Finding what you want online can be frustrating. Whether you’re trying to buy a TV, hire an advertising agency, or get a graduate degree, you want to make a smart choice, but companies don’t make it simple. What are the prices? How do various brands stack up? What features are offered, and which ones are actually valuable? Is this even the best way to solve my issue?
Brands engage in an ongoing struggle, fighting their way to the top of search engines for the promise of discovery and valuable traffic.
Great for search engines, but what are the companies doing once they’re there? Too often the focus is solely on getting visibility with users, but not having valuable, useful content for the user once they’re seen.
And so visitors leave the unhelpful page and continue their search for the information they really want, often working down the list of unhelpful content only to find their defeats remarketed to them in tailored ads.
It’s not surprising that so many potential online customers are cynical, suspicious and weary. They have their own concerns, needs and priorities, none of which are your brand. Or your mission statement. Or your value proposition. Or your limited time offer.
So why do many brands stick to a strong marketing message? Why spend so much time on their sales copy instead of addressing the customer’s needs and concerns? For every person seriously looking at your product or service, there are 10, 100, or even 1,000 others with questions or needs that could bring them to you eventually. Questions and doubts are barriers between your customers and your brand.
Remove those obstacles before the sale. Answer the questions, even the tough ones. Especially the tough ones. If you don’t, someone else will, and that resource will be closer to earning customer trust. When that prospect’s questions and reservations have all been answered, you can have all the #1 rankings in Google you like — you’re now competing with the brand who’s been holding that prospect’s hand the whole way. The ugly duckling doesn’t want you now that she’s a swan, buddy.
Plus, educated consumers are confident consumers. They love things that make them look smart when they have dinner party discussions and post things to reddit. They will share content that is helpful.
And confident consumers become loyal consumers. They made a smart choice and they’re sticking to it. They can become advocates. Give somebody content that is truly useful and they will put your content in front of 10 or 100 or 1000 people — not because they like you but because it’s worthwhile. Will they do that with your sales brochure? Hell no.
So help them help you. Start by addressing questions and concerns and trust that they’ll come back to you when they’re ready to transact. Deliver that ray of sunshine in their hour of need. Provide them the emotional fist pump when they find the genuinely beneficial information they’re looking for after sifting through several pages of ad-laden fluff, outdated 2009 data and whatever Wikipedia has to say on the matter. Your business will be all the better for it.
