Many businesses talk a big game about how they’re customer focused or customer centric. They say they value customer intimacy and throw around the words “customer satisfaction”. But without actually understanding your customers, these terms are just hot air.

Even in B2B marketing, customers still base their buying decisions on a mix of bothemotional and rational triggers. While key decision makers may justify their decisionsrationally, they still buy based on emotions- and what you can do for them. You can more easily engage with your customers (and convert them) once you know their needs, goals, and problems.

The best way to understand your customers is through the creation of buyer personas. In order to do this, you need to use your data to gain meaningful insights about your customers. This allows you to segment your customers into certain groups based on a range of metrics and demographics.

Creating a Content Marketing Strategy for your Customers

Once you’ve created your buyer personas, you can develop a content marketing strategy for them. Since you’ll now have a much better understanding of who your customers are, you can make educated guesses about how they’ll react to different types of content.

Here’s an example:

A software development company has created a buyer persona named Gary. Gary runs a small company and has been in business for 15 years.

Through their research and data analytics, the company understands that one of Gary’sbiggest pain points is remaining competitive against startups in his industry. These startups are entering the market with the latest technology, while Gary’s company is still using the same legacy system he started his business with.

The software development company can use the data they have about Gary to create content for him. Maybe they’ll offer a series of emails about how he can get the most out of his legacy system. Or perhaps a special report about technology in his industry.

Before that company used data and research to understand Gary, they would have created any old content, added a few blog posts to their website, and wondered why their content marketing “wasn’t working.”

Without truly understanding your customers, you’ll be wasting your marketing resources, and missing out on key opportunities to connect with potential clients.

Understanding your customers requires a huge change in the way you communicate with them. One of the best ways to test whether you understand your customers is to check the copy on your website, your social media posts, and any blog posts.
Look at the language you’re using. Are you primarily using the word “we”, and humble-bragging about your company? Or are you speaking directly to your customers with the words “you” and “your”, and communicating how you can help them?

Remember. People don’t care about your business, or your products or services. They only care about what you can do for them and how you can solve their problems. Once you understand your customers, you can communicate this effectively, and make much better use of your marketing resources.

Need some help understanding your customers? Get in touch today to learn how we can
work with you to make it happen.