How To Listen To Your Customers For Content Ideas

This is a question our clients ask us over and over in various variations. And the answer is this: you need to find the questions your customers are asking, so you can create content that is relevant and helpful to them.

This is what we do:

1. Review the questions our clients have in sales presentations and ongoing project and account management. We make a list and then answer.
2. Listen to the voice of our customers through survey responses from ongoing CSATs, plus long-form annual surveys and a customer council. Take these customer-provided insights and create content to amplify the insights. As an example, a customer informed us the "job" we did for them wasn't a CRM implementation but that we "give them their time back" due to the workflow automation that saved him time in the CRM we implemented.
3. Review the "why" behind inquiries. For example, we all want to know "how did you find out about us?" so we can put effort into the channel of discovery that new prospects are discovering us on. This is important data. But, just as important or even more important is the answer to this question: "What caused you to reach out? What challenges are you tackling right now?" The answer to this question tells you what problem you need to solve for your customer (and what content you need to create). For example, "We need to build our brand presence to reach new employees; hiring new employees is the current limiter to our growth. We need our brand to be attractive, and we need to promote online to find them." Knowing this is a problem that our customers face, we can build content around how to solve that problem or how we can help them solve it. It's a more useful answer than the first question: "I found you from social."
4. Share relevant insights. This can come in many forms, ranging from regulations to events to trends to new grant funding. If you know your customers, you will know information that is important to them. It is always popping up. Share it and put your thoughts around it.
5. Share your values and your personality. People buy from people. They need to like and trust you to do business with you.

While there is more you can do, if you circle through these five, you will never run out of content ideas that matter to your customers.