We’ve all heard of the saying that to build a successful online business, entrepreneurs need to develop a “know, like, and trust” factor. But before your ideal clients enroll in your programs, they need to know that you exist. Fortunately, it all starts with your content.
When it comes to building a successful business, you need a content marketing strategy that sparks a sales conversation. You want clients to enthusiastically request to work with you, send referrals your way, and become brand advocates.
However, there are several conversations taking place in the minds of your ideal clients as they consume your content, alongside thousands of others on the internet. These are the questions they are secretly asking in their minds.
1. Can you see and hear me?
As an entrepreneur, do not rely only on testimonials. It’s not enough to create content based on your skills or the results you’ve gotten for other clients. Success stories are important, but if you miss out on articulating how much you know about your ideal prospects’ problems, you will miss out on converting them to paid clients.
Your job is to reflect the goals and desires of your potential clients. This comes from deep research, working with clients, and refining your services over time. Only by doing this can your services reflect the solutions that your ideal prospects are willing to solve right now.
2. Are you the one for me?
Here, your ideal clients are aware of their problems and the solutions they need. They are tired of being stuck and are ready to invest in themselves. There’s just one problem: they want to know if you are the right one for them.
Clients are always evaluating their options and looking for the best. Because humans make purchases based on emotions and justify their actions later, your ideal clients are looking to mitigate this risk by going with the very best from the get-go.
Your content should not only define their problems and tell them the solution. It has to show your processes and explain why you have the best methodology to solve their problems. While they might be considering other experts, by carefully outlining your processes and outcomes, you will stand out as the obvious choice.
3. Can I trust you to hold space for me?
At this point, your ideal client is willing to trust and believe in the promises you’ve made. But, they are hesitating on hitting the ‘buy’ button. Here’s why: they want to know if they trust you personally.
Your personal brand is non-negotiable as a business owner. Because coaching is different from other services where goods are exchanged, clients seek out people who they trust themselves to be vulnerable with.
They want to work with people with integrity, people who have demonstrated empathy and goodwill with their content, and people who inspire permission to fully express all versions of themselves.
No matter how skilled or decked with testimonials you are, if your content does not humanize you (aka “like” factor) or align with your values, qualified prospects will find it difficult to trust you with their hearts and wallets.
Your content is useless if it isn’t what your audience wants or expects from you and you don’t know why you’re doing it.
You can have the most amazing content marketing strategy set in place. But, if you aren’t thinking about the conversation that takes place in your ideal clients’ heads when they engage with your content, it becomes more challenging to express that their desires will be achievable by enrolling in your programs.