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Use online content to gain leads and convert customers

Content is valuable information that you can giveaway in exchange for marketing information that you want.  You may want an email address so that you can send an email sequence, you may want a phone number for your sales team to call, or you may want an address to send a direct mail sequence. Valuable content can be used in many ways, only limited by your imagination.  You can even use content to boost your social media by getting shares, views, likes, etc.  In essence it is a currency exchange where you exchange information you have about your industry for information your customers have about themselves. Make sure your content is the value.  If the value is not good enough, they don’t want your products. Here are some examples of content to get your brain thinking about how to gain more customers and get more leads: (Our examples are for an auto mechanic to show the possibilities of using content for a business that is not online.)

• Create a report titled “What you need to know before hiring _____”  Insert your industry or business.  Ex: What you need to know before hiring an automotive repair technician.”
• Create a checklist for what people need to accomplish for a certain task.  Ex: Save thousands.  Free checklist to go over before taking your car to a mechanic.
• Create an industry report.  Include statistics and trends, but don’t forget to mention how you can help . Ex: Free report on the updated standards of car repair.
• Create an audio.  Ex: Download the free audio about how to get the best mileage from your automobile no matter how old it is.
• Create a video series. Ex: Five part video series reveals the hidden power locked in your automobile.
• Create coupons.  I probably don’t need to talk much about this one, but think creative.  Use a mobile ap or have them text you.  The key is to get information from them so that you can market to them.
• BONUS: Have customers create content.  Many businesses use Instagram and give a discount to people how post using a certain hashtag and sending an email.  You get two benefits.  One, you get people to share something about your business on social media.  Two, you get an email that you can use to follow up and send specials.

The key is to create something that your customer will find valuable.  Make it sound exciting and limited.  Make them feel like they are getting something so valuable, they don’t mind giving up the information that you asked for.

IMPORTANT: Have a follow-up STRATEGY in place

Before designing any content to gather customers, make sure you have a follow up strategy.  If you collect emails, have an email sequence ready to be sent.  You can even set up something like this in advanced for free using MailChimp, or use a paid service with more features like Aweber or my personal favorite GetResponse.

No matter what information you collect, you have to do something with it.  It could be a simple “thank you for joining our valuable email list” followed a couple of days later with a “here’s a special ten percent discount because you joined our list and are part of our family.”  You have to make the information fit the content.  And you have to find your voice to use.

The more you can endear people to your company the more passionate they will be about your business.  You will have a tribe of raving fans in no time. How are you using content to connect with your customers? Share it on our Youtube or GooglePlus.