The Art of Selling Without being Salesy

Most people dread engaging with salespeople or businesses that are trying to force their products onto them. In today’s internet-based world, buyers are more knowledgeable than ever when they decide to seek products and services.They research first and often are the ones to initiate the sales process. Because of this change to the traditional sales model, it’s never been more important for businesses to utilize content marketing. Content marketing?! You might be thinking “What exactly does that mean??” Simply stated, content marketing involves creating and sharing online materials (like blogs and videos) for the purpose of educating and sparking someone’s interest without using any hard selling tactics.

Perfect example: I recently moved a large couch out of my basement and, when I was turning a tight corner, I smashed a hole into the drywall. Yikes — just the last thing I needed and I’m the least handy person I know. Unwilling to pay for someone to fix the drywall for me, I turned to Google for help. I typed in “how to fix drywall” and the first search result was a featured snippet of a Lowe’s-sponsored YouTube video titled “How to Repair Drywall”. Now that I understood how to fix the drywall, the next thing I needed to worry about was properly painting over the fixed area. Lowe’s content marketing team was right on the ball as the next suggested video of theirs was “How To Paint”. Later that day, I visited my local Lowe’s, purchased many of the products I saw used in the videos and fixed my problem in a cost-effective manner.

After purchasing the products from Lowe’s, I experienced no buyer’s remorse. Why? Because I was empowered as a buyer to make every decision in the buying process. I made the decision to fix the problem myself. I proactively asked Google how to solve the problem, Google referred me to Lowe’s content and I made the decision to view Lowe’s content versus viewing the other search results. Once I was empowered with the knowledge provided by Lowe’s content, I had the choice to purchase products at Lowe’s or at another home improvement retailer. Not once in the sales process did I feel like I was being sold to. 

When effective content marketing is deployed (in combination with a great SEO and SEM strategy which ensures your content showing up in the right searches), your business can always be in front of those experiencing the pains to which you have a solution. Businesses that educate and empower their prospects and clients will separate themselves from competitors offering similar, or even the same, products and services. So don’t wait…start creating and promoting your own content!