Our Key Takeaways from “They Ask You Answer” by Marcus Sheridan

This book makes our Top 10 list because the concepts and ideas have the potential to help someone grow their business significantly.  That’s not an exaggeration or a claim we take lightly.  The book also shows us how the lead generating impact of marketing can be more effective than hiring a salesperson or multiple salespeople. 

Many businesses’ sales processes aren’t consistent with the way people buy.  It often ends up with you chasing your customers while they’re running away.  What if you could change that.  This book helps you do that.  Here are some of our highlights.  But don’t take our word for it.  Go out and get the book yourself and then connect with us on Twitter and let us know what you thought of it. 

Let’s dive into our highlights from They Ask You Answer by Marcus Sheridan

Think like a customer not a business owner.

They way your customers buy is different than the way you market your business.  Most of us research before we buy. This is especially true if it’s a high-ticket item or a significant purchase.  The book tells us that 70% of the decision to purchase is already made before someone reaches out to you to start the sales process. A single content marketing manager is equal to (or maybe better) than 3 full time salespeople who are out trying to generate leads. 

·        Make sure the information people are researching about your product or service is on your website

·        Use different formats like text, video, audio etc

·        Use this information in all your marketing efforts

·        Make this information part of your sales process too

Learning from Marcus Sheridan’s story

Marcus Sheridan was the owner of River Pools and Spas. Business was not good even though he worked really hard at it.  He was on the verge of declaring bankruptcy and his personal life was difficult.  The story has a happy ending though and he was able to turn the business around and is now one of the top businesses in his industry in the US.  He started to create content that let people do all their research on their own, starting with helping people understand pricing for his products.  People found his company when they were doing their research and when it came time to purchase, they went back to the company who helped them answer all their questions.

The Big 5 Topics

They Ask You Answer recommends that you focus your content on 5 content subjects.  These seem to be the most pressing for people researching.  If you focus on these topics you’re more likely to generate traffic which should result in conversions, leads, and sales.

·        Pricing and costs: don’t hide how much something costs for the buyer

·        Problems: what are the problems people will encounter

·        Versus and comparisons: how you compare to competitors or other options

·        Reviews: how do others evaluate what you’re selling

·        Best in class: help customers understand what is leading your industry

Find your Niche

This isn’t really talked about in the book, but in our experience, creating this kind of content for a very specific niche can help amplify the effect.  Creating content for a highly specific target audience really adds a lot of value for that customer and they will value what you’re sharing. 

 

This book takes the conversation beyond just asking “what are they thinking” to asking “what are they searching, asking, feeling, and fearing.”  This can take you to the next level.  Check out They Ask You Answer by Marcus Sheridan for a deeper dive into his content marketing philosophy.