In the digital world content is king. Today’s customer is like a sponge ready to soak up any information they can find. Companies feel a great deal of pressure to create content that informs, educates and ultimately compels the prospect to purchase.
To those who are not confident writers the creation of an email campaign can seem like a daunting process.
What do I write?
How do I write it?
What if my prospects don’t find my information useful?
Relax – these are common questions. You are already great at a key component of content creation – conversations. In the world of sales you already know “conversations create conversions”. The same is true with digital content.
If you are still not comfortable writing content, try these two powerful ways to get your point across.
The Power of Video
Videos are an excellent form of content for your email campaigns. They let you put a face to your message. You don’t have to worry about finding the perfect word to write. Pretend the camera is a customer. You can let your passion and knowledge guide how you speak to the camera (as a customer).
A video will enforce the concept of having a conversation with your prospect. First, create a YouTube account for your business. It offers free video hosting and lets you the number of views your video gets. You can even embed the video from YouTube right into your email. You can also embed the video in a blog post and use the email to get a click-through to your website.
Videos are also great for product demonstrations. Viewers can see your product in action, rather than just reading about it in an email.
Content Curation
Not all of your content has to be original content for it to be effective. As long as it is informative and educational to your reader your job is done. Curated content is content you collect which other people have written.
The first step is to make a list of the pains your prospect feels. What has drawn them to your company? What problems can be solved with your product?
The next step is to take that list of problems and type them into Google. Spend some time researching by reading the articles that come up.
Every time you find something you think your prospect will find useful save the link in a file. When you write the email include the link to the article and tell them how you think it helps them solve a problem.
Content curation not only helps your prospect, it also helps to build a relationship with other industry leaders. People love to see others share their content.
Don’t think about sharing someone else’s content as driving your sales lead to the competition. Your prospect will appreciate the information. The primary goal is to help your prospect rather than focusing on a sale. The trust built from this exchange of information is more valuable in the long term.
The key to digital content is to realize you don’t have to be a great writer to give great value. Play to your strengths and do what’s comfortable to you. In the long run it will maximize the benefit for your prospect.