Define your support content strategy as a marketing function

Knowledge Leader at Twilio Jon Meyer talks about how your support voice is an extension of your brand. 

Compellingly, he says, “It’s as if the need for smart, organized content ends when a prospect becomes a customer. Sure, content strategy exists to convert and sell. But it takes really strong, well-written documentation to build and retain customers.”

We agree! 

You should view your self-service content strategy in the same way you would your normal content strategy, and use the same techniques to define it.

Identify your audience

Do you know who your customers are? 

It’s vital that you have a clear picture in your mind of who exactly you are writing your content for, so it can be relevant and specific to their needs. 

While documentation is more targeted at the general user of your product than marketing content, it’s still important to have a clear idea of the type of person who typically uses your products. 

Conduct user surveys to find out the demographics of your customers, and build a marketing persona of your typical user. 

Clarify your aims

Write a list of objectives for your knowledge base. 

This will help you to decide what direction to take with your content in the future, and enable you to easily say no to content that doesn’t support your aims. 

This will give your knowledge base more consistency and clarity for your customers. 

Define your brand

Many fast-growing startups fail to define their brand, naturally focused as they are on developing the business, acquiring customers and scaling. 

But it’s important to have a clear idea of your company brand so it makes sense in the market. 

Your brand is how others will perceive your organization as a whole and will enable you to project a coherent image to your customers. 

Describe your purpose

Distinct to your brand, your purpose is the difference you are aiming to make in the world and to your customers. It must express the impact you’re hoping to make. 

For example, your purpose could be to “offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially-conscious businesses” (Warby Parker). 

Your purpose will be different to every other company, because it reflects the reason your business was founded, and the need that you sought to fill with your products and services. 

What does success look like?

Are you aiming for traffic, conversions, or brand awareness? Perhaps it’s a combination of all three. 

Depending on your industry, some of these objectives are less important than others. In the B2B industry for example, the volume of traffic is far less important than the quality and relevance of that traffic to your products and services. 

Every company is different and your strategy will need to reflect the unique way in which you operate. It will have to keep pace with your product cycles and timelines for the rest of your processes. 

Once you’ve defined your strategy, continually refer back to it to check you’re still on track.