use your words: leveraging customer conversations to enhance your content marketing

LEVERAGING CUSTOMER CONVERSATIONS TO ENHANCE YOUR CONTENT MARKETING Marisa Peacock the Strategic Peacock

HOME FURNISHINGS ASSOCIATION * LAS VEGAS * JANUARY 23, 2017

WHY YOUR CUSTOMERS’ WORDS MATTER

▸ 70% of people rely on customer reviews before making a purchase.

▸ Nearly 81% of the consumers seek out the opinion of others online before making a purchase are categorized as Millennials.

▸ Millennials say they are more likely to visit user-generated review sites like Yelp or Angie’s List, while consumers 35 years of age or older are more likely to rely on independent review sites like Consumer Reports.

▸ About 72% of millennials say they take their “friends” opinions into account, while 46% of older consumers trust the opinions offered by those in their social networks.

source: Mintel, 2015


WHY YOUR CUSTOMERS’ WORDS MATTER?

▸ Customers often use words that you might not have thought to use.

▸ The words customers use provide perspectives on how they are using your products and the considerations that influenced their decision to purchase.


WHERE TO LOOK?

▸ There are lots of places to look for the words your customers are using when they talk about your brand or products, including:

▸ Surveys

▸ Blogs

▸ Review sites

▸ Observations in store

▸ Social media

▸ Point of sale

▸ Customer Service

▸ Online Communities & groups

▸ Email and web forms

▸ Keyword searches

REVIEW SITES YelpWhat to look for:

‣ adjectives

‣ locations

‣ products purchased

‣ reasons for shopping

REVIEW SITES retailer websitesWhat to look for:

‣ demographics info — age, gender, location

‣ criteria (small space, large room)

‣ expectations vs. results


‣ pain points

‣ surprise delights

REVIEW SITES retailer websites

SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook

What to look for:

‣ adjectives

‣ the journey

‣ expectations vs. results


‣ community impacts

SOCIAL MEDIA PinterestWhat to look for:

‣ the name of the boards

‣ their intent - to buy vs. someday

‣ the words they use - couch vs. sofa

‣ rooms & themes

‣ number of repins

‣ reverse engineer

CUSTOMER SERVICE In StoreWhat to look for:

‣ questions people ask

‣ emotions — excitement, exhaustion, frustration

‣ age, life stage, budget

‣ their intent - to buy vs. someday


‣ the journey

CUSTOMER SERVICE Phone & EmailWhat to look for:

‣ questions people ask - price, availability

‣ pain points

‣ emotions — frustration, relief, satisfaction



WHAT WORDS ARE CUSTOMERS USING?

▸ What scenarios or events influenced your customer’s review?

▸ What qualities stand out?

▸ Look for trends in different locations. Customers in urban areas will have different standards, than those in suburban markets.

▸ Different products will appeal to different users — learn why and then use it to market it to similar target audiences.


NEGATIVE WORDS

▸ Not all the words your customer use will be positive.

▸ Look for patterns in negative reviews and they’ll tell you what you need to work on.

CASE STUDY:Charles P. Rogers

‣ in 2015, CPR was featured in an Apartment Therapy blog article “Top Ten: Best Platform Beds Under $2,000”

‣ Comments spoke highly of the CPR beds recommended

‣ CPR regularly uses this article in their emails.

CASE STUDY

CASE STUDY: Domino’s‣ Focus groups revealed negative

perspectives about Domino’s pizza

‣ Executives chose to own, not ignore criticism

‣ Used focus group words in marketing strategy to demonstrate how and why they changed

‣ Shared customer reviews in real time, on website and social media


HOW TO USE YOUR CUSTOMERS’ WORDS

▸ Leverage customer reviews to build reputation

▸ Feature your best unedited reviews at a prominent spot on your website.

▸ Add the name and photo of a customer to make the review even more authentic and credible. (Get permission from the customers first!)



▸ Share reviews in promotional emails

▸ Include customer feedback in your promotional emails to encourage customers to make a purchase.

▸ Promote independent blogs that boast your awesome products — include link back to original source.

▸ Appeal to common themes, experiences, life stages based on research, audience segmentation.



▸ Share customer reviews on social media

▸ Social media platforms such as Facebook are popular places for customers to talk about and leave feedback or reviews for a specific product or business.

▸ Collect and leverage positive customer reviews by sharing them on your company’s social media pages.

▸ Add a customer picture or video to add credibility to your business by showing them why people like you.



▸ Always Listen – Hear What Your Customers are Saying

▸ When listening to your customers, take into account what changes your organization should make from this feedback, and then follow through.

▸ Empower customer representatives to collect information that might help marketing initiatives



▸ Always Listen – Hear What Your Customers are Saying

▸ Create a worksheet reps can use to record customers’ unique or memorable words

▸ Review on a weekly/monthly basis



▸ Reinvigorate your SEO

▸ Approach SEO from the perspective of your target audience

▸ Invest in targeting that focuses on life events, design challenges, budget (ex. “best couches for small spaces”, “must have furniture for your new home/first apartment”, “best beds under $1000”)

▸ add category tags that correspond to Pinterest boards (ex. “for the home”, “small spaces”, “lake house”)

THANKS! EMAIL: [email protected] VISIT: WWW.STRATEGICPEACOCK.COM FOLLOW: @MARISACP51

The Strategic Peacock


use your words: leveraging customer conversations to enhance your content marketing

Marketing