Did you Know…Most Online Business Marketing Misses This!
It’s been said that the best way to connect with your customers is through the power of story. Many of you have already heard this and it’s been proven over and over. Why? Because a great story creates an actual experience for the listener which causes the brain to become active and engaged. Neurons pop!
There is a reason old men sit around idyllic town squares, telling stories over and over again and never lose that twinkle in their eye as they accurately relay every little detail even if the event occurred decades earlier.
But did you know there is another way to connect with potential clients that could shorten the length of time from introduction to delivering value (i.e.…a sale)? It begins with a great conversation. And, as it’s been said, the best listeners often make the best conversationalists.
A big part of success with content marketing and creating the kind of content your customers really care about begins with research. Research is a form of listening. You are most likely an expert in your field; however, you only know what you know. You are not always aware of what you don’t know because some pieces of information may be off your radar. Some perceptions and interpretations of an event will be different from your own experience.
That’s where great listening, great research, the ability to ask great questions, and the willingness to be open to new information works to your benefit as a content creator and as a marketer.
Getting the Other Point of View
Often, people are resistant to new ideas or opportunities until you pass their “trust” test. This trust often starts when you establish common ground; a shared point of reference from which to build your relationship. That’s why you’ll find sales advice that says to “mirror your customer” in conversations to lower his subconscious level of natural resistance.
But I’m not really talking about that.
As Henry Ford said, “If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.”
You can’t discover the other person’s point of view if you are doing all the talking.
You can “listen” online by reading what your customers read and paying attention to the comments they are making, you can ask questions, post surveys and watch social media conversations that take place in your market.
You can also have good old fashioned conversations! In real life. Without a phone, or a text, or anything digital at all! *gasp
And as you have that conversation, online or offline, remember that often there are three reasons for you to do the talking:
- To ask questions and find out more about the other person
- To clarify anything to be sure that you fully understand what they are saying
- To mirror back what the other person is telling you to show that you “get” what they are saying
Put on Your Catcher’s Mitt
Now, there are all kinds of marketing reasons for these responses that benefit you, your business, and the rapport you build with your customers. But for me, there’s something even better that happens when you put on the catcher’s mitt in a conversation: You have an opportunity to find out how cool that other person is!
And that other person may end up being your customer. Don’t you want cool customers?
Even when you don’t totally agree with what they say, you have the opportunity to learn something new about them, about their experience, about their world view…whatever! And when you can process this new information and add it to what you already know, you just may have the ability to write and deliver content in a way that will wake people up and reach them in their very distracted state of mind.
Yes…people are distracted and you have to do or say something that will cut through all that white noise. We may all be part of Generation C (as in Connected). You are now trying to capture the attention of an audience with an audience of audiences.
The Largest Social Network is…
So what about that customer-building opportunity?
Believe it or not, the largest social network in the world is NOT Facebook and it’s NOT YouTube and it’s NOT Twitter.
What is it?
Email.
At 3.3 billion accounts, email is the largest social network in the world. It’s also been reported that 77% of consumers prefer to receive permission-based marketing communications through their email. That’s permission based – which means that as a marketer and business owner you really need to make it part of your sales funnel to get permission to communicate with your customers through their email.
What does this mean for you as a content creator?
Don’t forget to create content for email marketing (e.g.…Autoresponders); and remember to include opt-ins and free gifts (more valuable content) to get the permission to establish that ongoing conversation with your customers.
“But…I know this!” you may be saying.
Yes…you probably do and while you are telling yourself, “I know, I know….” Let me share this with you: Most marketers “know” they need to do this, but actually never implement. That means there is an opportunity for you to add a few tweaks to your current content marketing strategy which includes opt-ins and autoreponders that will make you stand out from everyone else.
Think about it! And while you do, be sure to download this Free list of 25 Email Subject Headlines that you can add to your swipe file of great copy:
Until next time…
Dawn Damico
