Reading minds has always been seen as a superpower, and sure, I’ll admit that I may have gotten a little carried away with the title — if you really can read minds then we have positions open for you (but you already knew that, didn’t you).

Regardless of your cognitive reading capabilities, these techniques will improve your traffic!

Now, while we can’t actually make you telepathic, we are going to give you the secret to knowing what content to post to make you appear as if you are.

To become a mind reader extraordinaire you will learn how to:

• Understand how people think
• Learn what content they desire
• Find out what they feel is missing
• Gain Superpowers
• Deliver content right when they are looking for it
• Convert your traffic into leads and sales

First, we need to understand how people search, research, and behave online before making a purchase.

It’s important to understand the mind of a customer.

You need to know how they approach a sale.

Know the steps users take to get to a mindset that your product or service is right for them and the questions they ask to get there.

Today, your website is your digital brick and mortar.

Despite what Kevin Costner might have told you in Field of Dreams if you build it, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to come.

That doesn’t mean you should halt construction on that website. By all means, make a great site, just know that merely having a website isn’t enough.

But once you have a website you need to give people a reason to come back over and over again.

How often have you returned to a website?

The likely answer here is seldom to never.

What does this tell you?

People go to websites looking for basic info — contact info, location, how to make a purchase.

Without added value they have no reason to return.

So what we need to do is figure out something that will bring them back.

If you followed our Recipe for Irresistible Online Marketing you’re probably familiar with the Phases of Intent.

Essentially, people search for info on products or services before they make a purchase, and they do so in phases.

First, they are curious and ask a WHAT question: “WHAT is this?” “WHAT does it do?”

Then, as their curiosity or intent grows they begin to ask deeper questions.

If they are intrigued by WHAT you offer they will want to know HOW — “HOW does it work?” “HOW does it compare to what I already use?” “HOW is it better than the competitor’s?”

Answer that for them and then their intent continues to grow moving them into WHEN and finally WHERE questions — “WHEN is this happening?” “WHEN is it on sale?” “WHEN will it be released?”

Until finally they reach their greatest intent with WHERE questions — “WHERE can I get one?” “WHERE is the guy I can get to do this?” (At this stage they have their wallet out).

An easy way to visualize this is if you’ve ever wanted to go to a theater to see a movie.

First you see a trailer and want to know WHAT it is, then you want to know HOW well it is doing at the box office, then WHEN will it be released, and finally WHERE is it playing.

Note that WHAT type questions are nothing more than morbid curiosity with no intent to buy.

We see a lot of this kind of information and curiosity on social media.

Most social media posts do little else than make a user ask themselves “WHAT is this?”

It is a HUGE MISTAKE to think that having a Facebook and some Facebook Ads running are enough.

When you look at your Facebook analytics do you have a lot of impressions, but not very much engagement?

This is because social media is made for the WHAT level questions.

It’s a roulette wheel of “Hey look at this!” and you are only one post in a sea of a million distractions.

Let me explain what an Impression is versus Engagement.

Impression simply means it showed up in someone’s feed and they saw it.

Engagement means they saw it and then Liked, Commented, or Shared it.

So Impressions really don’t mean a lot, yet we so often see people getting excited that they posts are making great impressions.

Sure, you want your content to display in user’s feeds, but this isn’t enough.

This is like hanging up 100 posters around town about a party you are throwing, 1000 people see the poster, and only four people show up.

You aren’t going to get too excited about 1000 eyeballs if the party is a dud.

If you want them to make a purchase you’ve got to get them to your online store.

So know that you’ve got to offer value to get them on your site (your digital brick and mortar).

By understanding how people research products and services you can understand how to guide them through the Phases of Intent.

If you can make your site the go-to resource that answers all your customers’ “WHAT,” “HOW,” and “WHEN” questions, by the time they want to know “WHERE” they can get this kind of value they’ve already arrived at the “WHERE” destination — and you’re it!

So you may be wondering where the mind-reading comes in?

Well, clear your mind young grasshopper and let’s dive in.

As we stated before, now that you know how they think you need to know where to find content ideas.

Here’s where the “mind reading” process starts.

When looking for content ideas there are a variety of resources that will help you peer into the mind of your audience.

AnswerThePublic gives you the ability to see all the common questions users have searched on any given topic.

This way you gain insight into what people generally want to know about topics in your space.

For example, if you were to type in “branding,” AnswerThePublic would give you all the questions people have search online about branding.

You could also look at the comparison topics, then do product or service reviews and promote how your product or service falls into the comparison.

Our 10 Week Master Your Brand Course offers you direct feedback to create a personalized strategy that’s right for you.

 

Once you have an assortment of questions enter them into Quora.

Here you can actually see what info others have provided on those same topics.

This can help with research, but it can also help see where there are gaps in the info others have provided.

You can add info to your content you find missing in the responses from others, providing new useful information your audience is searching for.

 

Another great way to find out about info that your audience is searching for is to look at Amazon reviews.

Neil Patel suggests that looking at book reviews on topics in your industry will help you see what is missing so you can know what content will be new to your niche.

Looking at 2 and 3-star reviews will often highlight info users felt was missing from the book on that topic.

You can use this to formulate your content and fill in the gaps ensuring, not only that you are giving your audience what they are searching for, but also solidifying you as an expert on that topic.

 

Another useful tool is to go to Google Alerts and set up alerts on topics related to your business.

Here you will get a daily report on all the info discussed on that topic.

Having this report shows you what is trending on those topics.

You can take these articles and then go back to Quora, Amazon, or AnswersThePublic and see how you can add or improve upon them.

Or, at very least, this will give you articles you can site in your own content to provide legitimacy and external indexing for link building.

As you grow you can test to see how people are finding your site specifically.

Once you’ve been building traffic for a while, take a look at the info provided in Google Console.

Google Console will provide you a detailed list of search terms people are entering into search engines to find you specifically.

Now we are really reading their minds.

Use this tool to see which keywords and long term keywords (or phrases) are driving people to your site specifically.

In the Performance tab, you can actually see all these keywords and phrases listed out for you.

We recommend that you concentrate on the phrases that fit into the Phases of Intent, so look for phrases that are questions.

For example, “What is the difference between branding and marketing?” or “How can I improve my branding.”

These are great topics to create content on and, best of all, they are coming from people who have already searched and navigated to your site as a result.

Unpacking these questions for them will only help them to recognize you as the “go-to” source for all their needs and keep them coming back.

The best part as the more information you offer, the more these performance keywords will evolve.

This will continue to give you new ideas with your newly found mind reading abilities.

Lastly, if you want to ensure you post your content at the most relevant time, when it will have the biggest impact on your audience, and when they are searching for it the most, you’ll want to look at search trends.

To accomplish this head over to Google Trends and put in some of the topics you are considering creating content about.

Once you do you can see when those topics are getting the most searches and understand how these topics trend.

For example, let’s say you are a home remodeling business, if you search for kitchen remodeling techniques you’ll get insights on the best time to post content about that topic and when to share it with your potential audience based on what months most people tend to search for it.

Once you’ve developed your content and are gaining traction submit a request to have your content featured on Google News Publisher and Bing News Pubhub.

These publication platforms ensure your content displays in their feeds for people looking for the latest trending topics and articles.

There is no better way to be top of mind than to have content that is timely, relevant, and easy to find.

Now that you’ve discovered how to find topics users are looking for, and how to leave them a breadcrumb trail, all you have left to do is ensure you provide a strong call-to-action.

Within your content provide them with an action that is relevant to the content you’ve delivered.

For example, if you are discussing the benefits of a certain product, have a “Buy Now” option within your content.

If the content is about how great your services will change their life, provide them with a “Call Now” button.

Another option is to have an exclusive offer, such as a downloadable PDF in exchange for their email.

This way you can retarget them in the future.

Ensure your offer provides them immediate value, such as basic tips to improve their business or lifestyle.

 

 

SUMMARY

 

So hopefully by now, you see the path to reading your customers’ minds.

It takes time and effort to perfect these techniques, but luckily for you, no tragic backstory or exposure to Gamma radiation is required to access these marketing superpowers.

First, you need to understand how people go from mildly curious to desiring to make a purchase by analyzing the Phases of Intent.

Next, take advantage of tools such as AnswerThePublic and Quora to learn what people are searching for in your niche.

Then you can find out what is missing from the answers provided and fill in the gaps in your own content to give your audience something new that they aren’t finding elsewhere.

If you are patient and consistent eventually you will build traffic and Google Console will tell you what is bringing people specifically to your site and your superpowers will be unlocked.

And creating a strong call-to-action or exclusive offer within your content will ensure you’re seen as their hero and they’ll want to buy from you.

Now with your superpowers unleashed you can look at search trends with Google Trends to ensure you deliver the content at the perfect time.

Now you know the secrets to telepathic marketing, you have the power to create content that converts because it is what your customers are already looking for.

We’ll let you know when we master flight, but until then you have the power to improve the lives of your customers by providing them knowledge and wisdom to help them understand the right solutions and demonstrate how you can provide those solutions to them.