Why Content Is the Customer Experience

When we talk about the customer experience, we typically talk about the in-store experience. How easy it is to find your way around the company website. The mobile experience. The quality of customer service and support. How the product actually works. What makes your customers happy.

But that’s not the whole story.

We live in an age in which more than 60 percent of the B2B buyer’s journey happens before they contact the seller. With B2C, Forrester estimates that number is 70-90 percent.

That tells me content doesn’t just support or reinforce the customer experience. Content doesn’t just preview or set expectations for the customer experience.

Content is the customer experience.

You won’t even be able to get people to the point of sale, whether it’s in person, online or on the phone.

Because the content you’ve delivered – the part of the customer experience that determines whether or not someone will contact you – fell short.

Or you didn’t deliver any content at all.

We create and share valuable, relevant content on a regular basis because we want to build trust. We want to make connections and strengthen relationships. We want to establish our expertise. We want to educate clients and prospects. We want to overcome objections and speed up the sales process.

We want to convey what we do, the value of what we do, and the value of doing business with us, so people want what we’re selling.

We want to achieve each of these goals by providing content that’s as clear, transparent and powerful as possible.

Imagine the quality and impact of the customer experience if all or most of these things were removed from the equation.

If the majority of a buyer’s decision is made based on what they find online, great content is much more than a nice-to-have.

In a previous post, I discussed the fact that people don’t just want to hear about your products and services. They want information.

They want the information – the content – that will help them make an informed purchasing decision.

That content is the customer experience. And it will only become more important as people rely more on what they can instantly find online and less on human interaction.

When you say you don’t need to invest in blogs, newsletters, white papers, case studies, videos, podcasts or any other content that people crave, you’re ignoring two critical components of the customer experience.

The beginning of the journey. And the reason to continue until a purchase is made.

I’m not trying to downplay or minimize the parts of the customer experience mentioned in the first paragraph of this post. The whole customer experience is greater than the sum of its parts.

I’m just saying that you neglect a monumentally important part of the customer experience when you neglect your content.

The customer experience may reach its climax when someone hands over a credit card to a store associate, signs a contract in your office, or hits the “buy” button online.

But people will never get to that point if your content doesn’t do its job. Or if you have no content at all.