By Black Bear Design on 10/24/2016
As business owners, we too often make the mistake of assuming that everyone is as invested in our products and services as we are. We allow ourselves to translate this thinking into the way we communicate with our audiences online.
In Person vs Online
If someone walks into your storefront, chances are they ARE invested in what you’re providing. They want to know more about the products and services you have, and why they should choose you over the competitor. In this situation, your perfectly scripted and well-practiced sales pitch is acceptable.
When it comes to blogging, however, there is a fine line between entertainment and advertisement. When someone ends up on your website, many times it was by total accident (and that’s only if you have the SEO to get them there in the first place). Chances are, they ended up there because they were hoping to learn more about the keywords they typed into their search engine.
So when someone clicks into your car dealership’s blog hoping to learn more about how electric vehicles work, and when they begin reading all they see is your “perfectly scripted” sales pitch for the new Chevy Volt, how do you think they’re going to react? They’re going to click out of your advertisement disguised as a blog post before they finish reading the first sentence.
If I Don’t Sell With My Blog, How Can My Blog Sell Me?
According to Marketing Week, 67% of executives say content that contains timely or unique information has a meaningful impact on their perceptions of a brand. Conversely, 71% say that the content they don’t like seems more like a sales pitch rather than valuable information.
Why? Because people want to be provided with value. To break this down, let’s look at an analogy from social marketing expert Gary Vaynerchuck’s book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.
Imagine you are a boxer. If you go into a fight, you don’t just throw right hooks trying to knock your opponent out every swing. If you really want to win, you jab away at your opponent over and over to wear them down until you have the right opportunity. Then, and only then, do you throw the right hook.
Blogging and social media are the same way. These “right hooks” equate to content that sells to the consumer. Many brands use their blog as a vehicle to throw right hook after right hook. However, just like a boxer, when a consumer knows the right hook is coming, they learn how to avoid it and it becomes completely ineffective.
“Jabs” on the other hand are content that provides value to the consumer. These blogs inform, entertain, and humor rather than trying to sell to them. While only throwing jabs won’t win you the fight either, a combination of both will.
If you throw jabs of meaningful and useful information at your consumers, you’ll slowly break down the wall between the click and the sale. If you wear them down enough, your right hook will knock them out and drive home more sales than any of your posts ever could before!
Make the Change
Start doing some research on your audience and seeing what aspects of your industry interest your consumers. Some ideas include writing list posts, interviewing industry experts, and even branching out and writing about community news and events. Different audiences require different strategies, but the goal should remain the same: to inform and engage. Put out meaningful content and let the conversions come later!
Does the idea of sitting down and writing a blog terrify you? Let us take your blog to the next level! Our team will give your company a voice that your customers will love.