve their issue much faster and in greater detail. When customers see your entire channel of videos, they’ll be able to find answers to their questions before they even have to ask and they’ll feel like you read their mind.?

R: Repeat

I’m a huge proponent of using automation tools to power certain tasks in your business so you can focus your energy on the interactions that matter most. Content marketing is no different. There are a million free and paid tools that will help you schedule out your social media content in advance to help save you time. You should create evergreen content about your industry and schedule it to repeat several times a year. MeetEdgar is a platform that will actually re-populate your schedule for you based on the engagement trends so that you can simply focus on the more important posts.?

As a content marketing creator, a huge component of your job is to bolster your SEO. You can use the transcriptions from podcast episodes - which are likely filled with keywords - as blog posts and newsletters. It’s ultimately a win-win because it makes your show accessible to anyone that’s hearing impaired, and it’s one less content idea for you to come up with. For each piece of content that you create, always ask yourself all of the different ways you can recycle it.

Looking for more marketing tips? Check out my blog post: 7 Keys to a Successful Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy .

“The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” -Tom Fishburne?

Have a great week and I'll talk to you next Tuesday!