Should Your Articles Be Used As Sales Tools?

Are articles sales tools? It’s a loaded question. The answer is yes and no.

Yes, your articles are sales tools. No, you should not use your articles to “sell.” Don’t call that a contradictory statement yet. Read on.

Article marketing is about teasing your audience to make them want more. It’s about seducing them to your website where you will close the sale. If you come on too strong in your articles, which are off site marketing tools, then you stand a good chance of never getting a would-be visitor to your website. That’s why you want your articles to be a “soft sell” at most.

That “at most” is a key component. The best articles are information tools more than sales literature. You don’t want a strong sales message in those articles. You want to provide useful information that people can use, but you don’t want to give away the whole farm. Otherwise, tell them too much and they can do it themselves. Why do they need you?

Article marketing is based on the principle that if you give then others will give back. You really want your information articles published as far and wide as possible. By providing useful information that people can use, you build yourself up as an expert in your niche. Then, if people want more information, they will click on the link in your bio, or author resource box, and visit your website. That is where you will close the sale.

Think of it as an infomercial that is more info than commercial. You’ve seen those late night TV commercials that are 30 minutes or 1 hour long? You know they are paid-for commercials because they include order information that flashes on the screen, the actors are selling the benefits and hyping the product – but, they also provide you with information about a particular topic. The health and fitness machine guys talk about how you can improve your health and fitness and why you need to get your heart rate up and how science backs up their claims about their product. What you want to do with your articles is provide that kind of information, but leave out the commercial. You want the information to lead people to the real commercial, which is on your website. And that’s what article marketing is all about.