Friday, February 6, 2015

How Much Value Are You Providing Customers Online?

Imagine you're a student struggling to understand a difficult concept in one of your classes. A friend who aced the class last semester offers to help but ends up just regurgitating the same information you already got from your notes. Frustrated, you ask if they can give you any insight that might help you better understand the subject. "Sure," they reply, "but that wouldn't be fair to the rest of your class because it would make it too easy for you."

Sound far fetched? It probably is. After all, who would show such little interest in helping their friend succeed? Yet, for many companies, that's precisely the attitude they take with their marketing content.

How helpful is your content?

We're all turning more and more online to learn about products and make intelligent and informed buying decisions. In response to this trend, many companies broadcast themselves as the expert and want people to turn to them.

Their content, however, is far less than helpful.

Rather than actually answer industry questions or help customers learn about their products, these companies simply repackage the same general information found elsewhere online and remain vague about the advice they give.

They're afraid that by 'giving away' too much information, customers will not have a reason to hire them. In the process, they're missing a key part of the marketing puzzle: building trust.

Instead of giving customers a reason to hire them, they're driving them away in frustration over the lack of information they provide. Potential customers end up visiting competitors' websites and getting the information they seek there instead. The unhelpful content meant to entice customers actually destroys opportunities to build trust and credibility.

How you can avoid this scenario

The solution to this problem is straightforward: provide valuable content. Listen to the questions that customers ask and use them to generate blog posts. Write helpful articles that will actually inform the reader and guide them in making better decisions. Use the Internet to build a reputation as an approachable leader in the industry.

Consumers today want answers and help navigating your industry. Like a student seeking help in a school subject, these customers aren't going to stick around someone who just tells them general information they already know. To convert your customers, you need to be the helpful authority.

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