Today, creating a customer-centric content experience is critical. All organizations, whether B2C or B2B, should develop customer journeys with the intent of building a relationship with the customer. You can then leverage these journeys within your content planning and creation processes. For example, with each step a customer undertakes to purchase a product, you have opportunities to present relevant content. You will learn: • how to use customer journeys to map content opportunities • how to leverage a customer journey for effective content planning and creation • what you need to create a customer journey content map • how to map content effectively to customer journeys This presentation was given at Information Development World on May 15, 2017 Don’t miss our upcoming event, Information Development World: Creating Machine-Ready Content to be held on November 28-30, 2017. http://www.informationdevelopmentworld.com

1. MAPPING CONTENT TO THE
CUSTOMER JOURNEY:
5 KEYS TO SUCCESS
Kevin Nichols, Executive Director – Experience
@kpnichols | @AvenueCX

3. About Kevin
Helping you shape your content experience
Kevin P Nichols, Executive Director, Experience at
AvenueCX
Content Champion. Author. Syfy Network and Bergman
Movie Buff.
@KPNichols
• Expert in enterprise content strategy & personalization
for global companies.
• Author, Enterprise Content Strategy: A Project Guide
and UX for Dummies.
• Experience & Clients: SapientNitro, MIT Open
Courseware, Hewlett Packard, Verizon, Target, & many
more global brands.
3@KPNichols | @AvenueCX

4. Examples of customer
journeys

5. Customer journey
5
Broad-based example
@KPNichols | @AvenueCX

6. B2B customer journey
Personalization with content mapping example for Decision Maker persona
6
1. Search for product 2. Explore product 3. Evaluate product 4. Buy Product 5. Use Product
Discovery Awareness Research Purchase Loyalty
Anonymous Anonymous Known Visitor Known Prospect Customer
Website (desktop)
Mobile search
Website (desktop)
Mobile
Website (desktop)
Mobile app
Customer portal
Website (desktop)
Mobile app
Customer portal
Customer rep
Customer portal
Online communities
Email
Customer rep
Featured products
Though leadership
Product overviews
Insights
Whitepapers
Product details
Specifications
Performance benchmarks
Testing documentation
Requirements checklists
Vender comparisons
Schematics
Analyst report
Original research
Use case
Architectural docs
ROI/TCO calculator
Customer profile
Sales enablement content
Product notifications
Sales enablement content
Newsletters
Knowledge base
UGC
Task
Lifecycle
Channel
Content
User’s
state
@KPNichols | @AvenueCX

7. Key takeaways
Customer centricity drives journey decisions
7
• Customer journeys reflect the needs within a
customer lifecycle for a persona or user
segment
• Needs are broken into tasks and steps to fulfill
the need
• Every step can be met with content

8. Five Keys to Success

9. I need a tech company that
provides solar and IOT
solutions
Who are this company's
customers?
Do they have schematics
available?
How do I know about new
technologies and product
innovations?
Can I do an event that
showcases my success?
I need an established
company and not a startup
Which solar solutions do
they provide?
Do they have architecture
docs so I can see how it fits
into my technology?
What if I require additional
support?
How do I share my
experiences?
I need a commitment to
ongoing innovation within
this space
Which smart building
solutions do they offer?
What are their support
options
How do I communicate with
other engineers that have
purchased the product?
Where do I get more
knowledge when I need it?
Can I communicate with one
of their engineers?
What new innovation can
inspire my product
development process?
How do I stay in contact as I
continue to use my product
and evolve my technology?
9
1. Start with your customer lifecycle and identify needs within each
stage per persona
Discovery Awareness Research Purchase Loyalty
Customer Lifecycle Stages
User Need for Decision Maker persona
I need a tech company that provides solar and IOT solutions
I need an established company and not a startup
I need a commitment to ongoing innovation within this space
@KPNichols | @AvenueCX

10. 10
2. Translate user needs into list of primary user journeys per each persona
Discovery Awareness Research Purchase Loyalty
I need a tech company that
provides solar and IOT
solutions
Who are this company's
customers?
Do they have schematics
available?
How do I know about new
technologies and product
innovations?
Can I do an event that
showcases my success?
I need an established
company and not a startup
Which solar solutions do
they provide?
Do they have architecture
docs so I can see how it fits
into my technology?
What if I require additional
support?
How do I share my
experiences?
I need to understand a
commitment to ongoing
innovation
Which smart building
solutions do they offer?
What are their support
options?
How do I communicate with
other engineers that have
purchased the product?
Where do I get more
knowledge when I need it?
Can I communicate with one
of their engineers?
What new innovation can
inspire my product
development process?
How do I stay in contact as I
continue to use my product
and evolve my technology?
1. Answer: Why company X for the Decision Maker persona?
2. Answer: Why is product best for me (the best in-class in emerging market)?
3. Drive user to sign up for profile
1. Order a sample
2. Build POC
3. Purchase the product
1. Support current product
2. View product updates
3. Evaluate additional
opportunities
User Tasks
@KPNichols | @AvenueCX
1. Answer: Why company X for Decision Maker persona?
2. Answer: Why is the product best for the user (the best in-class in
emerging market)?
3. Drive user to sign up for profile

11. 3. Define steps necessary to execute the journey and validate
11
Customer journey for: Answer: Why the product is best in-class in emerging market?
User task
1. Search in organic search for IOT components in solar technology that
support smart buildings
2. Review primary companies and then go to homepage of Company X
3. Click on product category page featured in home page carousel for IOT
Smart buildings
4. Click on content that features story of why the company is the best in the
industry for IOT Smart buildings.
5. After viewing video, click on featured product list to a specific product
--User journey continues with steps
@KPNichols | @AvenueCX

12. 4. Create specific steps necessary to execute the journey
12
Customer journey for: Answer: Why the product is best in-class in emerging market?
User task Content
1. Search in organic search for IOT components in Solar technology that
support smart buildings
SEM presents top category placement in search results
2. Review primary companies and then go to homepage of Company X Home page shows IOT Smart building story and features related products in
product tiles
3. Click on product category page featured in home page carousel for IOT
Smart buildings
Product category carousel for IOT smart buildings features solar technology
story
4. Click on content that features story of why the company is the best in the
industry for IOT Smart buildings.
Aspirational video is provided in About Company X module that speaks to our
expertise in solar and our company's history
5. After viewing video, click on featured product list to a specific product Featured products include solar solutions
--User journey continues with steps
@KPNichols | @AvenueCX

13. 5. Use governance and performance-based framework for ongoing success.
13@KPNichols | @AvenueCX

14. Case Study

15. Case Study for Customer Journey Approach to Content
B2B technology company rolled-out customer journey based personalization
• Page views per visit quadrupled
• Time spent on site per visit doubled
• Product views doubled
• Downloaded content doubled
• Repeat use of the website increased
15@KPNichols | @AvenueCX

16. Case Study for Customer Journey Approach to Content (cont.)
B2B technology company rolled-out customer journey based personalization
Internally, there were immediate changes to how
teams approached content
• Ability to figure out who was viewing which
content led to more informed content planning
• Made the case for other business units to
rollout personalization and adopt
performance-based approach to editorial
planning
16@KPNichols | @AvenueCX

17. THANK YOU!
Email
LinkedIn
Twitter
YouTube
knichols@avenuecx.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinpnichols/
@KPNichols | AvenueCX
https://www.youtube.com/user/kevinpnichols