The Power of Personal Preferences and Experience Design

Life is starting to feel like one big tool or machine. We try to crank out work and roll in fun, on-demand.  It’s one big automation process. Health automation. Business automation. Marketing automation. Sleep automation. Fun automation.

With all that going on, it seems like every once in a while, we might need to take time out and step back. But not to relax or reflect or ponder it all. No time for that. Instead, we need to step back and “manage our preferences” on the machine.

Content marketing, by my definition that I’ve shared with hundreds of people over the years, is the art of listening to customers’ wants and needs, and the science of delivering content to them in a compelling way. This sounds smart in theory, but is very difficult to practice.  Listening to customers’ needs is close to impossible. They’re a moving target, and they have complex needs that change every day. The more information they gather, the harder it is to engage them, “teach them something new” and keep them coming back for more.

That’s when it hit me.  My personal preferences are really the key to running my life successfully, and making me happy.  Most of my vendors don’t know me, or my preferences. But when they do, magic happens, the sale is made, and I keep coming back for more. And more. And more.

Here are just a few of examples of personal preferences that will make MY world better.

Attention brands, it’s right here for you, so go for it:

• I love dried mangoes, any time, and any place.
• When I stay in hotels, I like to be high up, away from it all, and I drink LOTS of water, like three liters of Fuji water every 24 hours please.
• I like buying things from super savvy sales reps that dive into my business and surface with insights that help me make my business better. I don’t buy anything from anyone that does not personalize their communication with me and put some passion into the effort.
• When it comes to social media, I believe that what goes around comes around. If you like my insights, I’ll take a look at yours. If you ignore me, I’ll likely ignore you. Do feel free to connect with me, and give it a go.

If every brand I work with or considered working with took this information and ran with it, they would vastly improve my “experience” with their brand, and move closer to a sale.

The good news is that this information is out there. My likes and shares in the social sphere offer clues to my personal preferences. Once again, the challenge is how fast I learn and change. When I go on a diet for example, I cut back on mangos and don’t want them in my life. This makes it difficult for a hotel to cater to my preferences, although my thirst for lots of hydration never changes 😉

With experience design now the focus of our business at WriterAccess, we’re exploring many ways to learn the wants and needs of our readers and customers, and design experiences around those needs. Maybe we need a big pop up that asks for personal preferences when it comes to writers or the tone, style and goals of your content marketing programs.  Or even better, we learn more personal preferences that are the true catalyst for experience design.