What’s the Secret Weapon Behind Customer-Centricity?

Originally published in Document Media.

Over the past few years, there has been a great deal of discussion around transforming the organization to be truly customer-centric in everything that it does. This charge toward customer-centricity has led to a considerable emphasis on customer data and document design for creating relevant communications, which are worthwhile pursuits. However, even when data and design projects are deemed successful, they are still not enough to achieve a positive impact on the customer experience. There is another component that we see as an integral part of an effective communications strategy—and it is something we call “content centricity.”

This is a purposeful and focused attention on the actual messaging within the communication. Achieving true content-centricity means putting your content first, not as an afterthought in your communications strategy.

In our view, content-centricity is essential to achieving customer-centricity, no matter the technologies available or new ways to engage the customer. New channels can be added to meet the preferences of your customers—and they can even be made responsive—but that won’t make a difference if you aren’t paying attention to what you are actually saying in those communications.

Achieving true content-centricity means putting your content first, not as an afterthought in your communications strategy.

Today, customers are looking for more than just choices when it comes to interacting with an organization. They also want those engagements to be relevant and personalized specifically for them. In the past, responding to these requirements often involved focusing on the new channels and tools that became available, not on empowering content authors, regulators, marketers, and product managers responsible for these communications. Unfortunately, many of the technologies that have been put in place to foster a customer experience strategy have not made it easier for these professionals to access the right content or to engage in a plain language initiative at scale.

In 2018, we invite you to explore the idea of content-centricity and what it might do for your customer-centric goals. Look for ways to migrate and optimize content from legacy environments into a more centralized approach to intelligently personalize, manage, and control content—and do so at scale.

In order for a customer communications strategy to achieve its goals of enhancing the customer experience, we must move the idea of content to the forefront of the discussion. Creating and distributing content that speaks directly to the wants, needs, and pain points of your customers will most assuredly strengthen your customer-centricity.