One of the reasons I love my Kindle is the ability to sample a book before I buy it.
Whenever I’m in doubt, I download the first chapter and see how I get on with it.
Sometimes I manage to save myself a few pounds.
But other times, I’ve bought the whole book long before I’ve finished the chapter. The first few pages draw me in so successfully… I’m already so engaged… That I’m already hungry for more.
When it comes to your online marketing, you need to create the same effect.
In the past I’ve written about how you mustn’t be afraid to share your very best insights and tips online if you are going to attract leads and make yourself into an authority.
But actually, sometimes the best way to make your audience hungry to buy from you is to share selectively.
That doesn’t mean keeping the most valuable insights back, or staying vague – which is frustrating for your audience and unhelpful to you, because it’s hard to show real expertise while deliberately under-delivering.
It’s about giving them a taster of your best material in your emails, blogs and throughout your sales funnel – but making sure your audience understands that the amazing value you’re delivering is just one chapter out of many. If they want to get the full benefit of your expertise, they need to invest in your whole book.
How do you make sure they know this?
Simple. You tell them.
Let’s say you’re a recruiter sharing a resource on how to conduct a successful interview with a job candidate. You might write that “There are 12 questions we always ask in every interview. Here are the first five, to get you started.”
Or in a speech you might say, “I only have time to share five of the questions today, but there are in fact seven more.”
You might let the implication hang…..
Or you can tell your audience, at the end, that the full list is available from your website for £5, or that you have a training programme for HR personnel hiring staff, which includes the full list.
That way, you use your content to create the conditions where your audience is more likely to buy, because they’ve had a taste of what you offer – and are hungry for more.
Best of all, you don’t come across as pushy or salesy, because you have delivered genuinely useful content.
I mean, how can anyone complain when they receive a brilliant Chapter 1 for free?
