Content Marketing and Content Selling
Sales Content Vs. Marketing Content
Content marketing is great for brand awareness. However, providing valuable educational content to help prospects along the buyer journey is also great for your business. And that is called sales content.
How Do You Balance The Two?
As a brand, if your digital marketing content is strong and does a good job of charming would-be customers, your sales content doesn’t need to be forceful. Or self-aggrandizing. It should always be confident, though.
In short, marketing content is about selling people on you, your brand, your vision, your perspective, your story. It should show who you are and showcase your uniqueness without your having to come out and say it. Sales content is about selling people your products or services. It should include an articulation of why people should ultimately give you. Not your competitors, their business. It should help people make their purchasing decisions more easily.
Use content marketing when people are still in the marketing stages of the journey. This is when your audience is looking for answers to their questions. Or needs advice about problems they’re looking to solve but aren’t sure who to turn to. Marketing content helps you nurture your relationship with them at this point.
Use sales content when your audience is in the sales stages of the journey. And is close to making a purchase. Sales content here meant to upsell and convert audience members into customers.
Content Marketing vs Content Sales: What’s the Difference?
Content marketing is a more broad approach to providing educational content.
It is directed at a wider audience. Which is likely comprised of your target market and anyone who happens to stumble upon your website or social media pages.
In contrast, content selling is directed specifically at a certain buyer persona who has already taken a first action to enter the sales funnel.
These are people who have already asked for more information, joined an email list, or have otherwise given consent for you to continue to follow-up with them.
Furthermore, content selling used to upsell existing customers into choosing a new product addition or upgrading their current package.
For those who adhere to basic sales terminology, content selling directed at warm or lukewarm leads. Content marketing designed for cold audiences who may or may not be already familiar with your brand.
By understanding the difference between the two types of content, you can craft each message to meet the needs, wants, and desires of that specific audience.
The Importance of Selling Content to Your Strategies
It Keeps You on Their Radar
Content selling ensures you’re reaching them at periodic intervals with engaging information designed to pique their interest.
By using this as a contact point, you’re reminding them who you are and what you do.
Using it to Assist Non-Decision Makers
In some environments, the person you’re in contact with as a lead is not necessarily the end decision-maker. And that’s okay and completely normal.
The best part about using content selling in this type of situation is that you give those non-decision makers additional information. That they can then present to those who do have the authority to agree to a purchase.
Think of it as bundling sales material in a way that makes it easy to pass along up the chain of command.
Overcome Objections Before They’re Presented
Good sales people know when their product or service has a particular flaw.
They also highly attuned with what the average objections are from leads.
That said, content selling is a good way to address these issues and overcome them, even before the lead has presented them.
Whether you’re using interactive content or simple text, by bringing these issues forward immediately, you make it less likely that they’ll be able to object at all.