They Ask, You Answer

Javan Bramhall, owner of Digital Glue, explains why you should tackle head-on the issues your customers are concerned about.

It’s pretty rare that I read or listen to some marketing advice that I have to share, but having recently seen Marcus Sheridan speak at a conference I attended, I’m sharing his insights straight away.

The first thing to say is that the 600 words I write on this today won’t be enough, go check out his book ‘They Ask, you Answer’, it will be worth it.

The world of search engine marketing has long been about great content. The challenge has been, what does that content look like? What is it that people are interested in?

With Marcus’ advice, we have an insight into what that looks like. It’s not rocket science, but it makes sense, and it works.

The core of the advice is: ‘You need to be willing to talk about what your competitors are unwilling to talk about’.

What does this mean? This means leaning into directly addressing the five key things that your customers are genuinely concerned about.

 

• Price
• Problems
• Comparison
• Reviews
• Best

 

Addressing these five areas, consistently and in detail, will enable you to own your market online. It also has a significant impact on trust. The more we share, the more we build trust, and remember, you’re simple is often your customer’s complex.

Price

Your customers are concerned about price. You know it, they know it, and yet we often dance around the subject. For some of us, a price is simple, publicise it, and get on with it, but at other times it’s more complex and the famous phrase ‘it depends’ comes out.

Using content on your website to answer your customers questions on price is crucial. You can either talk about your pricing, or you can talk about what influences pricing in your industry. Either way, you give your customers the information they need when assessing price. Why is x cheaper than y? What does adding x do to the price of y? Share your knowledge.

Problems

What can go wrong when buying your product or service? The list is long, but as a good business you know how to help customers avoid these mistake – so communicate it. For each of your products what are the things that can cause an order error, how can they reduce or eliminate the risk, what are the processes you go through to prevent mistakes happening?

Comparison

We all like to compare products and services. We all want to know the alternatives. You know who your competitors are, and your customers can easily find them. Or you can own the comparison space and list your competitors on your site; this might sound risky or counter intuitive, but remember, if they’re reading the blog you’ve written – they’re on your website!

Reviews

We live in a reviews economy. People are looking for reviews to validate their purchasing decisions. You can start by leaning into the reviews you’ve had. But what else can you review as that’s valuable to your customers? Is it a type of workwear you sell that’s popular, is it a technique, say embroidery versus screen printing, or perhaps it’s a tool you use. If customers are searching for reviews related to your product, you can own that space.

Best in class

In the end, this is what searchers on Google are looking for. “Who is the best”, “Which is the best” etc. In your sector which ‘best of’ articles can you create. It could be the best brands, it could be the best product type or the best process. The best of is a key search term – make sure you’re writing about it.

If you want to build trust and own your market – create content that answers the questions they want answering.