Most visitors exit your blog in less than 20 seconds. These potential customers have chosen to give up after one paragraph of your article. Why?
What’s happening? Well… read this letter from all the potential clients you’ve lost…
Dear businesses and marketers
We’re the people who clicked on your article headline on social media or Google. Yet, within 20 seconds, we all left your business blog, disappointed.
We would likely become your clients and customers. Yet, your content demonstrated to us that we weren’t important; it was your self-serving profits that were a priority.
No likes. No comments. No shares…
Want to know why?
You don’t understand why and how we use the internet…
Why we use the internet?
Wake up to reality… we (your potential clients) don’t go on the web to hear your business talk about itself, its products, or its services. We don’t give a damn.
We use the internet to research, learn, and be entertained.
When we search on Google, we have a pressing issue that needs answers. We’re searching the web to “diagnose” our problem and then try to fix it.
That may be to:
- Figure out how to build a business website
- Discover alternative SEO keyword research tools
- Find a rental apartment in Chiang Mai
- Look for cures for insomnia
Likewise, for social media.
We log onto Facebook, Instagram, and other social apps to connect with people — our family, friends, peers, and internet acquaintances. We engage with content that we relate to, in reality or aspirationally.
So, when we click on your headline, we expect your article to deliver on its promise — to entertain, inform, or, at least, add some value to our lives.
What happens when you disappoint us…
When your blog content disappoints us, we get annoyed. But not for long… There are other sources of information and entertainment — your competitors.
This is the age of information and we have the power to visit and exit any website, at any time. We don’t need to read your article that badly.
So, please continue to do these three things… (we’re more than happy to go to your competitors)
#1 Writing content that sucks
We read articles to learn more about our problem. We’re looking for useful advice that we can take action on.
So, if we search for, “how to build a website with WordPress”, we want a step-by-step guide. If we’re interested in the latest social media trends, we want to know the specific changes and best practices in the social media landscape.
Instead of adding value, your business publishes fluff — useless blog content that teaches nothing substantial.
Don’t forget… we can leave your website at any time and never to return. This is the internet. Your business blog isn’t a physical billboard or TV ad that we can’t avoid.
#2 Engaging in narcissistic self-promotion
Instead of helping us resolve our pain points, your article talks too much about your business and its offers.
No, we refuse to read an 800+ word article that mentions your product 15 times! And, yes, we noticed and cringed at your oversized logo stamped on every single image in your article.
Even if we wanted to, we can’t read your content. You’ve made it so damn hard by cluttering the article and sidebar with ads for 7 different offers.
Clearly, your business has demonstrated that it doesn’t care about our needs. Neither has it checked if any of its offers are relevant to us. All you care about are traffic and sales targets.
Honestly, we don’t give a damn about what your business offers, especially when your article hasn’t even addressed our concerns.
Please… don’t waste our time if you’re not interested in helping. We’re people, not just your sales target.
#3 Not building rapport and trust
Listen! For the last time — none of us visit the web to hear how awesome your business is. We don’t care. And, we don’t trust you.
Would you buy from a total stranger who tries to hard-sell you, without trying to fully understand your needs (and struggles)?
Neither would we. And you are that stranger who hasn’t earned our trust.
Why should we trust you when you can’t even deliver on what your article headline promises?
Nothing in your articles shows that…
- You understand our desires and frustrations
- You have the expertise to solve our problem
Your content falls short of its promises and sours our impression of you.
The bottom line
Since you don’t genuinely wish to help us, we don’t want to be your customers. We can’t do business with a business that has no respect for our time or concern for our needs.
And —
Sorry, we’ve got to cut this letter short — your competitor just published an entertaining yet helpful guide.
Good luck with your — what’s your business’s name again?
Sincerely not yours,
All the potential clients you’ve lost
P.S. Here’s what you have to do to get visitors to read your blog content.
