Blog Posts Aren’t Ads
Avoid used car salesman vibes.
When the first blog sites were in black and white and pulled by horses, bloggers were mostly individuals who used the platforms to share experiences and tell stories. They had small and niche communities. Blogs made it easy for the average Joe to publish. Marketers quickly recognized their value as a sales tool, and they are now used more often to sell rather than just share. That’s okay when done in a suitable way.
Using blogs to sell isn’t sinister. It’s ingenious, really.
What a great way to demonstrate experience and knowledge or expand awareness of your offerings to support sales! This is especially true if yours is the kind of sale that requires many points of contact, such as most services and big-ticket items.
Imagine someone Googles “how to boost productivity” and lands on this group of posts by Kaos Group. After reading a few posts, they view this group as experts in the field. They may see themselves in the challenges and examples relayed. The posts might help the reader realize they can’t do it alone, that there’s no shame in asking for help and have developed a sense of trust in the founder. What started as part of someone’s research probably makes Kaos Group top-of-mind when ready to invest the time, trust and money in an Organizational and Workflow Consultant.
Leave hard sales pitches to dedicated ads.
Blog posts and articles are not ads. Readers are expecting a different experience than when looking at a billboard or TV spot. They are looking for information about what you do, if not about you specifically.
They are not expecting:
• Several links to specific products and services pages
• Repetitive requests to book meetings
• Pop-ups, specials or promo codes
Sharing your genius in different ways supports sales by building your reputation and awareness. It provides free value, which builds brand equity and your position in the marketplace. If it feels like advertising, it can make it all seem disingenuous and dull these effects.
How to move towards a sale in this context.
You can ask for or create a path to a sale. There may even be natural points to link to a product/service you are talking about within a post. Just be more subtle about it than a pop-up on Old Navy. Providing free value makes readers loyal fans, evangelists, and (fingers-crossed) clients. Use calls-to-action (CTAs) that draw readers into your world or keep them there longer by including low-commitment next steps.
Next Steps May Be More Steps
Keep prospects in your world until they are ready to buy:
Link to other related posts and articles
Send readers to relevant non-blog pages on your website
Invite them to ask questions and provide an easy way* to do so
Offer additional information that requires a little more commitment (i.e., sign-up for free downloads or drip campaigns)
Invite them to follow you socially so they can see relevant posts in the future.
*Simply having a contact form in the footer of every page provides an easy way to take a further step if they are so moved.
Use Subtle Calls-to-Action
If it feels natural and appropriate to add a ‘let’s begin’ CTA, go for it. In fact, I encourage looking for ways to do so. The trick is to tie it in with the content and, if sensible, put it at the end so they see it after you’ve provided the free value.
Make it a soft sell:
If you introduce something hard to do alone, try ‘remember you aren’t alone; we can help.’
Word the CTA like you are on their side, not just chasing a sale.
Ask the reader to take a baby step, such as' If this is you… Share your experience’ or ‘…Book a brief/free chat. I’d love to try and help.’
Make commitment expectations clear (ideally, no or low** commitment).
Add a common CTA that looks like a standard footer and isn’t necessarily part of the article. Kaos Group did this well on their blogs: it’s brief, it doesn’t interrupt the post in any way and is low commitment.
**Free doesn’t = no commitment. A complimentary consult requires an investment of time and trust.
Everyone Knows It’s a Sales Tool
They just don’t want to be hit over the head with it. I don’t think it is shocking to find the entity behind a great blog post that sells something related to the post or otherwise hopes to make money from people reading it. It’s just that readers have most likely come to it simply looking for information. If they feel clobbered with sales pitches, they will take what is said less seriously and leave your world as soon as they get what they need. It can be a big turn-off, especially when you do not have a quick kind of sale.