Over the line – how to create effective sales copy
A decision isn’t a sale! Listen carefully, I will say that again for you… A decision is not a sale! For example – “I’ve decided to take a trip to Jordan.” I haven’t booked my flights yet, though. See the difference? A decision to go to Jordan has been made but no concrete action has been taken yet to actually get me there. So, taking people over the line means creating effective sales copy that…
Getting to a decision
The primary role of marketing is to get people to the point where they think, “Yes, this is the business for me.” To be clear though, that does not mean they’ve actually placed an order. Getting people to a decision is actually the toughest step, because there are so many factors that influence it. Consider this… To bring people to a decision-point, here are some things to consider: Once this step is passed most of the…
Cultivating Interest
If you want people to be interested in your services and products, you need to cultivate this and demonstrate the value you bring. This is where long-form content comes to the fore. Consider this… When you want to generate interest in what you do here are a few things to bear in mind: ‘People buy people’ – who you are is as important as what you sell. Chances are there’s more than one business offering…
Raising awareness with content
When building a marketing strategy and plan, the first thing you need to do is make people aware that you exist as a business and what you do. I know this might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people just don’t give their attention (or enough attention) to this step. Consider this… To get us underway, here are some things to consider: Who is your ideal customer? – who do you need to…
Using content to make a market
When we think of content from a business perspective, we most commonly think of it in relation to marketing. We think of websites, blogs, social media and emails – all designed to generate leads for our business. It isn’t the only type of content, of course, but since it is the one we all think of, this blog series on making a market will cover a range of different ways you can use great content to…
Planning it out
Managing dynamic content is all in the planning. Or rather, not having a content plan can be so paralysing that it can kill your creativity. Worrying about this morning’s post is so much more stressful than having to come up with something for six weeks ahead. Having plenty of ideas in the hopper really helps take the pressure off. So, for your blogs, networking events, social media and any anything else, make sure you have the…
Taking action backwards
Coming up with great ideas for content feels like a passive process, but, in the world of idea generation, it can sometimes be all about action. Have you ever read The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People By Stephen Covey? If you have, you may know that one of those habits is to begin with the end in mind. This is great advice in building a business and it works just as well when thinking…
Reuse, recycle, reinvent
Nothing is more depressing than coming to write your regular blog or social media post and finding yourself thinking, ‘I have nothing new to say.’ Let me reassure you. It happens to everyone. Let me reassure you even further – what you have to say does not need to be new! Why? Because it only needs to be new to your audience – and your audience is changing all the time. Besides, do you retain 100% of…