Manage your knowledge base

A knowledge base provides a way to communicate with customers. A well-written knowledge base will educate customers and guide them through a solution, minimizing the need for them to contact your support team for assistance. Kustomer's AI features can use the information in your knowledge base to respond to customer inquiries.

For more information on how AI can use your content to respond to customers, see these articles:

• Use AI to respond to customer inquiries
• Generate a response

In this article

• Identify your customer's needs
• Create content for your knowledge base
• Keep existing content up to date
• Be brief and concise
• Explicitly state information

Identify your customer's needs

Organizing your knowledge base into clear, distinct articles addressing frequently asked questions greatly improves usability and ensures that the AI can answer what your customers need. To figure out what your customers are asking, you can review:

• Conversation history.
• The Deflection report to view the search queries customers are entering.
• The Knowledge Base report to view comments and questions customers are leaving as feedback for an article.

Create content for your knowledge base

Once you identify the topics you want to cover in your articles, follow these tips to start creating articles:

• Make sure the article includes both the question and the answer - State the question clearly in the title, and develop the answer in the article body.
  • Article titles should be short.
  • Use subheadings to organize the rest of your content in the article.
• Focus on a single topic - Each article should address one question or problem. This makes it easier for customers and AI systems to find precise answers.
• Give direct answers - Provide a direct answer at the beginning of the article, followed by any necessary details throughout the rest of the article.
• Have a consistent structure - Your articles should all follow a similar format. This improves readability and helps customers know what to expect.

Keep existing content up to date

Keeping your knowledge base up-to-date with the latest and most relevant information is one of the most important steps you can take to ensure your customers are always getting the most helpful information.

You can use the Knowledge Base report to view when articles were last updated and find the ones that may contain outdated information.

Be brief and concise

It's crucial to prioritize clarity and brevity in your help articles. Both customers and AI systems benefit from clear content that gets straight to the point. 

• Eliminate redundancy - Avoid repeating information. Each sentence should add value.
• Use simple language—Choose straightforward words and phrases instead of complex jargon. This helps ensure that the article is understandable to a broader audience.
• Break down information - Use bullet points, numbered lists, and short paragraphs to make the content easier to scan.
• Use tables where necessary to help explain concepts - While our AI systems cannot use images to provide answers, information found in tables can be. Tables are especially helpful when comparing features or summarizing data. 

Explicitly state information

Explicitly stating all relevant information helps prevent misunderstandings and ensures that both customers and AI systems can accurately interpret the content. When writing content:

• Avoid assumptions - Do not assume the reader has prior knowledge of the feature or product. Explain all terms and concepts clearly.
• Provide examples - Use specific examples to illustrate complex ideas or procedures.
• Make sure instructions are clear - Include step-by-step procedures, where applicable. Provide detailed instructions to help reduce errors or confusion.

Tip: When policies or answers vary by region, highlight the key differences in your article. For example, you can say "We accept returns made in the 48 contiguous states up to 30 days after purchase. For orders placed in Canada, you have up to 45 days to return the item."