The 9 easiest ways to convert your customers into paying content

Ever wondered if the paid content you're using is doing what it should?

Your customers may not value the content you think is valuable when it comes to making a purchase.

It's like a toll-road. Your clients can make their decisions faster by using gated content that contains relevant research and how-to guides. It comes with a price.

Question: Does your customer really care about your content marketing? Would they give you their email address or sign up with their social media accounts to receive it? Your sales pipeline may be important, but your customers may not care.

It's important to earn the trust of your customers by establishing credibility, communicating your value proposition and earning their relationship currency. Let's be honest, the faster the sales and buyer's journey, the better it is for all involved.

Quick Takeaways

• 
  Paid Content, also known by the term gated content is any type of internet content that you must pay for in order to access
  
• 
  Customers already manage 85% of their purchasing relationship without speaking to a person, making quality content more important than any other time
  
• 
  Before buying, the average B2B buyer consumes 11.4, pieces of content from a company.
  
• 
  Bloggers who prioritize blogging will enjoy a 13x higher ROI
  

Use paid content to establish trust and communicate value.

What is the deal with paid content?

Payed content is also called gated content and basically all content that you must pay for to access.

Imagine it as a ticket for a concert or movie. You are paying for knowledge, entertainment, experience – or whatever the content offers. You could pay for:

• Templates
• Webinars
• Video
• Download eBooks
• White Papers

Image source: Digital Marketers World

Your customers do not have to pay money. You can pay for content with your personal information.

• Full Name
• Address
• Email
• Phone Number

You may wonder why your audience would pay to access content, when there is so much available for free. I have one word to answer that question: exclusivity.

Exclusive content is often paid. The content is usually of higher quality, in-depth or unique. It's also usually copyrighted. This means that it is unique to the creator, or platform, you are buying it from.

If you combine these factors, many of your audience will be willing to add their names to your list in exchange of high-quality content.

Paid Content and Free Content

There is a wealth of organic or free content on the internet. There's tons of free information on the internet, from blogs and podcasts to YouTube and social media posts.

You should think of the free content you receive as an appetizer. The free content is meant to be a small taster of what is to come. When they want more, paid content is available.

Image Source: Spectrum Net Designs

Paid content keeps people coming back. Free content draws in the audience, but it's paid content that keeps them interested. Casual browsers become loyal customers, and fans into followers.

You need both paid and free content to have a balanced content strategy. You can create trust by creating a community who values your brand.

The content marketing and relationship currency facts tell us a lot

• Increase Credibility by Blogging Marketers that blog are 13x as likely to see positive ROI. This suggests that starting a conversation with a post with a call to action is the best way to engage customers at the appropriate stage of the customer journey.
• Self-Educating Customer Support Customers already manage 85% of their purchasing relationship without speaking to a person, showing that decision makers rely on content more than they ever have.
• In the eyes of customers, more content is always better. Is it? B2B decision makers consume an average of 11.4 pieces before making a purchase, which suggests they spend a lot time reading content.

Image source: Gather content

Content marketing research shows that customers rely on content for their decisions. There's probably too much content. What if better content was available earlier in the decision-making process for them?

How to help customers manage paid content

1. Use Content Bait

You can use short (free) and easy-to-consume content to build your reputation with your customers. This strategy of grabbing attention will lead qualified traffic to paid content.

Use evergreen blogs to your advantage by exchanging links with landing pages that offer gated content.

2. Landing Pages: How to Create a Great One

Your landing page should clearly state your value proposition, so that the customer knows what they can expect in exchange for providing their contact details.

Pro Tip: Include a SlideShare presentation in your landing page. This will help you close the sale!

3. Offer only high-value gated content

It is the golden principle. People will pay more for content that is unique, high-quality, and informative. Make your content engaging and invest time in researching. Always aim to deliver value.

Use a white paper, eBook, or paid research report to build your relationship currency with customers.

Pro tip: Start with the minimum amount of data possible to start a strategic nurturing programme.

Want more? Gary Vee, an expert in the field of content quality, shares his views on this page.

Video Source : GaryVee Experience

4. Exclusive Content

Exclusive content is what you should aim to create. Your paid content should provide insights, experiences, or information that your free content does not. The exclusivity of the content will make it more attractive and worth investing in.

5. Build a Community

Be a leader in your field. Create a community with your audience.

You could do this by creating a forum for members only, hosting exclusive webinars or organizing special events. A strong community will encourage its members to pay extra for additional benefits.

6. Use FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).

Promoting limited-time deals, exclusive offers or content that is only available to paying members. Customers may pay for content out of fear that they will miss out.

7. Prioritize a seamless user experience

Make sure that your platform or website is easy to use. Customers will be more likely to pay for content if they have a smooth and hassle-free experience.

8. Share your Success Stories

Share success stories or testimonials from customers who have found value in the content you've paid for. This will help to build trust with potential customers and show them the value of your content.

9. Use Content Marketing Strategies

Promote your paid content via blogs, social media channels, email marketing and other channels. The more visible your content is, the more likely it is that customers will pay for it.

To-Toll or not-to-Toll? That is the Content Marketing question

If your customers do not value your content, they will likely self-educate to avoid paying the toll fee.

They will consume lots of interesting content. They'll waste time and effort to avoid sharing personal information. They will define their problem, and then work to solve it. They may have the right assessment, but they may also be wrong.

If you are going to gate content, make sure your customers understand the value of it. You can also embrace a content marketing strategy that is free for all and create a relationship based on goodwill and ease of access. Like the yellow brick route. On the other hand, flying monkeys were not too friendly along that free road.

Learn more about how to keep your audience engaged. The first step is to create engaging content. Start today by checking our weekly blog service or scheduling a free consultation to learn more.