When should you let your customers in on those secret gems you’ve been holding back? You know, the things they are always asking but you’ve kept under wraps.
It’s time to open the doors to your treasure trove and show ’em your family jewels. The content marketing game in the digital world is on, and it’s your turn to show your best moves by showing your true self.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
What does this mean, anyway?
It’s simple. Marcus Sheridan of The Sales Lion said it best in his New York Times interview on how he turned his pool sales company around.
Answer your customer’s questions. Rather than talk about your business, *yawn* give them the answers to the questions they are most likely to search for on the Internet.
When he said give them what they want to know, he didn’t pick and choose. The number one question his fiberglass pool customers ask is, “How much does it cost?” So he told them.
In his TEDx talk, Sheridan addressed the used-car-salesman stigma, something no one wants. So give them what they do want – the truth!
What happens when you dare to tell the truth? Besides sharing the family jewels, you’re also letting the proverbial skeletons out of the closet. This is just crazy, right?
Yes, especially when you’re scared of chasing people away.
Here’s the thing. Your potential customers want the truth, and when they see that you are giving it to them, and are also willing to give away information for free, they will begin to trust you.
Sheridan made another brilliant and brave move. He answered the second most asked question. He told them what the problems are with his product.
Two things are bound to happen when you embrace the truth. Your customers will decide you are honest, and when they do a search for the problems inherent with your product, your website will show up.
How scary is that? Your business shows up as an authority on the subject, you get more traffic, and you get the opportunity to share the benefits too. Remember the family jewels we were talking about?
It’s All Good
Truth and transparency will begin to change how your customers see you. Are you ready to be the business they choose simply because you are willing to be a teacher?
So how do you begin? How do you become a teacher who educates and not an information magpie who hoards?
In a digital world, it’s got to be accessible by the Internet, so that means creating content for your website. Content that teaches customers about your product or service. Content that answers their questions. Content that makes them tell their friends about you.
Stop by next week to see how to make Content Marketing 101 happen.