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( votes)The world has become a small place, thanks to the proliferation of the internet and smartphones.
In such a well-connected world, tech-savvy customers are not dependent on businesses to educate them. They can easily look up information on the internet. In fact, they do. In 2019, 49% of shoppers used Google to discover new items and businesses related to their needs.
If optimizing your business for Google searches is getting you sales, then why should you invest time and money into educating customers?
In one word, the answer is competition.
If you don’t provide information to your existing and potential customers, they might put their trust in a competitor that does provide it. On the other hand, if you perfect education-based marketing, you can become the preferred business for your customers.
Sounds good, right?
If you’re still not convinced about the benefits of educating customers, this post will clear your doubts. It will also explain three easy ways by which you can empower customers by educating them, and drive your sales in the process.
Let’s get started.
Why Do You Need Education-Based Marketing?
As proficient marketers and entrepreneurs, you will be aware that modern customers dislike interruptive modes of marketing. They don’t like to be told what to buy and from where.
That’s precisely why educational marketing can do wonders for your business.
It subtly creates a need in consumers for your product and brand by educating them about the features and benefits of using your products/services. Although it’s indirect marketing, it doesn’t involve blatant promotion.
Why you ask?
Educational marketing is customer-centric. It revolves around the pain points and needs of your customers, and strategically positions your products as their best solution.
To put it simply, educational marketing can give you multiple benefits, including:
- Build customer engagement and trust
- Ensure customer loyalty
- Generate and convert leads
- Upsell to existing customers
- Establish domain authority
All these benefits eventually lead to increased revenue. On top of that, you build a solid brand reputation and lasting relationships with customers. These can lead to repeat sales and new customers, without additional expenditure and effort on your part.
Top 3 Ways to Drive Your Sales By Educating Your Customers
Smart brands understand the importance of educating customers.
But there are many customer education tools available, with different costs and benefits. I’ve shortlisted three tactics that are proving to be effective for brands in all domains. Take a look.
1. Webinars
Webinars are live web conferences. They are great for sharing in-depth demos and tutorials with consumers. With audio-visuals elements and two-way communication, webinars are super-effective at imparting product knowledge to consumers.
Nimble does webinars really well. Through regular webinars, the CRM brand explains how their product can be used in varied ways. They often have industry experts as speakers to provide value to participants.
What else?
Being virtual meetings, webinars allow brands to connect with customers from any location. Plus, polls, activities, and Q&A sessions in webinars keep the sessions lively and help maximize consumer satisfaction.
Attendee registration produces a solid database of engaged leads. Moreover, the leads are high-potential since they are willing to pay and keep time aside for joining a webinar.
If you host insightful webinars and promote them well, you can improve your brand’s reach and garner post-event sales. Also, branding your webinar can create a top-of-mind effect on participants which can help you beat your competition.
Educational webinars have high conversion rates. That’s because webinars allow brands to subtly promote their products with no pressure on attendees to purchase. By educating consumers, webinars win and foster trust, which translates into long-term brand loyalty.
Need an example?
You can take inspiration from WeChat’s Chatly. The enterprise chat platform recently hosted two free webinars to educate Chinese e-commerce brands about how to cope with changing customer behaviors post-COVID.
Apart from providing great survival tactics, WeChat also explained how WeChat Works can help brands stay connected with customers in the lockdown.
Brands with an always-on webinar strategy can monetize their webinars. They can charge attendees for registration, invite advertisers, and repurpose webinar content into paid formats.
Is that all?
Not even close. If you use sophisticated webinar-hosting platforms like FLOW, you can use webinar analytics to draw insights about your attendees. Using this customer data, you can craft educational content that is tailored to your audience’s needs. In this way, you can keep serving your customers and boosting your sales.
2. Blogs
Blogs are a top grosser when it comes to targeting top-of-the-funnel customers. In this stage, consumers are looking for educational content that can answer their questions.
That’s why blog posts provide more inbound links to brands than any other content type. This helps brands become more visible on Google and improve their domain authority, which can build consumer trust.
Still not convinced?
Nearly 89% of B2B marketers included blogs in their content marketing plans in 2020.
If you own a blog, you can build a loyal fanbase by providing people with the content they are looking for. You can educate them about your brand and build personal relationships with them.
Since blogging works best with buyers in the awareness stage, it’s a good strategy to keep your posts non-promotional. If your content is informative and valuable, it will draw organic traffic.
To drive sales through blog posts, here are some great tactics:
- Include shareable stats, infographics, and videos to grab more eyeballs.
- Include opt-in freebies in your posts. These are downloadable offers that readers can avail by providing their contact details. If the offer is related to the post content, the chances of lead capture are quite good.
Melissa Griffin is an ace blogger who runs the blog “The Nectar Company” in which she offers blogging and entrepreneurial advice. In one of her posts, she includes a lead magnet in the title to draw more readers.
In the post, she outlines an actionable plan to grow your blogging business. Since she is an expert in the field, readers trust her advice. They don’t mind when she adds links to her free “Blog Business Plan” workbook in the post’s call-to-action and in the side panels.
Melissa’s readers are quite happy to receive a free workbook after all the free education she offers in her post. In exchange, Melissa collects new leads and nurtures old leads.
- Focus on your content’s distribution and promotion so that it reaches a broad audience. At the same time, target people who match your customer personas since they can drive sales.
To sum up, writing insightful blog posts shows your brand as enterprising and authentic. By following a robust content marketing strategy, you can convert your blog into a platform for generating leads and building brand awareness.
1. Educational Videos
If you want to forge a deeper connection with consumers, educational videos can do the task. You can create engaging how-to tutorials and troubleshooting videos to solve customer challenges.
Using videos, you can teach customers new ways of engaging with your brand and remain relevant in changing times.
Coach nails their educational videos. They created this quirky video about five new ways of wearing Coach scarfs. The whimsical characters and funny typography keeps viewers glued till the last frame.
Not only that, but you can also use product demo videos during customer onboarding. They give confidence to new customers and make their journeys with your brand smoother. Consumers feel more positive about associating with a brand that is proactive about customer service.
Watch how graphic design brand, Canva, walks first-time users through their tool in 23 seconds.
Websites with a liberal dose of video content are able to retain visitors better. That’s because humans love the multi-dimensional experience that videos provide. Make sure your branded website includes interesting videos.
But if you want to educate and engage more people, you should also share video content on social networks. Social media users absolutely love videos. They watch and share a lot of branded video content. Many of them make purchase decisions after watching product videos from new brands.
Need a pro tip?
To create videos that are optimized for the social platforms you are targeting, use video editing tools. Your videos will meet the platform’s specifications, and consequently, reach more consumers. Plus, the built-in analytics can measure your video’s engagement and conversions. So, you will know exactly how consumers are receiving your videos.
Ready to Build a Customer-First Brand?
Modern consumers like to be in control of their buying decisions. That’s why brands with overly aggressive marketing styles are not achieving success.
On the other hand are brands that make customer education a priority. They gain trust from discerning consumers which shortens the sales cycle in a big way. Now, the choice is up to you.
Do you have questions about the tactics covered in this article? Leave them in the comments below. I’m always happy to help.
