How to Convert Customer Knowledge into Content

Daniel Russell is a “user happiness” researcher and team leader at Google. It is his job to understand what people do when searching with Google. He teaches classes on Internet search skills and blogs on the topic to share what he knows. He also learns from the users who attend his class and read his blog posts. For his knowledge to become a true company asset it needs to be enhanced, managed and effectively used as content.

Such knowledge driven content encourages companies to stay close to their customers. It can easily adapt to changes in customer needs. It can also find its way into product design if shared properly.

To convert knowledge into content follow these steps.

Customer knowledge is a two way street – give and get. Daniel’s post on Google’s Inside Search blog is an example of building product and customer knowledge into findable, shareable, credible content. Find a person at your company who can play the role Daniel does at Google.
Enhance. Do not simply store away what is known in a customer management system or database. Teach a class or webinar that allows you to observe and gather. Write a blog post that describes hands-on experience. From it, users will sense something about the company culture as well.
Manage. Daniel doesn’t write just one blog post, but a series of posts on Internet search skills. The content needs to be aligned with company objectives and user interests. He tells us that recent changes have been made for searching images so the examples he uses involve searching for images.
Use Effectively. In your blog posts and classes include examples and new ways to use the product. Daniel shares ideas on using Google Images that the average user would not know: How to verify the gender of a name and how to find a book without its title.
When you need help on how to enhance, manage and effectively use knowledge driven content talk with a content strategist.

What kind of content are you creating with your customer knowledge?

Writers Need Answers Before Content Creation Begins

What happens before and after content creation may be just as important as the act itself. Content creation is a process. Below are questions a content writer needs answered at the beginning of that process. I will address what’s needed during and after content creation in upcoming posts.

Who is your audience?

Writers write for people. They want to know how familiar your audience is with your brand, product, or service. Share what you know about your customers’ preferences, interests, behaviors, and demographics. Knowing this, the writer can create content that best serves your audience’s needs and wants.

Content targeted to existing customers is different than that for prospects or first time visitors. The writer can help you decide if segmenting audiences is a good content strategy.

What are your business objectives?

If you want to expand revenues, sensitivity to the purchasing cycle is necessary. If your objective is to widen your reach to global markets or narrow it to a region, content can be customized to reflect that. Increasing brand awareness requires lots of relationship building through multiple channels including social networks.

What do you want your audience to do?

Think about it. Your answer determines content prominence, priority, and navigation. Each piece of content serves a purpose. Don’t confuse your intent (educate, influence) with audience action. The latter is measureable.

Who are your competitors? Or, what websites do you like?

Oftentimes companies avoid the question about competitors. I add the “Or” question for those squeamish or uncertain about competitors. Market research is important for content writers. Not so they can emulate your competition, but so to differentiate your company.

A favorite website can give a clue on what you like and the tone of voice you may be receptive to, if you haven’t already determined that.

Who will act as sources for information?

Finally, I ask for the names of subject matter experts within the company and whoever interacts most with customers. I also ask for the names of two or three satisfied customers who are willing to share their stories.

Not until I have the answers to these questions do I begin the tangible aspect of content creation. Do you need help getting the content creation process started?

Write Your Company History in 6 Sentences or Less

Because people scan web copy your company history needs to be chunked into simple paragraphs of six sentences or less by topic, event, or key dates. Your audience will follow the path laid out if the story is compelling and the navigation is well organized. Always include information that is useful from the customer’s point of view.

Include the date of the company’s founding, the founder name (when appropriate) and why the company was formed.

The Hershey Company History page begins: “Our company originated with candy-manufacturer Milton Hershey’s decision in 1894 to produce sweet chocolate as a coating for his caramels.”

Delcam’s first line reads: “In 1965 Donald Welbourn, Director in Industrial Co-operation at Cambridge University, had the vision to see the possibility of using computers to assist pattern makers to solve the problems of modeling difficult 3D shapes.”

What makes the Hershey content more appealing? It is shorter, begins with the personal word “Our” and reveals that the chocolate was an afterthought used to supplement the caramel.

Hershey’s history is told in chunks consisting of just a few sentences each using this clever navigation system.

Software solutions company SAS shows visitors an opening Overview when the Company History menu item is selected. How many people do you think are enticed to click on the years tabs (below) after reading the Overview?

Tab titles that describe their story – Leaders, Roots, Global Frontiers might work better. If a visitor does click on one of the years tabs, icons appear below that are clickable. This is a nice navigation technique for chunking more information with just a few sentences. Each click through paragraph needs to be self-contained. In the paragraph above a project is mentioned but we don’t know what project they are referring to.

Google lists its chronological history of events on a single page by year this way:

1997

Larry and Sergey decide that the BackRub search engine needs a new name. After some brainstorming, they go with Google—a play on the word “googol,” a mathematical term for the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. The use of the term reflects their mission to organize a seemingly infinite amount of information on the web.

As long as the reader is learning something new about the company and its products the History page is working. It creates a closer connection with your visitors.

Finally, your company history is worth celebrating. Find a way to let your customers celebrate with you by offering special discounts or trivia contests with a prize going to the winner.

Address Fear of Change With Benefit-Filled Content

An article by August Turak titled “Three Keys to Competing” got me thinking about competition in a new way. Turak describes the levels of competition as direct (other suppliers), indirect (budget constraints), and procrastination (fear of change). “…the most insidious, most often neglected and hardest to overcome” is procrastination, he writes. Rather than buying from a competitor, the prospect does nothing.

What kind of content can address your customers’ fear of change? Try these approaches to help them act with confidence.

Understand Change is Not Easy

My computer was several years old with little storage space left on the hard drive and running very slow. Still, I waited. Learning something new requires time and attention. A long time PC user, I decided to buy a MacBook Pro. The processor was fast. I would have additional connectivity that includes HD video calls, and better graphics. These features were easily translated to benefits for me. I was able to call an Apple specialist who answered my questions through the number provided on the website. The content reads:

Follow Up With Ongoing Training & Support

The initial frustration of learning something new can be substantial. I suddenly became an amateur computer user after years of being an expert. I purchased the One on One support program for $99. This gives me access to the online tutorial and allows me to attend the One on One workshops at my local Apple store. Many of my frustrations were eliminated. I continue to refer to the online tutorial and attend the workshops to expand my understanding of what I can do with this computer. Apple makes it easy for customers to get support:

Anticipate the Benefits

Everyone wants a product or service that makes life better and easier. Apple seems to be anticipating my next purchase on their Home page:

Having the same content available on multiple devices is of great benefit. The automatic aspect tells me I won’t have to spend hours setting it up. I am now anticipating the benefits of change rather than fearing it.

How does your content address customers’ fear of change?

Content Strategy Applies Focus to Content Creation

Staying focused is a problem for people who have lots of interests, are generous and unable to say no, get distracted easily, and are just plain busy. Most of us fit into one of these categories. When a business loses focus on its content, a content strategy is needed. Erin Kissane, author of The Elements of Content Strategy, believes there is only one guiding principle of good content: “It should be appropriate for your business, for your users, and for its context.”

For the content writer, the best way to stay focused when creating content is to have all the peripheral stuff (including strategy) taken care of before any writing begins. The process then becomes simple: topic + length + purpose + channel. This allows the writer to get right to the heart of the matter – connecting with people interested in your products or services.

What to write about? Go to your monthly editorial calendar with topics listed. Plan ahead and don’t repeat. All the writer has to do is develop the idea listed on the calendar, not think one up. These topics should be aligned with business objectives and audience interests.

How many words or minutes? This depends on the objective. If you want people to bookmark what you write, it should be more than 500 words. If you want them to share on social media networks 200 to 400 words may be best. With video and podcasts keep it to two minutes or less.

What is the purpose? Are you trying to gain support, attract business, educate, promote something, get links, or start a conversation? Choose one. Being helpful is a given.

After knowing your topic + length + purpose, choose a channel. When writing for particular channels answer one question to keep the writing focused (though the question may change depending on your purpose):

Blog posts: How will this topic start a conversation with my target audience?

Landing page: What do we want the viewer to do?

Website: What do our buyers want to know?

Social media: Does this effort help us achieve our strategic goals?

Email marketing: Will the content help solve a customer problem?

Relying on a focused, efficient content strategy saves lots of time and frustration for the writer, the business, and the audience. What ways have you and your company found to help focus the content creation process?