Recently, I sat down for an espresso with a fellow small business owner who thought he was doing his customers a favor by not participating in the “digital hoopla” surrounding today’s content marketing strategies. The reasoning, he said, was because he felt his customers wouldn’t value meaningful content as they make their way through the purchase cycle.
According to MarketingProfs, there’s a fine line between catering to consumers and being mindful of their privacy. In today’s world, the connected consumer expects to be catered to throughout the purchase cycle from the pre-shopping and planning phases straight through to the transactional and post-sale stage. Consumers’ lifestyles and emotions are associated with how they make purchases, and consumers want to fully realize the self-actualization connected to the purchase cycle.
Live and breathe your customers’ perspectives and employ a test and learn methodology, so that you’re abreast of their changing needs and expectations.
In the digital landscape, customers have infinite choices available to them. Your brand must have a strong digital platform. Through this platform, you have the ability to deliver consistent value propositions, so that your customers can make educated decisions about what they’re purchasing.
In the end, I encouraged the owner to consider the concept of a connected consumer. To imagine how relevant and meaningful messaging to his customers could mean the difference of whether or not a customer transacts. Here are some questions to ponder:
Are you delivering the right content to your customers?
Do your customers understand the value proposition of your particular product or service versus all other options? Adopt a test and learn methodology to really understand what’s resonating with your customers.
Are you stirring, tweaking (not to be confused with twerking) and repeating?
You have to tweak the content marketing mix constantly! Figure out the formula that is most conducive to how your consumer is going to want to receive it in terms of format (website, e-newsletter, blog) and in what types of digestible bits.
Here’s the downside. Whatever is working today is not going to continue working tomorrow. Keep hustling and test the market, so that you’re abreast of the changing needs and expectations of your consumers.
