There’s much to be learned from the Father of Advertising himself, David Ogilvy. Many of his ideas still hold true to this day, and they can be applied to selling different kinds of products, including SEO. I want to share three tips from Ogilvy that you can use when selling SEO to local businesses more successfully.
Know Your Market.
“Find out what you can about your prospects before you call on them… Every hour spent in this kind of research will help you impress your prospect.” Knowing your target audience remains an important of selling, whether you are doing traditional advertising or online marketing. This is especially important for business-to-business service providers like you – understanding your prospect’s industry lets you offer solutions targeted towards their specific needs. This way, when you make your sales pitch, it will come from an informed point of view, and your prospects will not view it as mere sales talk.
Knowing your audience also lets you choose the most effective ways to communicate with them. Ogilvy was big on using your prospect’s vernacular for communicating with them. It also lets you know what approach to take when pitching your proposal, since you will know exactly how much your prospects know about your business and your solutions.
Your Message is Everything.
Ogilvy said, “What really decides consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising, not its form.” While how you get the message across is important because it’s what initially engages your audience, what you’re trying to say is what matters most. Start by thinking about how you want to represent your company and your brand.
Build your image consistently across all kinds of content, from articles and blogs to social media posts and videos, and get your prospects to participate in discussions that help you gain insights on each other.
In line with this, Ogilvy said two things that can help you when creating content for your message:
- “What should you promise the customer? A promise is not a claim, a theme, or a slogan. It is a benefit for the customer. It pays to promise a benefit which is unique and competitive, and the product must deliver the benefit of your promise.”
- “It takes a BIG IDEA to jolt the consumer out of his indifference – to make him notice your advertising, remember it and take action.
When selling to your prospective market, be sure to let them know how your solutions will benefit their business. Back up your claims with keyword research and market analysis. See the strong points of your services and serve it to them on a silver platter. At the end of each deal, the best way to keep closing sales is to show your prospects that you fulfill your promises with innovative SEO methodology. Your means of communication is only secondary to the substance of your message and your promise.
Innovate.
Ogilvy himself uses this as a subheading in his ad, “How to Create Advertising that Sells.” You need to keep changing your approach and testing each one as you go from one market segment to another. Testing is an important part of selling – see what methods work, and repeat this formula of success on your other campaigns.
Ogilvy also says, “Start trends – instead of following them.” You can do this by changing your approach when presenting your proposals, or by offering business prospects something that they won’t find from other providers, like real-time updates from your branded client reporting dashboard.
Of course, at the end of the day, you can only try to sell your product for so long – you need to deliver unmatched online marketing. This is where we come in – you handle the sales, and we will fulfill the process using our advanced SEO methodology.
Sign up today to become our partner, or contact your account manager to get started. Keep checking back for more tips on becoming a successful SEO reseller!
