How to Turn Content Into Sales

You have a unique, competitive advantage with content. Are you using it?

You’ve spent hours writing really cool blogs, social-media posts and Website content that rocks… or does it?

It’s one thing to write copy, it’s another thing to have your content actually create sales for your business.

Content provides a unique way for you to stand out from the competition and bring in loyal fans and customers. But if you don’t have the right content-marketing-strategy in place, you waste time and money… and miss out on a huge opportunity.

With this in mind, here are…

5 Steps to Turn Your Content into Sales

1. Plan Ahead.

What do you want to accomplish with your content?

Do you want to communicate a specific message, bring in new customers, sell a product or service, or something else?

Before you start writing, create a content-marketing strategy.

This is where you write down all of the goals you want to achieve with your content, the type of content you are going to write to achieve those goals and the tracking mechanisms (specific links to product-landing pages, site analytics, clicks, etc.) for each piece of content.

Then, you create an editorial calendar which spells out exactly what you are writing, who is writing it, when it’s due, how it will be tracked, etc.

2. Use SEO.

If you are going to post content, ensure that it is optimized for the search engines. Otherwise, you miss the opportunity to build online awareness, organically.

And at a minimum, this involves using the expertise of an SEO professional who can conduct the right research, provide keywords, add the appropriate coding to all content on a regular basis, and track the results accordingly. Then, your copywriters can use this information in all of their content to help increase online awareness.

3. Write Copy That Sells.

To ensure that your content actually makes an impact on sales, there are some key things that need to be done. If you are writing a blog, article, newsletter, or other piece of content simply to provide value to your customers, avoid sales language and actually provide information readers will want to share with others. And at the end of your content, provide a link to get more information. Just be helpful.

If you are writing landing pages, e-mail campaigns, advertisements, and other marketing-content that is strictly meant to sell, it needs to be written in a certain way by a trained copywriter. Here, it is definitely worth it to hire a professional. An experienced copywriter knows how to word things so that your target-market pays attention and wants to buy your products and services.

4. Ensure Your Copy Works Together.

All of the content that your business produces should work together like a well-tuned orchestra… and this is where your content-marketing strategy and editorial calendar become essential tools for success.

For example, if you post a special report relative to a specific product or service, you’ll want to have your press release, social-media, blogs, e-mail campaigns, landing page, Website content, marketing materials, and all, other relevant content, relate to that same message or campaign. Your content needs to guide customers through a process that leads to a sale.

5. Track. Track. Track.
   

As I’ve mentioned above, all of your content needs to have tracking mechanisms in place to see if it is actually doing what you want it to do. This is an essential part of sales.

Every blog needs its own URL that can be tracked through site analytics. Each e-mail campaign requires a unique link that can be tracked to a specific, landing-page with its own URL. You get the idea.

Each piece of content you produce should have some form of tracking.

Otherwise, how are you ever going to know what content is working and what to change for the best results?

In addition, it’s essential to track your site analytics on a regular basis along with competitor and industry data.

What are your customers clicking on most?

What’s trends and hot news do you notice?

This is valuable information you can use to write new and unique content that your customers will want to read.

Creating content is so much more than writing.

If you want to increase sales for your company and have a competitive edge, create a content-marketing strategy. This way, you can give your target-market valuable information they can use and share.

Offer unique and interesting content only your business can provide. Write your copy with a specific purpose in mind, track the results and make changes as necessary.

This is the way to turn content into sales. Otherwise, you are just wasting time and missing out on a huge opportunity to significantly grow your business!

How are you going to use your content to increase sales today?

For help creating your content-marketing strategy, and more information, please contact me here.

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