Last week, I spoke with a healthcare client whose team wanted to develop a new digital content customer experience. But they feel frustrated.
Five years ago, with help from a few advertising agency consultants, they came up with the idea to launch a digital platform for easy access to data. All they need, they think, is to set up a digital library that can answer every question an existing customer might have.
They will “let the truth speak for itself” and win the battle to retain customers.
You see, the truth almost never speaks for itself (they're shy that way). And they almost never win an argument.
Think about the last time you presented a set of facts that you thought would strain your argument. Boom. You dropped the microphone and the bombs of knowledge. You won, didn't you?
No. Presenting the truth does nothing to correct a false belief, and it often causes your opponents to double down on their beliefs.
A group of researchers actually studied the so-called " backfire effect “and found that correcting someone” really increase misperceptions in the group in question. ”
The back-and-forth effect shows that correcting someone actually increases misperception in the group in question, according to #research from @UMich and @GeorgiaStateU via @Robert_Rose @CMIContent. Click to post a Tweet
In a world of big data, pseudo-deep, we have more “truths” than ever before. The question is: Does anyone care what we have to say?
Several years ago, researchers at Wharton showed people different algorithms. Most people in the study found them interesting and valuable – until an algorithm made a mistake. Once people see the error occur, they "very, very hard to use it and don't like it anymore." One researcher noted that study participants seemed to rate the algorithms more harshly than everyone else. moreover, they almost don't lose much reliability when failure occurs.
These findings bode well for maintaining the role of human involvement in an increasingly automated world. But it also says a lot about the subtleties of trust and confidence.
So the content question in 2022 is not about presenting “just facts. The question is how to get people interested in any event. And this is not just a marketing question. It's a basic communication question.
More and more, truth becomes a commodity. They are easy to achieve, so we don't take them seriously. And because we don't take them seriously, they can be attacked with… well… “alternative truth.”
Events are easy to achieve, so readers don't take them seriously, @Robert_Rose via @CMIContent. Click to Tweet
As I tell my healthcare customers, companies have to give people something to believe in (from the classic Poison song). You have to give your audience something more than facts to care about.
Otherwise, you risk creating some version of this scene from the TV show The Simpsons: Lisa feels sad that one of her favorite teachers has left. Her father, Homer, doesn't understand why. "I know you won't understand," she said. "Hey," said Homer, "just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand."
Finally, for each piece of content, ask this: “Do we want people to care? ”
Otherwise, there's no point in using the cold corporate stereotype and "let the facts speak for themselves". If you want people to care, you should give people more than they can trust. You better give them content that they can believe in - even if it means putting in more effort.
Creating trust is understanding intent
So, how do you start creating content that goes beyond simple fact-based research, data, and information?
Return to the argument you had on social media or with a colleague or boss who never seemed to “get it.” Think about the customers you're trying to convince to buy from you or endorse you.
You will never win those battles with the truth – you must understand why they argue, seek or decide. You must understand intent their.
To understand intent, you must first create a mechanism – a content-driven experience – that enables your brand listen more effectively signals are generated through their interactions.
Create # content-driven experiences @Robert_Rose via @CMIContent said to understand audience intent and listen to signals generated by interactions. Click to post a Tweet
As one might expect, this requires more efficient use of data than is available to most businesses. It takes a thorough content strategy to deliver data that helps businesses understand each content type and purpose and how they apply contextually to each step of the customer journey.
That thing
What does content strategy look like?
In my research and consulting practice, I have seen marketing organizations create a self-activation process to create this level of competence. It usually involves a three-step process:
first . Sort data house
Create a dictionary or paraphrase to understand intent. Simply put, you need to discern the most appropriate response to customer interaction with your content.
This is the place metadata structure and a content tagging system to track the accompanying behavioral (or intent) context. For example, a white paper called Discovering How Digital Marketing Is Good for Your Business might be tagged with “getting started” or “learning”. Someone using this whitepaper will NOT be considered a lead but will be nurtured as an engaged audience.
2. Develop the next best ability
After you have an intent signal, you need to understand what is the “next best” to get that customer to understand and care about the answer.
Businesses need to create content-driven experiences to deliver the “next best” experience for consumer content. For example, a message targeted to a beginner or a learning audience will make them want to read a passage in an alternate way.
It's oversimplified of course, but you can see how shades of nuance can need to be captured by multiple responses to a single question. Through the use of supplemental content, a poll or a survey, you can gather whether this beginner is feeling confident or afraid of change. As you learn more about the nuanced aspects of customer journey you can automatically deliver the next-best experience for that customer.
Similarly, it's not all about technology and dynamic content. This also has the human element. You may share this information with others who may provide additional experiences that are beyond the realm of digital content. For example, you can share details about the behavior of new leads starting with sales. Once salespeople understand what the prospect needs, their role can evolve from a persuader to a consultant helping the prospect understand how best to move to the next step.
3. Connecting experiences
This step allows you to get the most out of it. After you map your content To understand what you need to deliver based on intent, you must develop the ability to aggregate this data and serve contextual content (and intent) across different experiences. You need to find a way to tie the experiences into a unique view of your audience's progress on their journey.
For example, if a beginner ends up buying your services, you might want to connect them to profiles for the 101 training or referral module – the level that brings together training classes. Insights gleaned from a more relevant statistical dataset will improve these activities or even make them possible in the first place.
This third step can be the most difficult part of the process as it often means integrating multiple technologies to create a single view of the customer.
But you can start small. Even if you can only connect intent at the top/early part of the journey (perception) to the middle part of the journey (sales), you are starting to get much better.
It's the content, not the data, that gets people interested
Data gives you the opportunity to get people interested in what you have to say. To be more than just “answers,” you must create compelling content that integrates those answers (facts, metrics, data, information) into a compelling experience that captures the emotions of your audience.
A common marketing mistake is that buyers want real answers about the products and services they are considering.
That's not right. Usually, the brand that provides the least information, facts, data, etc. about the product and provides the most inspiration, conviction, and emotional connection will be chosen.
You need to convince customers they are buying into a brand they can trust. To do that, you also need to give them an experience they believe in.
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Cover photo by Joseph Kalinowski / Content Marketing Institute
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