Originally Published May 19, 2018
Whether you’re looking to market your services or sell tickets to an event, one of the fastest ways to attract clients is to create valuable content. People don’t want to be sold anymore—they want to be engaged in meaningful conversation. So, from creating snackable content for Instagram to publishing YouTube videos or blog posts for your website or platforms like Medium—think of your content as a way to showcase your expertise, build trust with potential clients, and convince them to invest in your services without being pushy.
Here are a five ways to turn your content into clients.
Write an article (e.g., how-to, listicle), which solves a problem for your audience and include your byline.
The article should be related to the product, service, or event you’re trying to market. At the end of the article, include a two- to three-sentence byline. A byline is an opportunity to showcase your expertise and convert a reader into a customer. However, it shouldn’t be overly promotional. Include at least two of the following: (a) details about the event, (b) your unique value proposition, and (c) a link to your website and social media sites.
Introduce yourself using your unique value proposition.
For instance, if you host a weekly Facebook Live or Periscope, start each video with your 10-second UVP—a statement that describes how you solve your client’s problems and what makes you different from the competition. A good rule of thumb is to focus on how you can make your customers’ lives easier and the result they can expect from working with you.
Create a content upgrade tied to the blog post topic.
A content upgrade is additional material that provides bonus content for the reader in exchange for their email address. Examples of opt-ins include a guide which can provide steps, tips, and advice related to the content, a worksheet or template to help the reader apply what they read in your blog post, an invitation to a webinar related to the topic, or a call to action to get notified for the next article in a related series. Once you have a reader’s email address, it’s an opportunity to contact them directly about any upcoming sales or events related to your business.
Create a challenge which focuses on how to help your audience overcome a common problem.
Beyond engaging your audience, creating a community of like-minded individuals and growing your email list, challenges provide a great opportunity to tease an upcoming service or product event and entice potential customers to buy. Typically, challenges are five, seven, and 21 days. Examples include a five-day meditation and mindfulness challenge, 21-day goal setting and action challenge, or a 21-day workout challenge.
Host a free webinar related to the topic of your product or service.
Let’s say you planned to sell an online course in 20 days. You could host a free 30-minute webinar, which teaches one topic from your course, then summarize your webinar telling your audience about your upcoming paid course.
Host a weekly, free LIVE video training on Facebook or Instagram leading up to your event.
Typically you can focus your free training on audience challenges, barriers preventing your audiences from attending your event, common mistakes made on their journey to success, and why your topic is important.
Include your “sales offer” on all of your social media profiles and include the direct link to your sales landing page.
You can use services such as MailChimp (free but limited in terms of sales) and LeadPages (monthly payment required but tons of options for selling, embedding video and linking to Facebook ads).
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