Influencers, it’s time to come out of hiding. You know who you are. You work day in and day out, trying to get the most from your marketing efforts. Of course, your efforts don’t always provide the high returns you’re looking for.
Here’s a secret. The best results come from communicating in a way that connects with and influences your audience. In other words, you have to come out of your shell and become the influencer we all know you can be.
Before you can reach that goal, though, you need to understand your prospects and the factors that motivate their buying decisions. As you strive to connect with your prospects on a deep level, they will feel even more compelled to buy from you.
For example, rather than only focusing on your sales letter, pay attention to every message you send to the public. You’ll be impressed with the results.
Five Factors for Influential Content
When your objective is to create influential content, these five factors impact your customers in a powerful way:
- Culture
- Media
- Shopping Behavior
- Online Reviews
- Needs and Wants
Culture
The environment in which your customers live will play a role in the way they make buying decisions. Keeping this fact in mind will take you a long way towards your success.
Will your prospects all come from the same exact background? Not likely. However, a look or five at the statistics will likely reveal several recurring themes. A quick cheat – not to be done by itself, but good for additional information – is to visit your analytics and look at the demographics section.
As you create your content, consider what your prospects might find offensive. Think about how they might respond to tone, formality and language. You don’t want to turn them away. You want to address the things they value.
Media
Some people overlook the power media has on their prospects, but repeating that mistake will cause you to lose sales. If a celebrity or trusted expert openly supports something related to your industry, do your best to take advantage of the trend.
People often trust and respect public figures and those whom they believe to be knowledgeable. Leveraging this tendency will take your business to the next level.
In short, influencers know other influencers. As you become an influencer and gather celebrity endorsements, don’t leave them out. By including them, you gain credibility in the eyes of your audience.
Shopping Behavior
No matter the industry, all consumers go through similar buying processes when they want to make a purchase. At the start, a consumer will realize the need or desire for a product, and the next phase involves research. Most people will also compare several products before moving forward, so all businesses need to find a way to stand out.
However, you must remember to conduct market research to determine the exact buying process of your prospects. Once you know what they is, you can increase your sales by appealing to people in different stages.
For example, you can create informational content that helps individuals who are in the research stage. But you also need to have a sales letter with a strong call-to-action.
Online Reviews
The reviews that people leave about your product or service will play a role in your ability to obtain customers. These aren’t celebrity endorsements. They aren’t influencer endorsements. What they are is word-of-mouth marketing.
Word-of-mouth marketing (or WoM) is powerful. Therefore, it’s important to respond to negative reviews. When you spot a negative review, responding to it will help reduce and reverse any possible damage. If you were at fault for the negative comments, admit that you were wrong and promise to do better in the future. When a customer is unreasonable, telling your side of the story in a respectful way can help.
Needs and Wants
When a customer wants something they will eventually buy it, but procrastination can prevent them from taking action. If your customers need something, then they will be quick to make a purchase. As you craft each piece of content, find a way to relate the benefits and features of your products to the needs of your customers.
Final Thoughts
You want to become an influencer. You want to influence your consumers. That’s great! Every influencer started out as a small fry; it’s not unreachable. You just have to figure out what influences your target market.
Finding the approach that has the most influence over your target consumers might take some time, but the rewards will be worth the effort. Keep the above five factors in mind, and we’ll see you at the influencers’ table!
