You Gotta’ Pay
Are you tired of hearing that organic content is the way to drive traffic? Too bad, it’s true – kind of…
There is another element to driving traffic. You need impressions. Your organic content isn’t worth spit if it doesn’t get seen by anyone. Unseen, you’re writing in a vacuum.
What’s your impression?
Like it or not, if you want impressions, you need to pay to get eyeballs to see your message. Then, if you have a great headline, you have a chance to get clicks. Your content doesn’t matter until it gets seen.
Thus, getting impressions requires paying for ads. In today’s age, that often means pay-per-click. I know somebody will chime in here, telling me that you can generate traffic without paid ads – but good luck with that. If you happen to stumble upon something that gains so much traction as to go viral without paid advertising – good for you! But it is literally like being struck by lightning.
If you believe in lottery tickets as a retirement strategy, keep on hoping you can get unpaid traffic. If you want to invest in your business, paid ads are an unfortunate necessity. Like it or not, paid ads generate traffic. Without traffic, your content is largely wasted.
Now, once you’ve paid for traffic, the key is to have great content. Mediocrity is for losers. If the reaction to your message is, “Meh,” and the back button is pressed, you lose.
Spend smartly
You pay good money to get a visitor to your site/blog/landing page – now pay some smart money to ensure the visitor spends some time there, and takes an engagement action of some type.
Engagement doesn’t necessarily mean the visitor buys something. It could mean they subscribe to your newsletter, download a free report, or comment on your post.
If they happen to be ready, willing, and able to buy something, that’s just a bonus.
Know, like, & trust
Remember, the second a person feels like they’re being sold to, the odds are much greater that they leave.
Take your time to earn the “know, like, and trust” factors in your visitors, and it will pay dividends. Retain and grow those factors, and you’ll have a loyal customer for years to come.
There is a common mistake that many small companies make. Most medium-sized and large organizations have this problem figured out, but the smaller shops, not so much. They assume that because the administrative staff can type and write good business letters, that they can also write sales copy. Wrong!
It’s true, you can have some admin staffer write your content without much cost. But is that really the best way to engage visitors? If so, why aren’t your admin people on the sales force?
If you want good copy, hire a professional.
A dentist is highly skilled at what he or she does, but you don’t ask a dentist to fix your heart. No, you hire a specialist knowledgeable and skilled in heart surgery.
It ain’t heart surgery
“But, heart surgery isn’t marketing,” you say. Really? As far as your business is concerned, marketing is the blood-pumping engine of your revenue.
Think about it. Where does your revenue comes from? It isn’t the accounting department, the IT squad, R&D, the admin pool, or even the executive level. Revenue is the result of sales & marketing. And good talent, in any department, costs you something.
So, in closing, adhere to the British saying, “Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish.” If you really want to generate leads and sales, spend money to make money. The ROI on smart marketing will be worth it.
In short, you gotta’ pay.
Hopefully you found this article useful and will share it with your business contacts. If you have questions or comments about this blog or about copywriting, feel free to contact the writer directly.