It’s funny–very often I see people do the equivalent of walking away before finishing a conversation (or even a sentence) when writing copy or ‘doing’ Marketing. It’s a bit like if I started to share with you the 3 best ways to get new clients and just...
...didn’t bother to tell you what they are!
When you’re writing content, or being interviewed or sharing an opinion, always tell ‘us’ what to do next. This goes for your website, your blogs, your ‘obvious’ marketing materials and more–we need instructions.
I’m not suggesting you launch into a big sales pitch at the end of every conversation–in fact, please don’t do this! But what is a really good idea is to tell us the next step you want us to take. It could be as simple as "Read more here" or "More like this" if it’s information or articles you’re sharing. If it’s a conversation, suggest the next step: Something to read? Something to watch? Send them information, a video, a book or whatever makes sense for your business.
When you leave people without instructions, they have to think. Now, of course, I know everyone you talk to CAN think, but it’s more a case of don’t make them–instead, hand them the next direction, the next best instruction and guide them onwards to find out more/answer another question/explore the subject/learn something new.
You want to be in charge!
Not in an 'order people about' way (that’s a bit off!) but in a "Here’s a good place to go next with your thinking/exploring/fact finding". When you’re in charge of what’s next, you can manage your Marketing so much better. Leave it to chance, and who knows where people may end up... they may click off from ‘your stuff’ and go read someone else's!
As with everything you do, you need to remember YOU are the expert. You know the ‘other questions’ people are likely to have and you know the ‘next best thing’ to do in most cases, so share that and put suggestions forward as calls to action and ‘what to do next’.
We don’t want to have to think too hard about where to go next, just about what you’re sharing with us instead. You can send people off in different directions depending where they are at (ready to buy, researching, learning), BUT don’t leave them hanging as, chances are, you might lose them then.
Want to talk more about this?
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