Content purposing for customer advocacy

The right content for the visitor/prospect/client on an organization’s customer facing properties such as web sites and apps is probably the most fundamental means of marketing the organization for its prospect and customer base and accomplishing customer advocacy. It might probably be the most overlooked one as well. Some thoughts on this “content advocacy” might be apt, as follows:
• The primary purpose of marketing content is to illustrate, in simple and basic terms, what customer problem is the organization solving and how it can be of help in the customer’s business scenarios. Everything else is a eulogy to the organization’s belief in its own technology and business proficiency
• The home page is the toll gate to advocating that the organization is “The SME” in the customer’s business and operational context. All the following pages then should deliberate on the various ways that the organization is The SME and the tools and techniques that it brings to the fore to solve customer problems
• Adjectives lead to hyperbole. “Best in class”, “most efficient”, “most productive” et al convey no real essence and are of no aid to the customers (and can be used as proficiently by competition). If the organization wishes prospects/customers to imbibe such a message, it has to be supported by facts
• Sales needs to be take joint responsibility for content with marketing. Sales gets asked questions by customers on a daily basis and are hence in the best position to describe what customer problems is the organization solving, what problems do customer and prospects want solved, and what articulation of the organization as “The SME” will resonate with customers
• It is good to illustrate price information , comparison information, what scenarios is the product/ service apt for and what scenarios it isn’t equally proficient at, how prepared the prospect/customer needs to be in order to best utilise the product/service and cases on how other customers have utilised the product/service, the challenges they have faced and learnings in the process
• Leads generated through this entire process of content advocacy need to be acted upon by sales professionals who can buttress and conform the organization’s promise of being “The SME”
Content advocacy can be totally controlled by the organization, which just makes it an easily accomplishable objective (low hanging fruit, so to say !!). Why is it difficult to achieve is a matter for another piece but !!