Marketing be a vast and complicated endeavor with lots of options, tricks and strategies to choose from. But there's one thing that's not up for debate, consumers are taking control over what they consume and when they consume it. From TIVO to Netflix, Spotify to Snapchat, today's consumers have the tools and desire to shut out the traditional marketing "noise". Making traditional marketing less and less effective by the minute. That's where customer focused content marketing comes in. We were fortunate enough to catch up with Marcus Sheridan a while ago and get his take on creating content that answers customer questions. It's amazing what happens when you give consumers the answers they're looking for. They like you and if you provide enough value, they begin to trust you. We hope you find value in this infographic. Please share and 'Pay it Forward" if you do.

1. 12TENETS OF
CONTENT
CREATION
How to Answer Your Customers’
Questions with Compelling Content
LISTEN
Social media, email, telephone...wherever (and whenever)
your customers ask questions, you should be there listening.
These questions will serve as the fuel for your content
creation strategy.
List out all of the questions your customers commonly ask. A
30-minute brainstorm session should yield AT LEAST 50
customer questions.
1
ADDRESS EVERY
QUESTION
Even if you can’t directly answer a question, take the time to
provide some insight around it. From an SEO perspective,
search engines aren’t looking for an exact answer: they’re
looking for content that addresses the question.
3
PAY ATTENTION
TO TITLING
Titles are like mini calls-to-action that compel people to click.
To help folks click into your incredibly useful content, dedicate
time to coming up with great titles that incorporate your
target keywords.
5
TALK ABOUT
THE COMPETITION
It’s no secret: Your prospective customers are going to compare
you with your competitors online. So, if this competition
conversation is going to happen anyway, wouldn’t you rather
have it happen at your house (a.k.a. on your blog)?
7
“How much does a fiberglass pool cost?” was the most
common question posed to Marcus Sheridan’s pool
company, River Pools and Spas. Since it was impossible
to provide an exact answer, Marcus wrote an article that
explored the various factors that impact price and
provided an average price range. To date, Marcus has
been able to attribute a minimum of $1.7 million in
sales to tthhaatt oonnee aarrttiiccllee..
MARCUS
SHERIDAN
“
2
MAKE A LIST
For each question on your list, do some keyword research to
figure out what keywords and long tail phrases you should be
targeting. After all, folks need to be able to find your content
in order for it to be helpful.
4
RESEARCH
KEYWORDS
Always answer your customers’ questions honestly, even if
they pertain to “taboo” topics (like problems or issues with
your businesses’ products/services).
6
BE HONEST
The second most common question Marcus used to get
was, “What are the problems and issues with fiberglass
pools?” Considering River Pools and Spas specializes in
fiberglass, this might have been a touchy subject. But
instead of skirting around the question, Marcus wrote an
article that addressed it honestly. The result? Do a
search for “problems with fiberglass pools” and see
wwhhoossee wweebbssiittee sshhoowwss uupp ffiirrsstt..
MARCUS
SHERIDAN
“
A great way to create content around your competition is with
the “vs.” format: “You vs. Them,” “Your Services vs. Their
Services,” etc. Create a “vs.” post for each and every one of your
competitors. Don’t go out of your way to make the other guy
look bad: Just stick to the facts.
8
USE THE “VS”
FORMAT
WRITE ABOUT
“THE BEST”
How often have you typed in “best [fill-in-the-blank]” when
searching for a product or service online? By writing reviews or
ratings of the best businesses in your industry, you can own
the results for this common search while also providing
prospective customers with helpful information.
9
Don’t create content to impress folks or to sound clever...create
content to educate! The goal isn’t to show off your genius-level
intellect by using big words. So keep it simple and make sure
your audience can understand all of the information you’re
trying to convey.
KEEP ON
CREATING
Well all know that having more content on your site can help your
search rankings. But more importantly, you should keep creating
content so you can be the best resource out there. Once a potential
customer lands on your site to learn the answer to one question,
make sure they can find answers to other questions too!
11
Marcus knows from his analytics research that if
someone visits 30 pages of the River Pools and Spas
website, and then moves to a sales appointment, that
visitor will buy a pool 80 percent of the time. (The
industry average for sales appointments is 10 percent.)
Marcus’s whole marketing strategy revolves around
getting people to stick around on the site and consume
ccoonntteenntt.. The more content they consume, the more
likely it is that they’ll convert into a paying customer.
MARCUS
SHERIDAN
“
Never make a content marketing decision out of fear. You might
worry about talking about the competition or revealing too
much about your products or services. Don’t. When it comes to
content, you should only worry about being the best resource
that you can possibly be.
12
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10
BE CLEAR AND
CONCISE