Do our Conversion Goals Make Our Content A SharkTank?

When someone visits your site, do they feel like they're swimming with sharks? Are your CTA's circling them before they're even knee deep in the water? Is your Customer Experience sending them fleeing? Does your blog content writing look more like a thief lying in wait?

A forward thinking Walker Study shows that Customer Experience is on a trajectory to surpass price and product by 2020 as THE market differentiator for your brand. Is your customer experience a bait and switch, a waiting snare?

According to Walker, A Leading Business Consultancy Group, you may not be able to survive much longer unless you adapt.

Content creation and content marketing are ever growing and changing. In order to stay ahead of the competition, you must understand what your customer wants and be ready to create that customer experience.

Niraj Dawar of the Harvard Business Review echoes this sentiment, "Winning the next transaction (through big data and aggressive targeting) eventually yields only short term tactical advantage, and it overlooks one big and inevitable outcome." What is that outcome?

Spending too much time and money just to counteract what our competitors are doing rather than differentiating by focusing on the customer's experience and not the next sell.

But the honest truth is that most of us don't set out to create a bad customer experience. We do the best we can with what we know, what we learned in school. Don't miss a chance to convert. "ABC, Always Be Closing," to misquote a great movie.

But is our drive to tell people how great we are, that we've got the best price in town (the Internet) sealing our fate and not the deal? It may be time to rethink our strategies and not just be one of those who says that customer experience is important. Be one who shows it -- and still make the sale.

So how can we be this?:

Not This, with about 15 of her buddies, swimming around the customer, just waiting to attack when they least expect it:

Create a "Safe Space"

Invite your prospect in. Make them feel wanted and understood. Make them feel appreciated for their uniqueness and safe from any ridicule for who they are or what they believe.

Get them Excited

Give them a reason to be here. Get them excited and engaged in something that matters to them and relates to your brand in some way.

Use share psychology to create more shareable content.

Give With No Strings Attached

Start a business blog that demonstrates that you care about you customers.

When we can appear that we are willing to give something away for free, like content, a month service, a fully functional trial version, etc. we convey confidence in our service and our brand. When we appear afraid of letting a lead go cold, we appear desperate.

We are so confident that you'll want this service that look at all that we're willing to do for you before you're even a paying customer.

If you are giving the customer a great experience with relevant content, they will come back. They will convert. If you are giving them something of value, they will remember you and follow and like and share likely all before they buy, but that's okay.

Because you've won them over and made a promoter out of them. In today's sales cycle, this may happen before they've even bought what you're selling because they are buying into your brand first.

Give Before You Ask

If we are throwing subscription buttons and offers in their face before they even determined if they are in the right place, they'll leave with a bad taste in their mouths. Don't do it.

Our CTA should be clearly identifiable? Absolutely. A discreet button at the top? A compelling CTA closing? Great. But it shouldn't be the first thing they see, unless we're talking about the CTA in our "clickbait". But we know we better deliver.

Make it about the customer; not your product

In 2017, that one should be obvious enough. Create the customer experience. Inspire Loyalty.

When you hire a content writer, make sure they understand the art of science of marketing. That's how you get results with content. That's how you achieve those content marketing ROI that influencers and advocates tout.

Let them walk away

If it's meant to be, they'll be back. A lot of people are going to dispute this. But times are changing and your targets don't buy into the hard sale. Let them walk away. Focus on creating an experience that they can't forget.

Haunt their dreams.

Be present in multiple channels so they continue to see you and sub-consciously feel drawn back to you and this is when you close the deal.

~Leigh

How do you balance your conversion goals with customer experience?

What would you add?