UX CONTENT RESOURCES
As a UX professional, there are lots of ways you may be involved in a project, service, or product. Whatever the focus of your role, you will need to consider the user. With marketing writing, you’ll be thinking about the customer journey: all of the interactions they’ve had with your brand and how content can lead to successful and positive user experiences.
In this article, we outline some of the key marketing writing considerations that UX professionals should consider. There are examples and advice throughout, and all of the topics (and more) are covered in more detail in the Marketing Writing for UX course.
As defined in our course, “customer experience is an approach to business and marketing that focuses on customer satisfaction to grow a business by attracting new users and retaining existing ones. Writing for customer experience is all about creating customer-focused content for products that people want and need.”
Customer experience encompasses all interactions and touchpoints a customer has with a brand, product, or service throughout their journey—from initial awareness to post-purchase support. It includes physical, digital, and emotional elements. It’s not just about the transactional aspects but also about the overall feeling and perception a customer has during and after their engagement. A positive customer experience is essential for building loyalty, advocacy, and long-term relationships, as it directly influences customer satisfaction and retention.
In the context of user experience (UX), marketing writing and customer experience matter for several reasons:
Effective marketing writing ensures clear communication of the product or service’s value proposition, features, and benefits. This clarity is crucial for users to understand what is being offered and how it can meet their needs. This is where they will learn the benefits gained from using a certain product or service.
Well-written marketing copy can capture the user’s attention and maintain their interest. Engaging writing can create a positive and memorable experience, making users more likely to explore further and stay engaged with the product or service. Prolonged engagement leads to customers becoming brand ambassadors and advocates who can then influence other potential customers.
Trust is a vital factor in user experience. Marketing writing that is honest, transparent, and highlights the credibility of the brand can contribute to building trust with users. Trustworthy content can enhance the overall user experience.
Marketing writing is not limited to a single platform: it spans various touch points, including websites, social media, emails, and ads. Consistent and cohesive messaging across these channels helps users maintain a unified understanding of the brand and its offerings.
Effective marketing writing can evoke emotions and create a connection between the user and the brand. Emotional engagement is a powerful factor in user experience, influencing user perceptions and loyalty. We all have our favorite brands and part of that is because of the way they may us feel and the aspirations they stir in us.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is often intertwined with marketing writing. Well-optimized content can improve a website’s search engine rankings, making it more discoverable to users. This, in turn, contributes to a positive overall user experience.
Marketing writing plays a crucial role in shaping the user experience by providing clear, engaging, and trustworthy communication that resonates with the target audience. It helps establish a strong brand presence, encourages user interaction, and contributes to building lasting relationships with customers.
When creating, managing and publishing content, there can be different rules and guidelines to follow. Those rules and guidelines may be fixed or may need to be adapted depending on the format of the content and the channel it’s being published on.
Let’s break down these three components, with examples, so you can be sure you’re creating the right content, in the right format, and publishing to the right channel.
When working with content you may need to check and use:
Some organizations won’t have any guidelines at all. For those organizations that have documented the rules and guidelines for their content, they may be included in one document or several smaller documents in different formats.
It can be hard to piece together everything that’s available as a UX writer. Any guidelines you do reference in your writing should be current and accurate. Where possible, they should also have do and don’t examples of content so that they show as well as tell.
As a UX writer, you may be tasked with creating or managing guidelines. There are lots of publicly available guidelines that you can use as inspiration or a basis for your own. Two examples include:
It’s good practice to get feedback from internal users on the guidelines and do some testing. Any guidelines you do create have to be useful and usable.
There are different formats you can create content for. Each comes with its own requirements, commitment, and benefits. Examples of content formats include:
You may consider having repeatable content patterns so that you have consistency across the content formats you create and publish. This can also make the process of creating content faster as the patterns make a template for writers to follow.
Creating strategic and measurable content that is on brand and meets a user need is time consuming. To be as efficient as possible with your content and resources, repurposing content is an effective way to make the most of your content.
An example of repurposing content is a webinar that you may host. Once the webinar is over, you can repurpose it as:
You don’t want to duplicate content in all formats but communicate the key messaging in an appropriate way for the formats.
Your organization will likely publish content to multiple channels. These can include:
Regardless of what channels you use, there must be a purpose to publishing to a channel and it must be maintained. An out of date social feed can lead to confusion and mistrust by the audience. Ask yourself if it is better not to publish to a channel at all rather than have a dormant and unused channel. Some organizations are also guided by competitors. “If they’re publishing to Instagram, then so should we.” This isn’t a good reason to add to your to-do list as the channels you use should be informed by your organizational goals and the needs of your audience.
Once you have established what channels your audience uses, you can create content specific to those channels with the user needs and overall customer journey in mind. You can write about the same benefit or message but adapt what you say and how you say it to suit the channel the content is being published on. For example, you may be a bit more formal in tone when you publish on LinkedIn compared to when you publish on X. Or your help content may be more serious in tone than your newsletter.
Conducting an audit of the channels an organization publishes on is an insightful task. It’s common for channels to be uncovered that may not have been used for a while and it also considers channels that the organization may not own (YouTube) but does publish to.
Having an oversight of the content formats and channels that are used by your organization starts to build an ecosystem that you can then manage and change as needed.
A marketing writing toolbox should contain a variety of tools and resources to help marketers effectively communicate their messages to their target audience. Here are some essential components that should be in a marketing writing toolbox.
Reference materials such as grammar books, style guides, and online tools like Grammarly ensure accuracy and consistency in writing.
AI-powered tools, such as natural language generation (NLG) platforms, can create content at scale. These tools can generate product descriptions, blog posts, social media updates, and more, saving time and resources for marketers.
AI algorithms analyze vast amounts of data to identify trends, preferences, and patterns in consumer behavior. This data-driven insight helps marketers optimize their content strategy, including keywords, topics, and formats, to better resonate with their target audience.
AI enables marketers to deliver personalized content experiences to individual consumers based on their preferences, browsing history, purchase behavior, and demographic information. Personalized content increases engagement and conversion rates by providing relevant and timely information to each customer.
AI-powered translation tools can quickly translate content into multiple languages, allowing marketers to reach international audiences more effectively. Additionally, AI can assist in localizing content by adapting it to cultural nuances and preferences.
AI-driven chatbots and virtual assistants can engage with customers in real-time, answering questions, providing product recommendations, and offering assistance throughout the customer journey. These conversational AI tools improve customer satisfaction and streamline communication.
AI algorithms can analyze social media conversations, customer reviews, and other online content to gauge sentiment and identify trends. This helps marketers understand customer perceptions, identify potential issues, and adjust their messaging accordingly.
AI-powered predictive analytics tools forecast future trends and consumer behavior based on historical data and current market conditions. Marketers can use these insights to anticipate customer needs, optimize their marketing strategies, and make data-driven decisions.
When used effectively and with continued human input and skill, AI can help marketers to create more engaging, relevant, and personalized content, leading to improved customer experiences, increased brand loyalty, and higher ROI on marketing efforts.
If you’re working on marketing content and thinking about the overall user experience, you’ll need to consider the customer journey.
Mailchimp defines a customer journey as:
“Actions your customers take before and after they make a purchase. It should be part of your overall marketing strategy to improve lead generation and enable more effective marketing.”
The following example from our Marketing Writing for UX course is a journey map for an unsatisfied customer who purchases a product in a retail store. This journey starts with Awareness and ends in Advocacy, with engagements, CX interactions, and touch points impacting a positive or negative response along the way.
It’s important to understand each stage of a customer journey, what interactions users have at those stages and what blockers they may encounter that change or stop the journey. Journeys aren’t always linear either. They can happen over a long period of time and involve a lot of nurturing of your audience to support them on their journeys.
Your organization may have already documented customer journeys. If that’s the case, it is worth finding out if they are still accurate and try to speak to those involved in creating the journey maps.
Alternatively, you may need to map out customer journeys yourself, or as part of a team, from scratch. This can seem like a daunting task so a good place to start is with the different touchpoints that a customer has with your product, brand or service. There are two categories, digital touchpoints and physical touchpoints.
Here are some examples of digital touch points:
Here are some examples of physical touch points:
To create a customer journey map you can follow these steps:
Understand why you’re creating a customer journey map. Is it to improve customer satisfaction, identify pain points, or optimize touch points?
Define the different types of customers who interact with your product or service. Understand their needs, goals, and behaviors.
Collect data from sources such as customer interviews, surveys, analytics, support tickets, and social media feedback. This data helps you understand how customers interact with your brand at different stages.
Identify all the touch points (interactions) that customers have with your brand, from initial awareness to post-purchase support. This may include website visits, social media engagement, customer service calls, etc.
Lay out a timeline or timeline axis representing the customer’s journey. This timeline will include different stages or phases that the customer goes through, such as Awareness, Consideration and Purchase.
Consider the emotional state and motivations of customers at each touchpoint. Are they excited, frustrated, or indifferent? What are their goals or needs at each stage?
Analyze the data to identify pain points where customers face challenges or frustrations, as well as opportunities where you can enhance the customer experience.
Create a visual representation of the customer journey map, using diagrams, charts, or specialized software tools. Make sure it’s easy to understand and includes relevant details.
Share the customer journey map with stakeholders and team members to gather feedback. Validate the accuracy of the map and make any necessary adjustments based on feedback.
Use the insights gained from the customer journey map to implement improvements to the customer experience. This could involve refining processes, updating touchpoints, or developing new features.
Continuously monitor customer feedback and performance metrics to track the effectiveness of your improvements. Update the customer journey map as needed to reflect changes in the customer experience.
By following these steps, you can create a comprehensive customer journey map that helps you better understand your customers and improve their overall experience with your product or service. You should also keep in mind that there’s no such thing as a typical customer journey.
This is where a lot of your knowledge as a UX professional will come together as you’ll write content while considering:
To put this into practice, let’s focus on a customer journey that can be segmented into three distinct phases:
Each segment will require specific content, calls to action and information in order for the customer to be successful and to continue their journey with your brand, service or product.
The primary goal of the awareness stage is to generate interest and curiosity, making potential customers aware of the existence and value of a product or service. At this stage, businesses employ strategies like creating engaging content, running targeted ad campaigns, and participating in events to reach a wider audience.
Awareness content is usually educational and helps the user without selling your product or service. Rather, content at this stage increases awareness of the brand and positions it as a go-to authority on the subject or topic that the customer comes back to when they are looking for a specific solution to a problem.
Some key characteristics of awareness content in a customer journey are:
Awareness content focuses on introducing your brand to potential customers who may not have heard of you before. It helps to establish your brand identity, values, and mission.
Awareness content often provides valuable information or entertainment to capture the audience’s interest. This could include educational blog posts, informative videos, engaging social media content, or entertaining podcasts.
Awareness content aims to cast a wide net and increase visibility across various channels such as social media, search engines, and content platforms.
While awareness content may indirectly promote your brand, product, or service, its primary focus is on providing value to the audience rather than overtly selling. It aims to build trust and credibility with potential customers by offering helpful or engaging content.
Awareness content contributes to brand building by creating positive associations with your brand in the minds of potential customers. It helps to differentiate your brand from competitors and establish a memorable presence in the marketplace.
Awareness content plays a crucial role in attracting and engaging potential customers at the top of the sales funnel, laying the groundwork for further interactions and guiding them through the customer journey.
Acquisition lays the groundwork for making a sale and achieving the goal of creating a loyal and repeat customer. A good customer experience is the key to a successful acquisition process. The acquisition stage typically occurs early in the journey when individuals become aware of a product, service, or brand and are considering whether or not to engage further.
Once you have caught the attention of your audience, then you need to create an emotional connection with them. From there, that’s when you can make the sale and turn them into an active customer or user.
Some key characteristics of acquisition content are:
Acquisition content often provides valuable information or addresses specific pain points or needs of the target audience. It may include blog posts, articles, videos, infographics, whitepapers, or webinars that educate potential customers about the product or service and its benefits.
Effective acquisition content encourages engagement from the audience, such as likes, shares, comments, clicks, or sign-ups for newsletters or email updates. This engagement helps to further build relationships with potential customers and move them along the customer journey.
To maximize effectiveness, acquisition content should be targeted and personalized to resonate with specific audience segments. This may involve tailoring the messaging, imagery, or offer to align with the interests and preferences of the target audience.
Acquisition content plays a crucial role in attracting and engaging potential customers at the beginning of their journey, laying the foundation for further interaction and relationship-building as they progress through the customer lifecycle.
Retention refers to the intent to always keep customers coming back for more and being loyal and long-term customers. In some cases these customers also become advocates for the brand too. This means delivering a consistently positive experience and using techniques like personalization to further establish an emotional and loyal investment from your customers. Unlike acquisition and awareness content, retention content targets those who have already made a purchase or engaged with your brand.
Some key characteristics of retention content are:
Retention content provides ongoing support and education to existing customers, helping them maximize the value they get from your product or service. This includes user guides, tutorials, troubleshooting resources and knowledge base articles.
Retention content is personalized to the needs and preferences of individual customers, based on their past interactions and purchase history. This could include personalized emails, product recommendations, special offers, or loyalty rewards tailored to each customer’s profile.
Content focuses on building strong relationships with existing customers by maintaining regular communication and engagement. This could involve sending newsletters, updates, product announcements, and exclusive content to keep customers informed and engaged with your brand.
Your content should aim to encourage repeat purchases and upsell opportunities by highlighting the value proposition of your products or services. This could include product demos, case studies, customer testimonials, and special promotions targeted specifically at existing customers.
Retention content may include mechanisms for gathering feedback and insights from existing customers to understand their satisfaction levels, identify areas for improvement, and address any issues or concerns they may have.
Retention content may involve creating opportunities for customers to connect with each other and with your brand, fostering a sense of community and belonging. This could include online forums, social media groups, customer events, and user-generated content initiatives.
Retention content plays a crucial role in nurturing and retaining existing customers, driving customer loyalty, and maximizing customer lifetime value. By focusing on providing ongoing value, support, and engagement, retention content helps to build strong, long-lasting relationships with customers beyond the initial sale.
No customer journey is fixed. They may not change often but you should never assume the journey that is mapped or considered current is still accurate. Measuring performance, refining content and reviewing customer journeys is an ongoing process. There will be occasions when you spend more time on this work than at other times but it should never be neglected for long periods.
Customer engagement encompasses the depth of the relationship between the customer and the brand, including how involved, connected, and committed the customer feels. Customer engagement can occur through multiple channels such as social media, email, website interactions, events, and customer service interactions.
Here’s why customer engagement matters:
Customer engagement is essential for building strong, long-lasting relationships with customers, driving loyalty and advocacy, and ultimately, contributing to the success and growth of a brand. By prioritizing customer engagement and creating meaningful interactions and experiences, brands can foster deeper connections with their customers and differentiate themselves in a competitive marketplace.
It’s always a useful task to think of your own experiences with brands, products and services. Which ones are you loyal to, and why? Where have you been frustrated or stopped being a customer, and why? What content do you engage more with in terms of formats, channels and topics?
You can also ‘reverse engineer’ content that you are familiar with. Think about the tone, style, language, where it was published, what action did it encourage you to take? When you start to analyze the content and brands that you interact with you’ll notice the times where you had a positive experience, the times when the experience was more negative and possibly the reasons why. Marketing content plays a pivotal role in UX.
Measuring the success of marketing writing involves assessing various metrics that indicate the effectiveness of your content in achieving your marketing goals. Here are several key ways to measure marketing writing success:
Monitor metrics such as likes, shares, comments, and click-through rates to gauge how well your content is resonating with your audience. High levels of engagement indicate that your content is capturing attention and generating interest.
Track conversion metrics such as leads generated, sales made, or sign-ups achieved as a result of your marketing writing efforts. Analyze how effectively your content is driving desired actions from your audience.
Use website analytics tools to monitor changes in website traffic, particularly traffic to specific landing pages or blog posts associated with your marketing writing efforts. An increase in traffic can indicate that your content is attracting more visitors to your site.
Assess how well your content is performing in search engine results by monitoring metrics such as keyword rankings, organic traffic, and backlinks. Improved SEO performance indicates that your content is effectively optimized for search engines and attracting organic traffic.
Track metrics such as followers gained, impressions, reach, and engagement on social media platforms where you share your marketing content. Analyze how well your content is performing on each platform and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Collect feedback from customers through surveys, reviews, or direct communication to understand their perceptions of your marketing content. Use this feedback to identify areas for improvement and optimize your content strategy.
Evaluate the return on investment of your marketing writing efforts by comparing the costs associated with content creation and distribution to the revenue generated or other key performance indicators achieved. Determine whether your content is delivering a positive ROI for your business.
By tracking and analyzing these metrics, you can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of your marketing writing efforts and make data-driven decisions to optimize your content strategy for better results.
It can be a long and sometimes hard process to truly understand the success of your marketing writing and the impact it has on customer journeys and user experience. Getting the right data sources setup and available is a big part of the challenge. Any time spent measuring the performance of your content will be valuable as you can then turn assumptions into knowledge. This allows you to make informed decisions about your content, marketing priorities and elements of the user experience.
As a UX professional, being involved with marketing writing and content allows you to make sure content is truly user-centered. It will bring together a lot of UX skills and knowledge that can influence the content priorities of an organization and help them better meet the needs of their users, whatever stage of the customer journey they are at.
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