Instead of starting with keyword research, use "feature mapping." Break your product down to a feature level, map features to specific customer pain points, and then map those pain points to an ICP. Keyword research becomes the final step, ensuring all content is inherently product-led and customer-focused.
Related Insights
To understand the problems your product solves, find the feature-benefit statements on your company's website and invert them. "Get results in minutes, not days" becomes the problem "Our background checks take days, not minutes." This creates the foundation for your discovery questions.
Keyword tools are useless for identifying the ultra-long-tail queries (often 60+ words) that drive Answer Engine Optimization. The best source for this content is your own first-party data. Analyze support tickets, sales call transcripts, and Reddit threads to discover the highly specific questions your customers are actually asking.
Traditional SEO often involves technical debates (e.g., subdomains vs. folders) and link building. In contrast, optimizing for AI search (AIO) is about teaching the LLM about your product's value, features, and benefits, much like training a salesperson. It requires strong product marketing skills over technical SEO expertise.
To create bottom-of-funnel content that resonates, analyze raw sales call transcripts for customer pain points. Then, overlay this qualitative data with quantitative data on SEO/AI search queries where your company and competitors are not appearing. This identifies a "blue ocean" of relevant topics.
To create resonant content, move beyond guessing customer problems. Analyze transcripts of past sales calls with an AI tool to identify recurring pain points, common questions, and the exact language your audience uses to describe their challenges.
Resist the instinct to explain what a feature is and does. Instead, first explain *why* it was built—the specific business problem it solves and why that's relevant to the prospect. This framing turns a feature walkthrough into a personalized 'test drive'.
Instead of asking AI to generate generic blog posts, use it for strategic ideation. Prompt ChatGPT with a detailed description of your ideal client and their transformation, then ask it to list their top 25 problems or questions. This provides a roadmap for creating highly relevant, problem-solving content.
When organizing your content library, add a specific category for the customer 'pain point' each asset addresses. This allows you to analyze performance based on the problems you're solving for your audience, revealing deeper insights than merely tracking topic popularity.
Don't just list all your features. To build a strong 'why us' case, focus on the specific features your competitors lack that directly solve a critical, stated pain point for the client. This intersection is the core of your unique value proposition and the reason they'll choose you.
A common marketing mistake is being product-centric. Instead of selling a pre-packaged product, first identify the customer's primary business challenge. Then, frame and adapt your offering as the specific solution to that problem, ensuring immediate relevance and value.
