When it comes to creating content, you’ve probably heard it a million times: “it should be customer-centered”. But what does this refer to, after all? Does it mean you have to address the customer directly? Or maybe the main goal should be to choose the right words and “sell” the copy to your readers, regardless of their needs, opinions or interests. Well, it’s highly probable in such situations that your readers will stop reading the article midway through because they won’t find anything interesting to catch their attention.
Those times when the content was written for the sole purpose of helping a website get a higher rank in Google’s search results are long gone. Today, the main focus should be on the customer and on choosing the best writing strategy to stir readers’ curiosity from the very first lines of the article.
Therefore, don’t stop reading this article midway through if you want to know about these 11 highly efficient pro tips every customer-centered content writer should be aware of.
1. Describe the business properly
The best way you can keep readers connected to your article is by providing them valuable information related to the business, the product or the series of services you are promoting. It’s essential that the readers have a clear idea of what that product can do, how that business can serve their interests or the main reason why they should opt for the services you are talking about instead of the services provided by the competitors.
2. Clarify the main advantages
One very efficient way in which you can present people the main advantages of the product is by creating a list of three to five main features it comes with. Make sure that you place the crucial and most important features at the top.
3. Make sure the features are customer-centered
When you create the list of features of the product or services you are talking about, don’t choose random features that no one will be interested in. Try to put yourself in the shoes of your readers. What would you want to read about the product? How can the article presenting the specific features convince you to choose it instead of other similar products available on the market? Are the features presented there relevant to your interests? Try to answer these questions from a customer’s perspective before you actually start writing.
4. Identify the most common client pain points
Collect data and use it in your article. You can get valuable and resourceful information if you check the documentation with past customer transactions. Make sure you only extract the things that truly matter. Also, don’t forget to write only original content and to check it for plagiarism online, just to be sure. Choose a free online plagiarism checker with a percentage of at least 90% success rate.
5. It’s how you say it
It’s not the actual content that you put in your article that helps you get the most attention, it’s the words you choose to describe what’s there. The best strategy to achieve top customer experience is to create some sort of connection with your readers. You can take as an example tons of companies that took care of their customers in the best way possible. Make sure you illustrate the connection in your article. There are studies that show that companies that create emotional connections with their customers experience sales growth of up to 85%.
6. Avoid subtle call-to-action
When it comes to call-to-action phrases, under no circumstances should you be subtle. The call-to-actions are the exact things that make the customer push the button and purchase from your company instead of competitors. So, don’t be subtle or polite. Instead of saying “if you’d like to join our community club…”, say “add your email address here”. Be direct and specific.
7. Give them a reason to “call that action”
Ok, so you’ve told your readers to add their email addresses, what’s next? What’s the purpose of this? Why should they listen to you and give you their email addresses? You have to give them a reason for that, to tell them that if they do as you say, they will benefit from discounts or that they will receive some interesting and very helpful “how-to guides”.
8. Sugar-coated words … urgh
You’ve probably read tons of articles that sound like “The X product is highly efficient. I totally recommend everyone to buy it!”. Well, guess what, the percentage of people who actually buy that product after reading such an article is incredibly low. Renounce those sugary testimonials, because they will not help you achieve your objectives.
Write from a personal perspective: “I was skeptical at first when I bought the product because none of my friends had bought it before. But it proved to be quite good. I haven’t used it much yet, but it does a pretty good job so far, so I’m being sincere when I say I would recommend it to others too”.
9. Tackle that difficult subject
Miracles don’t exist, that’s for sure, at least not in business. When you have some difficult things related to your product, such as high price, don’t avoid talking about them. This will make customers understand that your article is reliable, true, and very informative. Give arguments why the product has that price and how this will help customers save money in the long-term. Prove your value through great copywriting.
10. Attention: superlative sins ahead
One very common mistake many copywriters make is to utilize as many superlatives as possible to illustrate how great the product or service they promote is, compared to those of the competitors. Let’s cut to the chase – it won’t work. Simply saying “buy from us because we’re the best” won’t make customers actually buy from you. Sure, you can use superlatives but only if you can actually prove that you’re the best in business: “get your flyers printed in less than 48 hours or you’ll get a 30% discount”.
11. Pay enough attention to content design
The article is like a mirror of the writer – if it’s “tidy”, has a well aligned text, is correctly written from a grammar point of view, with headers, sub-headers, bullet points, and lists, chances are that your readers will spend more time on the page actually reading your article. The reason? It’s easier to read this way. Make sure you give enough attention to every tiny detail, including the way the article is arranged on the page, not only the words used.
All in all, these are our best recommendations for writing customer-centered content. Do you have any recommendations you’d like to share with us? Write them in the comments below.
Alice Jones is a tutor & high skilled web content writer. Love sharing tips and topics about education, management, and marketing. She studied Arts in English at the University of New Orleans. She likes to read different book genres, to attend refresher training and various personal development courses. Connect with her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.
