20 ways of using content to drive sales

Coltrane @ Mamamia

20 Ways Of Using Content To Drive Sales1 September, 2016Coltrane

Presented by: Boris GefterFounder of STACKCRM.IO email me on [email protected]

Executive SummaryColtrane

There are a lot of misunderstandings about how to monetise content. Many marketers believe content to be something one engages in for the sake of audience engagement.

Other marketers believe that content is this ethereal force that is just generally good, but have no way of measuring it. Then, there are marketers who claim to know about content marketing, and claim that they get a bunch of ROI from it, but they dont really.

So first, lets clear up a few ways that content can drive revenue, and then we can dive into how to do this.

Lets start off by splitting channels into Acquisition and Retention.

ACQUISITIONRETENTION

About me:Coltrane

Boris Gefter

Founder (serial entrepreneur, customer acquisition & UX guru, data nut, growth hacker) Founder of Stackcrm.ioFounder of Coltrane web consultancyGeneral Manager of The Knot, Homehound & IDMMarketing Director & CMO of Beyond Insurance (QBE)Marketing Manager of CUDOAcquisition Manager of VistaprintWPP, Group M ConsultantFounder of BOCKERSFounder of Coltrane Internet ConsultancyBachelor of Medical Science USYDResponsible for $50M+ Marketing BudgetsThought leader & innovatorEmail: [email protected]

Attract leads and expressions of interest Coltrane

The following tactics have consistently worked for me:

Popups (exit intent / time on site triggered / scroll triggered).Content upgrades (give really juicy info to those that pony up their email addresses).E-book / case study download in exchange for registration.Competitions (with a prize of over $200).Live chat (surprisingly powerful).ACQUISITION

Attract direct salesColtrane

Have a look at Neil Patels blog it is does a couple of things perfectly;It provides detailed, long form content (which convinces you that he knows what he is talking about & helps from an SEO point of view).It is designed like a web infographic (not like a regular blog post) this makes it fun to read, interesting and most importantly different. Do that. How? Use fiverr to get your infographic designed, and sliced into HTML.Video is awesome try:Putting yourself in the video tell the audience about your story, share your passion.ACQUISITION

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https://player.vimeo.com/video/175169621https://player.vimeo.com/video/175169621Vend video: Case-study clients ask them to share how they use your productand what a difference it has made.

ACQUISITION

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https://www.youtube.com/embed/PBEQfnbiBoQOsmo video: show your product being used try and capture that AHA! moment.

ACQUISITION

More video tipsColtrane

Make sure the video is relevant to the content in which it is embedded.Dont waste qualification if someone has already spent 2-5 min watching your video, dont let them leave without offering them a call to action. Wistia has an awesome feature to do this.ACQUISITION

New tricks (very few using them)Coltrane

An awesome hybrid of video and images are animated gifs. They are now being used by some creative companies to stand-out and also circumvent ad blockers which would stop ads on pages.http://www.coltrane.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/AnimatedStack.gif

ACQUISITION

New tricks (very few using them)Coltrane

Content is not enough consider: badges, SSL with EV, use third party logos of publications you were mentioned in or clients, testimonials & social validation. Use content upgrades which I discuss in my previous blog post here (this post also has a content upgrade).ACQUISITION

Nurture / warm your leadsColtrane

Build trust the best way to do this is what Garry V calls Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.Qualify make your customers jump through hoops. Make them click on next page, fill in forms, like you on Facebook, send you an email etc. Dont think of this as hurting conversion, think of it as causing qualification. The key to making this successful is delivering enough jabs or value to make the hook or the hoop worthwhile for your customers. Quantify build a model of a funnel. Think about what stage of the funnel people can fall into when they seek to buy your product. Then, create content to help customers in that stage. Measure conversion % between each stage.ACQUISITION


ACQUISITION


Interact it is a crucial tactical error to assume that content is a one way, passive experience. It should, in fact be interactive. Include live chat, phone number call outs, polls, quizzes and even games! Curate with millions upon millions of articles in the wild on the web, what are the chances that you will end up creating something that is comprehensive? You could also complement your weekly content creation with fortnightly curation. I love Revue for this.

Revue holds a sacred place in the top right hand corner of Chrome:

I read between 20 to 50 blogs a day, and when I stumble upon something awesome that I want to share with my audience I simply click my beloved Revue icon to add it to my clipboard.ACQUISITION


Then, I literally spend 10 min curating 5 to 10 of my favourite stories to my audience. Revue is an easy and powerful way to maintain engagement with minimal effort!ACQUISITION

Keep existing customers engagedColtrane

Checkout goodemailcopy.com, reallygoodemails.com and pintrest for awesome inspiration for email content.Good infographics go a long way to shifting the perception of you as a thought leader in the eyes of your customers, instead of just being a pushy retailer.Do giveaways and competitions.Hide Easter Eggs on your site super powerful.Offer courses and certifications for your clients, then invite them to speak at events and functions you hold Exact Target does a great job of this!RETENTION

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RETENTION

Get existing customers to purchase again (up-sell and cross-sell)Coltrane

Get external validation in the form of guest blogs, badges, awards etc to prove to your customers that new features your product is valuable and useful.

Offer free use of your product in exchange for documentation and case-studification of your customers experience to convince others.

Go crazy with animated gifs show step by step how new features / new products can be used in conjunction with the old product.RETENTION

Reactivate dormant customersColtrane

Scarcity works wonders niftyimages.com is an awesome tool for generating images without countdown timers.

Flank sceptical customers by providing sheer volume of free and highly valuable content. Dont even hint at transactions. It will take them completely off guard.

Flatter your customers by asking them to contribute to your content, interview them. The effort is worth it, trust me!RETENTION

Get ReferralsColtrane

Create a special little section for your active users. Shower them with unique content, and have a little love heart or some such icon to suggest referral. SaasSquatch does a really good job of natively integrating into apps.

Create little micro tools that can be accessed by customers only if they authorise their gmail contacts or facebook contacts to the app (hey, it worked for linkedin!).RETENTION

//UNLOCK THE ESSENTIAL LIST FOR PROMOTING YOUR CONTENT//Coltrane

I am putting together these presentations in the hope of delivering real value to people. If you are interested in unlocking the bonus content, please register on the next screen of slideshare or please go to Coltrane.com.au and sign-up to my newsletter.BONUS

How to promote your content (beginners to advanced users):Coltrane

Facebook ads target groups, behaviours, connections of competitors with a really low CPC. You can get registrations at an effective cost of around $3 per user if you are smart about it!BONUS

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Google display network target keywords, audiences and remarketing lists through the GDN. PRO TIP: Use text ads in addition to dynamically generated HTML 5 banners to capture placements that most would miss out on. PRO TIP 2: Target Gmail with awesome rich targeting and ad features!BONUS

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Partnerships source them by mentioning people and tools in your blog posts (like someone you know ;), then do a bunch of google searches to find bloggers who attract audiences that are similar to yours but not competing with your product approach them, see what happens!

Content amplification I have had significant success with Outbrain and Taboola. You can get effective leads generated for as low as $0.5 seriously you must try them.

Influencer seekingLinkedin upgrade your linkedin to get inmail credits, join a bunch of groups, then start seeking out active users with many followers. Ask for their expert opinions, humble yourself before them and recognise their efforts and achievements.Followerwonk + Anymail = great way to extract influencers on mass! You can use STACK to email these leads and qualify them.BONUS

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Slideshare one of the most underrated sources of leads. You can bait out your slide shows (or convert content into slideshows) and push calls to action for people to register to hear more from you.

Facebook groups do a facebook search for groups that match your interest. If you are accepted into those groups, consider yourself fortunate. Facebook groups are extremely highly engaged due to the fact that there is no noms de guerre that would exist in communities like reddit so everyone is super nice (for the most part). I am part of the Growth Hacking Australia group run by Dan Siepen and I love my interactions within that community of like-minded people.

Communities these are self explanatory. Highly engaged vertical communities that reward engagement. The more you give, the more youll get!HackernewsGrowthhackersProducthuntQuora

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Stumbleupon did you know that you can get paid stumbles? I have had mixed success with this, but may be worth a try!BONUS