5 great ways to strengthen your customer voice in your marketing

Knowing and being known is the essence of a relationship. To know – and understand – your customers, you must listen to them. It seems so obvious, yet many marketing efforts overlook this perspective. Despite all the claims to being “customer obsessed,” brand stories focus too much on the brand itself rather than the reason for its existence.

B2B buyers need even more empathy, information and reassurance when making their purchase decisions. Here are some key ways to ensure the voice of the customer is captured and delivered to build a long-term, mutually valuable relationship.

1. Recognize who the hero is

According to Donald Miller, the developer of the StoryBrand framework, customers aren’t interested in your story. They want to know how your product or service will help them survive or thrive in their story.

The customer is the hero, as your brand guides you through the customer’s problems and successfully solves them. Focus your marketing on making your customer the star and showing them the benefits of your brand. Save your company’s history and successes for the standard copy and “About Us” page of your website.

2. Create your customer personas

When you get into public relations, one of the most important lessons you will learn and take with you is knowing your audience. For example, don’t offer a pitch to a reporter who doesn’t even cover your industry. You need to do research to find out who you need to communicate with, what messages will resonate with them, and what channels are most effective to deliver the messages.

In addition to demographics, you should also consider psychographics, which include values, interests, priorities and even potential objections. Although buyer personas are fictional representations of customers, they must be based in reality. This means talking to existing and prospective customers and incorporating those insights into your profiles.

Dig deeper: How to develop a convincing B2B ideal customer profile

3. Build your brand for them

The art and science of branding is about making a lasting impression in the minds of consumers and differentiating your brand’s goods and services from those of others in the marketplace. Again, building or refreshing your brand is not about you. It’s about your customers. What value proposition are you giving them and why is it important to them?

I work with many highly specialized technology companies and organizations that get caught up in the jargon of their industry or the way their products and services are talked about. But B2B buyers are human, after all. Make sure the messages you or your agency partners develop are clear and compelling, and don’t shy away from humor or other emotional appeals. Test your concepts with some of your customers, especially if global rollout will require translation.

Dig deeper: Building a brand strategy: foundations for long-term success

4. Quote them whenever you can

In my first job at a software company, I was responsible for documenting case studies as a customer communications manager. In this role, I produced success stories and videos that helped close new deals, provided quotes for press releases and publications, and served as a speaker for our annual user conferences. I spoke to hundreds of people who used our software and cultivated relationships that were beneficial to both us and them in terms of PR.

Nothing is more powerful than your customers’ stories – including reviews and mentions in social media posts. Don’t forget to ask them if they’d be interested in writing a guest blog. Some organizations don’t want to share it publicly. Even though it’s challenging, capture the stories of the problems solved and the results achieved. This information can shape your marketing and influence purchasing decisions, even without revealing the source.

5. Ask for feedback and use it

In the software job mentioned, I also managed the annual customer satisfaction survey and worked with an outside company to update the survey, conduct interviews, and deliver the results.

It’s been a while, but there are now numerous tools that can digitize informal or pulse surveys, as well as formal NPS and CSAT programs. They can also integrate with CRM and customer success systems, giving companies a more comprehensive view of how their products and services are helping customers.

This feedback, whether positive or negative, needs to be passed on to the appropriate departments so they can take appropriate action. Praise employees who have helped ensure an implementation is on time and within budget, and inform product management if there are repeated questions or complaints about a particular feature.

If your company has a product forum, you should monitor it for trends and insights and also pass these on to the next generation. You might also get some good ideas for blogs, webinars or other marketing materials.

Make sure your marketing efforts reflect the voice of your customers

“What’s in it for me?” That’s the fundamental question prospects and existing customers want answered when they encounter your marketing, whether on your website, in a webinar, or in a conversation. If you don’t clearly articulate how you can solve—or continue to solve—their problems and improve their lives, you’re likely to be ignored.

Don’t waste time and resources engaging and listening to your customers. Then use that information in a way that inspires you, your creative talent, the sales team and the manufacturers of your products. Customer-focused, value-based messages will get your marketing to its goal.

Dig deeper: How to build a B2B brand that creates lasting value