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Dear
reader,
This
a couple of years old but still up-to-date interview contained so
many important thoughts about increasing sales that I had to acquire
permission to republish it for your benefit.
Please
enjoy the article!
Christian
Dillstrom
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- -
Every marketing and sales consultant hears that same question
from their clients all the time:
- Why are our Google ads not really delivering sales?
- Why are Facebook ads delivering less results month after month?
- Why do xxx ads (replace xxx with the name of almost any advertising media) seem to be a waste of money?
Of
course, there is little we can do about that as this is the
nature of every online advertising media. When it is new and people
are not used to it, it delivers results. But the more people see
it, the more they learn to ignore it.
Naturally,
there are always marketing wizards that can still find new
innovative, smart ways to deliver results from not-so-new online
media, but such wizards are rare and difficult to find.
Unfortunately,
unless we, the marketing and sales consultants, solve this issue at
least to the satisfaction of our clients, we will eventually look
less bright and less desirable in the eyes of our clients.
So,
what do growth hackers do about this problem?
Luckily,
I know a good growth hacker and I already have interviewed him
several times for my interview articles.
Let's
ask him!
HOW
DO YOU USE GOOGLE, FACEBOOK, AND OTHER ADVERTISING MEDIA WITH YOUR
CLIENTS?
I
don't use them, and I don't recommend them to my clients!
THAT
SOUNDS VERY ODD, WHY IS THAT?
The
old business wisdom says: "If you do what everyone else is
doing, you will get pretty much the same results that everyone else
is receiving - but only if you are lucky".
”If
you want more than everyone else, if you want to beat your
competitors, you need to do something different.”
When
was the last time your client was happy with the ROMI (Return On
Marketing Investment) of any paid advertising media in the long term?
Sure, you can have nice results for short campaigns, but I mean month
after month, year after year?
Businesses
are aiming to stay around for years, so short-term solutions in their
most important functions, marketing, and sales, do not seem like a
smart choice.
”Instead
of using any paid advertising, I recommend Branded Answering to my
customers.”
SORRY,
WHAT IS BRANDED ANSWERING?
Branded
answering is an advertising method where your client helps their
target customers through branded answers on external websites,
discussion forums and social media.
”Absolutely
no sales, just a humble effort creating positive outcomes for the
target customers.”
EXCUSE
ME, BUT THAT SOUNDS LIKE WISHING WORLD PEACE?
Of course, it does.
Creating
a positive atmosphere is the best way to start any sales process.
Just ask any high performance, seasoned salesperson how important
that is for closing a sale.
Also,
it captures my main advice to clients – sell without selling!
Customers are very smart today. If you just make them aware of who
you are, what you offer and what is unique about your offering,
customers will buy.
”You
don't have to take my word for it, just check what the biggest
advertisers in the world are doing.”
SO
HOW IS BRANDED ANSWERING ACTUALLY DONE?
In
branded answering you will search for the questions and problems your
customers are facing and you answer them with the best of your
ability. You do that with your own name and your company name.
THAT
DOES NOT SOUND MUCH...?
No,
it does not, but you will not just help that customer, but every
other customer who is facing the same problem. If the answers are
added into publicly visible web pages, they will also be visible in
Google and other search engines.
Depending
on how generic the problem is and how many people it touches, a
single branded answer could have millions of people seeing it.
Eventually,
if you keep on doing this, your customers will see you contribute
everywhere they go on the web. Depending on your industry, you will
have thousands or even tens of thousands of these branded answers in
places where your customer looks and in the Google search
engine.
Therefore, branded answering is very targeted and repetitive for your target
customer group while creating helpful, positive interaction with
them.
HOW
LONG WILL BRANDED ANSWERING STAY IN PLACE?
That
of course depends on the web pages where you place the branded
answers, but usually it stays in place from years to decades.
IS
BRANDED ANSWERING EFFECTIVE?
The
world's biggest software company increased their sales by 150% within
their target groups through Branded Answering.
”So
yes, I would call Branded Answering very effective.”
I
also recently witnessed Branded Answering in the promotion for an
online store of a Japanese beauty serum company. They had been using
paid online advertising so far, and only 2 hours of Branded Answering
multiplied their sales. The sales increase is ongoing as their
branded answers are not going away.
HOW
MUCH DOES BRANDED ANSWERING COST?
Absolutely
nothing – just your time for finding customer questions, doing the
research needed for answers and typing in the answers.
SO
WHY DO CLIENTS NEED YOU FOR BRANDED ANSWERING?
We
can research the whole internet for the questions matching our
client's business. We also group the questions so that it takes less
time for our client to provide answers to similar questions. Finally,
we can also type in the answers on behalf of our client.
”We
just minimize the working hours our clients need to spend for Branded
Answering.”
Also,
we provide special Branded Answering services which we have been
developing over the years, but those are only available to our
existing clients.
WHAT
NOT TO DO WITH BRANDED ANSWERING?
Being
dishonest, using rude language, talking badly about anyone or anything,
trying to advertise or to sell.
If
you want to do the things I mentioned above, please do not use
Branded Answering as your answers will quickly receive nasty replies
which could cause unwanted and negative branding for your company.
IS
BRANDED ANSWERING SPAMMING?
Absolutely
not, if you just help customers to look for answers with
real, helpful information. Always provide genuine help and remember
to stay away from advertising.
SO,
WHAT DO BUSINESSES NEED TO START WITH BRANDED ANSWERING?
Just
read this article and learn from our experiences – besides that,
nothing else except: Good luck with your Branded Answering campaigns!
-
- -
Christian
Dillstrom.
Please
stay tuned for more interviews.