Use your customers' own words in social media content

Key takeaways

Voice of customer social media content uses the exact words customers use to describe their problem and what they want. Buyers search and scroll in their own vocabulary, not yours. Collect phrases from enquiries, calls and reviews, keep them in one list, and write hooks and captions from that list.

• 30 enquiries are enough to start a customer phrase list.
• Copy phrases exactly, including the informal ones.
• Use customer wording in the first line of each post.
• Refresh the list every quarter from new enquiries.

What is voice of customer?

Voice of customer is the practice of recording how customers describe their needs, problems and experiences in their own words, and using that language in your marketing. A roofer says 'failed flashing'. The customer says 'water coming in round the chimney'. Only one of those gets a reader to stop.

• How to create social media content that attracts the right customers

Where do you collect customer language?

Collect it wherever customers write or speak freely: enquiry forms, emails, direct messages, call notes, reviews and comments. Search data helps too. Do not paraphrase. The value is in the precise wording, including the words you would never use yourself.

• Enquiry forms, emails and direct messages.
• Notes from calls and site visits.
• Reviews of you and of competitors.
• Comments and questions under posts.
• Queries in Google Search Console.

• Turn customer pain points into social media content
• Run social media audience research without a research budget

How do you organise what you collect?

Keep one simple list with three columns: the phrase, where it came from, and what it is about, such as a problem, a desired result, a worry or a question. Fifty phrases is plenty. Anyone writing posts should open the list first, before a blank page.

• Problems: how they describe what is wrong.
• Results: how they describe what they want.
• Worries: what makes them hesitate.
• Questions: what they ask before buying.

How do you write posts from the list?

Use a customer phrase as the opening line, then answer it. 'Is it normal for a new boiler to make this noise?' is a ready-made hook. Your expertise belongs in the answer. Keep technical terms for the second or third sentence, and explain each one the first time it appears.

• Social media hooks that stop the right people scrolling
• Turn customer questions into FAQ posts on social media

Are there privacy rules to respect?

Yes. A customer's words can be personal data when they identify the person. Use phrases in a general, anonymised form unless you have permission to quote someone by name. Never post a screenshot of a private message without consent. Named testimonials should always be agreed in writing.

• How to share testimonials on social media properly

When should you not copy customer language?

Do not copy language that is inaccurate, offensive or would make a claim you cannot support. If customers use the wrong term for something, lead with their word and then give the right one. The aim is to be recognised, not to repeat a misunderstanding.

• Plain English on social media: drop the jargon, win buyers

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see with UK technical and professional firms: the website and posts use the industry's terms, and the enquiries use completely different ones. Rewriting openings in the enquirers' words is often the single change that makes existing content start to earn replies.

• See client work
• Social Media Marketing for UK businesses

Customer language checklist

Set this up once, then keep it going.

• One shared list of customer phrases exists.
• At least 30 phrases, copied exactly.
• Each is tagged problem, result, worry or question.
• Post openings are drawn from the list.
• No one is quoted by name without consent.
• The list is refreshed each quarter.

Next step

Start the list today with the last ten enquiries you received. Rewrite the first line of your next post using one of the phrases.