If your website can’t be found, is located on an unstable platform, offers no visual appeal, or is hard to understand and navigate, usability goals for the website are not being met. It is unlikely that one person can design a usable website. It takes a team. The following team members can get you where you want to go.
How to Reach Niche Markets Through Article Writing
Article writing can highlight your industry expertise, drive traffic to your website, and increase your online authority. Writing articles for a niche market will also reward you with back links from sites you are glad to be associated with
How Website Content Supports and Sells Customer Service
Outstanding customer service is something that many companies make claim to, but how do you convince prospects that your business will go above and beyond? How do you make your website an extension of the outstanding customer service you deliver in person? We looked to four customer service leaders for inspiration.
Tell the “Wow” Stories
Ritz-Carlton’s customer service has been widely recognized. In each hotel every day, every department meets to share stories about customers who have been wowed by their services. We find a selection of these stories on their website. Stories That Stay With You: Unique and Memorable Moments from the Ladies and Gentlemen of The Ritz-Carlton, makes customer service interesting and compelling to the website visitor.
Build a Customer Service Page
Wegman’s is a grocer that consistently ranks high in customer service. On a a recent Bloomberg Businessweek survey, 60% of respondents would recommend the brand. Visit Wegman’s website and the Customer Service page is a convenient one-stop shop for any and all info a consumer might need. From frequently asked questions, to actual phone numbers, and a store locator, Wegman’s anticipates customer needs well and neatly compacts the info in one convenient place. A website that does this well can effectively reduce customer wait times and free up staff for other assignments.
Add Convenience
Automaker Lexus (Ranked 7th on the same survey) uses its website to build in convenience for busy customers. Once enrolled in My Lexus, an owner can conveniently schedule service appointments online, access their complete service history, or download ownership manuals. Imagine, no more digging out a paper invoice out of a file cabinet to see when the last time you had new tires installe
Be Helpful
Home of “the Helpful Hardware Man,”Ace Hardware extends customer service online through the Projects and Solutions area of its site. Expertise is shared through interactive project videos, step-by-step how-to’s, and the Helpful Hardware Man’s Corner. Customers know where they can find assistance with their projects. Are you doing the same for your “DIY” B2B customers? “Projects sell products,” we used to say when I worked at a home center publication years ago. Similarly in foodservice, recipes and menu ideas sell ingredients.
What these service leaders demonstrate is that website content can not only sell customer service to a prospect, but also extend customer service by helping customers find the information they need online. While face-to-face customer service is highly valued, these companies recognize that buyers increasingly go online to interact with the brand. Smart marketers will maximize the customer experience in both places.
Are you ready to think differently about how you approach your website content? As professional content strategists and contest writers we can help you determine the content that will best support and sell all aspects of your brand, including service. We can help you find and tell your customer service stories; organize and write an effective customer service page; enhance customer convenience, and share your know-how.
Give us a call, or send us an email. We’ll respond right away, either way.
Best Practices May Be Your Best Content
Whatever B2B service or product you offer, chances are there are some related best practices. Best practices are something most of your B2B customers are interested in. Your experience and knowledge is valuable and useful to potential customers. Here are five great formats for sharing best practices.
1. Share Survey Results
Mail Chimp shares best practices for writing email subject lines. In this case information is based on survey data, but insider knowledge could work just as well.
2. Focus on the Stars
Create a story around the stars of your industry. What is the best practice and who does it best? Select your winning subjects and create a slideshow around them. Business Week’s Customer Service Champs combines short but effective copy with an interesting graphic.
3. Ask the Experts
Ask the experts how they would address a particular best practice. This blog post from Green Biz provides expert tips for a greener fleet.
4. Make Rules
There is something irresistible about rules. They provide information in a simple and easy-to digest format. Rules are a great way to promote the safe use of a product . Check out these new rules related to food safety.
5. Learn from Your Mistakes
Talking about mistakes is a round about way of demonstrating best practices. For commercial real estate agents content might be titled “The Five Biggest Mistakes when Leasing a Commercial Property.” Business decision makers want to know about real world failures so they can avoid them.
As a marketer and content writer focused on foodservice and construction, I see plenty of content opportunities missed. It’s no longer enough to have a nice website, you need content that will continue to draw traffic and qualified leads. Best practices may very well be your best content. If you don’t know where to start, call us.
Content Strategy: A Recipe for B2B Marketing Success
Are you overwhelmed by the number of touch points you have with customers? The marketing mix for many B2B companies today looks like a recipe with an ever-increasing number of ingredients. Imagine the pot is your company. The protein for your recipe is your website and without it, your marketing lacks power. Trade magazines, trade shows and traditional public relations form a base; add blogs; mix in Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and You Tube; sprinkle in custom events, networking, webinars, and mobile. It’s either a recipe for success or a recipe for disaster.
Before the Internet, you knew the recipe for B2B marketing success fairly well. Now the recipe has become far more complicated. You can’t just throw in more ingredients and expect it to taste good. You need to think about what each element of the marketing mix can contribute because time and money are limited. You need to think about what customers are looking for and how they engage in each of the platforms.
In the old days a prospect may have picked up the phone and called a vendor to help him in the buying process. Today buyers conduct much of their preliminary research online. Your customers are going to find the information they need from someone. How will you help them? What can you provide that will be useful? How will you stand out in the crowd? How will you build trust? Where will they look for this information?
Here’s a way to simplify the process:
1) Determine Who
Who do you want to reach? If there are multiple audiences you’ll need separate strategies. Learn as much about them as you can.
2) Determine Your Objectives
Are you after sales leads or brand awareness? Are you trying to establish credibility or educate customers? Choose the “ingredients” of your marketing mix based on your objectives.
3) Determine What
Content should also be aligned with objectives. What can you show, what can you say, what have you done, that will help you accomplish your objectives? How will you show it, how will you say it, how will you communicate it on each of your selected channels? This is content strategy.
Some B2B marketers are probably moving too quickly into new media, while others aren’t moving quickly enough. But whether you are just beginning to embrace it, or have already jumped in, taking the time to develop a content strategy will help ensure your success.
Coming soon… Content for Biz will offer a complimentary B2B content strategy worksheet for all our subscribers. Sign up today be sure you don’t miss it.