The secret behind Creating Content that converts into sales.

I know, the title sounds "click-bate" but since you are here now, it means that, that titles caught your attention whatsoever. It's called "Marketing"

The importance of having a content strategy is to keep constant momentum, engaging in digital conversation for your brand. Your persona will need to deliver quality content focused on your particular brand message. At the same time always being in touch with your brand personality - color, feel & tone - to ensure a cohesive delivery of content across all platforms

Your brand must constantly have forward momentum in order to nurture the positive attitudes of those consumers who are connected to you. It must produce associations that will influence the decision-making process of your audience.

Creating Content without a Marketing purpose is just taking photos or writing what comes to mind. It could be interesting if you are a Perfect 10 model straight out of the Victoria Secret world. But the reality is; We are not all 10's and honestly, it doesn't matter AT ALL. We are not selling our beauty, we are selling ourselves.

I present to you;

The 5 C's of Content Creation.

1.Create

The keywords here are "quality" and "quantity". The best of both worlds would be to create a huge quantity of quality content but we all know that time is limited and we have to focus on getting the most out of our "creating time". It is super time consuming and it could take forever to have the "perfect shot". Listen, the "perfect shot" doesn't exist. Good enough is enough. Social Media interactions on FB and IG hold a 24h period that can stretch till 48-72hours TOP. For LinkedIn, it differs since the algorithm doesn't work the same way yet. Your content will be "forgotten" 2days after so don't over analyze and over-deliver on a simple piece of content.

Take 1 day (4-8h) every month and CREATE the content for your month. If you are not good at taking pictures and don't have someone good around you, then Document your journey. If you can't create content, document. I repeat; If you can't CREATE content, DOCUMENT then. Take your phone, put it on a small tripod and record your meetings, client pitches, training, coaching, whatever you are selling. Document it.

This is the CORE of your social media. Unless you're Selena Gomez, posting the picture of a white wall won't garner much attention. What do you want to show? You have 109212 ways to tell a story. The more work you put into your photo, the more people will like it or engage. It’s all in the image that you present. Your page is a business itself, your page is a viewable store, your page is your signature, your business card, your first impression, it is everything. When you get to a clothing store, what do you see? Staged windows with their new arrivals, putting a lot of work in because it’s the first thing clients see before going into the store. A bland or lazily done storefront reflects badly for their image.

A business or a personal brand that doesn’t care about its image will fail miserably. Think about it the way you present yourself to the world, you cultivate an image that will bring a positive response, you groom yourself to attract the sort of people you want around you.

You are no different from a physical store on an online store for that specific matter. You may not be a product but you are “selling” yourself to get more response and build influence.

2. Captivate

Build trust and loyalty through your content. If you create a piece of content that triggers NO emotions whatsoever, it won't get much traction. You have 2 ways to produce content. Create a piece that triggers an emotion OR blast consistently some content so that people can acknowledge that you are crushing it. People love working with people that are in the action. So if you sell a service, create content based around that. Document the S*** out of that. In order to send a signal to a potential client that you might be the one they need. At some point, they might give you a call since you are always showing how good you are and how much you are busy with clients. A busy person looks more successful than someone always posting a pic of a coffee saying; "I hate Mondays"

Now comes the emotional content. The story behind. It could sound really cheezy but, think about why are we liking or commenting a piece of content. Let's take one of my post for example;

Caption limited to a "joke". But the picture caught the attention of the people scrolling my feed. Why? The smoke, the cigars, the position, the beard, the colors? The picture was itself cool so it made the viewer stop on my post. Then they read the caption which (if they love cigars) will comment something. In this picture; We had 5 emotional points that could make someone like, comment or save the photo.

1. They could find me attractive (visual markers)
2. They like the picture, they would see themselves having the same quality of content (envy)
3. They like cigars or anything smokable, and/or we are friends and you just like what I do (friendship)
4. They laugh a little while reading the caption (fun factor)
5. They hate cigars or hate me or are jealous in any way, then they'll share my pic to their friends with hateful comments (hate/jealousy) *This might sound terrible but in marketing, a reaction is a Win. Being indifferent is a loss.

When we talk about "physical attraction" or "envy", it's on a way deeper level. Envy can be segmented in dozens of subcategories, so does attraction. It does not mean that if you liked the post, you would be interested in me, but some part of your brain liked something. You probably say to yourself; "yeah but my friends like my stuff, it doesn't mean they liked my content, they just like because they know me" Well...does your hundreds or social friends always like your stuff? In my case, I have the same 20-30 people always liking my stuff. But I have the second level "fans" that only like when I talk about Marketing. Not everyone SEE your content, so make sure when they see it, they have a trigger.

We are emotional creatures. Gerard Zaltman, the author of How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market found that 95% of cognition happens outside of our conscious brain and inside our subconscious, emotional brain.

Telling stories activates parts of the brain associated with sight, sound, taste, and movement.

They make us feel an experience without directly experiencing it. They literally transport us into the world of the story and light up our emotional brains, which is where we make our decision whether to buy or not. So that is where you as a business owner need to venture into.

Here's an example of a documentation piece of content;

I had a strategy meeting with a client of mine and decided to put a camera to record the whole meeting. From that 58mins long video, I was able to cut 13 pieces of content with 10 different subjects. How cool is that? I had to do the meeting anyway, so why not filming it? It takes NO effort and NO creative mind.

Emotional Triggers? Educational - Trust. Since I am saying something truthful about a common mistake in the E-Commerce business, I look like I know what I am talking about. If I know what I am talking about, I might get a chance to help you make a difference with your marketing. We need to build trust, without trust, people won't deal with you, won't hire you and won't ever pay you high fees. How do you build trust? Think about in your private life with your significant other, or how do you build trust with your colleagues or partners or even friends? It's the same.

Hint: It all comes down to emotions.

3. Consistency

Now that we know what kind of content we need to produce. We need to do it consistently.

C-O-N-S-I-S-T-E-N-C-Y

Plan AHEAD.

This is without a doubt the best strategy for maintaining consistent content on your social media, but it’s not easy. The idea is that you get a whole bunch of content pre-prepared to about 70-80% of what it will be when you publish. The structure, pictures, inspirations for captions, etc. Then you upload them in your Editorial Calendar or in your Social Media Scheduling software like Later.

What this does is whenever you are overrun with other priorities, you can draw from this library of pre-prepared content and publish it by topping and tailing these 80% posts with an intro and conclusion. In an ideal world, you wouldn’t let this stockpile of content ever get below 14 pieces (2 weeks).

Of course, this actually requires you to create all of these pieces of content, which brings us back to the original challenge. But here are two quick tips for making it work;

If you ever have downtime when you aren’t as busy, dedicate it to producing multiple photos rather than just one. Take one pic, then switch the top shirt and camera angle, you have now 2 pieces. Keep some clothes in your car or in your office. You would be surprised at how many dope shot I can shoot with 3 outfits in the same office. You just have to be creative. I had a client a month ago (#1 BMW CANADA gold master salesman) wanted to create content in the BMW dealership. He had an office, but the dealership is big. Does a salesman only sit at his desk sending emails and cold calling? He brought 9 different suits and patterns. We were able to create 35 different pieces of content within 2hours. He now has a full month of content to post. Time-consuming - 120 mins.

4. Community

Build a community of Fans and loyal advocates.

If people start to interact with your content, it's phase1. If they always interact with your content, then they become advocates. They might be a potential client, a potential friend, a potential partner, a potential significant other, who knows! But they are genuinely interested in what you are and/or what you say.

The goal is to keep them hungry.

Figure Out What They Want: You need to know what your audience wants first, before you can deliver appealing contentTwitter or Instagram surveys are a great way to poll your audience. If video is your thing, post a short clip asking your viewers what they want to see. If you are a coach, consultant, you can do a story in Instagram asking questions, the most questions you get will draw the potential subject you'll have to cover.

Solve Their Problems: This can vary, depending on your niche. But ask yourself, “Why do people would follow me?” There’s no right answer. It could be to get social media tips, to be entertained, or to learn more about your craft or services. But whatever it is, it should be your core focus. One of the common mistakes I see is that people try to do everything on social media. They want to be funny, entertaining, informative and share their personal lives. It’s too cloudy a message for your potential followers. It needs to be clear and precise.

Create Content That They Want: People can only communicate three ways online: Audio, video, or written. Most people are only good at one of these. Experiment with all mediums, but analyze the data to figure out what is the most successful. Data is the key. Look at your demographics, average view time, social shares, engagement, etc. to figure out what’s working, and create more content accordingly. If you never know what people want to see, you won't ever create a community and build influence. I suggest you switch your Instagram account to Business Profile so you could access your insights!

Engage, Engage, Engage: Don’t be too cool for school. Don’t strive to build a social media account where you only follow 100 people but have millions following you. You’re not Kim Kardashian. You need to reply to every comment, follow people back, answer people’s questions, share their content, repost stories, etc. Social Media is not a one-way street, building online relationships are the same as offline relations. If you never invite any of your colleagues or friends for dinner, don't expect them to always invite you indefinitely...Relationship is a 2-way street.

Stick with one thing and do it well.

5. Convert

I will give you one hour of my time to give you a free marketing plan to double your income or give you 100$.

What went through your mind as you read that? You want to know why I would do that, right?

Of course, you do. Because our brains are always searching for answers.

In his book Who’s in charge?: Free will and the science of the brain, Dr. Michael Gazzaniga, a psychology professor at the University of California, found that our rational mind is always searching for meanings, even when there is no inherent meaning. Essentially, we seek out explanations to understand everything we experience in life.

When you reach stage 5 of content creation. It's because you are now at a level of "Influence".

People that follow you probably preach on you behind your back, or hate you! Ha! But you won because they ARE talking about YOU. Obviously, I would suggest that you'd stay in the Positive spectrum. But a negative outreach could become positive.

Recently I got DMed (direct message in Instagram) from someone that didn't like me following and then unfollowing him a week after. I explained to him the process I did to get his attention (which clearly worked since he took the time to message me directly). I am building influence in the Marketing Business, I am selling ebooks, Personal Brand services, Instagram Growth, LinkedIn growth, brand creation, content creation amongst several other things. I need to reach out to find new potential leads. Following 50 people in my city on Instagram who post a picture with the hashtag #entrepreneurship every day might be potential clients for me.

How do you reach them? Send an email? Cold call them if they have a phone attached to their profile? Dm them directly? Or...playing the long game of seduction by just following them and liking 2-3 pics of their profile to get their attention. Following and liking 3 pics of that profile will send a virtual wink to a targeted (perhaps) potential lead. If the person then clicks on your account, lend on your profile and see something they like. You could get a follow back instantly or even better, a Direct Message already. Same thing for LinkedIn. We see who watched our profiles. So we could re-target them after. But the other way around, If I am not a marketer; If I saw that you watch my profile, I might get a closer look to who you are since we are all curious creatures.

What percentage of closing sales do you have when the potential buyer is ALREADY interested in your content or suggest a trustable link already? Probably way higher than a simple cold call. But it takes much more time. People are not patient enough to play the long game.

That person now follows me and like every post I do and recently was intrigued about my Insta-Success E-Book ... ???♂?

Sample Seduction Theory.

Now, go plan and execute some content!

- Nick Leger - Brand Innovation Strategist @ Cohesive

Ref; https://neilpatel.com/blog/15-psychological-triggers/

Ref; https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/the-subconscious-mind-of-the-consumer-and-how-to-reach-it