First of all, let’s get one thing straight. It’s called content MARKETING. You are allowed to ask for a sale from time to time, or occasionally link back to one of your web pages. After all, you’re in business, and the goal here is to make money.
It’s the tactics for getting your audience to follow through that have changed. It takes more than throwing the same hard sale against the wall 100x and hoping it sticks once. If you’re tempted to write that sales ad, hoping people respond, don’t.
Your audience has the inherent advantage of being able to close the browser window.
Instead, here are 10 ideas instead of writing that sales ad for a blog post:
The Opinion Piece – Many of your readers probably already know the latest news item. What they don’t know is your take on it. Why not write an opinion piece telling us why something is or isn’t the right idea?
Interview – Your blog is a great excuse to go knocking on doors. Is there somebody out there who’s completely done things right? This might be the opportunity to shoot them an email and see if they’d be willing to talk with you. It also gives you a chance to expose your audience to other voices.
Answer A FAQ – What questions do your customers and clients consistently ask you? This is a good place to answer it. Then, when they ask, you could always refer them back to this post. You’ll walk away with a more built in audience.
Write A List Post – Regular readers of my blog probably know these are one of my favorite types of posts because they generally tend to do better with analytics. There’s something that inherently keeps readers going with a list post. They know exactly what they signed on for reading through it. It’s not a free ride for the author, however. Each item needs to still be entertaining and provide value.
Tell A Story – Is there a case study that went particularly well? Did something happen to you, that you can relate back for your audience? Maybe you can tie two different ideas together for the benefit of your audience. Whatever the case may be, every reader is a sucker for stories. No matter what the subject.
Write A “How To” Post – You’re sitting on a heap of knowledge as the industry expert. Conveying that knowledge in an easy to understand manner lets your audience in on the fact that you know what you’re talking about. It may seem counter-intuitive, but when you tell them how to do something that they could hire you for, it only ups your value.
Utilize A Keyword – When you do Google keyword research, it’ll rattle off a list of related keywords and their traffic results. Every once in a while, you’ll see a result there that you know exactly what to do with. If looking at that list gives you an idea for a blog post, then go for it. A word of caution on this one, however. Don’t write a post to simply rattle off the keyword a handful of times. It needs to serve a purpose for your readers or it won’t do much for you at all.
Reviews – Have you read an industry book that everyone should be reading? Is there a book out there that can be of tremendous value to your audience? Maybe there’s something out there that’s completely overhyped. Either way, if you have a strong opinion on it, write a review.
Infographics – If you have an idea better presented visually, this can be an excellent way to do it. Make sure that the information is presented in an engaging manner and run with it.
Publish A Guest Post – This is another great way to expose your audience to other voices.
Hopefully, this should be enough to sway you from writing that sales post. Right now, the best thing you can do is to provide value and entertain your audience. Once they begin to like and trust you, the results will come.
Matt Brennan is a Chicago-based marketing writer and copy editor.
