MISTAKE #25: You aren’t answering the questions your shoppers are asking
Here is a classic example of answering a question with a response that is technically right, but completely useless because it doesn’t answer the real question or solve the problem.
Companies do a similarly poor job answering shopper questions every day when situations should have been fairly easy tests to pass.
Instead, they showcase the incompetency and poor social skills so many companies possess when it comes to interacting with and carrying on anything close to resembling an actual relationship with their customers.
Pre-2000, product packaging represented the final few square inches of space available to deliver final bits of information or answer remaining questions just as shoppers were about to make a purchase.
Now, shoppers can access the infinite fabric of the internet at any time to answer whatever questions are between them and purchase.
Depending on what the internet tells them, those answers can be a company’s best advertising, helping the shopper bridge the final distance to purchase. Or the internet can inflict massive damage by raising doubts, frustration, or concerns that quickly construct a wall between them and your product.
WHAT ARE YOU LIKE ON THE LINE?
Almost every company has some online presence (when was the last time you Googled your product?). The less effort a company has put into grooming its online existence, the more concerned it should be about what shoppers will find online.
Some companies can be harder to find that others. But, someone somewhere has probably posted content…whether that came from the actual company, from a user of their products or from a competitor trying to sabotage their reputation and steal potential buyers.
People search because they want answers. Something good or bad has raised a question in their mind that they want to resolve. They search for information to help them arrive at a decision to purchase your product. They need to address a concern they now have after owning your product. Or they are shaping their general opinion of your company or your product to reference in the future.
Consider how you provide answers to the following basic questions shoppers commonly go online to answer.
Or, more to the point, find out what answers shoppers are likely to find if they search for any of these today:
THE RIGHT ANSWER BEGINS WITH THE RIGHT QUESTION
What is a fair (or good) price for your product? Can deal seekers find valuable enough coupons or promo codes to trigger a purchase? Do you have a sizing strategy or product configurations that make the value less transparent and difficult to calculate? Do deal sites make your product’s everyday price look inflated?
What are more detailed product specs? Can shoppers identify what ingredients or materials your product contains (or what your product does not contain – a question often of greater concern)? How do specific colors or finishes really look? How durable is your product? What are the exact dimensions or sizes?
How is your product different compared to competitive items? What makes one item more or less appealing than the other? What differences are claimed versus perceived? Is your competitor’s product similar to yours, but shoppers find better answers to these same questions about their product?
How satisfied are past buyers with your product? For many, customer ratings and reviews have a huge influence on interest in buying your product. Expect shoppers to want consistently high ratings to offer reassurance, but expect closer scrutiny of low ratings. Shoppers will also look for reviews that talk about firsthand consumption or usage experiences and help them gauge the longevity of the product.
Do you stand behind your product? Do you not only offer but are quick to honor a warranty? How easily can your product be returned if isn’t liked? Do experiences with your customer service sound more like fairy tales or nightmares?
What are your company values? Is there evidence to support rumors that you pay excessively low wages or you have a history of an unsafe work environment? Does your product contain the latest ingredients or materials tied to potential health issues? Are you taking any steps to operate in a sustainable manner that shows concern for the environment? Does the small size of your company make it more personable than the larger corporations you're competing against?
KEEP LISTENING
Take time to regularly read customer reviews or listen to customer service recordings or just talk to customers. Learn more about both what people are saying about your product and what they are asking about your product.
Combining sufficient perspective from both of these should provide significant clarity regarding what future content your company needs to focus on developing.
Developing the right content with the right execution will make it easier for future customers to find better answers to their questions. And better answers should lead more to buy your product.