8 Ways to Influence Users to Buy Your Product/Service

There is a difference between “promoting to” and “influencing” users to buy your product or service — a massive one.

Promoting to users doesn’t put your business on the path for massive traction. There’s just too much noise in the market with too many startups vying for the same user’s attention.

Now imagine, you put your advertisement out there — what are the chances that you’d be able to get the user to notice and even use your product/service? You’re leave it for the user to choose. Instead, think about this: What if you can influence the user to buy your product instead?

You need to influence people even before they get to your landing page. Potential users should be convinced of the value you’re offering and your microsite, app-store page, etc., should essentially seal the deal!

Let’s take a look at some of the ways that you can influence your user to buy your product/service.

1. Write a blog. Not just any blog. There’s a blog fatigue with the number of people jumping onto the content-marketing bandwagon. You’ve got to write something that is attention grabbing and worthy of sharing.

Make the topic current and give actionable pointers. I see many blogs that fail because they have no real meat to chew on. People notice good writing and also the people behind the blog or article. Be sure to include links to your landing page in the bio and see the clicks coming through. Readers value insights and opinions and these add to your product’s credibility.

In the first year of its existence, Buffer added 100,000 users through staffers writing blog posts and contributing to other blogs and publications.

2. Contribute to other blogs/publications. While you continue to write for your own blog, it can take time to build a reader base. Complement writing for your own blog with writing for sites from the industry that your startup is catering to.

Look for the industry leaders (blogs and publications) in that category and approach them with an article pitch. These blogs or publications already enjoy huge traffic and immense credibility. Writing for them will add to your own credibility.

3. Use SlideShare. This is another medium to build thought leadership and get attention. There are many examples of valuable insights shared by entrepreneurs through a presentation hosted on SlideShare.

Put your experience of your journey as an entrepreneur and talk about something spectacular within the category of your startup or simply rework your blogs or articles as presentations.

Whatever you do, make sure you keep your reader amazed and at times amused. So much so that they look for what you do and how it could help them.

4. Seek press coverage. There’s nothing like a third-party endorsement for your startup. What’s better then a publication of repute writing about it? Identify a journalist that has done similar category or product stories and write to them with a concise pitch, explaining why it merits a story. If PR doesn’t work well in your home country, try your secondary English-speaking markets.

5. Actively participate on Quora. Build your credibility in your startup’s category by responding to queries posted on Quora. Oliver Emberton’s response to one query got him a book deal and several film offers. The possibilities are endless if you focus on providing your users with value and not force-selling your product/service.

6. Utilize social-media channels. You can’t expect to really be social and not be present on social-media channels. These channels offer a great tool and medium to promote your own content as well as curate excellent content that your potential users may want to read. Build a following by sharing relevant content regularly.

7. Get community approval. There’s a huge community (with many potential customers too) out there waiting to give feedback and help spread the word about your startup. All you need to do is to reach out to them through platforms such as Beta List, Product Hunt, The Rodinhoods and Hacker News.

Many startups have gotten tremendous feedback and followers this way, and those followers acted as brand ambassadors that influenced other users to buy your product/service.

8. Build word of mouth. Potentially the best way to get traction for your startup is through word of mouth. Not only does it create a viral effect, but people trust others to tell them about great discoveries. 

Use these strategies to help you build credibility and influence your potential customer’s behavior even before they get to your landing page.

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photo credit: Orin Zebest via photopincc