When drafting content for your audience, sometimes it’s a good idea to go looking for trouble. After all, one of your main goals should be to answer common questions and treat what ails your soon-to-be customers. That being said, why not consider these sources when looking to find out what those pain points are, so that you can incorporate them into your content planning?
Feedback Sessions
Companies with an emphasis on customer service pride themselves on conducting feedback sessions throughout the year to gain insight from their existing clients on how their experience with the given product is going. Having someone on staff who is dedicated to checking on your clients is a great way to ensure that you learn about common pain points to take into consideration when developing the product in the future. What these sessions can also do is provide your content marketers with ideas on which issues or concerns to address when drafting new content.
Conference Attendees
Some organizations attend industry conferences. Some organizations not only attend them, but sponsor or host them as well. Either way, if you go to the right ones, you will be surrounded by people who are in the market for your products or services. Listen to what they are saying when they approach your booth. As a vendor, one of your jobs is to find out what someone is looking for, which includes asking what they struggle with currently. Staff members who represent your organization should take note of the complaints and relay them to the content creators who are charged with writing for your site.
Social Media Comments and Posts
Twitter has become a platform for expressing one’s experience with poor customer service. Many customers will take the time to tweet their complaints directly at the company who let them down. This is an obvious opportunity for companies to step up and display their dedication to making sure every customer feels valued. However, this is also another source for content inspiration when looking to address current issues in a new piece of content.
Your Sales Team
Your sales team spends their days making calls and pitching to potential customers. The daily tasks of a sales rep revolve around conversations discussing a lead’s needs, current issues, and future aspirations when it comes to their role with a product. I promise you your sales reps, especially those that you have had around for a while, know what the common pain points are at the moment. Make sure as content marketers, to tap into this resource when looking to write about your target audience.
Sometimes it’s good to go looking for trouble; it means you want to take it head on and improve the value of the content you’re providing to your audience!