Faced with bankruptcy as the economy began to crash in 2008, Marcus Sheridan discovered a powerful new content marketing strategy he calls “They Ask, You Answer”. This method saved his company and ultimately generated millions of dollars in new sales directly attributable to its methodology.
“They Ask, You Answer” Defined
At the core of They Ask, You Answer is an obsession with what your customer is thinking, searching, asking, feeling, and fearing. As Sheridan was trying to find ways to save his company, he decided to answer all the questions he had received from customers over the years. Then, after answering more than one hundred questions, Sheridan and his business partner made blog posts and videos and shared them on their website. These posts were meant to truly answer these questions instead of being merely disguised sales pitches. After months of doing this, Sheridan found that there were five types of content which generated the most traction
These five types of content were:
- Pricing and Costs
- Problems
- Versus and Comparisons
- Reviews
- Best in Class
Sheridan found that these types of videos generated the most traction because these are the things consumers consider most when making a purchase.
Content Subject #1: Pricing and Costs
Create a list of all the major products and/or services you sell. For the ones that generate the most revenue, produce at least one blog post or video explaining the factors that dictate the cost, what the customer can expect to see in the industry, and where your company is in relation to other companies. An article that Sheridan posted about the cost of fiberglass pools has generated $3 million in additional sales, directly attributable to the article. In fact, it is that post which single handedly saved his business, his home, the homes of his business partners and the jobs of all of their employees.
Content Subject #2: Problems
When people buy things, they will inevitably have concerns about what might go wrong and what might go right. Sheridan decided to answer these concerns directly on his website. The thinking goes like this, you can allow them to search for and find the answers to those questions themselves, or you can address them directly and allow your customers to determine whether or not it's an issue for them.
Content Subject #3: Versus and Comparisons
There is a temptation for a company to not bring up questions that some customers may never even consider. For example, Sheridan created a video called “Fiberglass Pools vs Vinyl Liner Pools vs Concrete Pools: An Honest Comparison." The temptation is to avoid these questions but Sheridan didn’t and he found that he gained two things. Traffic and trust from his customers. Like addressed before, the customer is likely already going to search these things. Therefore, it is better that they learn them from you, building up trust between you and your customer
Content Subjects 4 and 5: Reviews and Best in Class
This type of content may seem like the craziest Sheridan tried. People are aways asking “who is the best at X?” So, Sheridan wrote a post titled "Who are the Best Pool Builders in Richmond Virginia (Reviews/Ratings)." He listed the companies he truly believed were the best, and he didn’t even mention his own company. That might sound crazy but by neglecting to mention his own company, Sheridan avoids the post becoming an advertisement or a fluff piece for himself. Using this method you can position yourself as the expert. Additionally, since they are already on your website, you can point them in the direction of all the other content relating to their questions and they can see your expertise.