Sonja Jefferson

Article writing is a very powerful lead generation tool for any consultancy businesses. An incisive, well-written article will help to get your clients’ attention and position your company as a trusted resource in a competitive world. 

62% of buyers of professional services claimed they would be “Very” or “Somewhat” likely to initially identify and learn more about a potential service provider through an industry website article or story (How Clients Buy: The Benchmark Report On Professional Services Marketing And Selling From The Client Perspective - see: www.raintoday.com).

But article writing is not just a great marketing device: it can be used to close sales too. If you write an article in response to a specific client question or problem, you can influence the sales process in your favour and help them to come to a decision more quickly.

Here’s an example:

I recently pitched for some business with a consultancy who had never worked with me before. They were very successful, but did not actively market themselves and realised that in the current climate they could not afford to be complacent. We discussed how to start this process and agreed that it would be useful to get some feedback and advice from their current customers.

The MD was keen to go down this route, but with no pressing sales issue to motivate him and a pile of reports to write, it was difficult to get him to move on this.

Rather than pester him for a start date, I wrote an article on this blog about the benefits that client feedback would bring (see: One simple step to better marketing in 2009: ask your customers) and sent him the link. This reminded him of how this activity would help him and prompted him to take action.

Thanks to that article, the sale was quickly closed.

Sometimes a prospect needs help in making a decision.

Write a pertinent article especially for them showing how your approach solves their problem or benefits their business. Describe the process. Back it up with evidence. Tell them what others are doing and how this helps them.

You don’t need to get it published by an industry magazine, although this obviously helps on the credibility score. Post it on your website or company blog, or just send it to them as a well-designed word document.

If your article is well-crafted, relevant and answers their questions it will help you to motivate your prospect to take action and close the deal, often considerably shortening the sales cycle in the process.

This is another example of ‘win-win marketing’:

• Clients value content like this that shows how to solve the challenges they face
• You prove yourself to be a useful ally who understands your client’s issues and can help them

This is just one of the ways you can use articles to boost the success of your consultancy business.

Further reading for those with an interest in ‘article marketing’:

• How to write a great online article - 6 tips from RainToday’s editor
• How 10 simple articles can change your life - by Chris Pearson

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