Content Creation

Creating Content for Products: So Many Options

CopyPress

July 10, 2013 (Updated: February 2, 2023)

Obviously content marketing is important and creating new and helpful content for your website visitors and potential customers is REALLY important. Most business owners tell me they just don’t know what to write about and my job is to help them out with ideation.

Since I can’t speak with you one-on-one I am going to break down some different category options any business that sells products can use to create content on their website or blog. Remember, content can be anything from articles to videos to infographics etc.

Reviews or Comparisons

Reviews are huge and people do their research today before buying. With reviews you have a few options:

• You can have someone, besides an employee, write a review of a product you sell and use it on your site.
• You can add a review section to your individual product pages and allow people to add reviews.
• You can gather testimonials about the product and add them to the particular product page or create a different page and link to it from the main product page. The link could say something like, “Read testimonials about this product.” (Optimize for reviews and testimonials with the product name)

Comparisons are articles that allow you to compare two products and can be very useful, but you must keep in mind that objectivity is essential if you are hoping to persuade. If consumers feel you are swaying too far to one side, being dishonest or slamming another product for personal gain you will lose them for good.

Uses

What are multiple ways this product can be used? Who is this product good for? Why is it needed? Explain the basics because people need the basics. Amazon does a great job of spelling out the basics first and their company is doing pretty darn well.

Guides/Tutorials

Everyone has questions about how to use products or various aspects of a product. Create one-page guides or tutorials on how to use the product and the different options of the product.

Keep in mind that just because you know all the ins and outs of your product doesn’t mean your customer does. Here are some examples of some things I have searched for in regards to products recently and I was very happy I found guides to help me:

• Resetting Asus touchscreen
• How to turn off Kinect without unplugging
• Raising the height of the 2013 Toyota Sequoia
• Replacing battery on the 3D Game Boy

Thank God for Google, because I found answers for each of my questions. Keep track of the support questions you get for your products and create guides and tutorials.

Things to Avoid

What should users avoid doing with your products? Spell it out. Help people take care of the product they have invested in.

• Do not submerge under water.
• Do not leave in the sun.
• Do not leave outside in freezing temperatures.
• Do not take apart while plugged into an outlet.

You get the point. This is basic, but necessary information and it is another (easy) piece of content for you.

Maintenance

It is always a good idea to break down how to maintain a particular product. People have invested, so tell them how to take care of it. If a consumer is new to a product then they don’t know what to do to care for it and even if they have an idea they don’t know everything like you, the seller, does. Explain it to them.

• Every X thousand miles get an oil change (I don’t know this one)
• Every 3 months remove vacuum canister and…
• With “Y Product” you should replace battery every 6-12 months.

Common Problems and Troubleshooting

With articles like this you can save people time, money and stress. Break down common problems that arise and provide a solution. Help people avoid costly repairs and/or panic and tell them how to fix things or what to do in case something should happen.

Story:

Example: I use to own an H2 (Hummer) and one day I came outside and they entire back end of my truck was lowered, like it sunk! The body was sitting on the back tires and the front part of the truck was obviously pulled up a bit from the weight. So what did I do? Panicked and then Googled!

I discovered that there were airbag like things (don’t know the technical term) that had to be replaced, but the good news was that nothing was wrong with the vehicle itself, it wouldn’t have to get it towed (flatbeds are expensive) and that if I turned it on and drove a few feet the airbags would re-inflate. GREAT! Sadly, I also discovered it was going to cost me at least $2500.

Moral of the Story

Create content that helps people determine what the problem is with their product and give them a solution for solving the problem. Every product needs content like this and businesses deal with calls/emails about problems with products all the time. All those calls and emails are just ideas for content. Your consumers will appreciate the time and effort you put into this. Bonus: this type of content saves your customer service time.

Answer Common Questions

If you sell you get questions. There are common questions you hear all the time but you also get some random questions. The point is that if one person asks a question they can’t be the only person on the planet wondering that too (well, maybe in some cases).

Create content that answers questions. This is easy content to make and it can also drive a lot of traffic to your website (depending on how much of a product you or others sell).

Examples:

• Does my Mac have an Intel or PowerPC processor?
• How to remote start the Camaro

Accessories or Related Products

You should create content on accessories or related products and there should be links to this content on product pages. The goal is to sell more. If they are interested in a product then explain to them why an accessory or a related product would be good to have as well.

The Goal is to Educate, Inform, Sell and Create Trust

Keep that in mind when you are writing. By educating and informing you are helping the consumer. You are also letting consumers know there is a lot of information out there for a product, so if they buy it they are not taking a risk and help is there when they need it.

You create trust by helping consumers and trust is the first key component of the sales process.

CopyPress

July 10, 2013 (Updated: February 2, 2023)