How to turn your content into actual sales conversations

If you're getting likes and comments on your posts but zero inquiries about your services, this episode will show you exactly what's missing.

The gap between content and sales is where most business owners get stuck. They create valuable posts, people engage, but somehow it never translates into actual business. The problem? They're treating content creation and sales as completely separate activities instead of building strategic bridges between them.

In this episode, I'm breaking down the exact system for turning your content into sales conversations—from creating content that identifies problems without solving everything, to building conversation starters directly into your posts, to making it ridiculously easy for the right people to reach out.

Remember: likes don't pay the bills—conversations do. This episode shows you how to turn your content into the conversation-starting machine it should be.

Links mentioned in this episode: Marketing Priority Matrix

Transcript

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Hey. Welcome to the new School of Marketing podcast. I'm Bianca McKenzie and this is the place where we break down marketing strategies that actually work without the overwhelm.

Now, before we dive in, I want to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land I live and work on, the palawa people of lutruwita.

I pay my respects to their elders, past and present and I acknowledge the deep connection they have to this land, culture and community.

Lets dive in and make marketing work for you.

If you've ever created content that got really good engagement but you actually didn't get any inquiries when that was really your goal.

Or if you're getting like lots of likes comments but nobody's actually asking how to work with you, or maybe you're wondering how other people see seem to like turn their Instagram posts into actual paying clients while you feel like you're just, you know, shouting into the void, then stay tuned. This episode is what you need.

Today we're going to be talking about the bridge between content and sales and how you can actually turn those likes, those shares and all those comments into a actual conversations with people who want to hire you or buy from you.

Because here's the truth.

Content marketing without sales conversations.

It's kind of just like a hobby.

You need both working together to build a profitable business.

Let's start by acknowledging a problem that most business owners face. They're creating tons of content.

People. People seem to enjoy it, but somehow it never translates into actual business.

You're posting consistently.

People like your posts.

They might be commenting saying great tip or this is so helpful. But then you get nothing. No DMS asking about your services, no inquiries about working together, no sales.

And this gap exists because most business owners treat content creation and sales as completely separate activities.

They create content to build their brand or to provide value.

And then they hope that magically people just decide to buy from them.

And that's not how it works.

Content and sales, they need to work together as part of a strategic system.

Your content should be designed to start conversations, and those conversations should be should naturally lead to sales.

Before we dive into the how to, let's understand what needs to happen for content to turn into a sale.

The first stage is awareness.

So someone discovers your content, finds it valuable enough to pay attention.

Then the next stage is interest.

They consume more of your content, and they start to believe that you might be able to help them.

Then the next stage is consideration.

They begin to think about their problem more seriously, and they're considering whether they need help solving it.

And then stage four is conversation.

That's where they reach out to you.

Or they respond to your invitation to either have a conversation, look at your sales page like they're getting in deeper, and they're ready to have that conversation.

And then stage five is decision.

So through the conversation or potentially your sales pages, they decide whether or not working with you is the right next step for them.

And a lot of people focus all their energy on stages one and two. So they're creating awareness, they're creating interest.

But they kind of skip the clear pathway to stages three, four, and five, which is consideration, conversation, and decision.

And that's why content doesn't convert.

So let's look at the strategies that you can now implement to actually get there.

And here's a mistake that I see constantly. Business owners create content that gives away all their best advice. Solving every problem in detail.

And then they wonder why nobody hires them.

If you completely solve someone's problem in a free social media post, why would they pay you?

Here's the thing.

You can provide massive value without solving everything.

And the key is to help people identify and understand their problems better, not just hand them complete solutions.

And how you can do this is create content that helps people realize they have a problem they didn't know they had.

Or that helps them understand why their current approach isn't working.

So, for example, instead of saying, here are 10 steps to fix your pricing strategy, try saying 5 signs your pricing is actually costing you money, and why raising prices might get you fewer clients, not more.

It actually makes people think about things. So the first one solves the problem completely, like you're giving them 10 steps to fix their pricing strategy.

The second one helps them identify whether they have a problem and understand why. It's more complex than they thought.

And that makes them want expert help.

So help people understand the why and the what, but leave the how for your paid services.

Show them what's wrong, show them why it matters, but position yourself as the person who can help them implement the solution effectively.

All right, the next one is to use your content to qualify your audience.

Okay, not everyone who engages with your content is a good fit. Fit to work with you and that's okay.

In fact, it's better than okay. It's actually strategic.

Your content should naturally filter out people who are not your ideal clients and attract the people who are.

And this makes your sales conversations so much easier because you're talking to pre qualified leads.

So how can you do this?

This be specific about your who your content is for.

So start posts with you know if you're a and then, you know, put in the specific situation or this is for you if you're and then add in the challenge.

Share your philosophy and your approach openly.

And if you believe in slow sustainable growth, talk about that.

People who want get rich quick schemes will filter themselves out while people who resonate with your values will lean in.

Talk about the investment required. Not just money, but time effort.

If your approach requires clients to do homework or to show up consistently, mention that people who are not willing to put in the work. They will self select out and use language and examples that speak directly to your ideal client's experience.

So if you work with busy parents, talk about the school pickup chaos. If you work with corporate professionals, you can talk about specific challenges in their world.

The next one is build conversation starters into your content.

If you want your content to start conversations, as in sales conversations, you need to literally build conversation opportunities into your posts.

Most business owners end their posts with like generic calls to action like what do you think? Or let me know in the comments.

And they might get engagement, but they don't actually lead to sales conversations.

So how can you actually do this?

Ask questions that reveal what where someone is in their journey. So instead of like, you know, asking do you struggle with this?

Try what have you already tried to solve this problem?

And the answer tells you whether they're aware of the problem, whether they're actively trying to solve it, and whether they're potentially ready for help.

Create content that naturally leads to I need help with this.

For example, share a framework or a diagnostic tool that helps people identify their specific situation and then invite them to DM you with their results for personalised feedback.

Use polls and questions in stories on Instagram to identify people who have specific problems.

You can ask things like have you tried to solve this problem on your own?

You know, if you try to. And then whatever, insert on your own and then follow up with people who say yes.

And you can end valuable posts with, you know, if this resonates and you want to talk about how this applies to your specific situation, send me a DM with the keyword or with the word and let's chat, and that makes it easy for interested people to reach out without feeling like they're cold pitching you.

And the keywords come in really handy either in comments or in your DMs. You can set up automations for that. That's not what this podcast episode is about, but yeah, some people are a bit scared to start the conversation, so they actually prefer to just put a keyword in and then deal with potentially a bot. But you can reach out personally as well.

The next one is Create a content pathway to your offer.

Your content should create a logical pathway that leads people toward your paid offer.

Think of it like leaving breadcrumbs.

Each piece of content should naturally lead them closer to wanting to work with you.

And here's how you can do this.

Map your content key to your customer journey.

If your ideal client needs to understand X before they're ready to buy, then you need to create content about X.

If they need to believe why before they'll invest, create content that addresses Y.

Create content series that build on each other.

Start with awareness content because that helps people identify the problem.

Move to consideration content that explores why it's harder to solve than they think.

Then create decision stage content that shows what's possible with the right help.

Use your content to address objections before the sales conversation.

If people typically worry about like the time commitment, create content about how you help people implement efficiently if they worry about whether it works for their situation.

Spend Share specific case studies.

Reference your paid offers naturally in your content.

When you're teaching something, mention this framework I use with my and then insert, you know, coaching clients, course students, whatever, because it normalises the idea of working with you without being pushy.

It's exactly what I do. Inside the Marketing Momentum membership we work around all of this, teaching this, going through content creation for specific stages in the journey.

All right, the next one is make your call to action specific and easy.

Here's a huge mistake ending great content with vague calls to action like DM me if you want to chat or check out the link in my bio.

They create friction and they create confusion. If you want content to turn into sales conversations, you need to make the next step ridiculously clear and low stakes.

So how can you do this?

Use specific keywords for DMs.

So if this sounds like you DM me the word pricing and I'll send you my pricing framework.

It's so much clearer than saying DM me if you're interested.

Most people will not actually take the action.

Create micro commitments before the sales conversation so Instead of, you know, putting book a call, you can try download my free audit template and if you need help interpreting your results, we can chat.

It's less intimidating and more valuable, so offer something specific, not just a chat.

Instead of saying let's have a conversation about your marketing, you can try saying I'm offering 15 minute strategy sessions this week where I'll review your Instagram profile and give you three specific things to change. DM me the word session if you want one.

So you need to remove obstacles to responding because a lot of people will not take the action if it's just vague.

Don't make people click through multiple links or fill out like long forms or all of that just to start a conversation.

Make it as easy as possible to say yes. And that's why these words, these like keywords really work.

The next one is to use different content types for different stages.

Not all content should be designed to generate sales conversations.

You need different content types for different stages of the customer journey.

So awareness content needs to be designed to get discovered and to demonstrate your expertise so you can focus on helpful tips, frameworks, insights.

The goal for it is to get shared and saved consideration. Content is designed to help people evaluate whether they need help.

So you can focus on problem identification, myth busting, showing complexity.

And your goal is to get people thinking seriously about their situation, then decision. Content is is designed to move people into conversation so you can focus on case studies, transformations and really putting out clear invitations.

Your goal is to get DMs and to get inquiries and then relationship content is designed to stay top of mind with people who are actually not ready yet.

So focus on behind the scenes, your values, your personality and your goal is to build trust over time.

Most people only create awareness type content and that's why you don't get any inquiries.

You need all four types working together.

The next one is to follow up on engagement strategically.

When someone engages meaningfully with your content, especially your consideration and your decision content, that's a signal they might be interested.

But most business owners never follow up. I know we are busy. It is hard to be in your emails and in your DMs and like just to be everywhere. But you can build a system for it.

Like you can automate and systemize a lot of it.

So if someone saves your post about, you know, pricing strategy, they might be struggling with pricing.

Someone comments with a detailed response about their challenges.

That means they're telling you they have a problem that you could solve.

So how can you do this?

Pay attention to who's engaging with your content consistently.

If the same person likes comments, saves multiple posts, especially posts about specific topics.

They that tells you something about their interests and their challenges.

So reach out naturally and helpfully. Like you can say something like, hey, I noticed you saved my post about, you know, topic.

I'm curious what resonated with you.

And this opens a conversation without being pushy.

When someone shares a challenge in the comments, take the conversation deeper. Don't just respond publicly.

Send them a DM offering to continue the conversation. Or you can share additional resources. It doesn't have to be pushy.

Also, create a simple system for tracking engaged followers.

Keep a note of people who can consistently interact with your content so that you can reach out when you have something relevant to offer.

The next one is to bridge content to conversation with valuable assets.

So one of the most effective ways to turn content into conversations is to offer something valuable that requires a quick exchange.

And this isn't about creating a massive lead magnet with like a whole funnel and all of that.

It's about having simple, valuable resources you can offer in exchange for starting a conversation.

And how you can do this is to create simple one page resources related to your content topics. So a checklist, a template, a framework that helps someone implement what you taught in your post.

When someone engages with content about a specific topic, offer them the related resource so you can say something like, I've got a really simple template that makes this easier. I want me to send it to you.

And then use the resource delivery as an opportunity to ask questions.

You know, I'm sending this over now out of curiosity. What's your biggest challenge with and then you put in your topic and then you can follow up after they've had time to use it.

So you can ask, you know, did you get a chance to try the template I sent? I'd love to hear how you went. And that opens a deeper conversation.

Can you see how this is? This is a conversation this is outside of like your emails. I know we have our funnels and our nurture funnels in our emails and things like that.

What this is in your DMs, it has a different feel to how you would communicate with someone through email because a lot of people are not often inclined to actually respond.

But to have a conversation like to message each other, it has a different feel.

All right, the next one is to create next step content.

Some of your content should explicitly be designed to meet to move people from consuming content to actually having a conversation. And I call this next step content so examples of next step content Something like okay, I'm opening up five spots for free strategy calls this week.

If you want to talk through and then add your problem comment, call below and I'll reach out with the details.

Or I just created a new resource that helps you and then insert the specific outcome. It's not ready for public release yet, but if you want early access, DM me the word resource and I'll send it over with a couple of questions about what you're trying to achieve or I'm testing out a new workshop or training or template.

It's up to you. I'm looking for 10 people to go through it and give feedback if you're struggling with and then insert the specific problem.

This could help Comment yes, if you want the details.

These posts all have one job.

Their job is to move people from passive content consumption to active conversation.

And they work because they offer specific value and they create natural opportunities for sales conversations.

The next one is to actually have sales conversations. And this might sound obvious, but I see it all the time.

Someone finally gets an inquiry and then they try to close the sale entirely through DMs or by sending them straight to a booking link or a sales page without any actual conversation.

So content gets people interested, but conversations close sales, especially for high ticket offers or services.

So how do you do this?

When someone reaches out, have an actual conversation with them.

Ask about their situation, their challenges, what they've already tried, what they're hoping to achieve.

Listen more than you talk.

Your job in that initial conversation is to understand their needs, not to pitch your services immediately.

Determine if they're actually good fit. Because not everyone who reaches out should become a client.

Some people are not ready, some are not the right fit, and that's okay.

Guide the conversation toward the natural next step.

Whether that's a proper discovery call, whether that is sending a proposal or recommending another resource if they're not quite ready.

But remember, the content got them to start the conversation.

Now it's your job to have a helpful human conversation that naturally leads to working together if it's the right fit.

So yes, you probably will have to get on the phone with someone or in a group call or something like that, a webinar. This is often more appropriate for higher ticket things where you just have those conversations.

All right, so that was it.

10 strategies for turning your content into actual sales conversations and the key takeaway is content and sales are not separate activities.

Your content should be strategically designed to start conversations, and those conversations should naturally lead to sales. When there's a good fit and I'm giving you a little bit of an action step, go through your social media content, look at your last 5 posts and ask yourself honestly, if any of them include a clear pathway to a sales conversation.

Do they identify problems without completely solving them?

Do they qualify your audience?

Do they include specific low friction calls to action?

So pick one of the strategies that I shared today and implement it in your next week of content.

And don't try to do all 10 at once. Just pick one that feels most relevant to where you're at right now and then commit to doing it well.

And if you're overwhelmed by all the different marketing strategies and all the different content types that we've discussed today and you're not sure where to focus your energy first, I've actually got something that will help you prioritise.

I am running a free masterclass, the Marketing Priority Matrix, so you can stop doing everything and start getting results.

Here's the thing.

The reason your marketing feels chaotic isn't because you're not doing enough. It's actually because you're doing too much of the wrong things.

So inside my masterclass, I am going to teach you a simple two by two matrix that helps you categorise every marketing activity into what you should do first, what you should schedule strategically, what you should batch or delegate, and what you should stop doing straight away.

So this framework is really valuable when you're trying to create content that converts because it helps you focus on the content types and the strategies that will actually move the needle in your business rather than just keeping you busy.

And this Masterclass is on 12 November at 11am Australian Daylight Saving Times. So Melbourne time, Hobart time, it's completely free.

You can register at newschoolofmarketing.com/matrix I'll also be answering questions live. So bring your content and your sales challenges and let's work them out together.

And remember, the most beautiful content in the world means absolutely nothing if it doesn't actually lead to business conversations.

So be strategic, be intentional.

Make it easy for the right people to actually reach out and work with you.

If you found this episode helpful, please share it with another business owner who's creating content and might not be getting the sales that they want.

Sometimes we all need a reminder that likes don't pay the bills. Conversations do.

I'll see you next week.