10 Questions to ask a new client who wants to grow content online.
As a business that helps small businesses grow their online business.
Having a well thought out content strategy is critically important to grow your traffic.
Remember great content is out there forever!
Some companies have unpacked who their clients are (personas) and researched what keywords they want to target; however, most have no idea what to do.
Our role is to unpack, research and identify opportunities to grow the target audience with relevant content.
There are a variety of questions that can be asked to make this process easier.
10 Questions to ask a New Client who wants Content Created?
How would you describe your business to someone you just met?
What does your business do?
It is really important that you get a simple explanation that doesn’t confuse the person.
What Is Your Companies Mission?
This is so important. Hopefully it isn’t the first time the client has thought about it. But a clear mission allows a clear explanation of what they are wanting to achieve.
By using the mission in the content, you can clearly reiterate the product offering.
What important Taglines, Words, or Phrases do you use in the business?’
Sometimes they are quirky internal words that teams, leaders use. Sometimes the sales teams using some interesting phrases.
What Are Some Things You Don’t Say in Your Company?
Similarly, there will be some words that your client doesn’t say.
For example budget, luxury, agency vs consultants etc.
What Is the Reason of This Content?
Lead generations, Traffic, Fresh Content for Website, Fresh Content for Sales Process, Content for Social, etc
What Is Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)? What Sets You Apart From Your Competitors?
This is a big one, a lot of people haven’t identified it. We aren’t looking for how long they have been around for. We are looking for Unique aspects such as next day delivery, price beat, patented product, original X, Fast, Good, Clean, Cheap.
How to find your USP
- Step 1: Brainstorm ideas
- Step 2: Identify your customer
- Step 3: Analyze your competitor
- Step 4: List your strengths
- Step 5: Know your weaknesses
- Step 6: Figure out what makes you unique
- Step 7: Translate your USP into the right words
What Products/Services Do You Offer? Please Provide a Description of Each.
This will reduce frustrations both from clients and from you.
Who Is the Focus Audience and What Are They Like?
Don’t assume you know. This will help in building the persona of the clients you need to target.
Asking them to be as descriptive as possible.
What Is the Problem the Audience Is Facing and How Does This Content offer a Solution?
This opens you up to creating a range of content for the users. This content can be used for sales teams, social posts to assist in the path to purchase.
What Kinds of Goals Are We Trying to Make Through the Content (e.g., ‘Free Consultation’, Enquiry Form, Visit a Product Page, keyword growth, traffic increase, impression growth)?
After all, this is the most important, to achieve a goal.
Few Additional Questions
- What keywords would you like for your company to rank for? Naturally these keywords might be long tail searches or have limited traffic.
- What’s 1 story that serves as a good representation of your brand?
- Who are your top 3 competitors?
- Do you have any presentations that you use for new clients?