Teach and Sell
If someone were to ask me what my favorite aspect of social media marketing is, I’d say that it is the ability to teach and sell using a blog or content portal.
Prior to blogging, video, and podcasting…it was extremely difficult to teach someone without spending time with them in person or on the phone.
However, thanks to content marketing, you can teach or learn any skill known to man, without leaving your home. That’s power!
Just do a YouTube search for “how to play guitar,” or “how to brew beer,” and you will see hundreds of results that can do just that. The same works for sites like ehow.com, where they make a living by teaching people how to do learn almost anything that they can conceive of.
The reason I bring this up is because I really believe that teaching is one of the most powerful ways to sell online. Why you ask?
1. Teaching creates a need for your product
2. Teaching creates desire for your product
3. Teaching builds authority and trust between you and your audience
Education Leads to Desire
Now, let’s say that you wanted to sell DIY brewing kits on a website. Step 1 would be to create a blog that teaches people the terminology and technology involved in making beer at home. Step 2 could be to create videos to teach people how to use your products. Step 3…direct people to your sales page to grab the kits they’ve watched you use.
You can do the same with eBooks and other forms of digital content. You spend the time to teach your audience the basics of using your system or product, and then you sell them the premium content in the form of an ebook or video.
Desire Leads to Need
Let’s face it…people come on the internet to learn…to be educated. Unless they are shopping for a specific product, they probably don’t know that they need what you sell. Teaching is the process that you can use to create that need. It’s how you bridge the gap between interest and desire.
Teaching is also how you can make money by giving away free content. A smart marketer knows that when you consistently give to your audience, via social media or otherwise, you get the opportunity to build a relationship with a prospective buyer. The best way to do this is by using a blog and other social media tools. You can use Twitter to send people to your content, and then let your content teach and sell for you.
If you like to do things the old fashioned way, which is to try and convert cold traffic into customers, then have at it. However, if you simply change your way of thinking and focus on creating thousands of warm leads in the hope that some of them will become buyers, then you can not only win, but become a hero to those customers. As for the rest that don’t buy? They’re the ones that will help you bring in more leads by evangelizing for you.
Does social media and content marketing take work? Sure, but doesn’t any marketing effort? And if you aren’t willing to work to earn your customer’s dollar, then you might be in the wrong business.
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