Pro Content

Learn how to better understand your customer and fulfil your customers needs with more targeted products

Notes

Two ways to address a customer need

• Solve a problem
• Support the life goal

Solve a problem

• Hungry – Need food
• Back pain – Take medication
• 10mm hole – Need a drill / laser cutter / punch
• More social engagement – Need interesting posts / followers / video

Support a life goal

Move someone from where they are to where they want to be

Jobs To Be Done
‘…your efforts should focus on helping them make that change. Ideally the consumers wouldn’t have to do any work.’

• Not to be hungry – Food
• Be fit and health – Medication / Diet / Exercise / Physio
• Sell more widgets with holes Tools / Contractor / Automation
• More leads – Focused sales strategy / Sales team / Outsource

‘When we buy a product, we essentially “hire” it to help us do a job. If it does the job well, the next time we’re confronted with the same job, we tend to hire that product again. And if it does a crummy job, we “fire” it and look for an alternative.’

Question: Why do customers hire you?
Why do people hire the IMC?

Build a customer profile

Start simply, add detail as you learn more

Describe your customer in five words Good place to start
Here’s Ben’s: Passionate Professional, Mac user, 40

Download Persona sheet blank.pdf to help build you customer profile

Customer / product fit

What are your customers goals?
How your product helps achieve these goals?

Customer Goal / Product Aim

• Lose weight / Simple diet
• Feel healthier / Exercise plan 
• Meet new friends / Group meet-ups

Other considerations

Awareness

• How do customers describe the product?
• Where do they look for recommendation?
• How can we reach them?
• What’s your backstory?
• Why should they care?

Consideration

• What do they know already?
• How will they compare us?
• How long will this process take?
• What questions can you help answer?

Decision

• What do they need to know to make a decision? Price, delivery, returns…
• Who will make the decision?
• How do they buy from us?
• And how can we make this easy?

Paradox of choice

We’re addicted to choice
Broadly seen as a good thing
Taken to extremes

Search waitrose.com for “cheese”
564 results found
136 Cheddar products (was 108!)
Choose from Mild, Medium, Farmhouse, Mature, Extra Mature & Vintage (10 products)
Most expensive, No.1 Rollright £29.50/kg

What if I made the wrong choice
Missed a better option
Able to research options endlessly, the internet makes things harder

How do we cope with choice?
Dozens of sizes, prices and features
Opinions from friends, magazines, podcasts
Mental energy to make informed decision
Decision overload

End up differentiating on price
Why we think choice is a good but actually it paralyses us

Restaurants are the worst
Large menu plus specials board
First 10 minutes not deciding
After meal – unlimited coffee choices!
Decisions left un-made by the designer (chef)
We need to make decisions for our customers
Reduce choice and anxiety Increase the throughput

Thali Restaurant
Vegetarian curry house – Bristol
2 set meal times, 2 set menus, one fixed price
Make it easy for me, keep it simple

Use choice to your advantage
Experiment with 2 beers, 80% chose most expensive, 20% least expensive
Add 3rd option, 80% chose middle, 20% choose expensive
No one bought the cheapest – Have 3 options

“seeking the perfect choice is not only a recipe for misery but more than likely does not actually exist.” – Barry Schwartz from book “Paradox of choice”

There is no perfect choice. Don’t beat yourself up about it

No decision is the worst decision
Why we think choice is a good thing but actually it paralyses us

Getting feedback

Helps to understand the customer better and deepens customer relationship

Learn to talk you customers language

Use testimonial text in your copy
Reflect language back in conversation
Use to improve customer persona

Bring your customers closer

A positive review reinforces your opinion of a company
More likely to refer to others

Sign up for a free SayHola account https://sayhola.co

Resources

• What is Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) https://jtbd.info/2-what-is-jobs-to-be-done-jtbd-796b82081cca
• Know Your Customers’ “Jobs to Be Done” https://hbr.org/2016/09/know-your-customers-jobs-to-be– done
• The Critical Path EP156, A JTBD interview http://5by5.tv/criticalpath/146

And why they are good for SEO

Notes

Review examples
What do I mean by reviews?

• LinkedIn – Shame they are tucked down the bottom
• Google Ads  – With seller ratings – 150 reviews and 3.5 average ratings https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2375474?hl=en-GB
• Local search – Google My Business location reviews https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474050?hl=en-GB
• Added manually on your website – Via 3rd party such as Trust Pilot https://uk.trustpilot.com
• Embed directly on your website – Collected on 3rd party SayHola https://sayhola.co
• On Facebook – Show upfront before any updates. Moved to a thumbs up/down rating rather than five star
• Twitter review – Recommendations
• Podcast reviews
• Helps bubble up popular shows
    

Why are reviews useful?

• Find local contacts
• Multiple keywords

Support SEO

• Get shown in Google map pack
• People more likely to click on your entry
• May also help improve organic rankings

Learn to talk you customers language

• Use testimonials text in your copy
• Helps target SEO
• Reflect language back in a conversation
• Use to improve customer persona

Bring your customers closer

• A positive review reinforces your opinion of a company
• More likely to refer to others

How to collect reviews

• Ask after a positive engagement – ‘If you were to recommend us to a friend what would you say’
• Asking after a few successful deliveries. Want testimonials from long term customers
• End of your support emails
• Ask for review directly on your Google My Business profile . Send people to the review page directly https://support.google.com/business/answer/7035772
• Thank people for their review. A free coffee, discount or other small gift No bribes, keep it under £20

Structured Data (don’t be scared)

• A standard format to identify types of content
• Recommended to add by Google/Bing

Example schema for a company. Provides context to the data Ties together other online identities Added directly to HTML

 <script type=“application/ld+json">{ "@context": "http://schema.org",
"@type": "Corporation",
"name": "Selmach Metalworking Machinery",
"alternateName": "Selmach",
"url": "https://selmach.com",
"logo": "https://selmach.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/medium_selmach-
logog.jpg",
"contactPoint": {
   </script>
"@type": "ContactPoint", "telephone": "+44(0)1432346580", "contactType": “sales"},
"sameAs": [ "https://www.facebook.com/SelmachLtd", "https://twitter.com/SelmachLtd", "https://plus.google.com/117812825186653408748", "https://www.youtube.com/user/SelmachLtd"
], "aggregateRating": {
"@type": "AggregateRating", "ratingValue": "5",
}"reviewCount": "1" } 

Interview with Duane Forrester who helped to develop schema.org
Well worth a listen.

https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?visual=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F559389345&show_artwork=true

Planning your marketing strategy

Notes

Look back at the previous year

• What worked well?
• Do them again or ditch?
• Incorporate the good ideas back into plan
• Review social and blog efforts
• Which networks gave you most engagement? Check profiles are up to date
• What are your most popular blog posts?

 Review ad campaigns

• Are you getting the return you expect? How do you measure this?
• Review your marketing plan
• Vision / Objectives Mission
• Strategy
• Audience Competitors

 Vision / Objectives

How do we want to be thought of? Long term objectives, blue sky visions New products or more family time

Mission

Quantify the vision. What are the numbers? e.g. sell 10 tractors a week

Audience

What are their problems and how can we help them?

Competitors

Who are they? What do they do well? Where do they fall short?

Look ahead

What events can you get involved in? Partner with businesses who have same audience?

Review your website

Easy for a visitor to find out what you do? Is it clear how to buy from or contact you? Do you have reviews on your site? Has relevant structured data been added?

Design review

Design Branding
User Journey Visual Content Mobile

 Usability review

Content Site Layout Menu Forms Speed

Example review
Homepage layout Images

Website usability report

• Increase conversions – make it easier for customers to act (buy, call, or sign up)
• Improve brand perception – your website is your shop window for customers and prospective customers
• External opinion – Why? Objective review, experienced
• Website design and usability report