How to get rid of your customers in 10 seconds
… and how to win them back.
When thinking of reshaping websites many people can pay even a large amount of money for work, that contains building the website by coding and designing. Contrarily, even the smartest people trust so much of their skills in writing content, that they don’t want to “throw their money to waste” for something they can make by themselves.
Often a website plays the biggest part in a company’s marketing. Therefore, it’s the place to stand out, for better or for worse. While it is possible that the little cracks make your customers like you even more, sometimes the smallest mistake can drive away your customers. Now, why would you risk your business over something like that?
If you still want to do it all by yourself, you are reading the right blog post. In this article, I try to point out the most common content-related mistakes that make your customers run away from you. Here it goes – 8 mistakes to avoid and some keys to solving them:
1. Not knowing your audience
Can you come up with a couple of user personas that need your product or service? By the way, knowing their names and titles doesn’t cut it. You need to understand what matters to them and why; the motivations and needs behind their buying decision. There are many tools that help you to clarify your target audience. At least empathy mapping and sketching user personas and user journeys are efficient tools for identifying your customers. Also, don’t be afraid of just asking them. User interviews and testing help you to create content that supports your business goals.
2. Not knowing your own style
After knowing your customers it’s time to think about your own style. Let’s face it: too many organizations come off as a bunch of boring dudes. Not all industries are fascinating for bigger crowds, but there’s a chance to get at least the target audience hooked. A splash of colour makes you stand out in a group of basic companies. Check your tone of voice based on your user personas to make it possible to create captivating content that turns visitors into leads.
3. Not concentrating
Larger company goals are the base of all communications – and those should also be at the core of your content strategy. There’s no point in trying to do everything at once. When you’re trying to catch all the fish of the sea you usually end up having caught none. If you’re starting a website-building process, don’t just copy & paste all the old website content without thinking it through. Do you really need all that information on your website or is all that text just too much and hard to read? What kind of blog posts really serve your goals? Which social media channels actually matter to your business? Concentrate, crop, and make a content calendar, and you will catch all the fish you need.
4. Bad storytelling
Yeah, everybody knows it’s important to have a story to tell. People love stories and buy products from companies that feel appealing to them. But guess what people really hate? Implausible stories that only make them feel awkward. When it comes to company stories, the best ones are genuine and honest, meant to be read between the lines. There’s no point in writing emotional company – or personal – histories on websites’ About us pages. Let your audience know your background and values by subtle mentions of your company’s journey, pictures, colours, and social media posts.
5. Just selling
Internet is full of bad content. You don’t want to be a part of that. One of the main reasons is bad content marketing that only tries to sell when people try to find something that actually matters to them, aka something with a true value. So, don’t just sell. Educate! Inform! Or entertain! When the users want to spend time on your website, they are also more likely to buy.
6. Being a content dictator
Okay, so you have shaped the Content Strategy all by yourself. You’re the Marketing Coordinator, Content Producer, and the Head of Communications – all in one – and now it’s time to make some quality content to get people hooked. Please, don’t do it! Get some enlightened opinions. There’s always something you didn’t notice yourself (typos!) and when someone else does, be a pal and listen to them.
7. Forgetting humanity
People buy from people, and a pinch of humanity never hurt anyone. All the content created should reflect your company’s values. Are you interested in health? Culture? Is your company taking part in charity work? Don’t be afraid to show your values. If it feels artificial to do that on your website, consider doing it on social media and maybe just sharing the feed on the site.
8. Overthinking
Now that I have scared the hell out of you it’s time to calm you down. If you are well prepared for content production, it’s not possible to ruin everything at this point. So, don’t overthink. Just do it and let the content marketing begin. The first pieces are always the hardest, but absolutely necessary. And luckily, you can always check your analytics to make sure you are on the right path.
