September 2022 Newsletter
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This month’s musing covers:
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Designing Online Experiences
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5 Pillars of CX Management
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Linktrees?
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Why Content Marketing?
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Content Strategy Framework
I must add there that I am changing the content here a little bit to better fit with my changing business - it is pivot time. Soon I will share here what my newest plans are. I have added a lot more structure into my business plans and also my content creation. Oh, “content” yeah there is a 5 part series I am writing where the first two are in this newsletter. Thank you for taking the time to open and read my newsletter.
Designing Online Experiences
This week, I want to get back into designing experiences. This is my key interest when talking to people about “building an online presence”. it must be designed not thrown together. Designing takes thought, planning, research testing, and iterating. The “doing” of online can be the easy part once the rest has been completed.
It depends
I’ve been asked a few times recently “what kind of content should I be making?” to which I respond, “I don’t know”. Then a perplexed look comes across their face and they say “but you make a lot of content, you must know what works”. I am, by far, not a content generation master but, yes, I have been making it for over 20 years. Content, or what platforms should I post on, or should I be looking to automate my customer’s experiences are all parts that I love to talk about but it always starts with an “it depends”.
All online experiences are designed
I believe, that all online experiences must be designed. There is nothing organic about digital. The photo which I post along with this article will be “designed”. I have no idea what that will be now while writing this but I know I will have to make it. What content I make and share online is a process I have developed over time that meets my objectives. What are your objectives?
No one will hire me as a visual artist
I spent 3 months last year completing a Google User Experience (UX) Design course. It was big investment to complete the entire course as there is much to learn and create. All the exercises were online but the projects were judged by others, giving feedback and pointers. I learned that I am not a very good visual designer. I am OK. No one will hire me to make beautiful, engaging visuals for a poster, their website, or anything else. What I am good at is living and breathing the process of how an excellent “experience” is made.
This is what I do
What I learned through the course was the importance of the first step; empathizing or understanding the needs of the person involved. This is much more than “what is the problem?” and includes a detailed understanding of the person/user who will interact with your service or product. Shop owners know this very well as they see their customers touching, tasting, or reading their products every day. In the online world, this is harder to see. You might just be seeing negative reviews and frustrated with all this. This is what I do. I help businesses make sense of this ‘crazy’ online space and build a plan on how to meet their goals.
Mastering the 5 Pillars of CX Management
Last month I completed a deep dive on Customer Experience design. I thought I knew Customer Experience. I thought I lived and breathed Customer Experience. I thought I knew how to create excellent Customer Experiences. What I learned in those few days was that I was ignorant of the basic tenor of #CX, as it is often shortened to, it must be embedded across the entire organization.
What is CX?
The perception that customers have of an organization, one that is formed based on interactions across all touchpoints, people, and technology over time - CCXP.org
Over the decades of my career, yes I am that old, the terminology for “servicing the customer” and its tools or processes have changed. I began working with call centers back when they were really simple places, basically, there were only phone calls, fax machines, and people opening letters that were sent to the business. Emails came soon after and “call” was replaced by “contact” and the centers provided “customer service”. In the early 2000s CRM or customer relationship management came on the scene and the approach, often in tandem with new CRM tools. Later in that decade CEM (customer experience management) came around and had theories of what is involved in designing those experiences. Somewhere 10 or so years ago the #CX came in my direction and I took it as another relabelling of what we were doing all along.
CX touches every department of a company
Here’s the link to the entire article:
Linktrees?
What are your thoughts about Linktrees?
Oh, you don’t know what it is? There are two main uses for such “trees”:
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Social sites which only allow a single weblink (Instagram)
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A single link is desired as a landing page for many different links
In my case, the “tree” includes not just my website but also links to my podcasts as well as downloads (freebies!). This is useful as when people ask me where I find X about me I point them to the tree which has all those links and social platforms I am active on. I also have a QR code on my business cards (yes, still a thing!) which has the URL for the tree. The QR code is also a sticker on my laptop and my bike for the same purpose. The QR code has been particularly very useful.
These linktrees are not the best way to capture a client’s interest. They introduce friction for the user. This is intentional on the part of Instagram as they want the user to stay within their walls and not click off to something else. While the linktree setup can be really simple, quick, and free ideally a business would want the client to head directly to their site and not a middleman. A better method would be to build a linktree-type page on your website. One specific for those coming from social media or a QR code.
Here is the link to the full blog post
Why Content Marketing?
Content marketing is important because it helps companies drive traffic, build trust with consumers, increase conversions, and generate more business. But why do you need marketing? Your business is doing just fine (I hope). Your order books have plenty of orders. Is this true?
Content marketing is usually cheaper than paid advertising, it educates your customers and keeps your brand in their minds. Here are the 4 steps from Ahrefs on how to get started:
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Know who you are trying to reach. I spent time in my career where I didn’t know or have contact with the real person I needed to be selling to. Personas are often used to help define that ideal buyer.
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Find out what people are searching for. As mentioned, Google or search plays a big role in content marketing. Your posts, white papers, and testimonials need to be found.
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Publish consistently - for me, that means publishing a blog article once a week. That seems about what I can do while running my agency.
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Promote your content. Yeah, kinda obvious but use the places and spaces which you perhaps already know and use. Share what you’ve made just like I have done with this blog post. You may have found it on Instagram or LinkedIn.
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This one is from Mailchimp, make sure you engage with your audience. Be social don’t do social. Ok, that last one was from me.
Here is the link to the full blog post
Content Strategy Framework
I spent a large portion of my career as a strategic consultant. It was always about building a structure in which all the elements (people, process & technology) could find their place. It gave orientation to the others involved as we had a plan. The same goes when promoting your business, your club, or the call for volunteers for the riverside cleanup; you need a plan.
I left the strategic role and dove deep into online communications in 2011. The social platforms were opening up to businesses presenting themselves and I knew people would want to “talk” with these businesses. That 10-year study on top of the 10 building strategies brings me to where I am now; strategic online communications consultant. That sounds just horrible.
I call myself a digital sherpa as I have put in the hard work and take over the heavy lifting. I work with companies and organizations struggling to get their online presence under control. A portion of that work is building a content strategy using a framework I have adapted. Honestly, this is not rocket science but it will not surprise any of your how many businesses struggle with this. A good portion of my time is spent with very small businesses where time is not in excess. This framework, once defined, guides us to meet the goals set and the target expectations.
Seems my career has not evolved as much as I thought it might have. Happy Friday to you all!
Here is the link to the full blog post
Hey, if you made it this far then, thanks! I hope it was worth your time and if you have a comment please leave one below. I am on a journey to learn how people and organizations are coping with this New Normal. If you are interested in sharing your story or know of someone who might just reach out. Use the contact form here and leave me a short note. I would love to hear your story.
Thank you for coming here and sharing your day with my stories.
/Andrew