Content is a powerful way to connect with your audience, showcase your value, and drive action. But if you go overboard with your promotional messages, you risk losing trust, credibility, and engagement. How do you avoid creating content that is too salesy or promotional? Here are some tips to help you strike the right balance.
One of the most common content promotion mistakes is to focus on the features of your product or service, rather than the benefits for your audience. Features are the technical specifications, attributes, or functions of what you offer. Benefits are the outcomes, solutions, or advantages that your audience can experience. For example, instead of saying "Our software has a drag-and-drop interface", say "Our software lets you create stunning designs in minutes". Benefits are more relevant, persuasive, and emotional than features.
Another way to avoid being too salesy or promotional is to provide value to your audience, not just pitches. Value is the useful, relevant, or entertaining information that your audience can learn from, apply, or enjoy. Pitches are the calls to action, offers, or incentives that you want your audience to take. For example, instead of saying "Buy now and get 50% off", say "Learn how to boost your productivity with these tips". Value builds trust, authority, and loyalty, while pitches can be seen as intrusive, desperate, or spammy.
Good content should educate the consumer/client with information that stays with them and they want to share. It shouldn’t always have a pitch, as then your content is just annoying advertising. It could be an interesting consumer/client story or some evergreen information, with or without big data. Often you need only link to your site or product/service in the byline area and at the bottom of the piece. Make it relevant. Make it searchable. Your home or product/service page should be written to subtly do the pitching.
A third tip to avoid creating content that is too salesy or promotional is to know your audience, not your agenda. Your agenda is your goal, objective, or intention for creating content. Your audience is the group of people who consume, share, or act on your content. For example, instead of saying "We are the best in the industry", say "You deserve the best in the industry". Knowing your audience means understanding their needs, wants, challenges, and preferences, and creating content that speaks to them, not at them.
Always know and understand your consumer/client base. Marketing, including content, is fruitless if a company does not know its base. Speak to them in your content. If you wish to add products or services that reflect a different consumer/client base then your core, intensely research that market first. Then create content based on your research. Marketing research is crucial at any stage of your business.
A fourth tip to avoid creating content that is too salesy or promotional is to use stories, not facts. Stories are the narratives, anecdotes, or examples that illustrate your point, showcase your value, or inspire your audience. Facts are the data, statistics, or evidence that support your point, prove your value, or inform your audience. For example, instead of saying "Our customers have increased their revenue by 25%", say "Meet Jane, a customer who increased her revenue by 25% with our help". Stories are more engaging, memorable, and emotional than facts.
A fifth tip to avoid creating content that is too salesy or promotional is to test and optimize, not assume and repeat. Testing and optimizing means measuring the performance, feedback, and impact of your content, and making adjustments based on the results. Assuming and repeating means creating content based on your own opinions, preferences, or habits, and sticking to the same formula. For example, instead of saying "This is the best content ever", say "What do you think of this content?". Testing and optimizing helps you improve your content quality, relevance, and effectiveness, while assuming and repeating can lead to content fatigue, boredom, or annoyance.
A sixth tip to avoid creating content that is too salesy or promotional is to be authentic, not manipulative. Authenticity means being honest, transparent, and genuine in your content creation and delivery. Manipulation means being deceptive, misleading, or coercive in your content creation and delivery. For example, instead of saying "You'll regret missing this opportunity", say "This opportunity is limited, so act fast". Authenticity builds trust, credibility, and rapport, while manipulation damages reputation, credibility, and relationships.
Customer Facing Content Start with a problem the prospect may be facing, rather than a solution that you are trying to pitch. Instead of saying 'our wellness product will help you avoid the fine lines on your neck,' say, 'did you know that each time you look in the mirror, your eye is actually scanning your reflection to find a flaw? If you stop at the creases and fine lines on the neck, know that you aren't alone - a recent study shows that 40% of women in the age group of 55 to 60 start to find these creases despite anti aging creams. How come? Because we don't use a different for the neck. Why a different cream? Because the neck has certain qualities that the face doesn't.' Tell your story through theirs. Add data and CTA as required!