Blogging Through the Sales Funnel
By James Pruitt, Senior Staff Writer
The blog format can provide a standardized template for beginners in web design. In a professional context, the sales functions of a blog can engage viewers and possibly start the slide through the sales funnel.
A blog can inform in a manner that can speak to shared interests with the reader. A blog can facilitate a meeting of the minds. SEO (search engine optimization) can even lead common travelers into your line of thinking and lead to fruitful business arrangements.
The best advertisers know their audience. That connection can travel for miles when shared needs raise the prospect of a business relationship. Bloggers blog to people they understand, with shared hobbies or backgrounds or struggles. This shared connection may coax the writer and their audience into a synergy that can propel them through their tightest economic needs.
Should bloggers try to trap visitors into the sales funnel, and send them slipping into what has become a rabbit hole? Of course not. The point is to establish a mind-meld that can open a hatch into a prospect’s economic, business, and personal life.
First, bloggers can blog about ways to use their products. Perhaps your widget has more than one function in varieties of contexts. The shared connection between the blogger and the reader might, for example, be hiking, or electronics, or gardening, or cooking. Perhaps some hiking device can be used for both warmth and as an emergency flare. Maybe some electrical components can fit into various devices. Maybe that fertilizer can be used for several kinds of plants, and maybe that cooking device is good for both frying and baking.
Bloggers should demonstrate their familiarity not only with their products but with the uses of their products. New small business owners should establish themselves as members of a community. Hence, they can establish collegiality with other members of that community and show they are marketing to peers with whom they relate and respect.
Second, bloggers should use discretion with calls to action and refrain from “hard-sell” tactics. For the most part, blogs should provide information.
Sales pitches should arise where and when appropriate. Consumers are smart and can distinguish between an informative discussion and a crass attempt to shove a pitch down their throat. Assuming a new entrepreneur starts their small business adventure within your community of shared interests, you should not fall out of character. Blogs should come from a place of sincerity, as should the resulting sales pitch, in order to ring true.
Third, remember to iron out technical issues. Blogs should work equally well on desktops, tablets, and phones. In some cases, that vacation trip is just when your potential clients realize the need for that special portable gadget. Also, on a technical note, remember the importance of themes when using website-building applications. A good choice in themes, along with associated plugins, can prevent a scrambled online display in any one type of device.
In short, blogs can help draw customers through the sales funnel, but the customer’s journey should remain a fun slide rather than a trip through a rabbit hole. Entrepreneurs who become bloggers should remember the origins of their ideas and remain members of a community rather than stalkers of hapless prey.
VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association hope that this article has not only been valuable but provided some unique perspective. We work hard to bring you important, positive, helpful, and timely information and are the “go-to” online venue for Veteran and Military Business Owners. VAMBOA is a non-profit trade association. We do not charge members any dues or fees and members can also use our seal on their collateral and website. If you are not yet a member, you can register here:
https://vamboa.org/member-registration/
We also invite you to check us out on social media too.
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Do not forget that VAMBOA members receive significant discounts on technology needs. Check them out here: https://vamboa.org/dell-technologies/
