What roadside services can teach us about using free content to attract prospects ‘in need’.
On my way back from Dublin last night we pulled into a roadside service station to make use of the ‘facilities’.
Usually I wouldn’t consider that a likely topic for a blog post but it did get me thinking. This service station makes no direct income from maintaining these facilities, so why bother with the added expense and headache?
The answer is similar in a way to why businesses should create useful content: it solves a customer problem and so draws people in.
Motoring up the road you may feel the sudden urge to make use of such facilities. Good signposting of the free services encourages you to pull in. In many cases you’ll simply use the facilities and move on – in the same way that a website visitor may read your free article and then link off to a new site, never to be seen again.
Then again, you may stay for a while. You may buy some gas or grab a quick snack in the convenience store. Moreover, if it’s a regular trip – and a regular need – you may well come back to make use of the facilities again, or even suggest that others do the same.
The facilities you provide attract new prospects, position you as a useful resource and will, on occasion, lead prospects to spend on your paid services.
So, as your prospects motor around your industry, how do you position yourself as the perfect pit stop?
- Location, location, location. Pit stops don’t work if they’re too far away from the main road. Your main road will depend on how your prospectives use the web or buy your kinds of services. Do they search via Google? Do they read the trade magazines first? Do they have existing resources they use? Get to know your customer and find out how they go about their business, and consequently, where you need to position yourself.
- Signposting. You need to promote the free resources you have available. They should take equal billing to your paid services.
- Softly, softly. Hopefully, nobody will knock on the door when you’re using the facilities to try and get you to buy some gas. Instead, use clever merchandising and onsite signposting to get prospects to take action.
- Widen your frame of reference. You need to consider what real problems your prospects are grappling with and provide resources that address those problems. Drivers are dealing with anything from hunger, to full bladders to simply needing a place to relax for five minutes.
As always the key is to think like your prospect. Deliver high-quality, useful resources when they need them and they’ll thank you for it.
Pic: mst7022
