Are you making the most out of your content? Don’t feel bad if you aren’t, because most marketers don’t know how to do it. In fact, many marketers overlook many of the best ways to use content to drive traffic, attract leads, close sales and more. But not you, because you’re about to get your hands on a checklist that leaves no stone un-turned when it comes to maximizing your content.
Take a look…
Drive Traffic
There are several ways to use your content to drive traffic. Use this checklist to be sure you make the most of your content:
Create search-engine optimized articles for your blog and other platforms.
Create articles for your blog.
Do guest blogging
Post content on social media.
Create discussions in forums, on blogs, and in social media groups.
Create SlideShare.net presentations.
Produce videos and post on YouTube and social media.
Distribute press releases.
Create talks for local groups.
Offer yourself as an expert for local media (e.g., talk radio).
Do webinars or teleseminars.
Create podcasts.
Design viral content.
Syndicate your content.
Create and sell a book on Kindle.
Create a rebrandable report or other content for affiliates to use.
Attract Leads
Here’s how to use content to turn that traffic into qualified leads:
Create lead magnets (reports, ecourses, templates, checklists, swipes, planners, videos, etc.).
Craft an autoresponder series and upload to your autoresponder.
Create a webinar or teleseminar (people register to join, so you build your list).
Do local talks to attract leads. For example, if you sell dog training information, then partner up with the owner of a pet supplies store. You can give a free dog training talk and collect leads during the talk. The owner gets the benefit of free and increased foot traffic coming into the store.
Build Relationships and Establish Your Expertise
Once you’ve developed leads or even turned those leads into customers, you need to build relationships with these folks and establish your expertise. Here’s how to use content to achieve this:
Create multiple email series to load to your autoresponder.
Develop standalone emails to send via a live broadcast or as part of your autoresponder series.
Create and sell a physical book to establish your expertise.
Use your content to create talks for organizations to build your brand locally. (For example, if you sell information to business owners, then you might join the local Chamber of Commerce and offer yourself as a guest speaker.)
Design content for blogs and forums (including private groups for customers).
Do more guest blogging and content syndication on high-quality sites to establish your expertise and build your brand.
Answer questions on sites like Yahoo! Answers, Quora, LinkedIn groups, and Facebook groups.
Create Products
You can use to your content to create your entire sales funnel, including:
Tripwire product.
Core offer.
Backend products.
Bonus products.
Upsell and cross-sell products.
One-time offer products.
You can create a wide variety of products, including:
Reports and ebooks.
Videos.
Audios.
Slide-share presentations.
Fixed-term membership sites.
Vault (one off) membership sites.
Ongoing monthly membership sites.
Templates.
Swipes.
Worksheets.
Checklists.
Planners.
Calendars.
Cheat sheets.
Worksheets.
Live events such as coaching, consulting, webinars and weekend workshops.
Close Sales And Generate Repeat Business
You can use your content to help close sales, including by:
Creating lead pages.
Designing sales letters.
Creating direct-response ads for ad platforms (Facebook, Google AdWords, ads on niche sites, etc.).
Creating promotional content such as product reviews, product comparisons, case studies, and direct-response articles (for your newsletter list, blog and social media platforms).
Creating promotional content in the form of videos.
Creating an email and/or blog series to build anticipation for a product launch. (“Sideway sales letter.”)
Designing a follow up email series for customers to generate more sales.
Designing a series for a blog (either a public blog to close a sale, or a private customers-only blog to generate repeat business).
Creating freemiums for customers to generate new sales.
Help Customers
You can use your content for customer service purposes, including:
Creating a series of FAQs (frequently asked questions) documents. For example, a general customer service FAQ, a FAQ for each product you sell, a FAQ that covers niche questions in general, etc.
Creating welcome (stick) letters or videos. This is particularly important for membership sites or ecourses.
Creating explainer and website tour videos. This is a great way to introduce prospects and customers to your website, your products, and/or your philosophy.
Providing a “quick start guide” for customers. This is particularly helpful alongside large products such as home study courses and membership sites.
Creating “copy and paste” answers to common questions for your help desk. You can use these answers yourself or have your customer service staff use them. Common questions and inquiries may include:
How do I get a refund?
I lost my password.
When does the ecourse/webinar start?
How do I register for the webinar?
My computer crashed and I lost the ebook – how do I re-download?
Does the product work on a Mac?
Can I use the product on my smart phone?
The product won’t open.
Do you have any coupons or specials?
Conclusion
As you can see, there are dozens of ways to use content to drive traffic, covert traffic, build relationships, generate repeat business and more. So be sure you’re making the most of your content by putting this checklist to work for you!