Content marketing tactics that sell products and services
While companies that sell products and those that sell services operate in different markets, there is a lot of crossover in how they market to their audiences. While shopping malls are still busy places, the way that people search for products has been revolutionized by the internet.
According to a March 2017 survey of US internet users, 80% said that they had used the internet to find a local product or service in the previous week. Product companies in particular have had to adapt to this trend, producing content that pulls in users and drives conversions:
- Traditional advertizing has been replaced by email marketing and retargeted Facebook ads
- SEO is used to climb search engine rankings and attract new customers
- Content is used to keep visitors enthused and build a loyal customer base
The way that product companies have adapted and the strategies they use provides valuable lessons to help consultants benefit from a whole world of potential clients.
Product companies use email marketing without spamming
Email marketing has a fantastic ROI ($38 for every $1 invested), but it must be executed properly to be effective. One of the dangers is that your email marketing will be classed as spam, as 53.5% of all email market is, according to statistics published by Statista. Sending spam will not win you friends or influence people.
Successful product companies send thousands of emails. To avoid the damaging effects of sending spam, they use tactics such as segmenting and even send emails with no offers attached! By being authentic in their messaging, personalizing approach, and focusing on content rather than the sale, product companies are able to tap into a customer’s primary need for content to solve problems – and from here, guide new subscribers along their evolving customer journeys to the shopping cart.
Product companies increase the power of their ads by retargeting
If you market to people who are interested in your service, you are more likely to sell to them. Traditional advertizing strategies such as newspaper, radio and television rely on blanket marketing, hoping that an interested customer sees the advert.
Retargeting ads use knowledge that you have built up about your website’s visitors – which pages they have visited and which content they have read, for example – to put your ads in front of people who are already interested in your product or service. Companies like AppSumo and NatureBox use retargeting strategies to attract people to their websites, generate leads, and prompt customers to return and complete abandoned shopping carts.
Facebook is a great platform for posting retargeting ads as it:
- Has a huge number of active users
- Is dynamic and interactive
- Works well on mobile devices
- Allows retargeting ads to be posted and managed easily
Product companies know how to employ SEO
A major objective for most product and service companies that sell on the internet is to get their website and blog posts on page one of Google search pages. Ranking matters for a number of reasons: it drives traffic, increases click-through numbers, and raises awareness of products and brands.
What many consultants don’t realize is that SEO is not just about keywords. It is also about site architecture, site speed, and ensuring that search engines can relate your content to searcher intent.
When it comes to content, product companies also understand that content is king – and the type of content that ranks well is not product pages. Instead, they work hard to produce content that solves their customers’ problems, and then use SEO tactics to help those customers find them. You won’t find product pages at the top of search rankings.
Product companies are good at content marketing
Great content is essential to attract and retain visitors to a website. But content that isn’t read is wasted content. You need to market your content to attract visitors. Product companies use a number of tactics when marketing content, including:
- Committing to produce top-quality and relevant content
- Inviting others to write for them
- Making content enjoyable and entertaining, to encourage return visits and sharing
- Solving problems, not self-promotion
In summary, there is an awful lot that consultants can learn from product companies about producing, publishing and marketing content, and about email marketing and using collected data to target ads toward people and businesses that are already interested.
In the next four posts in this series, we’ll look more closely at these areas in turn, as we discuss:
- What consultants can learn about email marketing from product companies
- What coaches can learn about retargeting from product companies
- What HR trainers can learn from product companies about SEO for untouched niche markets
- Content marketing tactics: what consultants can learn from product companies
In the meantime, for a free internet presence management quote, simply contact BlabberJax today.