4 Questions that Matter Most to Buyers & How to Address Them

It's easy to get caught up in creating top-of-funnel content for your inbound marketing strategy because it’s generally easier to write since it's broad and educational. 

It’s true that content like this creates brand awareness, but if that’s your content’s only purpose, you’re missing out. To get the attention of qualified buyers, your content should deliver answers to questions that will move them toward your sale. 

Creating content around these four, hard-hitting questions will deliver more qualified leads and help shorten your sales process significantly:

• How much does it cost?
• What are the pros and cons of what you offer?
• How does what you offer compare with your competitors?
• What are people saying about what you offer?

Content that derives from these questions will address the concerns or needs of potential customers who are in the middle or bottom of the funnel - considering and deciding on their purchase - where you could be making the most impact: before they get too far along in the decision-making process with your competitors.

One: How Much Does It Cost?

This can be a tough one when your product or service may be pricier than that of your competitors. 

Too, it could be that you don’t yet have competitors and buyers don’t know the value of what you do yet because you have an offering they’ve never seen before. 

Instead of being afraid of your price points, illuminate your value by telling your prospective customers how much it costs and why it’s worth it. 

Two: What Are the Pros and Cons of What You Offer?

If you’ve ever made a list of pros and cons, you know that it’s not easy.

By taking the time to assess the positive benefits and potential drawbacks of your solutions, you can prepare your sales team to address the prospect’s inquiry. If a product or service has more checks in the cons box, this can be an opportunity to address those shortcomings before investing further into marketing that product.  

This can be a question that saves you a lot of time and headaches from having to backtrack when you’re halfway up the mountain. 

Presenting the truth of this information in your content can show potential buyers that you’ve done the research yourself. 

A Pros and Cons list can help prospects to select the product or service that is best for them. For example, a fitness studio could use a pros/cons list to help prospective members select the right classes for their needs or goals.

Three: How Does What You Offer Compare with Your Competitors?

Ouch. We know. If your business isn’t top of the heap on this question, it can be a hard one to ask of yourself, much less put in front of your potential customers. 

But do you have competitors that you respect? Sure you do! Marathon runners perform best when matched with their direct competitors. Your company can take a similar approach. 

Being honest about what your competitors offer, and what makes your product or service different (and perhaps, thus, more valuable) can bring a surprising number of buyers to your door. Present it clearly in your content. 

Four: What Are People Saying About What You Offer?

Here, we’re talking about customer feedback, reviews, and testimonials. Critiques from your customers can drive innovation in your product or service, but it can be hard to hear. However, it can be the most valuable information you have about how to become better—how to grow your business. 

Reviews that are strong and positive should be posted on your website. Contrary to what you might think, feedback that’s critical shouldn’t be buried or deleted. 

Instead, leave it up and respond publicly to it. This lets your potential buyers see that you’re listening to your customers and working to improve. It also shows that your customer service is responsive. 

Paying careful attention to reviews and customer feedback and (here’s the key) responding with improvement is the difference between a company that grows and one that stagnates. Grow. 

Evolution is about listening and responding with a spirit of service to your customers. 

Takeaways

These four questions (in one form or another) drive sales decisions, yet some business leaders hesitate to answer them with their content. 

It could be that the answers are too uncomfortable or too complicated to put in front of potential buyers. Instead, they continue to create safe content that speaks in generalities about their industry—ignoring these key questions until they can be one-on-one with a prospective customer. 

This is a mistake. Customers who are looking to make a purchase are looking for the facts about your offering before they hand over their trust, their business, and their money. They could have given you all three had they known the answers to these four questions before scheduling a meeting with you. Basically, you’re wasting your time, too.

It may seem counterintuitive, but answering these questions upfront— with content developed for the middle of your sales funnel — can create a company grow faster than hiding behind feel-good content. When you answer the hard questions upfront, the buyers can see your honest answers and qualify themselves as ready to decide now. 

Create MOF and BOF Content with Growth

Our agency was named “Growth” for a reason. We work hard all day every day to help our clients grow their businesses. Talk to us about an Inbound Marketing package focused on creating content for your middle-of-the-funnel and bottom-of-the-funnel today! Grow with us! Welcome.