If you want to be successful at generating trust with your buyers and becoming the leading voice in your industry, you will need to focus on the Big 5.
These are the Big 5 subjects that are proven to move forward every buying decision, in every industry.
Your industry is no different.
If you’ve read the book ‘They Ask, You Answer‘ you’ll be familiar with the Big 5. The author Marcus Sheridan has tons of data that proves these 5 topics are most likely to generate more qualified leads and sales in your business.
Your potential customers research these topics every day before deciding whether to buy from you or one of your competitors.
What are the ‘Big 5’ business blog topics?
Whether you’re B2C or B2B, sell products or services, the Big 5 doesn’t change, and it’s been this way for the last 15 years.
- Explain cost and pricing: Be transparent and upfront about pricing. This doesn’t mean publishing a price list, it’s about educating about the factors that make those numbers go up or down in your industry and business.
- Problems: Address potential issues, fears, and concerns buyers might have. When someone is spending their money, this is when they want to know what could go wrong. They want to avoid making a buying mistake. What are the negatives with [product/service]? What are the problems with….? What are the pros and cons of….?
- Comparisons / Vs.: Help buyers understand how your offering stacks up against competing options, that even includes vs. competitors. How does your product or solution compare to alternatives that I’m looking at? How does your feature compare to this competitor’s feature? Product vs Product, Services vs Service, Feature vs Features, Company vs Company, Brand vs Brand, Technique vs Technique.
- Best: Produce “Best of” lists that cover best in class, best practices, and more. What is the best solution available? What is the best….? What is the top….? What is the worst…? What is the quietest…? What is the quickest….?
- Reviews: Showcase positive, negative, and neutral testimonials. Explicitly state who your product IS and IS NOT suitable for. What is everybody saying about your solution? What’s good about….? What are the drawbacks….?
How do I come up with business blog post Ideas using the ‘Big 5’ topics?
I’ve written a bang up to date blog post that answers that exact question: How do we consistently generate business blog post ideas that sell?. See what I did there? You can find it in my learning centre.
Where are you now?
If you’re struggling to get more leads, sales and momentum from your content, you need to take a look at your existing content.
Be honest.
What percentage of your content is related to these Big 5 topics right now?
Often with companies, this number is very low….like 10%.
If you make 75% of your content around these 5 subjects, you will dominate your industry online, assuming you’re creating enough quality, open and honest content.
‘They Ask, You Answer‘ author, Marcus Sheridan, maintains that businesses need to start with the question in mind first, and then craft their content accordingly.
This way, they can be sure that they’re creating material that will actually be useful to potential customers and help them make purchasing decisions.
To do this effectively, businesses need to have a good understanding of what their customers are actually searching for online.
What are your prospects asking you when they get in touch to buy?
Once you know this, you can start developing quality content that directly addresses those needs.