“How do I find or create applicable, quality content for my online posts?”
Here is a simple step-by-step process to help easily create meaningful, insightful and helpful content for your target audience.
1) Make a list and keep track of all the questions that your customers/clients or potential customers ask. Keep a simple spreadsheet of those questions that team members can access and add to as they collect questions. To keep this simple, it is best to utilize one location to gather these questions.
These questions can come from anyone in your company. If your company has a sales force, ask salespeople as well as customer service staff to quickly capture those questions. This also includes key management and those in the CSuite.
As you see trends with these questions, it will not only help with generating content but also customer communication and even product/service development.
2) Turn questions gathered into “question and answer” articles for your blog. Or, pose the question and provide the answer on your website and any other social media outlets that you use in your business. Whether shared via a website, social media, podcast, YouTube or any of the many channels you use, proactively answering customer posed questions will make your content helpful to your audience.
3) Once you have a series of articles or blog posts consider making them into a free eBook that can be downloaded from your site or available from other social media sources, Offer the eBook as a free download for those willing to sign up for your email list by providing your company with their email address.
4) Use questions and answers in the “Frequently Asked Questions” on your site. Often companies will dedicate a section on their website for a list of frequently asked questions. Making this section searchable with visitors being able to type in key search words is a convenient and helpful option. This keeps visitors from wading through information that doesn’t apply and leaving your site before getting the information they came for.
5) Keep getting and answering those questions and use them as a base for informing and updating current and potential customers. Providing a simple easy to use system to gather questions in one central location will make it easier to remember while also assuring that question gathering becomes a habit.
6) Use this content for email blasts or newsletter copy or wherever you are able to communicate with your target audience.
Once you add gathering customer questions to your process throughout your company, you will have more valuable information for content as well as ideas and information for your customer acquisition and retention process.