It’s no secret that building awareness and attracting customers towards your company’s offerings is critical to the success of your organization. However, sometimes it’s not so easy to let your target market know that your product and company exist. In this post we’ll break down the key factors in creating customer-focused marketing communications content and give you some practical pointers.

Knowledge truly is power

First, know thy customer. You can’t create a targeted message if you don’t know who you are writing to. Thus, you must define your target market as clearly as possible. Drilling down to the granular level is a crucial first step in understanding exactly who you are creating content for. Without a clearly defined target, your marketing campaign is bound to fail.

Testing your message really works

Once your target is in focus, begin developing a preliminary message. A great place to start is by talking to your sales team, customer service team, and by asking current customers if your marcom message is relevant. After you have a clear message, test your results with people in your target market to ensure that it resonates well. If you have a larger budget and more time, conducting surveys or focus groups can be effective. The next step is to obtain relevant quotes from customers and use them, with permission, in your marketing material.

The key content creation factor

Before creating any content, an important step is the creation of a marketing positioning document, which contains the targeted messages and the value proposition of your offering. Developing one prior to generating any material allows you to solidify your messaging and focus your efforts. The marketing positioning document can also be used as an internal marketing reference throughout the lifespan of a particular product and can be used to ensure consistent messaging across all your channels.

The key management factor

Occasionally, marketers are in a rush to develop content and don’t get a buy-in from other people in the organization. After working for months on a project, the last thing you want is your boss to cancel the project because he or she didn’t approve it. Thus, it’s important that stakeholders understand and validate the direction you’re going with your content creation. An easy way to do this is to give your marketing positioning document to your coworkers and get their feedback and approval. Once others are onboard, then it’s time to start creating.

Three items to add to your content

Based on your budget, determine the most appropriate content to develop. Create material that will not only truly speak to your customers, but also get them excited about your offering. Your targeted content must address any customer pain points, highlight the value of your product or service, and contain a clear call to action. Without these three items, you are failing to present your product or service effectively.

Don’t make this mistake

Once the content has been created, make sure it is consistent throughout the media you are using. Are the icons, the font, the colors, the images, and keywords all consistent? Does all your material incorporate your company’s visual identity, your brand identity, and your product messaging? Some marketers are so focused on trying to be innovative with their marketing material that they fudge in this area. Remember, it’s more important to be consistent with all your content than to be creative.

Take your campaign in different directions

Don’t be afraid to try different avenues to get your story to your audience. For example, if no one is reading your press releases, try inviting the media to an event. If you’re getting no traction from trade magazine ads, try sponsoring trade shows. Additionally, if you market to various market segments, you can craft a targeted launch page on your website with targeted material for each segment. This allows you to speak directly to your different market segments. Furthermore, don’t rule out the possibility of partner marketing. Piggybacking off a highly credible source or a trustworthy brand can be a big boon to your campaign.

If you want to go global, there’s one more important factor to consider.

Transcreated content is the key to globalization

Finally, if you are marketing in more than one country, it’s imperative that your message is transcreated for the particular market or markets that you are targeting. Some companies have failed to realize the importance of this step and ended up with disastrous results. Thus, work with established language experts like CSOFT to ensure that your message is accurate, consistent, and relevant, even across different markets.

Written by Stuart Schuman – Technical writer at CSOFT International