“Value” is central to marketing. And different segments of your customers value different features of your product or service. Unless they saw the value in what you offer, they would not be buying from you. At all.
So right off the start of this post , let us assure our dear readers that you do offer value to the market, its just that its not clear on your web pages.
And we see this challenge from Fortune 500 websites to the neighborhood small business website. There is an astonishing disconnect between
What your customers value and what web content appears on your website
Broadly, the idea is to try and match up content to the stage of the sales funnel that the customer is in as pictured above. Here are some thoughts on how to reduce the disconnect between what your customers and prospects value and what is really up on your website:
- Segment your customers by what they really value: Customers may buy the same thing but for very different reasons. Our favorite example is from a fast growing medium size business in a high growth foreign market. This business wants an ERP system that costs $100K just to appear “cool” and “hip” among his business friends at the next party. “A great thing to boast about, even better than the similarly priced Mercedes AMD-GL,” confided this business person. What the ERP might actually be able to do for this business is really not very important at least till the “buy” decision for this customer.
- Value requirements do change after purchase: After buying the ERP system (for bragging rights) the business owner will look for the huge potential benefits in operations. Educating the current customer personnel becomes crucial. In one set of organizations inventory management might be drastically improved, but another group of organizations might benefit in tracking and reducing waste in manufacturing. Specific web pages that talk about inventory and manufacturing waste reduction can thus be a boon for these two different sets of organizations.
- Why its important to speak to evolving customer needs and questions: After using a product, different segments of customers have different questions. Take the case of the iPhone with millions of customers across age groups. Because the “senior Apple user” segment is sizeable there is a highly regarded book “My iPhone for Seniors” in its second edition by Brad Miser and co-branded with AARP. The book is available at regular bookstores including warehouse stores like Costco. Going by the Amazon reader comments on the book, readers appreciate the large font and the ability to figure out the iPhone without always having to look for the kids or grand kids!
- What if you are nor the iPhone?: If you are not the iPhone that makes it viable for a publisher to try and develop a book, you have options. If you have for example,a sizable “senior” segment of users, it makes sense to present some of the content online specifically targeted to your senior segment and their needs. It only involves adding a page or link to your website and involves practically no additional cost. And this applies to all kinds of consumer and business products and services.
- Relevant content helps improve SEO and bring Google AdWords and PPC cost down: Aligning your web content to what your customers value has two great spinoffs. The first is increase in SEO and decrease in PPC keywords if you decide to advertise. Search engines like Google are constantly try to match the content to the user’s “search intent.” And rewards come in the shape of better search rankings and lower PPC cost.
As soon as you gain some insight about a customer FAQ (Frequently Asked Question). It’s a great way to enhance your web content, page by page. About StratoServe Digital Marketing Services.