Is content really king on the internet or is it just buzz? You hear Content marketing here and there; you just keep hearing the same thing over and over.
Don’t worry I’m not going to bore you in this post with the usual long sermon of why you should invest in content marketing for your business to grow but I will continue on other existing explanations.
Hear what Neil Patel Entrepreneur Magazine says he created one of the 100 most brilliant companies in the world, “There is a big misconception that content marketing doesn’t drive sales. But if it didn’t work well, none of my companies would exist.”
Image Courtesy: willrussellmarketing
The only thing that helps in sales of a brand’s message, product, and service effectively is “content.” Content Marketing can successfully be used to tell the brand story and experience of any business and it is unbeatable when it comes to attracting new clients, sales leads, inquiries and subscribers over time.
The thing is, once you know the right content that suits your target audience, and then you will be able to nurture leads down your sales funnel and create loyalty which eventual leads to sales and repeat sales.
Image Courtesy: graphs.net
But the bottom line is that your content has to be persuasive enough to generate the type of sales you really want.
Getting content right is one of the most effective ways you can succeed using content marketing to attract more customers and grow revenue for your business.
To be honest with you, getting your content right in front of the ideal audience takes a whole lot of hard work and persistence to move up the social ladder.
Image Courtesy: acquisio
It is not good enough to say you have written an article but you need that strong persuasive spice to hold your audience glued to your site or blog. Anybody can write content for a site or blog but what really makes it a sales generating post?
It is obviously the level of expertise and craftsmanship in designing a content convincing enough to inform the decisions of first time visitors and customers.
Making sales is the top goal of every business, whether it’s a large or medium scale business, they all are thriving to make sales which can only be through the number of customers they are able to attract overtime.
Building a loyal customer community takes conscious effort from you to achieve that. On your blog, newsletters or websites, you use it to provide free information that will add value to your prospective customer, whilst offering them the opportunity to purchase goods, services (or both), which are closely linked to the information you give away.
Image Courtesy: chrisparente
Sometimes, it might take a while for your audience to purchase from you but once they do, trust me; you stand a good chance them becoming your brand evangelist. This period is a trust building phase of their sales life.
One thing is certain here, you can only achieve this by strategically planning and understanding the type of audience you want to build and what you think they will like.
For example, am sure the first time you bought peak milk, you only knew it was milk but had no idea if it was good. You purchased this product because of the kind of persuasive content used for their advert or you probably got a referral form a friend or relative or television Ad.
It’s basically the same thing with even your product or service, nothing is different. For brands like Coke, Unilever, they have built trust over time with their customers and that is why you purchase their products without hesitating or having to think twice.
Image Courtesy: imagexmedia
I am an avid believer of content marketing and its potential as a deal breaker for any profit oriented business or organization and you can never go wrong with content marketing.
Am sure you’re thinking about how you too can generate sales with content marketing; not to worry; in this post, I will be sharing with you some essential ways in which you can generate sales through content marketing.
Create multiple social media accounts for your content marketing effort
Quote me right please, am not talking about creating multiple social media accounts on one social media platform; what I mean is creating several accounts across all social media platforms.
There are so many social media platforms e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest are a few of the many others you can utilize. Restricting yourself to just one social media platform is the worst thing you could do to yourself; it’s like shutting yourself in the leg.
Social media is as important as anything you could think of for effective content marketing. As you have the opportunity of telling your brand story with relevant content for the benefit of your audience or readers.
As a content marketer, you write content for your readers and not for your personal consumption. Therefore, you have to look for a means to distribute this content and not just distributing it but doing it on the right medium.
Image Courtesy: pocketmeta
This is where the 80\20 rule comes to play. You use 20% of you time writing a befitting article for people to read, enjoy and be informed, once your done, the next step is on how to distribute this piece using the right channels.
Therefore, 80% of your time should be dedicated on the distribution of your article on social media. This is very important as it is the best way to attract more leads and acquire loyal customers to your business.
Educate your audience with valuable content
Before writing any piece or post, you have to be sure that it is going to be useful to your audience. That is, it has to educate them to trigger the right action.
People always look forward to learning new skills they can apply in their daily lives and your content should be their first stop. Creating content is not enough but writing a piece persuasive and informative enough is what drives sales to your brand.
Image Courtesy: i0.wp
Your content should possess real value packed information for your readers to walk away being satisfied with well informed answers to their questions.
It might seem like so much work but it really isn’t anything. It’s the same thing as writing your usual post but this time, with a whole more valued information to serve the curiosity of your readers.
The more you give them value, the more they patronize your brand, product or service because of the kind of relationship you must have created through your content.
Image Courtesy: s3.amazonaws
Your readers will have so much trust in you and in most cases; they run to your blog for answers in that niche.
To grow or generate sales, you need you customers and in content marketing, nothing speaks sales as being an authority that customers can look up too for specific answers to their queries. By adding value to your customers, you are sure going to hold them glued and loyal to your brand.
Connect more with your audience
Having your content out and about doesn’t necessarily mean your connecting with your audience; it just means your audiences have probably read it. This in my own opinion doesn’t suffice for sales generation.
There has to be a real connection with your audience; by “real connection” I mean developing a response channel to their questions and other things that pertains your brand, product or service.
Customers are the life blood of all businesses and they are the determining factor of how much progress or success you have made as a brand.
Image Courtesy: authenticentrepreneurspeaker
What other way do you have to keep them closely knitted to your brand other than creating a means to communicate effectively with them: the only way you can do this is by consistently responding to them.
Most business owners hardly understand this; it’s like so much hard work to cope with. But in the real sense, that is the only way you can continuously create a working relationship, sustained viewership and patronage to your brand.
Be an expert in your niche
Generating sales takes hard work and determination; once you are able to efficiently merge both together, you will have no worries.
Your audiences want to run straight to your site or blog once they have issues; and that is because they trust your verdict and look to you as a professional in that field.
Making your audience to trust your solution takes more practice and the ability to have added value over the years to their lives. This will make them check your blog for expert advice.
According to Jeff Bullas, “Authority is related to expertise, but it’s not something you can show off. You have to earn it. You can’t just tell people you’re the best. They have to agree.”
Image Courtesy: wikihow
When you establish that sort of aura around your brand, it’s very easy to capture the hearts of your audience.
You need not to worry about how to go about this because the easiest way out is with the quality of content you continuously dish out to your consumers. The more you publish, the more you establish yourself as an authority or expert in your niche.
Consistency is the key, but you have to be sure of the niche you are delving into. Giving precise and accurate information is also very necessary.
Use unique content to stay at the top
Let’s face the fact, just anybody can write content or should I say anyone can scribble something out using words.
But it takes professionalism and practice to write the type of content that will sustain you at the top. Writing is an art and you have to understand the artistry in it to use it effectively to generate sales.
Crafting out something appealing that will make your audience always look forward to your next post is what keeps you above your competitors.
Content marketing is an art of storytelling which is convincing and interesting enough to attract leads.
Kim Garst said, “In short, storytelling should play – an important role in your content marketing strategy. It helps your audience relate to what you do and how you can help them. And it does so in a way that humans have related to each other for thousands of years.”
Image Courtesy: ysn
If your content is not compelling enough or practically adds no value to your audience, means your content is as good as dead.
Writing something unique involves doing things differently from others in your niche. For example, if most writes in your niche only write content without including data; make the difference by including data in your post.
This on its own is a unique piece because you are doing what no one else is doing, by including facts to backup your idea. Most people want the easy way out; just write content without going the extra mile to ensure that it is worth reading.
You should take this serious because it can affect how many leads you are able to convert into paying customers and in return determine the amount of sales you have generated.
Build trust
Customers want to trust you and your brand but you have to give them the reason to do that without fears. You only create trust before having them interact with your brand with your content to start with because that is the first thing they interact with before the actual product or service.
Now the question is, how do you build the trust? It’s simple. Make sure your content provides solutions to their problems in relation to your niche.
Create compelling content that will make your audience look forward to interacting with your product or service. Also, keep to your promises.
Image Courtesy: paulcbrunson
If you make a promise in your content about your brand, make sure your brand leaves up to fulfilling those promises else, your audience or customers will lose trust in your brand.
Your sales funnel can only be full and spilling if your customers get the satisfaction they deserve and when your leads see a need to patronize your brand. This can be achieved with trusted content.
Provide content good enough to be identified with and make it simple to understand and see what happens with your sales.
Make sales with content marketing
This is sure the final level of fulfillment for every business owner, to make bountiful sales. Content marketing is a huge sales motivator as it can trigger your audience to take certain purchase decisions that will generate sales for you.
You don’t have to go through all the hustles of thinking too hard on how to generate sales, once you have your persuasive content that adds value, you can be rest assured to get turn over on sales.
Image Courtesy: businesssauce
People are a bit laid back on content marketing and are not taking the advantage to fix their businesses on the pedestal alongside those big names. All you need do is have the right content and its Sales! Sales!! Sales!!! all the way.
Conclusion
You keep hearing about content this! Content that! But to be frank, the use of content cannot be over flogged when talking about making sales because it is one of the key components for effective sales.
It’s like saying you will expunge the role of Britain from the history of Nigeria which is impossible. Content marketing uses the right words and terms to drive sales home.
It gives businesses the opportunity to showcase their versatility and also exhibit their expertise in that niche while promoting sales for them as a brand.
The post Get smart! Think content marketing for your business appeared first on NATIVEDGE.