One of the questions we get asked a lot is about the *point* of social media and content marketing if it doesn’t actually drive leads or sales. So I’m going to tell you. Brace yourself…

I sat with a client the other day who had a gorgeous product and explained that Instagram would work really well for him, and how blogs would really help his potential audience understand the product if we did them right. And he was saying yeah but there’s no links in Insta and you can’t drive sales out of it without paying, and blogs are just articles, they don’t drive sales either, so what’s the point?

We’ve heard this a lot.

GETTING PEOPLE TO BUY YOUR STUFF

So, first of all, people don’t tend to buy from brands they don’t know. They need to see your brand or product a few times before taking the plunge.

We all like to be safe. We buy from the same place repeatedly because it’s familiar

We all like to be safe. We buy from the same place repeatedly because it’s familiar – whether that’s the same contractor or supplier to your business, or simply the same supermarket each week. And it’s the same across all types of sales.

Ask a salesperson how many times they’ve cold called someone for the first time and made a sale the same day – you know the answer to this one, right?

The thing about sales is that customers need to trust you. And building up that trust is key. So the more time they see what you do and like it, the more likely they are to buy from you.

Are you starting to see the point now?

Understanding touchpoints Title Media blog www.titlemedia.co.uk

UNDERSTANDING TOUCHPOINTS

Firstly, let’s define a touchpoint. There are a couple of schools of thought here – one of which is that a touchpoint needs to be an active contact such as a phone call, email conversation or meeting to qualify. But an increasing trend is to include content marketing as touchpoints. And that means blogs, social media posts, social media advertising, magazines and brochures, newsletters, word-of-mouth referrals, and so on.

…it boils down to your potential customer seeing you enough times to feel confidence and trust in your thing

Really it boils down to your potential customer seeing you enough times to feel confidence and trust in your thing – and familiar enough to consider buying. So by the time your sales person or process hits them up, they are happy to buy. Kerching.

How many touchpoints do you need? The average estimate is about seven. Yes, SEVEN!

That’s seven times your brand or product needs to be seen or heard.

OMG HOW DO I MANAGE THAT?

So firstly of course it’s not always seven times. If you’ve got a great product, you can hit a sale much more quickly. Especially if you’ve been referred by someone else – you’ve got conferred trust already built in there. Nice work.

But actually content marketing is a really great way to start reaching out to people. And a diverse approach is what you want. We always say to our clients when they’re looking at trying to cover all bases that it’s better to do a couple of things well, than try to do all the things and do them half-arsedly. But a good spread is important.

Here’s five things that work and reach a diverse audience :-

  1. Blogs – not just about your product, that’s boring. But related content that demonstrates your skills and position as an expert in your field. Tick.
  2. Social media – the key here is about picking the right channels and knowing your audience. It’s not ideal being on TikTok if you’re a funeral director, for example. But hit this right and you can build a committed following, and engage the RIGHT people.
  3. Online content – there’s so much opportunity here, from your website content through to your business videos.
  4. Printed matter – and yes, print matters. Magazine advertising, editorial, your own brochures and so on. Absolutely vital if you’re careful about where, and what publications.
  5. Newsletters – okay so most of us have way too much email; but again, get this right, with an invested list that actually wants your missives, and you can do so much.

OKAY, STARTING TO SEE THE POINT OF CONTENT

The above is really just scratching the surface, but hopefully will go some way towards explaining the ‘point’ of content that doesn’t actually drive sales. Actually it does, but not in the way you think.

Want to start building your potential sales pipeline? Get in touch with us and we’ll steer you through the mire.