Episode Summary
In this episode of Seven Figures and Beyond, Greg Shuey explains how to transform customer insights into a high-performing content strategy that drives real business results. Building on previous discussions about gathering and analyzing customer feedback, he shows how to turn questions, objections, desired outcomes, and emotional triggers into SEO, LLM, and conversion-optimized content.
Greg breaks down how each type of feedback maps to specific content formats, from FAQ hubs and blog posts to PDP enhancements, case studies, and email hooks, and emphasizes the importance of creating content across all five stages of customer awareness (unaware, problem-aware, solution-aware, product-aware, and most-aware). He walks through how to build a research-driven content calendar, layer in SEO and AI optimization, and track the right engagement metrics. The episode concludes with actionable rules and a four-week sample editorial calendar, giving eCommerce brands a concrete roadmap to build content that actually converts instead of just ranking.
Key Takeaways
- Customer-led content wins: Content based on real customer language outperforms keyword-first strategies by improving relevance, engagement, and conversions.
- Map insights into four categories: Organize feedback into questions, objections, desired outcomes, and triggers, then match each to the right content type (FAQ, PDP, testimonial, or email hook).
- Cover every stage of awareness: Avoid a lopsided editorial calendar by creating content for all five stages of awareness: unaware, problem, solution, product, and most aware.
- Optimize after insight: Keywords and SEO structure should be layered in after the message is built around customer intent, not the other way around.
- Every asset needs a job: Each piece of content should have one clear purpose, proof elements (quotes, photos, reviews), and a CTA that tells the user what to do next.
Questions To Ask Yourself
- Are we truly reflecting our customers’ language and objections in our content, or are we writing for search engines first?
- Which of our most common customer questions could become top-of-funnel blog posts or FAQ hubs?
- How can we better collect and use testimonials and before/after stories to show outcomes?
- Do we have content for every stage of awareness, or are we overly focused on the bottom of the funnel?
- Which metrics (beyond traffic) should we track to prove that our content is actually influencing conversions?
Episode Links
Greg Shuey LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-shuey/
Episode Transcript
Greg Shuey (00:01.762)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Seven Figures and Beyond eCommerce Marketing Podcast. I am your host, Greg Shuey. I created this podcast to help D2C business owners and marketers who are stuck and who are actively trying to find a way to grow their businesses. If you’re new here, or if you haven’t listened recently, quick catch up for you. So two episodes ago, we talked about scrappy ways to collect
customer feedback without a big research budget. Last episode, we talked about how to use AI to make sense of that raw feedback by clustering themes, pulling verbatim quotes, and turning noise into clear insights. So we’re actually going to do two more of these customer research topics in terms of the content we’re going to be producing here. Today, we are taking the next step. So how do you take those insights?
And how do you turn them into a high performing content strategy that actually converts and drives real business value? So your buyers are literally telling you what to create. They’re telling you the questions that they have, the objections that they have, their desired outcomes, as well as their emotional triggers. We are going to spend time today talking about how to map those to specific content types.
how to build research driven content calendars, and then how to make sure that every piece of content pulls its weight across SEO, pulls its weight across optimizing for AI search and showing up in the LLMs, as well as using paid channels and using this content for email marketing. Okay, so let’s jump into it. So let’s start with why
customer-led content beats keyword stuff content every single day all day every day Look, don’t get me wrong. Like I love keywords. I love SEO keywords. I love SEO I’ve made a living optimizing for SEO keywords for like the last 20 years But keyword first content misses the point if it ignores how real customers talk
Greg Shuey (02:26.86)
and how real customers buy. Okay, we talked a lot about this in the last couple of episodes. When we actually take time to understand that and then we lead with the voice of the customer, a few things, really amazing, honestly, really amazing things start to happen. So it’s actually four, four things. One, relevance goes up because we’re answering actual questions.
with actual language people use. People love to see things described exactly how they talk. It’s incredibly important. Two, conversions go up because we’re directly addressing objections and tying those objections into desired outcomes. Again, this is real customer language, these objections. Three, SEO still wins because Google rewards content that solves
real problems is helpful and content that earns engagement, right? This helpful content, it wins in terms of search engine optimization every day, every single time. Okay. So build that content that’s helpful. And then four, the LLMs, they pick up this content because they prioritize content that has clear answers to questions.
has structured Q &A and then has evidence in it, right? These are quotes, these are pieces of data, these are before and afters. LLMs love this type of content, okay? I promise you, as you build your content, you want, you need all four of these things and you need them now, all right? So research first, insights second.
and then content last. And that’s kind of the flow of the last three episodes that we have. There’s really no other way around this when it comes to producing content for a business. All right. So let’s talk about content mapping next. So in our last episode, I talked about grouping feedback into four specific buckets. And we are going to talk about these four buckets for the next couple of minutes.
Greg Shuey (04:50.846)
So these four buckets, if you remember, are questions, objections, desired outcomes, and triggers. Okay. So here’s exactly how I turn each piece of content from these buckets into content that drives traffic and generates revenue for an e-commerce business. So the first one again is questions. So questions.
The type of content that this should be turned into are blog posts, and then they should also be turned into frequently asked question hubs. The format of this content should be the how-tos, the what is, the what is best, the can I, and the will it type questions and type queries that people are plugging into Google, they’re plugging into the LLMs.
The structure of this type of content, these should be direct answers in the first two to three sentences because that’s really what Google and what the LLMs are looking at. They want to see the question. They want to see the answer in the first two to three sentences, and then they’re going to pull that. They’re going to use that right after that. Then you need the details and then after that you need the what to do next call to action. OK, and then lastly the distribution of these.
Like I mentioned, blog posts, FAQ hubs. You should be using these on your PDP FAQ accordions or your FAQ sections at the bottom of the pages. And then you can plug these into your help center and then you can take these and you can repurpose these into YouTube shorts, social carousels, et cetera. If you’re using AI to build some of these, here’s a prompt that I like to use. Okay. You’re going to take that research that we did.
and then you are going to ask it from these customer questions, create 10 blog or FAQ titles with one sentence answers. Give me five bullets to outline each of these as well as the best internal links from our blog posts and our product pages. All right. And then it’s going to go to work for you. It’s going to pull all that and it’s going to pull it together in a nice format. And then you just need to take the time to edit it.
Greg Shuey (07:14.762)
add to where applicable, making sure that it’s structured properly so that Google and the different LLMs pull that content and uses that content in their results. So the second one is objections. Objections should be turned into PDP enhancements, so your product page enhancements, as well as comparison pages or comparison blog posts.
We mostly stick comparisons in blog content, but pages work as well. You should be using this content in above the fold bullet points, the why choose us section. You can use it in comparison tables. You can use it in risk reversal blocks like warranty, return, shipping, those types of things. You should also create X versus Y and best for use case pages or blog posts.
for bottom of the funnel conversion kind of tactics that you can then take and disseminate that through, you your social, you can disseminate that through your email marketing and those types of things. You can also use this type of content for like checklists. So you could put this on your PDP page, like sizing fit tools, ships in X number of days, proof of quality, select materials, testing.
And then you can use three to five review quotes that neutralize the overall objection. OK, the next one, number three, is desired outcomes. All right. These are your testimonials. These are your UGC prompts. These are your case studies. I don’t see a lot of e-commerce businesses use case studies, but some do, and they’re really, powerful. So this is where you capture the transformation. Right. This is before and afters. This is
Problem and outcomes, time saved, durability, confidence, compliments, those types of things. right. To gather these, you should be asking your happy customers with outcome oriented prompts, right? You shouldn’t just be asking them to give you a score. You shouldn’t ask them a yes or no question. These should be prompts that actually get them to take action. So some examples of this are like, what changed for you after 30 days of using our product?
Greg Shuey (09:37.71)
what surprised you the most or finish the sentence. I chose this because blank, right? These are fantastic ways and there are tons of others, right? Take those three, plug them into chat GPT and say, give me five more, give me 10 more. These are amazing ways to gather this type of information and can and should be done in autopilot within your email workflows, your automations, right? The last one is triggers.
Right? These triggers should be used in your email and SMS campaigns. They should be used in your ad hooks, anything where we’re trying to capture people’s infor not information, capture people’s attention and get them to stop in their tracks. Right? Some of these triggers can be like, finally, XYZ exactly what I needed. Those types of things that are actually getting people to stop and say, well, what exactly?
Is exactly what I needed, right? You should be taking and turning these into subject lines, add openers, welcome flow angles, anything with that. So an example of this, like for a cooler brand, finally a cooler that actually keeps ice for more than four days. Right? A lot of coolers. I’ve got one right now that melts ice and you know, 18 hours. It doesn’t hold a lot of coldness in there. And so.
If I’m shopping for a new cooler or if it’s the summer months and I am a camper or I do youth sports or those types of things, I know that I’m gonna melt ice too fast and when I see something like an ad hook that’s finally a cooler that actually keeps ice for more than four days, I may stop, I may click on that ad and I very well may purchase, all right? Okay.
Let’s talk about the importance of building content for every stage of awareness. So I believe this is actually a humongous opportunity for brands. When I do audits of new potential customers, one of the things that I love to look at is their blog and look at their content on their PDPs and their FAQ hubs and those types of things, right? Most of the time I see
Greg Shuey (12:00.546)
these brands, they are only building content for bottom of the funnel. In most cases, right? There are some that just knocked their blog out of the park. There are some that only build for top of funnel. There are some that only build from middle of the funnel. And then there are more often than not mostly building for that bottom of the funnel. So as we think back, right, we think back to the buyer journey. For most buyers, right?
there are really only five stages of awareness. So as you think through these, you should be looking for and planning for these five stages of awareness in order to avoid a lopsided editorial calendar, the editorial calendar that is just building bottom of the funnel. So these five stages of awareness that you may or may not be aware of are unaware.
Problem aware, solution aware, product aware, and then what we call most aware. Very much follows a typical buyer journey, which is top of funnel, middle funnel, bottom of funnel, awareness, consideration, decision. This is just broken down into smaller bite-sized chunks of that. So if we look at unaware to begin with.
Right? This is where we want to build content that directly ties to emotional pains and directly ties to those outcomes. So tired of hauling soggy ice packs would potentially be an example again, kind of tying into that, that cooler angle. These should be leveraged in hooks across ads. They should be leveraged in hooks across social video, short blog posts, those types of things. The second one.
problem aware. So this is when they now are aware of their problem and gives us an opportunity to build content that defines the issue and the stakes. So these should be leveraged in explainer posts, quizzes, explainer videos, checklists, those types of things. The next is solution aware. So now I’m aware of my problem and I am going to start researching
Greg Shuey (14:24.566)
a solution for this. So our content should be really geared toward the different solution that you offer as an organization. So an example of this would be for a sheds company that we do work for. So one of the big pieces that we’ve produced for them is resin sheds versus metal sheds versus wood sheds. Right. I understand I have a problem.
You know, I am out of storage and so I’m potentially going to put a shed in my backyard, but which shed is going to be best for me based on my budget, based on my environment, based on how big my backyard is, based on my…
I’m grasping for straws here. My climate, what sheds are good in extreme heat, what sheds are good in extreme cold, those types of things, right? Really, you know, we’re trying to build content around the what to look for in this kind of product based on all the different scenarios that you may have as an end customer, okay? The fourth one is product aware.
So now that we’re like, okay, I need to shed the next opportunity for us is to then build content around why they should choose you as a solution to their problems. So these should be leveraged in deep dives and these deep dives can and should be blog content. These can and should be video content, those types of things. We should be layering and social proof.
So testimonials, those types of things, and then comparison tables as well across the different products that you offer that could potentially solve that problem that they have. And then the very bottom is the most aware. So these are people who are ready to buy. So the type of content that you should be producing here are snippets of content that could be leveraged in.
Greg Shuey (16:28.942)
product description page upgrades, offer emails that really tie back to urgency or minimizing risk at the end of the day. right? So the very best thing that you could do from this episode, you know, we’re about a little more than halfway through this, is that you should think through these five different stages of awareness and then start taking each of your top five themes
and spinning up one piece of content for each of these awareness stages. That will end up giving you a significant amount of content and then you can start doing that over and over and over again and then you’re creating these high relevance pieces without having to guess what the end user is looking for. Very powerful strategy here. So now that we’ve got that kind of dialed in,
let’s talk about optimization. This is where you can and this is where you absolutely should start to layer in the keywords, the search queries, the Q &A, et cetera. So for search engine optimization, we’ve talked about this a lot in the podcast. Using a keyword research tool like SEMrush, you’re going to want to then, once you have your topic that you’re going to be writing about, you’re going to want to uncover four to five keywords.
that you can start to work into your content. Remember, don’t lead with this, but then come in afterwards and layer this in. You’re gonna work those content or those keywords into your title tags. You’re gonna work them into your meta descriptions. You’re gonna work them into your heading tags. And then you’re going to want to sprinkle them throughout the content as naturally as possible. Okay. You don’t want to keyword stuff. You don’t want to make it look like you try to force in a specific keyword, work them in naturally.
That’s it, right? You don’t want to, or you don’t need to go crazy on this in terms of optimizing for the LLMs, right? You’re going to want to start to layer in question based content into these pieces. Use a tool like also asked. That’s what we use here at Stride. You’re going to take that. You’re going to identify three to four questions that you can then layer into your content or place at the very bottom of the post. Oftentimes we find that putting them at the bottom of the post in terms of like
Greg Shuey (18:53.088)
frequently asked questions about this topic is a great place to put those. Okay. And then if you remember earlier in the episode, we talked about answering them with a thorough two to three sentence, and then you can add additional information or context after that. And then you can add CTAs that additional content can include the different steps that you can take to solve a problem, specs around a certain product and then customer quotes if and when except applicable.
You may also want to wrap all of that content with schema. So FAQ schema. I have seen that help from time to time. I wouldn’t say that it’s something that I recommend all the time, but if Google and the LLMs are struggling to make sense of your content for one reason or another, maybe you’re not on Shopify. Maybe you’re not on WordPress where it makes it really easy for the crawlers to be able to get through your content. Makes sense of that. Maybe you’re on a custom build.
it might make sense to wrap those with schema so you can specifically direct the search engines and the LLMs on exactly like this is the question, this is the answer. And again, I have seen that help from time to time. So as we start to close up the episode, I want to give you an example calendar that you can then take and copy. If this sounds like I’m reading it, guess what I am.
So please bear with me, but I wanted to give you a crystal clear example that you can then take and you can start executing. Okay. So this is what your overall flow should look like. So the first thing, pick your top three themes from your AI analysis. Okay. Your example might be durability, fit and sizing, shipping speed. We talked about this in our last episode. For each theme, create one asset.
per awareness stage. So that’s going to be 15 pieces right out of the gate. Can you imagine if you produce 15 pieces a month around these different themes, you’re going to be light years ahead of your competition. OK, then you’re going to layer in your SEO and your AI search optimization data, and then you are going to assign an owner, a format, a due date, and then if you’re going to repurpose this information, you’re repurposing path. OK?
Greg Shuey (21:17.548)
and then you’re going to take that you’re going to start to produce the content and then optimize the content and then publish and push it out. Alright, so here is a sample four week calendar and this is going to be a Monday, Wednesday, Friday cadence. Week one, your theme should be durability and durability is going to give you the best opportunity to rank high in the LLMs as well as SEO. So on Monday.
you’re going to work on an unaware blog post. So the blog post might be why outdoor gear fails early and how to avoid it. That’s a very high funnel. On Wednesday, you’re going to build a solution aware blog post. So again, this one may be the resin versus metal sheds, which one lasts longer for a backyard in the Southern.
United States. I was thinking Arizona, right? Where it’s super hot. That would potentially be a good one. And then Friday, a product aware post. This is you taking some time to upgrade a PDP, one of your product pages. You’re going to add in a durability test video as well as three proof bullet points or a couple of customer reviews or testimonials. right. Week two.
This is where we are going to focus on like fit or sizing type content. This is high conversion content that you’re gonna be adding to your website. So on Monday, problem aware, the blog post would be stop guessing sizing a two minute fit checklist. Wednesday will be product aware. Again, this is gonna be a PDP enhancement. So adding in an interactive size guide or fit photos.
And then Friday, most aware this is going to be an email or an SMS campaign, nailed the fit three ways we help you pick the right fit the first time around. Okay. Week three, your theme is going to be shipping speed. So this is going to be an objection killer. Monday problem aware, a blog post, how fast do we actually ship? And this is an exact timeline. Wednesday.
Greg Shuey (23:44.014)
product aware. is going to be a comparison page. We ship in two days versus the industry average. You may have to go out and do some research there, figure out how your competitors ship, what their shipping timeframes look like. Maybe you even need to order some products from them so you can see if they live up to their shipping guidelines and standards. Friday, most aware. An email order by Wednesday on your porch by Saturday. Week four.
Outcomes and triggers. These are going to be your social proof engines. Monday, unaware. This is a customer story. 30 days later, what changed me? Wednesday’s solution aware is a UGC prompt. Show us your setup. Maybe do a contest where people respond through an email or an SMS where they’re providing this type of information to you so you can gather it you can build this type of post. Friday, most aware.
case study, is problem outcome proof, making sure that you’ve got metrics, you’ve got customer quotes, those types of things. You see, if you can build this out in kind of this format here, it becomes very simple. You can put this all on a spreadsheet and then you just need to put in the different themes and then you just need to start dropping topics in there. You don’t have to overthink it. You can take this, please steal it, please tweak it to your specific business needs.
and then let it rip. A few rules that I like to follow to keep this incredibly tight and conversion focused. So first, every asset has to have one clear job. If you build a blog post that tries to address everything, it’s not gonna convert very well. Well, maybe it might convert a few, but typically it’s not going to convert because it is not highly focused and highly relevant. Okay, second, always lead with the answer.
and then the why and the how should follow after that answer. Third, proof wins every single time. So when you can layer in social proof, quotes, photos, tests, specs, policies, reviews, those types of things, you are going to significantly increase the chances of you being able to convert a customer. Next, every piece should have a call to action. It doesn’t have to be by now.
Greg Shuey (26:11.064)
Okay, that can be measure your space, see our sizing guide, compare different models, claim 10 % off your first order. The list can go on and on, but you need to have that CTA because potential customers and users need to know what to do next. And if you don’t show them or tell them what to do next, they will leave. Okay, lastly, make sure that you are tracking the right metrics. Okay, you should be looking at
Assisted conversions you should be looking at the conversion rates of your product description pages You should be looking at demo or video plays. You should be looking at the engagement on your frequently asked question hubs and You should be looking at your internal search to see if people are trying to find additional information because if they if they are You haven’t done your job at answering questions and solving problems and other piece of content. Okay
It’s really as easy as that. Okay. You can clearly see that when you lead with customer insights, instead of keywords, everything starts to click. If you lead with keywords, oftentimes what you’re going to have is you’re going to have a scattered editorial calendar. You’re going to just be creating content for content sake. so leading with this type of structure, everything is going to make a lot more sense and flow a lot more smooth. Okay.
You’re going to create content that sounds like your buyers. You’re going to create content that speaks to their real needs. You’re going to create content that moves them through every stage of awareness. Right? We want to take them from, I didn’t know I had a problem to I am ready to buy and my credit card is out. So by taking and mapping your feedback into these clear content types, optimizing for both search engines, LLMs, and then building a simple calendar, like what I walked through, you’re going to take the guesswork out of your content marketing.
You’re going to stop chasing algorithms. You’re going to start producing content that actually moves the needle for the business across every single channel. And that is what you are trying to do as a search marketer, as a content marketer and someone who’s trying to grow an e-commerce brand. Okay. So thank you so much for taking the time to be with me today, giving me 25 minutes of your time. If you found today’s episode super helpful.
Greg Shuey (28:30.446)
I ask that you please take a minute to share it with a fellow brand owner or a marketer. That would mean the world to me. And I hope that you tune in again next time for our last installment of the customer research kind of series that we’re doing inside of the podcast. All right. Hope you tune in again next time. We’ll see you soon. Take care.
Greg is the founder and CEO of Stryde and a seasoned digital marketer who has worked with thousands of businesses, large and small, to generate more revenue via online marketing strategy and execution. Greg has written hundreds of blog posts as well as spoken at many events about online marketing strategy. You can follow Greg on Twitter and connect with him on LinkedIn.