If you’re thinking of creating content for your marketing, you need content ideas. I find sometimes clients aren’t sure what to write about. I resolve that for them by using these techniques.
You want to use all the questions your customers are asking. Each question is a topic you should cover in content. Their questions are your topics. And you know they are interested in these topics, because it’s coming from them.
They had to make a number of decisions. Travel requires asking questions they hadn’t addressed.
Take it down to who, what, when, where, why, and how.
“How long are we going to go?” Time affects how far they can travel.
“Is there a place we’d particularly like to visit?” A destination is important.
“Are we going to rough it?” I think we got a clue about how the wife felt. They will probably be staying in a park...with a pool, WiFi, and full hook-ups.
“What clothing, equipment, and gear do we need to take?”
What are their hobbies? Do they want to hike, golf, shop? Maybe they want to see their family.
On top of all those basic questions, there are special questions they may want to ask this year. Things like, “how active is the coronavirus there? Is it safe to visit?” I have a friend who is planning such a trip and they had to cancel a couple of stops because of Covid-19.
Forbes just put out an alert list that the list of states requiring self-quarantine upon entry keeps growing. Others require local travelers who go out of state to self-quarantine upon their return.
Maybe a staycation is a better plan this year and avoids the hassles. It will still require questions being answered. Do you want to put in a B-B-Q, a garden or a pool...or all three? Or are there other home-maintenance things that need to take priority? Like a home theater?
It’s interesting that in many families..though not all, it’s the woman who does the planning. She’s the same woman who does most of the buying.
It gives women an edge when thinking of the questions to ask and helps them to create workable plans.
I rarely ask my husband to do the shopping. He can get in and out fast. That’s good. However, it tends to be impulse-based. His key staples include milk, beer, chips, and hamburger.
I’ve found checking the pantry, coming up with some meal basics, and ordering online with TV in the background is my favorite form of multitasking. Faster, easy, and less impulse buying. No wasted time wandering store aisles. Drive up and they put it in my trunk. Love it.
If you know what they are looking for and how your product can help them, then creating the questions gets much easier.
Questions are what we want to answer in content marketing. If the client is in pain, we want to show how the pain can be helped, how life can be better, and how our product does both.
Start your FAQ search with the person who handles customer service and yourself.
What questions do people you talk to directly about your product typically ask? If you have a customer support person, they should be able to give you some great feedback.
Many businesses keep a master list of frequently asked questions as a script to expedite customer service responses. That list is a goldmine of ideas.
You need to list all the questions a person new to CBD or your service might have. Often they ask what CBD is. They want to understand how it works in terms they can understand.
Weave in your unique selling position...Let them know what makes your products different. Are you a premium or a budget line? If your products are at an extremely high or low price, be transparent. Let them know why you chose this path and the benefits to them.
Since there are so many variables, provide some guidelines on how to use the product. Help set realistic performance expectations. With any product, people respond differently.
The key to a successful survey is one that is well thought out with questions that can be answered quickly. And brevity. Keep it short. A reward or incentive often helps you get more responses.
You can use several different types of surveys.
Square has an automated purchase response that asks you to rate your experience as a smiley face or a frown. Quick, simple, done.
Fred Meyer/Kroeger sends a survey every time you use their grocery pick-up service. I didn’t mind answering it the first time or two, now I just delete it. It’s too long and there are too many demographics questions.
If you want responses...keep it short.
If a customer writes a negative review...that’s an opportunity to interview them and learn if there were unanswered questions. Maybe they didn’t get a response if they reached out for help. Perhaps the information was confusing. Or somewhere in the buyers’ journey, your system didn’t measure up. And most likely, they will be pleasantly surprised that you reached out and really care.
For customers that love you...interview them too. Get their story, their testimonial, and how you could help them even more. Successful businesses are always open to “what could we do better?”
Join/follow some chat rooms or forums. I’m not a big Reddit fan personally, but it’s a great place to hear what consumers ask each other.
In my experience, I’ve found this is best done incognito. Listen and learn. They aren’t keen on people being too knowledgeable.
Drop in and skim regularly to see if you can discover new questions or discussions that could make good content ideas.
Google “consumer CBD forum” and you’ll find a surprising number of forums and surveys that have been done recently.
Surveys include one conducted by Consumer Reports. CR surveyed over 1000 people from across the USA from 18 to 60+ and shared their findings. This is a sequel to the one in early 2019 where they conducted one with over 4000 participants.
FAQs, surveys, and forums can give you a wealth of ideas for your content marketing calendar. All you need to do is organize them, thin-slice them and plug them in. Thin-slice? You won’t want to miss the next article.
If you would like a quick evaluation of your questions list, contact me. I’m offering a free 15-minute evaluation. [email protected]
Judith Culp Pearson receives three top honors
at the annual Society of Permanent Cosmetic Professionals in
Ft. Worth, Texas - October 7-9, 2023
