If you want to boost sales, create engaged superfans, and infuse credibility into your brand or business, then you need to focus on ways to create value for your customers. Sitting around and saying you want to create value for customers is one thing, but actually doing it is something else entirely.

I am sure you may not be surprised to hear that most of the ways you can bring added value to your customers is going to involve some type of content writing or content marketing. Whether you work in customer service, marketing, web design, or another department, you add value by creating content that benefits potential and current customers and clients.

1. Ask your customers directly

The direct approach is often the best approach. If you ask your customers what would create value for them, then you will know what would create value for them.

It’s simple, innit?

Customer feedback and ideas might help you improve your offers and make your products or services more valuable. The thing to figure out is how. Here are some ideas:

• Shoot out some surveys
• Ask for feedback at every purchase or download or as a CTA for content
• Make it simple to contact a real-life human
• Offer some kind of perk or reward for a live, in-person (or virtual) interview

Mix and match for whatever works for you and then do something with the data. Learning what your customers think of your brand, products, or services can help you improve the features they like and fix the ones that aren’t delivering the results they (or you) want.

2. Design a unique offer or solution

Take everything from #1 and use that to create a product, service, etc. that will be incredibly valuable to your customers. This could be as simple as making a previously gated piece of content (think medium-to-high quality digital product) totally free, taking down mediocre content (think low-quality freebies), or even just doubling down on things customers are already loving that you offer.

Either way, the key here is to make it unique enough that it doesn’t become white noise to them and beneficial enough that they are going to want it. Then, you can create value for those customers all day long.

3. Prioritize quality over price

Briefly mentioned above, consider taking anything low-quality off the table immediately.

More than likely, if you made it yourself, it could be taken down. Harsh, but true. You really do get what you pay for and, when you pay nothing and try to do it on your own, then you are likely not going to be creating any kind of valuable content.

The information or service or product might be valuable, but even the packing or the messaging can make it not-so-valuable. Worst case scenario, it is a high-quality offer, but the marketing around it is off-putting in some way…which means it is adding no value at all.

So take the time and money to create value with high-quality content and reduce the amount of low-quality content you are putting out there.

4. Educate customers through the entire process

This one seems so obvious, but you would be surprised how easily it is overlooked.

From the inside, you and your team (if you have one) understand your offer. Which makes it difficult to communicate that offer to those on the outside.

Remind yourself that you need to educate your customers along the entire journey from the time they first discover you to the time they become a repeat customer. Create content that will help them know what you are offering, why they need it, how it will improve their life, and how to gain access to what you are offering. 

Sometimes, the simplest things are the most powerful.

5. Reward loyalty

Not enough brands create value for their customers by building out some type of loyalty system. 

If someone becomes a repeat customer, then it is probably worth giving them something for doing so. If they leave an honest review (good or bad), then it is going to be worth maximizing the value you are bringing with an additional perk.

If they refer someone, then give them an even greater reward. 

Don’t even advertise it as a loyalty program. It is perfectly fine to just casually reward customers because you are genuinely grateful for it. If you want to make it a perk, then, by all means, go for it. Just don’t feel like you have to.

You’ll also learn that giving back to your customers is a ton of fun, if you do it right! 

6. Only create valuable content

This one and the next one are, by far, the most important on this list.

I honestly shouldn’t even have to say it, but I know that I do. 

Otherwise, some chuckleheads out there will think these strategies to create value for customers just means churning out tons of content regardless of how helpful or wanted it is…

…but please, pretty please, only bring content to the table that is valuable and helpful to your customers. There are a lot of ways content can be helpful and valuable, so feel free to use creative license with what that means. My only request is to not confuse being creative or unique with “unnecessary.”

If you aren’t building out a content strategy that will benefit your customers, then what is even the point? Who are you trying to fool here? 

Only create valuable content.

7. Help Them Better Understand Their Needs

This one might be the most important one, but is closely tied with #6. If you aren’t communicating to your customers why they should give a rip about your brand, then what have you been doing?

It’s one thing to create value by bringing tons of cool content to life, but it is something else entirely if you never took a minute to explain why your offer could actually benefit someone.

As an example, it very well could be super-duper awesome that you created software to help your customer find people you may actually know on LinkedIn…but if no one sees how that helps them in any way, then they have no reason to care.

Don’t sell your offer. Instead, sell the pain point your offer solves. This may mean poking at some needs they have that they may not be fully conscious of yet. Gently poke and prod to see where they need help and then get them to understand why your solution is the best answer. That’s how to create value they will notice every time.

Ready to create massive value for your customers now?

Implement one or all of these strategies and you can pretty much guarantee an increase in your sales, customer engagement, and brand credibility. You can always guarantee that one or all of these strategies will create value for your customers, though.

If you like what you see and want some help as you create value for your customers, then feel free to contact DSM Story Forge. If you want to shoot me a question, comment, or concern, then just email Dylan directly.

As always, thanks for reading, friend. I appreciate you.