Over the last five years there has been a lot written about the customer journey and the changing nature of how marketers must develop and present content to address a more informed customer with so many channels for gaining knowledge and insight into your product or service.
McKinsey recently found that 50% of all interactions for a customer happen during some multi-step, multi-event journey. That is why marketing automation platforms like Marketo, Pardot, and Eloqua have gained so much attention and momentum over the past few years.
At Bluetext, we are not in the business of recommending or optimizing marketing automation platforms. Anecdotally, what we hear and see from our clients and prospects is that while their enterprises are moving to these platforms, and there are technology consultants to help optimize them, the care and feeding of them with smart, relevant and consistent content is where they struggle.
Marry that with our belief that every online or offline interaction between an enterprise and their customers must deliver the same powerful, consistent brand attitude and message, and you see where we work with enterprises in the customer journey.
If you are struggling with how to deliver a clear, consistent and powerful message throughout the customer journey process, it is time to step up. You can rest assured that your prospects have noticed and have moved on to a competitor. Here are six baby steps that can make a difference in your 2015 execution.
1. Think Strategically, Not Episodically. When a client requests a quick ad or poster for an event that has just popped up, we always try to start with the why versus the what. Ask yourself the tough questions and push everyone around you to make sure that the output they are delivering helps tell your overall product or service story.
2.Is Your Content in Context? You have a new feature in your product, hired a new executive, or won a new contract…and you want to tell the world. Ask yourself so what? Why should the customer care? If the news is going to help you drive home an important message to your customer or prospect, go for it. If not, create content in the context of your customer’s pain points and ensure you hit those messages effectively.
3. Map Out Campaigns and Plans. Create Quarterly Campaign Themes that Can Drive Every Marketing Element You Plan to execute. Make sure these campaigns align with outside factors that are impacting customers, such as budgets or the seasons, and the direction of your enterprise product roadmap.
4. Deliver with Visual Impact. The world is changing. The white paper is getting replaced by infographics. Written blogs are getting enhanced with video. Are you making sure that when a customer sees anything from your organization, it is consistent and delivered with impact? Do customers get the same experience when visiting your website on their iphone as when they visit you at a breakfast seminar?
5. Put Your Customer First. Are you talking their language? Does your CTO talk about technology for the sake of technology, or how it will impact customers? If you put yourself in their shoes and stop drinking the kool-aid during your planning process, the end content and result will always be better.
6. Analyze. Analyze. Analyze. Not much needs to be said here. If you can’t measure it then you definitely can’t manage it.
Are you ready to step up your game in 2015? Whatever marketing platform you are using, you need to make sure that you are following these steps to take your prospects on a meaningful, contextual journey. We can help. Give us a call. Having an agency riding shotgun on this process can remove a lot of risk and ensure every deliverable is as impactful as possible.