We have all heard the success stories from content marketers or small businesses. “I started blogging and now I make over $100k per year directly from my blog site,” or the “I started blogging X times per week and my business grew remarkably.”
It is true, a blog can bring an increase in organic traffic to your website which may lead to an increase in leads, and an uptick in overall sales.
Once you begin to use your content to educate the reader your close rates often tend to rise. Why? I’m glad you asked! There is one simple sentence that explains it: Once you spend your time creating content that educates your buyers before they get to sales, you will see an increase in leads that are ready to close.
In the book, ‘They Ask, You Answer’ content marketer and keynote speaker, Mark Sheridan, explains that we should answer the questions that potential customers are asking as part of our content strategy.
The categories are:
· Pricing
· Problems
· Comparisons
· Reviews
· Best in class
What a wild idea, right!?
After reading that section, you may think that I am crazy – these are the 5 topics that most marketers avoid when you create content about your product or service. Maybe you belong to the group, and that’s OK! Today we’ll talk about these 5 categories and how to address them in your content marketing to create more leads and close more deals.
Put yourself in your shoes…
Probably sounds funny but put yourself in your shoes for a second as a consumer and not a marketer. What action do you take before walking out of the door to buy something? Probably look up reviews. You can do it from your couch with little effort.
Consumers want to know what other people who use the product you are researching have to say about it. Was it helpful? Do they enjoy the product? Would they have rather gone with a competitor?
Let’s say that you are researching to buy a 55” Samsung TV… your Google search history looks something like this:
· 55” Samsung TV cost
· Best 55” TV brands
· Samsung 55” TV reviews
· Samsung 55” TV issues
This list is abbreviated but correct me if I am wrong. Most consumers, including yourself are looking for answers to these questions before making any type of significant purchase.
Time to talk topics and offer some clarity as to how your business can attack content marketing in a way that answers the questions all consumers – including yourself – are asking.
PRICING
How many times have you researched a product or service, only to be met with a ‘Contact Sales’ form? Chances are, you’ve seen it a lot. And the chances are you rarely fill out the form.
Nobody wants to fill out a form and wait for a sales call when you don’t event know if you can afford the product. The dreaded sales call where the only question is, “How much is this going to cost me,” if you’re in business this has happened to you.
Instead of doing this to your customers, be up front about cost. If pricing varies, let them know that there are variables that can cause prices to vary. Nothing wrong with that. Doing this builds trust with your potential customer and sets the expectation that they will eventually talk to sales in the buying process.
Let’s say you run an agency and you want the chance to address the customer before providing a price. Again, put yourself in your shoes. What would you prefer in this situation? A base cost, knowing that your price may vary? Or a ‘Contact Sales’ button.
GUESS WHAT!? The potential customer is SHOPPING, they are not dedicated to your service or product. They know what the market is charging for the service! Assume that your shopper has already come across 5-10 websites for services just like yours. SO, give them what they want and discuss price up front.
Not all shoppers become leads and not all leads close. Truthfully, what your business provides as a product or service is NOT FOR EVERYONE visiting your website.
Bottom line, don’t be afraid to talk about your pricing in at the top of the funnel.
PRICING BLOG POST IDEAS:
Talk about what a product or service like yours may cost, not about your product or service. Let’s say you run a social media advertising agency, some post topics may be:
· Is hiring a advertising agency cost effective?
· How to justify hiring a social media ad agency to your leadership
· How social media ad agencies price their services
· Is hiring a social media advertising agency affordable?
Take these starter ideas and run with them, can you come up with 5 pricing blog topics for your business?
PROBLEMS
“If you are thinking about all the reasons NOT to do something, then you really want to do it.”
This rings true for almost everyone, it’s just human nature. Most consumers are pretty sure that they want product XYZ, so they take to the internet and look for what?... PROBLEMS with product XYZ.
Although none of us want to talk about the issues or setbacks that a customer may face with our product we will ultimately benefit from being honest.
Go by this motto: “Tell the truth, tell it all, tell it fast.”
Let the customers know about potential issues they will face before they get into the process of talking with sales, onboarding, and eventually frustration with whatever the issue is. For the sake of your customer service and account management teams, be up front and honest – the customer will thank you for it… I know.Weird.
PROBLEMS BLOG POSTS IDEAS:
Again, lets come up with potential subjects for your ad agency.
· How to work with a social media ad agency
· Issues working with ad agencies? Here’s what to do
· Top Reasons Businesses Fired Ad Agencies
· Annoying Problems Working with Ad Agencies
COMPARISONS
“Not every potential buyer is a great fit for you!” I find myself repeating this phrase to clients regularly. Comparing your product to other products is not going to be the death of your business. When I began to implement this strategy with clients, we saw close rates increase by over 10%.
Why?
Simple. Comparisons drive your value and help the customer justify their decision!
For example, before hiring Albany Digital as your consultancy, we want you know if it’s worth it for you to hire us vs. a full-time employee. We also want you to understand the services our agency offers vs. what other types of agencies offer. Not only that, but after searching through our website, we want the customer to understand their budget and compare our prices to other options.
Focus on giving the customer ALL of the information they need to know in order to decide if your business is right for their problem, their budget, and their vision.
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