• About
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Content Marketing
      • Social Media
      • Blogging
      • Email
    • Copywriting
    • Inspiration
    • Freelancing
      • Home Business
  • Content Marketing
    • Free Resources
      • Content Library Membership
      • Branding Self Assessment
      • Quick and Easy Copywriting Course
      • 54 Weeks of Content Triggers
    • Content Marketing Strategy
    • Buyer Persona Discovery
    • Blog Writing
    • Video Scripts and Webinar Outlines
    • Landing Pages & Sales Pages
    • Social Media Posts
  • Your Home Business
    • Health and Lifestyle
  • Writing Portfolio
    • Jen McGahan’s Writing Portfolio
    • Hiring a Copywriter
    • Need Content?
  • Member Login

My Team Connects

Engaging Customers and Building Community with Copywriting and Content Marketing

Three Ways to Fulfill The Great Expectations of Your Customers

April 3, 2017 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

Three Ways to Fulfill The Great Expectations of Your Customers

fulfill the great expectations of your customers

For content marketers, the phrase “Know, Like and Trust” is a common objective. Companies and brands wants to achieve this goal by establishing a benchmark of familiarity with their audience, based on common values and reliability.

And it’s paying off.

These days, more people who see ads believe the ads are honest, according to this survey. In other words, 11% more people are likely to trust an ad they see today than the percentage of people in a similar survey just a few years ago.

honest advertising, consumer trust

What’s going on here? Everyone knows that advertisers try to get your attention in order to sell you something, and people don’t like to be sold to, right?

Not necessarily. Consumers don’t want to be “sold to,” but they do like to buy, especially when they’re confident they have all the information they need to make a decision.

Consumers expect nothing less than to know, like, and trust the brands they buy and the companies they do business with; and advertisers are rising to the occasion to meet consumers when and where they they’re needed. They’re also placing ads where viewers expect, tolerate, and maybe even welcome them.

Most importantly, advertisers are supporting those ads with appropriate content.

I believe this is a testament to the efforts of content creators and marketers to provide their readers with valuable content. Since useful content builds trust, the payoff multiplies for companies that run ads in conjunction with good content. They earn their customers’ trust and trust in their brand grows over time.

Ironically, institutions that used to enjoy the benefits of blind trust have fallen from grace in the eyes of the average person. Is it any surprise that the three top losers in this poll — those whose perceived honesty plummeted —  are government, which doesn’t advertise except in the case of isolated and, ideally, nonpartisan public service announcements; religion, an entrenched institution whose reputation precedes advertising; and the media, which is undergoing the most disastrous fall from grace since the public’s mainstream addiction to it.

Now it’s not institutions, but rather companies and organizations that people hold to higher trust standards. People go online for an experience that quickly validates and satisfies their expectations.

Because your audience’s expectations are high, you too must send messages that complement and seamlessly integrate with your short-term goals, your users’ or customers’ engagement levels, and your overall brand objectives.

How do you satisfy your audience’s expectations of honesty in advertising? Let’s look at some companies and organizations that place ads that cultivate familiarity, likability and trust, and find out what they have in common. People EXPECT their favorite brands and people to do the following.

Send a consistent message.

  • Make an effort to keep your content coffers full and on schedule with the help of a content calendar like CoSchedule. If you blog, set a schedule with content topics that predict and speak to your audience’s inquiries. If you host podcasts, roundtables, or Twitter Chats, make sure you keep to a set schedule and format. Make use of the online tools available and fold them into your routine.
  • Consistency is actually easier to achieve when you allow your content themes to breathe. Some people fear they’ll lose their main audience if they stray from their core topic, but I prefer to think of content as an opportunity to play variations on a theme, like a jazz orchestra might take turns noodling around a tune. A diverse variety of messages within a theme enables you to connect with people in different ways, which goes a long way toward growing a diverse audience with a common interest.
  • Speaking of diversity, remember that people prefer to consume content in different forms. Your audience is comprised of readers, listeners, and viewers. Consistency doesn’t mean static. Try to provide content that satisfies all the ways people learn: auditory, visual, and sensory. Advertisers that offer a range of content in the form of images, videos, podcast, and blogs reach more eyeballs.
  • Invite others to weigh in. The voices of fellow experts, loyal partners, users, fans and influencers can make for pretty awesome content. A content manager at Blackbaud, Madeline Turner, asks nonprofit experts to chime in on using technology to further their mission, and pulls off a useful and interesting article for the company’s community of software users. It’s also a great opportunity to ask for their input, too.

Understand your audience.

  • Data and analytics: The topic of privacy is on many advertisers’ and marketers’ minds this week as old FCC privacy rules are likely to stay in effect for the time being.  For some, this means that that it’s possible to cross over from trying to understand an audience to almost (ok, literally) spying on them. Internet service providers with access to consumers’ browsing habits will be able to sell that data to advertisers. That’s edging in on creepy (albeit inevitable) if you ask me, but it’s not what I’m talking about here. For many marketers, a worthy goal is attracting the right people, re-engaging current customers and staying relevant in their eyes.
    • One way to transparently keep your finger on your customer’s pulse is to have an opt-in process in place and a reason to monitor and engage with your audience’s actions. Willing participation translates into natural trust. If your community already knows that you operate above a certain self-imposed level, then there are no surprises when they see your ads. Simply asking for permission reaps great returns in trust.
    • Another increasingly common trust building practice is to notify your audience of how your collect data. Most websites use cookies and hidden pixels to track where their readers have been and what they are looking for on your website. Some sites go the extra mile to notify their visitors. You’ve seen the bar across the bottom a your screen telling you ‘This site uses cookies to improve your browsing experience,” or similar verbiage. That company cares about transparency and values your trust.
  • Feedback: Getting and giving feedback is difficult. At least it doesn’t come naturally for most of us who were taught to “be nice,” says Kim Scott, author of the book Radical Candor. If processing personal feedback is confusing, how  much more so for a large company with multiple products, services and features! Making sense of hundreds of incoming opinions and questions can overwhelm a service team and muddy their efforts to deliver a great experience. In Evernote’s Taking Note podcast, Gerald Hastie shares how the company manages feedback from its community of users. Practices include surveys, user groups, and community questions and answers. All that information is useless if you don’t use it to improve your users’ experience. Asking is better than guessing when your goal is to fulfill the expectations of your customers. Trust grows when you ask and follow through with knowledge gleaned from hard-earned feedback.

professional expectations

  • Accessibility: Sometimes the best content is happening right now. If you’re not around, you’ll miss it completely. You’re able now to have real time conversations on social media. Anyone with a phone can host a get together. Storytelling on Facebook Live, Instagram, and SnapChat allows you to meet your audience and instantly harvest feedback on topics your audience favors. Watch a couple minutes of Mari Smith and a roomful of Social Media Marketing world attendees geeking out on Facebook Live with Facebook training. Then imagine how you (or someone in your group who’s a natural like Mari!) could put this easy-to-use technology to work for your company or organization.

Be human.

Effective engagement is inspired by the empathy that develops simply by being human.

~ Brian Solis

If you want humans to engage with you, then you have to act like a human. Some say the quickest way to gain trust is through vulnerability. While you don’t have to spill your coffee on yourself to show you’re human, you might share where you’ve learned a lesson, let people know you have a life outside of work, or even act a little goofy sometimes.

Authenticity sets you apart. Don’t try to be something you’re not. One of my favorite cartoons shows a dog in 1994 telling another dog, “Hey look, Roger, on the Internet, no one knows you’re a dog.” The next frame show the same dog, many years later saying, “Hey look, Roger, on the Internet, everyone knows you’re a dog.” You can fool some people some of the time, but if you neglect the first two trust builders (and the great expectations of your audience), you’re sure not going to fool them for long!

Own up to mistakes. The sad truth is that eventually you are going to trip up. Most of us humans fail in a less public way, but the shame we feel is huge. Maybe you’ll never release a sucky version of your software (Windows XP), hand someone the wrong envelope (Price Waterhouse), or make too-thin yoga pants and charge $98 for them (Lululemon). But a mistake you’re personally invested in probably feels just as buzzworthy.

Coming back from failures, even really dismal ones, feeds the fertile ground of growth. It actually makes us strong and brave.

In your personal AND professional life, there are times — and it may feel like years — when you’re facing into a strong wind. Remember that everyone gets their share of trouble. In the world of content marketing, braving mistakes is a great way to build connections with your best, most loyal fans.

If you’re taking chances and developing just outside of your comfort zone, then criticism is inevitable. How you handle your critics makes you memorable in the eyes of your audience (because they’re all watching, you know). Jay Baer is a proponent of “embracing your haters to keep your customers.” A bad experience shared online can unravel years of positive work and appreciation. Publicly setting things right with calm, humor, and even a degree of urgency, you’ll probably rebound with integrity and resilience; possibly even winning increased loyalty from your customers. Most people want to cheer a comeback than watch a house of cards fall.

Share your wins and strengths as well as your challenges. Even in good times, the head-spinning immediacy and publicity of social media may make you want to sit out for a spell. But your audience expects your presence.

Try to stay in the moment, and don’t overthink transparency. The sooner you deal with reality the better. A fortress is a dangerous place. When all eyes are on you and you’re advocating for yourself or your company, avoid telling your version of the story. Focus instead on what you learned. Never forget that while people may be curious about how a blunder went down, your customer mainly wants to find out what’s in it for him.

Relax. Breathe. Shake it out. Lose the uppity voice, the jargon, and inclination to pontificate. Not that you’re guilty of any of that, of course!

One easy way to develop a natural, human voice in your content is to read your content out loud, preferably to another human. (Dogs don’t count.)

read your content aloud

It’s a process, but it’s one you can easily get good at, if you strive to know, like and trust your customers the same way you want them to know, like and trust you.

Remember your objective. To earn your customer’s trust and fulfill their expectations, you first have to be there, with consistency and an understanding of their needs and desires.

In the end, content marketing is a two-way street.

Filed Under: Content Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: accessible content, brand message, buyer personas, content, content for your audience, content marketing, content persona, customer expectations, customer feedback, customer satisfaction, customer service, getting feedback, know like and trust, marketing, social media, transparency in content

8 Ways To Make Your Clients Love You

August 1, 2016 by Elizabeth Leave a Comment

8 Ways To Make Your Clients Love You

.make clients love youWouldn’t you just swell up in pride when a client delights in you and says, “We appreciate You” or “Good to have you onboard!” These are not polite diplomacy remarks. These are real comments, given by some genuine clients, for being awesome.

Now look at these compliments – How would you feel if you get one of these – ?

  • Because you are a star!!! Thanks for your work on this. 🙂
  • Look forward to some more excellent work from you 🙂
  • You were a soldier in this.

These are just some of the compliments from my clients. Don’t assume it may take a long time for you to make your clients love you. For me, I have delighted clients from the first project on! I have been freelancing only about a year and in this (very) short span of time, I have managed to create a great rapport with all my clients.

Follow these simple tips if you want to get more and better freelance jobs.

Tip #1. Be Passionate

About your work.

Maybe you got into the freelance business out of necessity. I know I did. I wanted to be a full-time parent and it was only after I started writing, I discovered my passion for it.

Pro Tip: Work with all your heart and all your mind, and it will show in your work. 

If you have any kind of mind block for your assignment, your client, or maybe you are simply bored — as a ripple effect, all of these aspects will trickle down to your work and that is never a good thing.

Your clients want to work with people who are like them. And if they are passionate about their business, and you are not – it simply would not work.

If you are compelled to freelance but are not “feeling” anything for it, try to be grateful for the many benefits freelancing offers – the flexibility and the freedom is great compared to the million others who have to work inside tiny cubicles, all day, all week.

Tip #2. Treasure Your Clients

So maybe you are passionate about your work and you have great clients to work with. It’s when you start taking them for granted, things start to fall apart. You start missing deadlines or you fail to update them about your impromptu mid-week break. These are simple things that can spell DOOM for your freelance writing career. Don’t do these things to lose your client.

When you treasure your clients, you care about their business. You care how much your work will affect their business. You wouldn’t be in it for the money. That will show your clients what a treasure you are to keep! 

Pro Tip: Never Take your Clients For Granted

don't take clients for granted

Tip #3. Be Accountable

When you accept to work on a certain project or assignment, make sure you are 100% committed. If, for any reason, you cannot deliver your best or deliver anything at all – you need to keep your clients in the loop about it. If you work on hourly basis, don’t cheat on your productivity. If you say yes to a client, then be sure to deliver and do it quick.

Pro Tip: Be honest about what you can and cannot do. 

Tip #4. Be Quick to Deliver

For clients, time is money. The faster you deliver, the sooner it will help your clients. When your clients give you a deadline and you deliver before time, you earn a ton of brownie points! You get more work because the client appreciates your delivery timelines. When you work with this attitude, your productivity hits the fan and you get more and better freelance jobs.

Pro Tip: Deliver before the deadline. 

Tip #5. Deliver the Best

Exercise caution when you want to be quick to deliver. Do it only when you really can. Of course, doing it regularly has its perks, but delivering half-baked assignments will probably get you fired. Quick or not, persuade your soul to deliver only the best work, each time, every time.  

Tip #6. Be Dependable

When you only deliver the best each time, and within stipulated timelines, your clients learn to depend on you. Say Yes every time they come to you with an assignment. Even if it means for you to burn the midnight oil, burn it! …and deliver so they keep coming back for you.

Pro Tip: Work extra hours, only if you can. 

be a proactive freelancer!

Tip #7. Be Proactive

When you have completed a deliverable, be sure to be enthusiastic and ask your client if they have more work to give you. You don’t have to wait around for your client, you can take the first step. This will show your client that you are proactive and ready for more work.

Pro Tip: Ask for more work. 

Tip #8. Build Relationship

Care to know their birthdays, their children’s birthdays, anniversaries. Be tuned to what your client is feeling. Share some of your personal stories. When there is a real and a genuine connection, your client will never forget you. You will be the first person they think of when things need to get done.

Pro Tip: Get on a video call at least once a month.

Do you have some sure fire ways to make clients love you? Share how you do it in the comments below.


Writer Elizabeth AlexElizabeth Alex is a freelance content writer for hire. Follow her on her website, Honestliz.com, Facebook and Twitter.


 

 

Filed Under: Freelancing, Inspiration Tagged With: connection, copywriting tips, customer service, freelance writing from home, leadership qualities of freelancers, marketing tips, work from home

“Prospect” Is NOT A Bad Word!

October 16, 2013 by jennifer mcgahan 1 Comment

Lately I’ve been sensing a distaste for the words “Prospect” and “Customer” and even “Sales” by some social media folks. That’s just plain wrong.

I value the trend toward friendship, connections and genuinely liking your followers. Heck, look at the name of this website!

prospects are golden opportunities to serve!Remember, also, that you’re in business. What does a “prospector” eventually find? GOLD! Those are your customers.

You are actually doing your company a disservice if you don’t recognize the importance of serving someone who truly needs your products or services and will pay you to get them. You nurture special relationships with paying customers if you want your company to survive.

So when I say “prospect” I do mean –yes — someone whose life will be better if they open their wallet and purchase whatever it is you offer. That’s the beauty of business. I’m tired of beating around the bush about that. The people you can help — those folks are your “prospects” and it’s clearly your job to serve them.

But there’s a huge difference between serving them authentically and benefitting at their expense. Enormous. Put value into the word “Prospect;” don’t take honor away from it. Your prospects and customers are golden. They become your friends. Family, even. It’s really up to you.

Please don’t be afraid to use the terms “prospects and customers.” It’s a privilege not to be taken lightly!

Filed Under: Freelancing Tagged With: bad words in marketing, customer service, customers, golden opportunity, integrity in sales, Jen McGahan, marketing philosophy, MyTeamConnects, prospect, prospecting, prospects, sales, sales integrity, service

Why People Cherish Imperfection in Social Media

September 9, 2013 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

Why People Cherish Imperfection in Social Media

imperfection in social mediaLucky you; you’re not perfect.

Good thing people cherish imperfections in social media.

It’s not going to cut it to try to be perfect and untouchable on social media, anyway, so don’t waste too much time trying. That doesn’t mean you can slack off and not deliver your best to your customers. It just means that your customers’ bullcrap detectors are up and they’re actually pretty accurate. They just want a little human interaction.

What folks are looking for from your business is a people connection. A face or name to go with your service or product. Real live service and response.

Let me tell you a little story about a salad dressing company out of Beaumont, TX. I taste tested some dressing the other day at HEB (the local store) and liked it. As I was putting the bottle of Italian in my cart, the gentleman at the table told me to look up the potato recipe on their website. I would love it, he told me.

So as I was preparing dinner last night, I went to the website to pull the recipe and couldn’t find it. I had already bought some new white potatoes in hopes of making a recipe with my new bottle of salad dressing, so I went ahead and guessed. My potatoes turned out great, but I still wondered what I was missing, so I emailed the company and asked where I might find that potato recipe.

Within 12 hours I got an email back from Seth, with an apology, a link to the page on the website with the recipe, and a thank you for my support.

The little mistake/misunderstanding did not turn me away from the salad dressing company; it actually made me feel a closer connection to them. Think of the multiple personal touches I’ve had with Leo’s Originals:

  • The meeting/taste test in the store (local product love)
  • Perusing the website in search of a specific recipe (seeing tons of other recipes I wanted to try)
  • The personal email, connected with a name of someone inside the company
  • My return to the website via a link to a specific page

Now if Seth hadn’t responded to my email inquiry, I still would have enjoyed the salad dressing, but I wouldn’t be writing this blog post, for sure!

Through a policy (I can only assume) of being responsive to online activity (by email and my visit to their website) they have made a deeper connection and ensured my future purchases of their product — not to mention this public hat-tip.

See, there’s no need to be perfect; no requirement to be “big.” Small and personal wins in social media and email marketing.

 

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: customer satisfaction, customer service, email marketing, imperfection in social media, Jen McGahan, keeping it real in social media, Leo's Originals, MyTeamConnects, online marketing, salad dressing, social media, social media mistakes, web content

Captain America’s Screenwriters’ Insights For Copywriters and Marketers

June 10, 2013 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

Captain America insights for bloggersDo you give your customers what they want, or what you want to give them? There’s no wrong answer, so don’t think I’m trying to trick you.

The slew of comic book-to-film adaptations, including Iron Man 3 this summer, got me thinking about how to retell a story that people already know — a marketer’s job, in some respects. 

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley, the screen writers of Captain America (2011), write here about pleasing the audience. 

They explain how Captain America was written, how they decided what to leave in and what to leave out. They know some people aren’t going to like it, especially die hard fans of the comic book series. They left important villains on the cutting room floor, and gave Capt. A. lines he never said in a speech bubble. They took liberties.

“…We long ago realized that we have neither the expertise nor the inclination to guess what the audience wants. All we can do is hope that we want the same things they do.

A successful adaptation comes down to a sort of peace agreement. If the audience agrees to place their favorite material in our hands, we agree to treat it with respect and just the right amount of ruthlessness. We agree to be faithful stewards of content, and they agree to watch with an open mind.”

In retelling a popular story and in business, one way to make sure you’re on the right track is this: Want the same things your audience/customer does.

Aligning yourself with their goals may even be more important than meeting their expectations exactly to a tee. Helping your customers to their finish line, accomplishing their goal, solving their problem…requires boldness.

You may not fulfill their picture of the journey, but if you can convince them that some expectations are better left on the cutting room floor, you may exceed their vision of the destination. 

If serving your clients well means editing (even deleting) some ideas they had at the beginning of the project, then you must show that you have a commitment to their vision — or something better!

Yes, it’s a delicate balance, especially if you are working in close collaboration with a client. 

Invention isn’t for the meek. It requires an understanding that you are on the side of your customer… that you want what they want. For the screenwriter, once the movie is released, the job is finished. But in marketing, your job is just beginning. Your product or service not only meets your client’s needs…it’s what they want, too.

Filed Under: Copywriting Tagged With: Captain America, copywriting tips, customer service, marketing, marketing goals, screenplay, screenwriting, serving customer

Next Page »
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Show Posts by Category

Free ebooks and more…

Join our free content library and get business-building resources created BY and FOR freelancers and solo-preneurs!

Health and Wellness Come First!

Your success flows from within. Make sure you're building your business on a solid foundation... YOU.

Find Your Ideal
Clients eBook

eBook Find Your Ideal Clients: The Secret To Irresistible Free Opt In Offers

Book reviews of "Find Your Ideal Clients"

"The author hit a grand slam when she said our inbox is the #1 real estate on the net...She is definitely an expert in her field."

"Jen gives me everything I need to know in order to craft the perfect marketing piece."

"Jen McGahan's wisdom, experience, and gifted communication style will leave you with the impression that she wrote this book just for you. A definite must-read for anybody whose task is to make connections."

"This book made me realize how important an opt-in mail list is for the success of my online healthcare information site."

"Great aid to list-building!"

"Like sitting down with an expert over coffee…"
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • About
  • Need Content?
  • Take the Quiz
  • Affiliate
  • Contact

Copyright © 2016 MyTeamConnects.com | 12400 St. Highway 71 W. Suite 350-225, Austin, TX 78738 | Privacy | Terms of Use

My Team Connects, 12400 St. Highway 71 W., Suite 350-225, Austin, TX 78738