In the modern business landscape, two innovative departments stand out above the rest .....
..... is how this article would have started had I written it with ChatGPT.
Let's get real for a second, the amount of LinkedIn posts that are so obviously generated by AI has reached maximum levels. It's an epidemic that needs the highest level of mitigation efforts.
With that being said... let's talk about Customer Success and Marketing.
I honestly believe that these two departments need to start collaborating a lot more.
The reason?
Our customers have a revolving door of needs that are constantly changing. We need to ensure each customer has a seamless experience using our product. We also need to create an experience that is tailored to each customer's unique needs. Customers need to know that we have their best interests in mind. Not only before they sign the dotted line but throughout their journey.
I know everything I just mentioned sounds like the sole responsibility of CSMs and product reps. But let me explain how marketing plays a vital role in all of this and how CSMs can collaborate with them along the way.
Marketing Doesn't End When Prospects Become Customers
Regardless of what people like Corporate Bro say, marketing is essential to helping prospects become customers.
But the job is far from done.
Today, customers need consistent value so they not only stay engaged but stay educated. Every CSM has had to deal with disengaged customers who have very low adoption and have no desire to change. They just want to ride out their contract until they can cancel or they may even request an early cancellation.
This isn't the time to play the blame game.
But to prevent these kinds of situations from happening, it's so important that CSMs and marketing work in tandem on consistent and continuous customer education.
"Educate your customers to show them what they don't know they don't know." - Dharmesh Shah Co-Founder and CTO of HubSpot
So ask yourself, "What are the most common knowledge gaps our customers have with our product or service?"
The Customer Success team should gather this information and then work with marketing to close these gaps.
Here are some effective ways to do this:
Customer-Focused Content Creation
CS teams have frontline insights into the common challenges and questions customers face. Sharing these insights with marketing should be a priority. When these insights are shared consistently, marketing can produce content that's not just engaging but also incredibly relevant to customers.
- Blogs
- Newsletters
- Social Posts
All of these should already be part of the marketing team's content strategy. But now, with more relevant customer insights thanks to CS, they are more likely to be of value to the ongoing success of your customers.
Webinars and Workshops
Hosting consistent webinars is a winning strategy for any organization if they want to keep customers engaged and educated. When marketing is planning future webinars, CS can be included to offer tips such as:
- Customer champions that can be included to offer real-time testimonials
- Best practices that can be discussed
- Product tips that align with typical knowledge gaps
- Industry trends that are affecting large potions of customers
These tips can guide webinar and workshop planning and ensure that each one is filled with customer-focused content.
SEO-Packed Support Content
Customer Success insights can guide the creation of SEO-packed support content, like FAQs and help articles. This not only helps boost organic search visibility but also ensures customers find answers more easily, reducing support tickets and increasing satisfaction.
Personalized Customer Journeys
By sharing data and insights, both teams can create personalized experiences that guide customers through their journey more effectively. Each stage of the customer journey is valuable and creating targeted content to help guide your customers through key stages can have amazing payoffs.
For example, if your customer is 90 days out from renewal, send them a short nurture campaign that informs them of their renewal and explains at a high level what their progress has looked like over the past year.
There are many ways to go about this but this is just one example of ways CS and marketing can work together to provide value throughout the customer journey.
Why All This Matters
Look, I'm not trying to put any more on the plates of CS and marketing. Both departments already have a lot of responsibilities and both do great work.
The reason all of this is important is because being on the same page for the sake of our customer's long-term success matters.
Making a greater effort to collaborate and align our efforts will not only benefit the customer but also our company as a whole. When CS and marketing work together, we can ensure that our customers are receiving consistent and valuable messaging at every stage of their journey with us.
This can lead to increased customer satisfaction, loyalty, and ultimately, retention.
We can also gather more comprehensive data and insights on our customers' behaviors and needs. This information can then be used to improve our products/services and tailor our marketing strategies for better results.
Overall, having a strong partnership between CS and marketing is crucial for the success of both departments and most importantly, for the success of our
*This post originally appeared as a LinkedIn article here
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Jared Orr has nearly 6 years of experience as a front-line Customer Success Professional where he has learned the value of strategic and proactive customer engagement. He has managed enterprise-level books of business totaling nearly $3 million in ARR. With a wealth of experience in onboarding, upsells, renewals, and churn mitigation, he is well-prepared to take on the role of your next Customer Success Manager.
Jared also has a passion for B2B content creation. This passion has led him to contribute to multiple blogs, podcasts, and newsletters throughout the B2B SaaS industry.