Connection Steps that Lead to Customers

Once upon a time, there used to be a division in how people saw the web.

(Way back in 2009, I wrote a blog post about this, calling the two points of view “the cool kids” and “the internet marketers.”)

That division drew a line between online communication that intended to connect and online communication that intended to persuade and sell.

And that distinction was, of course, completely bogus.

As it happens, Brian Clark, Copyblogger’s founder, was an early heretic trying to show people that there was no difference between connection and persuasion.

Connection and persuasion belong together — because they work better together, and because it’s a natural, normal way to communicate and do business.

But as we all know, people don’t just land on your website, feel an instant sense of connection, then rush to your shopping cart and buy something. Although that would be very cool.

As a content marketer, it’s your job to build relevant paths for people to walk through your site, get a sense of what you do, and — if it’s a good fit — go on to become happy, loyal customers.

Connection matters

Good salespeople have always known that connection matters in commercial relationships.

There’s the creepy kind of salesperson who tries to connect but just comes across as clumsy and predatory. And the great kind of salesperson who actually gives a damn about prospects and long-term relationships.

Here’s the great big secret of selling online:

Internet-savvy prospects don’t have to put up with aggravating sales pitches.

Annoyed online users will block your ads. They’ll mark your irritating email as spam. Or they’ll just close the tab and never see you again.

The web gives us wonderful tools to mute the volume on people who get on our nerves. And the first targets for those tools were the salespeople and ads that tried to take our attention for granted.

How do you make that connection that keeps you out of the dreaded spam filter? It starts with being human and helpful.

Becoming a friendly authority

You might notice that we use the term “friendly authority” quite a bit around here.

To clarify, a friendly authority is:

• Not an entertaining train wreck (they’re amusing but untrustworthy)
• Not a monologue-spewing blowhard (they’re boring and offensive)
• Not a pseudo-therapist (they’re unethical and creepy)

Instead: A friendly authority is an intelligent, reasonably sane human being who clearly communicates solutions to problems in your topic.

You don’t have to over-share, and you don’t have to pretend that you’ll never sell anything. (Both of those are actually counterproductive.)

You just have to be useful, interesting, and human.

The conviction bump

If you want to go a step beyond a simple connection of one human to another, you can start thinking about how you communicate your values and the values of your organization.

It makes me sad that “values” have become a cheap buzzword.

I blame horrible mission statements like:

To be the world’s foremost provider of premier product excellence with world-class service and passion, embracing financially responsible frameworks within an optimized matrix that challenges limitations and nurtures creative solutioning …

At best, that gains an eye roll.

But those abstract nouns we call values or beliefs are also what give our lives meaning. They bring organizations and communities together.

Good businesses live by values — whether or not those values are spelled out.

But beyond that, as a writer and content creator, you have values that will help you get better at everything you’re doing today.

If you want a quick exercise you can start right now, pick five values that matter to you. These are concepts like “Family,” “Integrity,” “Freedom,” that kind of thing.

They don’t have to be terribly noble. “Fun” works. So does “Mischief.”

Write a couple of paragraphs about one. Do that with a different value every week. Maybe on Monday mornings.

When you spend a small amount of time thinking about your values, those values will start to make themselves felt in your work. Your writing, your videos, your podcasts, your graphic design, will start to resonate with something beyond the nuts and bolts of your topic.

When you’re connected with your values, you communicate with conviction.

When you communicate with conviction, others feel it — and often they’ll want to connect further.

Conversion follows

Content marketing’s purpose is to make it a whole lot easier to sell stuff.

Thoughtful, well-executed content paves the way for what we want our audience to do — whether that’s buying something, opting in, or some other activity.

We use content to create a context of persuasion, so that when we move toward a business transaction, it makes sense and feels logical and natural.

Does that mean content marketing doesn’t do any selling? Well, only if you absolutely don’t care what your audience does next.

If you’re crafting content as a hobby or to gain attention for something fun, that’s fine.

If you’re crafting content to support a business, it would be great if people bought stuff.

Conversion is what happens when interest turns into action.

Our friends the traditional copywriters are excellent at this step. They have a lot to teach about persuasive language, clear calls to action, reduction of risk, and all those other excellent copywriting topics.

We try to make those topics user-friendly and accessible (even for those who are a bit nervous about selling) right here on Copyblogger.

Conversion uses a different toolkit than connection and conviction do … but that doesn’t mean you’re going to throw your values and your relationships out the window.

Remember that making sales online — particularly in a world of spam filters and ad blocking — is about constructing paths that lead people to your business. All of the stones in each path should fit together.

The more strategic content you create, the more paths you build — and the more business you’ll attract and convert.

If you’re terrific at creating content for the relationship part of the path, but your conversion steps are clumsy or awkward, your users will stumble … and they won’t move forward.

Get education for the whole path, not just one stone

Some marketing education focuses just on conversion techniques — crafting great ads, landing pages, and sales sequences.

Some marketing education focuses just on connection and conviction techniques — earning and nurturing relationships, without any of that pesky selling.

If you want to create content that markets a business — whether it’s your own business, a client’s business, or an organization you work for — you need to hone your skills for the whole path.
That’s what we designed the Authority community of content professionals to do for you.

Our online master classes cover a wide range of topics, including:

• Persuasive copywriting and site design
• The structure of effective content
• Content creation that attracts new customers
• Strategies to nurture prospects and create a better bond with existing customers
• Productivity and mindset management
• Improving the quality of your writing
• Search engine optimization for lasting results

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15 Digital Marketing Trends You Should Know About in 2017

Today’s fast-paced, modern world has become increasingly reliant on technology. It feels like we are always looking at a screen!! Since we depend heavily on our laptops and smartphones, etc. to provide us with the latest information of this world, it is important for digital marketers to understand the latest in digital marketing trends. Here are some trends to keep you at the top of your game, and to help you connect with your clients:

1)The usage of the Internet is continuing its exponential growth.

 So over the years, the number of people using the internet has gone up by over 3 billion users (which is about half of the world’s population.) This is a positive sign for us as digital marketers because we can take advantage of this growth and market our products. But there is also more and more competition for our readers attention. So we have to be at our best!

2)Social media usage continues its tremendous climb.

So these statistics for the month of January alone show the extent of social media use. This is a major medium that can be used by digital marketers as it is inexpensive and readily available to anyone who has a working internet connection. I have made extensive use of social media for my digital marketing campaigns and they have proven to be fruitful.

3)The shift from PCs to smartphones.

This shift is of extreme importance as emails are also going mobile as well. This leads to new concerns, such as keeping subject lines short enough to be read on mobile phones. You can use Sendlane™ to create these short, attention grabbing headlines and reach your audience across devices. 

4)Personalization is becoming an increasingly effective marketing method.

It is a proven fact that personalization of emails to include things like a subscribers name or interests can improve your open rates. My subscribers respond more when marketing is personalized, and with the help of Sendlane, any digital marketer can achieve the desired level of personalization easily. 

5)Global Marketing is replacing Local.

So multilingual and globalized digital marketing is making a splash as international internet use and the increasing popularity of smartphones means that the whole world is your potential audience. I have experienced a greater amount of success by creating campaigns which appeal to the global community, instead of just a local one.

6)Influencer marketing is making a greater impact.

Contacting influencers (whether outsourced or in-company) to attract target audiences has the benefit of high efficacy as influencers would know the right way to handle audiences and have built up a large following and trust of their audience.

7)Marketing automation is making it easier for digital marketers.

With Sendlane’s automation services, you can make it easier to automatically handle your marketing content, customers, contacts, posts, etc.

8)Marketing content which is comical and entertaining is attracting the masses.

So making entertaining content is a skill necessary in the digital marketing field. Such content appeals to your target audience and it can make a digital marketing campaign a great success.

9)Marketing investment returns.

As a digital marketer, you need to move away from the classical metrics and on to sales funnels. Sendlane’s sales marketing funnel software is extremely useful in this realm and will help you save your precious time.

10)Ephemeral Marketing strategies are trending.

Due to its stunningly growing popularity, Snapchat has become a marketing platform unlike any other. From personal experience, connecting with Snapchat users is easy and simple using this social media service and this is why short and concise marketing content is gaining increasing appreciation.

11)Marketing based on engaging relationships.

Marketing has shifted from its short-term relationships with customers and clients to developing loyal long term customer bases. Strategies need to focus on developing a relational bond with the customers instead of just getting the one time sale.

12)The era of data sciences.

“Big technology” is available to the general population now and even medium and small-sized businesses are using data science to gain knowledge about their futures that they never thought was possible before.

13)Virtual reality and wearable technology.

From the Apple Watch to the upcoming release of the virtually realistic “Oculus Rift”, digital marketers will get the opportunity to provide their customers and clients with an unforgettable interactive experience.

14)The ever-growing popularity of blogs.

The detailed content marketing domain has gained a considerable amount of popularity over the last decade. People have started showing a preference for content marketing. So take this blog post as an example. You are reading this right now to gain knowledge on the latest trends in digital marketing. Hence, informed and interesting blogs should be used to pitch the product to the audience.

15)Paying for space on social media.

So keep in mind this one important detail: if you want to attract the audience, you will usually have to pay for advertisement and marketing space on social media. Gone are the days of free marketing, it is the era of “bigger is better” and bigger means spending cash to create a digital marketing campaign that would blow the minds of potential customers.

Also, comment below about any other digital trends we may have missed!

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