Why should I give my knowledge away for free?
Why should I give my knowledge away for free? That’s just one of the questions associated with content marketing. Here’s a few more: Won’t my competitors then find the information and use it to steal my business? What if we lose potential customers because they don’t need to call us and the sales team don’t get a chance to sell? Who reads it and cares, isn’t it a waste of time? Nope, you need to get in there – and this is why:
The buyer is in control
The sales process no longer starts with seeing an advertisement, making a phone call or a visiting a shop – it starts online. Content marketing is all about showing people how great your products or services are and not telling them. People don’t want to be sold to by salesmen anymore and told to buy your product – they want to research it online; read reviews, get recommendations, compare products and prices…and more.
The job of your sales team should now be more about nurturing leads. When they do call your sales team, customers are looking to either purchase or clarify – not just ‘get more information.’ So why not give them something worth finding online before they call? If your online information isn’t very good – it’s likely they’ll buy from somewhere else.
Losing out to competitors
Your competitors will only find out what you’re up to if they’re actively spying on you – and in that case, they’re bound to know lots of things about your business anyway. Plus, it’s about ensuring that your customers know what you’re up to. If you provide them with valuable content and knowledge for free, they’ll want to buy from you – not your competitors.
Your knowledge and expertise is your sales team
Putting more information online will allow you to reach more customers than your sales team. People often prefer to email, online chat or tweet their questions now – not pick up the phone, so it’s time to stop leaving information and sales tactics offline so that customers will call you.
I do free workshops where I give away a lot of knowledge and insider tips. Yes, they can soak up my ‘how to’ and end up doing their own PR but the vast majority don’t, and if they do – well they were never going to pay an agency to do their PR anyway. The workshops put me in contact with business owners who are thinking about doing more PR. After one workshop, there’s 25 more people than before who are aware of our services. If they don’t commission Amplify PR – they’re very likely to recommend us.
In summary, your customers are looking for you, so make it easy for them to find you online. Make your website your sales team and get people buying your products. Show your knowledge and expertise in blogs, how to guides and white papers; explain how your service works in info-graphics, videos and webinars.
Giving away knowledge for free shows that you’re confident about your product or service. You’ll grow your business reputation and build an audience base that follows you willingly to become a brand advocate – and in return they’ll buy from you and refer you to others.
If you’d like to find out more about how your business can benefit from our expert advice then get in touch.