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Part 2 - Field Guide
10 Ways to Market Your Knowledge
By ENS Media
Knowledge is power! And people buy from people they trust! Think of the most successful person in nearly any business category in your community. In many cases, these people are perceived as the most knowledgeable.
Achieving the status of being perceived as the most knowledgeable doesn’t come simply by opening your doors, and you can’t just “say it” to make it true. You must prove it!
The trick is, how do you say it without coming across as arrogant or as a “know-it-all”?
Here are ten ways to help you market your knowledge. Good luck!
1.) Your Website
Have an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your website. Monitor the questions your customers are asking and publish your answers clearly in layman’s terms. Allow your prospects and customers to ask questions online, and always be prompt in posting your answers. Most importantly, take credit for your answers and make sure the public recognizes that the answers came from you.
2.) Public Speaking
Public speaking might take you out of your comfort zone, but speaking about something that you are intimately familiar with, like your business or your products, should be well within your comfort zone. There are numerous local clubs, schools, and business organizations that desperately seek speakers every month.
By speaking on a particular topic, you are instantly positioned as a helpful expert even among those who did not hear you speak but who heard that you did speak.
3.) Use Testimonials
Get others to tell the world about you. Every business has clients and customers that are over-the-top satisfied with your products or services. Use them to tell your story.
4.) Seminars and Demonstrations
Offering educational seminars or demonstrations on your premises does much more than simply building traffic for the event. Those who hear about your educational event but cannot attend still perceive you as a knowledgeable and helpful expert.
5.) Exploit your Employees’ Knowledge.
Do you have employees that are very knowledgeable in specific areas of your business? If so, consider writing educational tips for use in local media, newsletters, and on your website. You need not be a literary genius. If you have the knowledge, you can always hire an inexpensive ghostwriter to polish your grammar and spelling.
6.) Newsletter
Creating, writing, and producing a weekly or monthly newsletter takes time, however, it is one of the quickest ways to establish your business as a professional. This can be done on paper or via email. Today’s email and printing technology offers the ability for anyone to self-publish their own newsletter.
7.) Earned media (or free media)
Earned media is coverage or promotion of your brand through organic means. It includes articles by any form of media outlets, interviews with the person or representatives of the organization, postings on social media, or bylined editorials in trade press and other publications. Earned media is anything that has no cost attached to it, but it is also the hardest form of media to get.
8.) Social Media
YouTube is a great platform to share “how-to” or informative videos about your business category, i.e., Roofing Business: Is it okay to power wash an asphalt roof? Lawn & Garden: When is the best time to prune fruit trees? Physical Therapy: What is the best exercise for elbow pain?
9.) Paid Media
Promote your knowledge. In his Twelve Causes of Advertising Failure, Wizard of Ads Roy Williams asks, “Why do we insist on making our ads look and sound like ads?” Commercials that give customers valuable information are always better received than commercials that constantly shout or beg for sales. Consider running a series of educational vignettes on your local radio station.
10.) Podcasting
Podcasts are a new alternative but proceed with caution. For every successful podcast, hundreds if not thousands more aren’t successful. If you have the perfect product or service that you feel can hold people’s interest for 10 to 30 minutes, a podcast can be a nice and effective marketing tool. However, keep in mind that they take a substantial amount of time, energy, and resources.
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