We regularly tout the benefits of a robust content marketing strategy to help your business build trust with prospects and customers, improve search engine rankings, generate more leads, and ultimately make more money. While that should be enough reasons, we’ve got another one for you. The right content can also make lives easier. Seriously. We’re talking convenience for your team, prospects, and customers. How? By creating a Knowledge Base.
And here’s the best part. Not only does this save your business time and money, 76% of customers actually prefer using self-service options to get answers to the sales and service questions rather than speaking with a sales rep or agent over the phone. This is what we call a “win-win.” You save time, money, and aggravation over answering the same questions over and over again, and your prospects and customers get the information they want, how they want it.
Oh, and we can up the ante one more “win.” When done correctly, your Knowledge Base articles can be found whether a person searches your website or their favorite search engine, which means more potential leads.
Simply put, a Knowledge Base is a collection of articles about a product or service. Benefits include:
TL;DR? Self-service reduces a lot of friction for your staff and your customers. So just do everyone a favor and create a Knowledge Base already? Not sure where to start? HubSpot has **free** self-service customer support templates that will help you help yourself. Click here to get the goods.
You didn’t think we’d tell you what a great idea a Knowledge Base is without giving you a few pointers to run one successfully, did you? Here are five quick tips for developing your Knowledge Base strategy. If you’re ready to really nerd out, HubSpot also has an in-depth guide to creating a Knowledge Base for your company that you can check out here.
There are probably plenty of people in your company who can give you a whole list of questions they’re asked each day. Discuss ideas with your sales and customer service teams and determine which questions can be easily answered through documentation. Want a little Google boost? Take some time to research what questions people are asking not only about your particular product or service, but also your industry, and tie your answers to those trending questions as well.
This is actually easier than it sounds, even if you’re not a writer. Knowledge Base articles are not blog posts. They don’t require anecdotes, quotes, or calls to action. Instead, treat them as work instructions. Keep them short and sweet, and be sure to avoid jargon so it’s accessible for anyone seeking help.
Here’s another easy lift. There’s no need to get creative when it comes to the template or layout of these articles. Simply answer one question per article, use a consistent and non-distracting template, and make the content easy to skim (i.e. use a clear font with plenty of subheads and bullets.) We’d also recommend using images, infographics, and GIFs wherever you can. Images can make difficult concepts much easier to understand quickly.
Give your Knowledge Center prime real estate on your website’s home page. After all, it’s not going to do you much good if people can’t find it. Also, make sure your marketing, sales, and customer service teams are utilizing it in their processes.
There’s nothing worse than an inaccurate or confusing Knowledge Base, so make sure you are keeping track of the information you include so you know when something needs to be updated. We recommend a quarterly (if not monthly) audit of the content to make sure everything is up to date and accurate. You’ll also want to be on the lookout for new topics. Identify common searches on your website, if you see a surge around particular keywords that should indicate whether you need a new article. Finally, remove anything that is no longer relevant. When it comes to a Knowledge Base, more is not necessarily better.
Think a Knowledge Base might be the right next step in your company’s content journey? We’re here to help.