Promotional VS Informative Marketing Content: Which Is Better?
Many of my clients ask about what they should and shouldn’t publish when marketing their websites. If they want to sell, they should write content that directly promotes the company or a specific product, right? Or maybe they should they offer readers information that’s more… well… informative.
Companies want to advertise their products and services while creating a buzz around their business. Unfortunately, some get so caught up in the idea of getting conversions, they forget readers have to have a desire to read the piece in the first place or they’re just going to ignore it. (Think banner blindness!) It’s sort of like failing to see the forest for the trees.
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Now, while I’m a firm believer in the idea that there’s a time and place for everything, and am aware of the huge advantages promotional content can have, I strongly believe in using informative content in a blog, article marketing strategy, or to otherwise market a website, product, or service.
Why Promotional Content Is Often Ineffective For Marketing
On the Web, people are constantly bombarded with advertising. So it’s only natural that the last thing they want to spend time reading is
more advertising when dealing with an overflowing newsreader or inbox. When this happens, I find readers ignore this type of content and see it as having no value to them.
It’s important to introduce a new product, but promoting products too often can cause you to lose readership. They don’t want to read about you all the time. They want to find out how to solve problems, and the way I see it, if you have a properly crafted website, you don’t need to highlight something different every day.
Your readers should already know what you offer. This doesn’t mean promotional content is useless, but you need to be cautious about how you incorporate it into social spaces. (Mention sales, news and publish the odd post, but don’t consistently use entire blog posts to talk about you and your offerings.)
If you really want to sell the products or services you have on offer, you need to forget about advertising them. Instead, demonstrate to your audience how the items or services you have for sale can make their lives better, easier, or more enjoyable.
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Readers Want To Learn From You, So Give ‘em What They Want
By the time a reader gets to you, they have one of two goals:
1. They want to know how to solve a problem or issue by themselves. They want to leave your site and come away with something they can use, even if it’s hot news topics or industry changes.
2. They are too busy, or too inexperienced to handle an issue themselves, and want to hire you to look after it. In this instance, they don’t want to be educated. They expect you to know everything and use this knowledge to help them achieve a goal.
Your job as a website and business owner is to decide what goal your readers have and how you’ll address them. Depending on your niche, you may even need to address the needs of both types of readers.
From here, you can create topics that address these needs while still getting your message across in a subtle way. The idea is to make your audience go ‘Oh hey! I bet their product/service can help me do that.’ Or, ‘if I bought the product or service, I could do all this too…’
How Each Reader Type Converts:
You’ll find those who want to solve an issue themselves still may need some of the complimentary services you offer. Or, they’ll discover how much work or experience is required to do the job they have in mind and change their minds about doing it themselves. In this instance, who better to do the work than the expert they chose to learn from initially? Others may simply respect you for helping them and improve your authority. No matter which way it goes, you essentially lose nothing.
The group of readers who know they don’t have the time, experience, or expertise to do something are the ones who directly convert. They are already looking for the things you offer, so you just need to show them why you are better than your competition.
Lastly, if you’re guest posting or working on a content placement program, you’ll find the site owners are a lot less reserved when it comes to informational content. Promotional content, on the other hand, could cost you to get up there.
So, the next time you create a piece of content to publish on a blog, for example, which type will you use? Why? Do you feel promotional advertising can take a leading role in blogs, for example?
May 11, 2010 at 2:10 am | Copywriting | No comment
