The reason why you are doing content marketing or any type of marketing for that matter, is sales. Ultimately this is only one measure of success for any business.

To achieve sales, you will need to know about your target audience, you will need to know what they think, what they like and what they want.

Today we will have a look at type of prospects every business confronts and how your content marketing should view them. When a prospect comes across your marketing collateral, they use the lens of their own perspective to view you and your products and services. Hence it is important to know their state of mind.

Four Types Of Prospects

1. The looky lookers – The majority Crowd. This is a huge crowd.

Typically that is. And they consume bits and pieces of your content. But they make up 80% of your market. They have no idea what to ask for and no idea if their problems can be solved or not.

Learn to accept the fact that all your content marketing efforts will be gracefully go unconsumed with this market. This is because they themselves have no idea what they want. But they have the problem that you have the solution for. It will take a long time to convince them that indeed the answer to what they are looking for might be your product or service.

This 80% of the market is the reason why we need regular repeated content delivery and educational marketing. And it is probably not going to add to your revenue.

2. The Confused Ones – The Minority but Significant.

The confused group of the market usually is curious. They have an idea of what they want and they just want to be sure that your product or service is what they are looking for. They devour your content with passion and will try to listen to whatever you have got to say. And then they judge.

Create content that directly speaks about the solution to the problem they are facing and show them exactly why your product or service is the most compatible with what they want. Appeal to their inner desires not their needs. For example, if you are selling courses or tools that helps your customers increase their google rankings, appeal to their ultimate goal making their website profitable. or better yet, doubling their current profit stream.

3. The Confident Buyers – The Minority.

Here we have the group of really educated prospects who know what they want and how they can get it. These group of prospects are usually easy to sell to. Just give them a gentle nudge and they are in.

The traditional persuasion tactics like scarcity, social proof, reciprocation and commitment. This group of confident buyers are always looking for a reason to jump in. And once they have it, they will gleefully take out their credit cards for you.

That’s why it’s important for every businesses to occasionally send content in the form of a hard sell. Whenever you make that pitch with a hard sell accompanied with an irresistible offer, those confident buyers will jump right into the bandwagon.

4. The Desperate Seekers – Very Small Minority.

Indeed a small minority but these are quite a significant revenue drivers. These group will insist that they want to have your product or services. Do not ignore this group. Always have a package ready that gives a premium all-done-for-you service handy. Offer this group of seekers, immediate attention and immediate solution.

The selling part is easy here. However, the delivery can be a little complicated. First, they know you are an authority in your field and that’s the reason they are willing to pay a premium for your service and full attention. And the work/product/service you deliver them must be congruent with that image.
Have clear deliverables written down and agreed upon beforehand. This will make both sides clear on the total outcome of that sales interaction.

Whatever you do, make this group happy and deliver them by hand to the promised land. Ask for testimonials if they are pleased with the outcome. A testimonial from a high flying customer will be a major asset in every business.

Buying Patterns Of Your Prospects

The buying patterns can change depending on the market sophistication and which of the above 4 categories your prospect falls into. Not all customers come with the same knowledge and same state of urgency. That’s why it is important to have multiple options for whatever product or service you are selling.

Have different pricing options as well. And package your products or services so that it does not make your users think too much.

To Chapter 10: Link Building Secrets – Part 1