Ep. 14 Content The Right Way Part 2

Brad Post, Create the Movement: Welcome to Create the Movement podcast. My name Brad Post. I’m just sitting here with Josh Rich.

Josh Rich, Create the Movement: Hello everyone Hello Brad.

B: How are you doing?

J: Doing great Brad. How are you?

B: Good. We are doing a new podcast today. And what does this podcast discuss?

J: We’re going to be talk content.

B: Okay.

J: The right way to approach content – in terms of your viewpoint on it. And just really how you should assess what you’re doing, and kind of the overall goal of what content does.

B: Okay. Great. So, kind of, the right way to do content?

J: Yeah, the right way to do content. So, whenever we’re talking on content. We need to focus on three things.

B: Three?  

J: Three things. And that’s attraction, interaction, and reaction.

B: Did you say traction or attraction?

J: Attraction, interaction, and reaction.

B: A-I-R. Just no acronyms.

J: There’s no acronyms. Alliterations, but no acronyms. Maybe one day, we’ll get it down. So, basically, those three things, are three steps in a sales funnel.

B: Okay.

J: And a sales funnel is just kind of like a general illustration that kind of helps you visuals kind of how your potential customers become actual customers.

B: Okay.

J: And so, you can look at different sales funnels, you know, and you could probably find as many as 10-12.

B: You could probably Google ‘sales funnels.’

J: Yeah, I’m sure you could find all sorts of ones. And I mean there’s going to be different ones for different industries and different purposes. So, for this, for the sake of content, we’re going to focus on three steps.

B: Okay.

J: So, at the top of the funnel, where it’s the widest, that’s where the attraction is.

B: Okay.

J: So, that’s when you’re literally just trying to get people to know about your company. To attract them to your website, to let them know you exist, and that you provide X service. Or, X goods.

B: Okay.

J: So, whenever you’re writing content for attraction purposes, it’s a lot different than anything else. Because, it’s a lot more broad, you’re not like selling them anything.

B: More information based?

J: More information based. Yeah. So, you kind of just want to stick to your general industry. You definitely do not want to write about directs products that you offer, or direct services that you offer.

B: Okay.

J: It’s too soon for that. You just want to get in their heads a little bit. You want to create what we call “top of mind”-awareness.

B: Okay.

J: So, Brad, if I we’re to say, “Hey, let’s go get pizza for lunch.” What would you say? Where would you want to go?

B: I’d probably say Mazzio’s

J: Exactly. For whatever reason. Whether that just be proximity to the closest one. Or, just, that’s your favorite pizza. Mazzio’s has established “top of mind”-awareness in your mind.

B: Here in Tulsa.

J: In your mind, your knee-jerk reaction essentially.

B: Right.

J: So, that’s what the attraction purpose is. You want to establish that knee-jerk reaction that whenever they think, “Hey, I need hire someone for this good or this service.” They think you.

B: Okay.

J: And so, again, you’re not selling them anything here. You’re not closing the deal. It’s important to understand that the way the sales funnel work is that don’t try to close the deal at every step. You try to push them to the next step.

B: Okay.

J: You try to push them to that next phase of content. That next step in the funnel.

B: Okay.

J: So, to give an example, let’s say if you’re like a tree-trimming service. I’ve got a tree-trimmer coming out to my house this afternoon, so that’s why I’m thinking about that.

B: Okay.

J: So, if you’re a tree-trimming service and you want to write or create some content about, for the attraction purposes. Yeah, anything from gardening. To just information different types of trees. Not necessarily about trimming them, but if you have this type of yard an oak tree is great for this.

B: Okay. Or when to plant the tree?

J: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Just things about trees, and about gardening, and kind of like about the outdoors. Just so you give that information away for free.

B: Okay.

J: Just to kind of whet their appetite and what not. But, you’re not trying to say. “All right. Now hire us!” Then you push them to the next phase. That’s very important.

And so, the next phase is interaction.

B: Okay.

J: These are the people that are problem-aware. They know that they have a problem that needs to be addressed. But they’re not necessarily ready to hire someone just yet. They’re kind of perusing almost.

B: Okay.

J: So, this is when “how-to”-content is great. You can tell them how to trim a tree by yourself. How to upkeep a tree, and make it, like, shape it, and that kind stuff. Maintenance – that thing is great.

B: Okay.

J: So, again, you’re still not trying to, like, get them to hire you. You’re just kind of giving away a little bit of free information. And so, a lot of people will say, “If I give this information away for free then they’re not going to hire me.”

B: Right.

J: But, I would argue that, if they can do it by themselves by just reading a blog or watching a video, then that’s probably a service you shouldn’t offer.

B: That’s probably not a business

J: Yeah! It’s probably not a very lucrative business.

B: Right.

J: You should probably find something else as a main source of income. Let me back up a little bit. Something I probably should have said at the beginning. When we say ‘content’ it’s not just blogging.

B: Okay.

J: That’s a big part of content. That’s kind of a generally thought about thing about content. But, it’s now just blogging. This could be webpages, this could be YouTube videos, it could be surveys, quizzes, infographics

B: Articles

J: Just anything that your potential customer sees at all – it’s a content. And so, we kind of talk about content with the context of inbound marketing, which to define that really quickly and briefly. Just basically, inbound marketing is a marketing strategy where you create content that people organically seek out. You don’t pay to promote it. You don’t throw it in their face. They come to you.

B: Okay.

J: That’s very broad, very quick. There’s a lot more to it. But, that’s all right for now.

Back to the interaction content, so, once you’ve kind of made some how-to videos, or something like that, you can kind of push it to the next one which is the reaction.

This is where you want to cause a reaction. This is where you’re closing the deal.

B: That’s the close.

J: That’s the close. So, a great thing to do here is maybe a comparison chart, of like, you can compare the services you offer to the services your competitor offers. Maybe do some price points, or that kind of thing. And just kind of show the value of your services or products.

B: Okay.

J: So, this is where you really do just scream, “Hire me!” And this is why. You want to cause that reaction. These are people that are looking to hire someone.

B: Okay.

J: They’re actively looking. They’re seeking it out. And so this is the content that closes the deal for you. You might have to establish “top of mind”-awareness, you’ve given them a little bit of information to kind of establish yourself as an experiment in their mind. To reinforce that “top of mind”-awareness. And the, once they know they have a problem, and they need to hire someone, they come to you, and this is why you tell them. This is where you finish it. You close the deal.

B: So, in the reaction, that’s where you would really put the call to action?

J: Exactly. Right. And it’s okay to have like a quick call to action. Maybe at the end of every other piece of content you make. That’s fine. But just make sure that whenever you’re creating content for each step, that it’s not just a big sales pitch.

B: Okay.

J: You can’t afford to have that, because it gets old, people get tired of it, they don’t want to be sold to, they want to be educated.

B: Okay.

J: That’s why they seek out content probably, I don’t know, 75% of the time. I making that up. But based on my experience I would say that, like, when people seek out content for, they don’t seek it out for inbound marketing, but most of the time it’s going to get educated. They’re not looking to be sold to. They’re not looking to hire someone. They want to know, they want to be informed.

B: So, let’s go back to the tree-trimmer. You obviously have a chainsaw; you have a ladder.

J: Yeah, right. Exactly.

B: You could potentially do it yourself. But you’re ladder’s not tall enough.

J: Yeah, right. To define that process, for how that kind of looks for me, is I’ve got a pretty big backyard. I’ve got a lot of trees back there. They’re all on the fence line. So, I’ve done some tree-trimming myself, and I looked some stuff up.

B: On how-to?

J: Yeah, on how-to. Just like where to cut, and that kind of stuff. And some tools to use. So, that’s where, kind of like, some what attraction, but mainly interaction.

B: Okay.

J: But then, earlier this week, I kind of got to the point where I was like, “These trees – I’ve done all I can. The trees that are left are way too tall. I don’t really have the time, the tools, nor the inclination to really get up there and do it. So, I need to hire someone.”

B: Right. Okay.

J: So, I just Googled their name.

B: Googled “tree trimming Tulsa.”

J: And so, I kind of looked at their website, looked at some of the different content they had. Looked good. And the biggest thing that sold me on them was that they would do a free estimate.

B: Okay.

J: So, that’s another great way to kind of help close the deal. Is to offer a free estimate, or like a free audit, any sort of free trials are great. You know, that’s not necessarily content, but that’s just good marketing and good sales, I think.

B: Right. So, did you hire there first one in the organic search? Or, what

J: No, so I called one of them. And got the machine. And all his voicemail said was, “Hey, it’s Brian. Leave a message.” Did not talk about trees. Didn’t say what company he was with, by any means. It was just like this guy’s voicemail. And so I hung up. Didn’t leave a voice mail. Checked the number. It was the same number, but still kind of sketched out by it.

B: Yup.

J: So, I called someone else.

B: That maybe had an answering service.

J: This guy actually answered the phone, so it was nice. Marketing tip is to always have a voice mail with your company, name on it so people know who they’re calling to.

B: Good. Good stuff. All right. Anything else Josh?

J: I think that’ll do it for today.

B: You’ve been listening to Create the Movement podcast. Join us for next edition.