Using 'enabling content' with personality to increase customer retention & sales

(5 minute read)

Every organisation suffers with the same issues and always has the same set of objectives. Make money or save money.

Now, that can take a multitude of forms/ strategies; expansion, increasing workforce efficiency, increasing sales etc. Or perhaps it's a combination? No matter the size of your business the objectives always the same pattern.

However, what we're going to focus on is purely the increasing of sales via introducing enabling content to your customer base.

So let's start by clarifying what buyer enabling content is, as I'm sure you all do this in some form. It's content that specifically supports customers, either current or potential, in making a buying decision. Ideally that decision lands on you.

To create this content, I've created a checklist with scores, having these completed ensures that you're meeting the required criteria to support your customers and the content has a purpose directly linking to your objective.

The aim is to not only educate the customer that you're the right decision, but to speed the sales process along. Decisions take longer if buyers are unsure of who to use to carry-out the project, so creating content that directly meets any potential concerns can remove these fears & put you into a better light.

It should be noted that by creating buyer enabling content, you have to advocate for your product/or service without directly attacking your competition. If the content highlights the disadvantages of a specific service you must equally do the same to avoid being seen as dishonest, so let's hope your target audience was defined correctly so you still get chosen.

The higher the score, the higher quality your content. If you reach 18 points you've created something I'd call worthy.

A lot of this information is sourced from Gartner, referenced at the end of this article. I emplor you to research further if you want all the nitty gritty details (And argubaly a more sophisticated questionaire, which we refuse to acknowledge).

The next step is intertwining your personality into the content you've created. There's no single perfect solution to this as every business will have differing brand voices, but take clear instruction from your brand guidelines.

The key thing to bare in mind are the companies values & differentiators. What is it about your organisation that distinguishes you from your competition after you've removed the different service offerings?

Focal for example is a digital marketing & content agency, I'd like to say the competition is minimal but I think we have competition as soon as we step out our front door! So how do we distinguish ourselves amongst a battalion of other marketing agencies when creating our content?

Personality, every damn time. Our content is written with the customer in mind, but we write with a more "loosened" feel. Makes for easier reading & conveys the subtle message of confidence. Our PR imagery is one of pizzas shouting "No more margherita marketing". It embodies and guides how we voice our brand.

How you achieve this in your content creation will take many forms. As long as the essence of your message is the same, then you'll have successfully distinguished yourself amongst the horde.

And incase you weren't quite sure, this whole article is an example of buyer enabling content.

We have no shame.

https://www.gartner.com/en/marketing/insights/articles/the-marketers-checklist-to-get-buyer-enablement-content-right