Behind the Scenes Content: the rocket fuel to your customer journey
Hello there,
I’ve just finished delivering the final week of the live Blog Confidence course today. It’s always a bit emotional as I’ve spent the previous 8 weeks getting to know the lovely people on the course a whole lot more, watching them get to know each other and see the “a-ha!” moments along the way.
My Thursday lunches always feel a bit empty when it’s finished. But like a true empty nester, I’m running a masterclass next week to show you how to turn your blog or podcast into lots of lovely content. It’s with the excelled Bea Abalti at Bear Forward (she is doing the podcast bit, I’m doing the blogging bit), and is totally free.
Supercharge Your Content here.
I am creating a DIY version of the Blog Confidence course for anyone who wants to access the learning without the weekly commitment. And I’ll be running the live version again next year.
But for now, we have our third and final instalment in content eco-systems.
Behind the Scenes Content: the rocket fuel to your customer journey
The final part in the three-part series on the content ecosystem is all about the content that you can’t see from the front. It’s your behind-the-scenes content. If you work in a big organisation or manage a membership group, you’re going to have a whole lot more behind-the-scenes content going on. But let’s be clear that all businesses of every shape and size should have this content.
It’s part of the customer service that you provide and it’s the stuff that will rocket fuel your customer journey.
So let’s get into what behind-the-scenes content is, how it fits into your content ecosystem and why it’s probably some of the most underrated content out there.
What is behind-the-scenes content?
You might know this as hidden content, internal comms or another name, but behind-the-scenes content is the stuff that’s not instantly visible on your website or social media. It’s the content that exists if someone takes some kind of action like books a call, signs up for your newsletter, or downloads a lead magnet. You get the idea.
And it comes in the form of content like:
Thank you pages
Onboarding emails
Delivery emails
Out of office
Welcome pages
Membership content
Customer emails
Customer-specific content
Community groups
404 pages
And a whole lot more.
For memberships and online course providers, this is also the content you provide to deliver your product. And the support you put around that product to keep your customers coming back for more. It can also be the content you put into a paid Facebook, Slack or Dischord group.
For larger organisations this can be your intranet for employees, your customer support content, and any other content you need to make that customer experience better.
I’m not really including email marketing as a whole in this category because that’s not really hidden. But all the email marketing that happens around your regular newsletter such as delivery emails, keeping-in-touch content and the like, is all behind-the-scenes that create that high-touch, caring content you need.
How does it fit into your content ecosystem?
When you map out your customer journey, it’s easy to think about the content that’s sitting on the service. But it’s the content which sits behind that really works the magic.
Let’s look at a lead magnet as an example.
I’m going to use a PDF checklist as that’s a pretty simple lead magnet and I reckon most of you have created or thought about one of these in your time.
You get the lead magnet itself all made up and looking pretty. Plus, you’ve created a landing page for it, some in-content signup options and social media to help promote it. Oh, and you’ve got the email to deliver it. That’s all great. It’s the minimum you need to get it up and running.
But how about after they sign up, you send them to a lovely thank you page? Here, you explain a bit more about how the checklist can help them. Maybe with a video and sending them to some other supporting content.
Then, when you’ve delivered the PDF, how about sending them some support on how to get the most out of it? Maybe even a video message specifically to the people who are engaging the most in your emails.
And after they’ve got the PDF and used it, you then send them something else that helps with their problem. All before popping them into the bigger newsletter mailout.
Let’s say that all of this impresses your lead so much that they buy something from you, and you start the whole process again. Looking at every possible way you could delight them through your content and the onboarding process.
Really, this behind-the-scenes content is all about getting to know your people a little better. It’s about building a relationship with them and showing that you care. It’s about your customer service.
Now, how this looks the bigger and bolder you get with your business changes a little. And it becomes more complex as you need to handle more people in the process. At the foundation, though, is a thoughtful and caring customer journey and a fully mapped-out content ecosystem.
Why do you need behind-the-scenes content?
As I said above, you can get by without behind-the-scenes content. Your business will still operate and you will still get clients but you won’t be getting the most out of what you’re doing. And you won’t be adding that special bit of delightfulness into their day.
In fact, this kind of content could be the difference between them buying or not buying.
It would also be foolish of me not to mention the churn rate at this point. If you’re not familiar with the churn rate, its the amount of people who cancel their membership or subscriptions each month when they get that little reminder that the money is coming out of their account.
You don’t need to be a subscription model business to have a churn rate. Imagine you get a new client and they instantly get buyer’s remorse. That’s part of your churn rate.
You can minimise this happening by reinforcing why they signed up in the first place through some behind-the-scenes content.
For memberships and courses, this is about making sure your clients stay engaged and get results. The worst thing you can have is people who buy your product and then never use it. It’s not good for them or for you.
This means having content that holds them accountable. For my Blog Confidence course, I remind folks about using all the extra stuff that comes along with it like getting their blogs reviewed and using me to bounce off ideas or help when they are stuck. It means they show up for the sessions and do the work.
If you have a different delivery, it’s about making sure you are still in there keeping them on track. You can do this with emails or other content but you can also make this super personal. In the long run, a churn rate can impact your business on a deep level because it costs a lot of time and money to get a new customer in whereas treating your current clients like royalty is far easier and cheaper.
No quick templates
I’ve given some examples and ideas in this newsletter that can help you work out what your behind-the-scenes content should look like but there is no template other than the one you create for your business. Your content should map out against what your ideal customer needs, at the time they need it. That may look very different from what you do.
Also, if you’re doing the bare minimum, which looks the same as everyone else, then you are missing out on a huge opportunity to stand out and be creative.
And that is going to be the best rocket-fuel content of all.
How I can help:
Get your content mess sorted out with a Content Clear Out
Untangle your SEO with an SEO Audit
Solve your content conundrums with a Content Clinic
As it’s officially hibernation season, I’ve got a lovely stack of library books to get through. All fiction, none business although I’ve been tempted by a few writing books lately so be warned they may start seeping through into these newsletters.
See you next Thursday,
Fiona