They Ask You Answer: A Revolutionary Approach to Inbound Sales, Content Marketing, and Today's Digital Consumer

by Marcus Sheridan, Krista Kotrla (Foreword)

Traduction du They Ask, You Answer

Les consommateurs d’aujourd’hui vivent dans un monde numérique où ils ont accès à toutes les informations dont ils ont besoin pour prendre une décision d’achat. Pour influencer le comportement de vos acheteurs, vous devez être une autorité capable de répondre à toutes les questions, préoccupations ou craintes qu’ils peuvent avoir. Pour ce faire, vous devez mettre de côté les manuels de marketing et de vente de la « vieille école » et adopter le rôle d’enseignant, en créant du contenu qui apporte à vos acheteurs les réponses qu’ils recherchent. C’est ainsi que vous développerez votre entreprise à l’ère numérique. Ils demandent : vous répondez est le guide qui vous permettra d’atteindre cet objectif.

La première édition de Ils demandent : vous répondez a connu un énorme succès, permettant aux équipes marketing et commerciales de tous les secteurs (B2B et B2C) de se connecter avec leurs acheteurs en ligne et de réaliser une croissance stupéfiante de leur chiffre d’affaires. Cette édition révisée va encore plus loin en vous présentant les derniers outils incontournables du marketing de contenu, comme la technologie de conversation en temps réel et la vidéo. Vous y trouverez également de nouvelles études de cas et des entretiens avec des leaders d’opinion du secteur. Enfin, ce livre vous donnera un aperçu de l’avenir du marketing numérique. Avec Ils demandent : vous répondez dans votre poche, vous ne serez pas seulement positionné pour réussir aujourd’hui, mais vous serez également prêt pour ce qui se profile à l’horizon en matière de comportement des acheteurs et de technologie.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Buisness, Audiobook, Professional Development, Social Media, Personal Development

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Called a “web marketing guru” by the New York Times, the Story of how Marcus Sheridan was able to save his swimming pool company, River Pools, from the economic crash of 2008 has been featured in multiple books, publications, and stories around the world.

Since this achievement, Sheridan has become a highly sought after global speaker and consultant in the digital sales and marketing space, working with hundreds of business and brands alike to become the most trusted voice of their industry.

Reviews

[Sebastian Gebski · Rating 5 out of 5]

How does one rate a sales book trying to sell you something (& written by professional salespeople)? :) Yeah, tough cookie.

First thing first - it's a book about content marketing and inbound sales created by (as he calls himself) a pool boy - someone whose business was to send ceramic pools to folks. The industry may seem rather exotic, but (as the author claims & I agree with him) the vast majority of the content presented here is widely applicable & universal. The book is written in an extremely American style, which means that convincing is based primarily on repetition - Sheridan keeps iterating the same concepts again and again, from slightly different angles, with new examples. But he makes sure that the name of his "method" (They Ask You Answer) is always present. It may be very annoying to Europeans (some even treat it as a lack of respect for readers' intelligence ...), but ...

... the truth is that the book is worth reading. The fundamental concepts presented here (understanding the concerns of the customer, not being afraid to address the hard truths, looking for the most proper channel of communication for inbound marketing) are absolutely essential, yet so rarely implemented correctly in practice. Companies tend to follow outdated industry conventions, plainly-dumb corporate policies, or super-conservative playbooks of past eras. In theory, Sheridan doesn't invent anything particularly innovative here - he's probably just blunter than everyone else. AND he spends a lot of time proving why & how it really makes a difference.

So, YES, the book can sometimes be annoying. Sometimes too obvious. Frequently - too repetitive. But it's still worth reading.

[Brian Senf · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boils down to "customers like having their questions answered" spread out over 50 pages of the author's self congratulatory backstory and then a few hundred pages of case studies with more anecdotes written in a conversational 6th grader's voice.

It reads as a stream-of-consciousness rambling trying to desperately fill up enough pages to look authoritative, with nothing of any importance. If you're been in marketing for more than 6 months, you know everything that is in this book, and you can probably explain it better than Marcus.

Instead of buying this book, order yourself a pizza and figure out how to answer your customer's questions in a clear and honest manner. There. Not only have I given you the exact same lessons in this book in one sentence, I've also fed you.

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard a question this year that has had a big influence on me: "If this were simple, how would we do it?" So many of the most revolutionary things are the things that feel like once you know them, that they should have been obvious.

That is what it feels like with this book. Find the questions that your customers (in a business context) are asking, and answer them honestly and forthrightly, especially the questions that aren't necessarily the easiest or most straightforward to answer.

We all do searching multiple times a day to find out information and find the answers to our questions, particularly if we're thinking about making a purchase - the entity that answers those questions honestly is the one that is most likely to influence our buying decisions, so if you want that business to be you, being the one to answer those questions is a no brainer.

How I'll apply this to my particular venture - an ASMR channel - is something I still have to figure out, but I have been thoroughly convinced that it is something I need to do, and that I will create more findable content if I do so.

[Tyler Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised with this book. I read most of it for a class and found it to be an easy read and very easy to understand. It's conversational in tone and really just pushes a marketing philosophy that centers around the customer rather than the business. Sheridan stresses the importance of looking at things from a customer's point of view and putting the work into making sure customers' questions are sufficiently answered and that you are able to help them in every step of the marketing process. Overall, I would recommend this to anyone who working in a marketing position.

[Paul Botterill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really made me think. I am no marketing professional but I do enjoy getting involved. This book gave me a valuable insight into a different way of thinking about marketing based on production of content. I found the argument that it could be applied to any industry really quite compelling and I am already formulating plans for how it could be used within the company I work for.

[William Aicher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good primer on content marketing via educational and informational content. Recommend reading Content, Inc. as a related book.

[Madison · Rating 1 out of 5]

i feel like i can’t even count this bc i skimmed the last 100 pages.

[Visnja Zeljeznjak · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I had to pick just one content marketing book to recommend to absolute beginners and small businesses, I'd recommend this one. Not only does it answer the question WHY someone should engage in content marketing, but it also answers the two much harder questions:
- WHAT should I write about? (answer: answer customer questions)
- HOW should I start (answer: the author recommends specific steps)

It's much easier to read one book, but it's much harder to embrace the lessons and dedicate one's time to implement those lessons, company-wide. The reality is that most small business owners will need a little help from a friendly content marketing consultant to keep them accountable and to help them make the first steps.

Great book! Highly recommended!

[Tomás Atilano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creo que el artículo que hizo el New York Times sobre Marcus Sheridan engloba y responde de una forma elocuente lo que es este libro para el mundo del marketing. REVOLUCIONARIO.

Y cómo revolucionó el mundo? Contestando las preguntas de sus consumidores.

They ask you answer, además de estar escrito de una manera fluida, divertida y ligera, es una guía para dominar el nicho de mercado en el que te encuentres.

Los Big 5, el poder del Content Manager, la importancia de borrar la línea entre los departamentos de una empresa, que todos seamos creadores de contenido son el HOW cosa que muy pocos libros te dan.

Estoy seguro que aplicando esta guía, todos traeremos beneficios a los negocios o empresas que pertenezcamos.

Gracias totales, Marcus.S

[Juan Sanoja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cuidado y no es lo mejor que he leído durante el año.

Marcus Sheridan cubre un hueco en el mercado al publicar un libro de marketing que no sólo dice QUÉ hay que hacer, sino que explica exactamente CÓMO hacerlo.

La sensación es que el autor se guarda poco o nada de su caja de herramientas: el texto está plagado de tácticas aplicables para cualquier empresa dispuesta a hacerlo. Además, el lenguaje con el que Sheridan comunica es sencillo, sin pretensiones. Es marketing para no marketeros.

Si quieres aprender realmente qué es eso de inbound, content strategy y demás, puede que este sea EL libro para empezar, e incluso profundizar, en el tema.

En pocas palabras, si quieres hacer crecer tu negocio, debes crear contenido que responda las principales preguntas de tus potenciales clientes. Puede resultar incómodo, pero debes hablar sobre tópicos como:

1. Precios.
2. Comparación de tus productos/servicios vs. los de la competencia.

El principal enemigo de la venta es la resistencia del prospecto a la compra. ¿Cómo se elimina ese escollo? Con mucha honestidad y transparencia.

Para ser un buen marketero debemos vernos a nosotros mismos y entender cómo pensamos a la hora de comprar.

[Alex Khlopenko · Rating 2 out of 5]

No matter how hard they try to make marketing into something civilized and humane, something about value and helping people - it's still all about the society of the spectacle and guy debord would've chopped their heads off for writing books like this.

Helpful to both beginner and experienced marketers though

[Daryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

TL;DR - do content marketing. And when you do your content maybe actually answer the questions your buyers have, yeah?

That’s the gist of it.

Basic idea. But was helpful to read a book about it and get some ideas flowing about how to build a whole company culture around content.

Also some of the specific types of content he suggested creating, such as a pricing guide when you’re in an industry whose pricing is normally hidden, were good.

[Emerson Salles · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a great book it shows how great content can bring more costumers and increase your profit.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for work, but it’s quite good. Basically about content/inbound marketing and radical transparency in terms of pricing, right-fit customers and answering the questions customers really want the answers to.

[Camilla Leurs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful and specific information and action regarding leveraging your website and social media.

[Grant · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that good. Very repetitive. Some useful nuggets, but definitely doesn't need to be as long as it is and if you know anything about content marketing already, this is very basic 101 stuff with little in the way of useful analysis/thinking. Some useful nuggets:

-Pricing & cost: be more open to talking about these openly in various forms of content. Yes the prices are likely often changing, yes cost depends on many factors - so talk about those factors!

-The concept of the "80% Video" is good. Have the sales team/front-line people document the questions they get from prospects/customers; 70-90% of these are the same from call to call (the 80/20 rule dictates that this rough ratio will be common across most companies). And (certainly from my own experience) the majority of this tacit knowledge never becomes explicit knowledge in most companies. This is a problem. Do videos or other content pieces answering these questions, putting the question in headline of content. Phrase the headline from the customer's headspace, not the company's headspace.

-Related: Leveraging BCC'ing in sales emails to alert the marketing team whenever questions are being answered that could be used in public content. Many orgs. are spending a lot of time writing emails and not communicating this content to marketing; this could be leveraged better.

-The Wix.com UX example he uses (chapter 52) is a good one and the idea of implementing "self-selection tools" on your website is something worth exploring further.

In the Part V website section, we get trite chapters such as "Social proof" and "Site speed" which you've surely read about in a hundred other UX/web books already if you've been paying any attention. Yawn. HubSpot gets mentioned but only in a cursory manner; more of a deep-dive on this/discussion of specific workflows he had success with would have been better. The case studies he includes are more or less just all repetitions of one another - they all had success using "They ask, you answer"... we got that point in the FIRST case study, though. All the pitches for his agency get grating after a while, too. Not only does Sheridan make sure to mention his agency in almost every chapter, he also includes a section in the Appendix all about it. Overkill, Marcus. The overall idea is a good one and most companies should do "They ask, you answer". But this didn't need to be a 300+ page book.

[Mikkel Tolnaes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful book on how to create a customer-centric culture that drives inbound leads in a digital world. Probably the most actionable business book I’ve read: it is purely focussed on implementable advice, rather than the usual high-level and vague faff that business books are so often steeped in. This is a well written instruction manual on how B2B organisations need to drastically transform their sales and marketing functions to respond to digitally savvy buyers.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly idea is a very good one and worth reading the book for but the book is about twice as long as it needs to be. Seem to have been listening to it on audible forever!

[Pavel Antoci · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy but comprehensive read!

Marcus Sheridan explains the power of content marketing and how it can transform a business by addressing customers' concerns and questions through helpful, informative, and transparent content. The book emphasizes the importance of providing value to customers through educational content, and here are some key takeaways:

Customers want to be informed: The book highlights that customers today are much more informed and educated than ever before. They research products and services before making a purchase, and they expect companies to provide them with the information they need to make informed decisions.

Address the customers' concerns and questions: Companies should focus on addressing their customers' concerns and questions through their content marketing strategy. By doing so, they can establish themselves as a trusted resource and build a relationship with their customers.

Be transparent: The book stresses the importance of being transparent and honest in your content. By sharing your company's strengths and weaknesses, customers will perceive your business as trustworthy and credible.

Use storytelling to make a connection: Using storytelling is an effective way to make a connection with your audience. Share stories that your customers can relate to and provide them with the information they need to make a decision.

Measure the success of your content marketing: It is important to measure the success of your content marketing efforts regularly. By doing so, you can make data-driven decisions and adjust your strategy as needed.

Answer the tough questions: Addressing the tough questions that your customers may have about your product or service can set you apart from your competitors. By providing honest and transparent answers, you can build trust with your audience and establish yourself as an authority in your industry.

The biggest area the customers are concerned when making a purchase decision are the big 5:

1. Pricing & Cost
2. Problems
3. Versus & Comparisons
4. Reviews
5. Best in Class

Happy Reading!

[Brian Soetaert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian's Book Bastion review is up on YouTube! Subscribe!

[Alexandra Graßler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wer sich immer schon mal gefragt hat wie man denn durch bloggen Erfolg haben kann, dem sei dieses Buch empfohlen.

Marcus Sheridan hat they ask you answer zu einem Lehrstück an erfolgreichen Blog content gemacht.

Er war Inhaber einer Pool company die am Rande der Pleite entlang geschrammt ist.

Bis er für sich eine Methode entwickelt hat, durch die er Blogartikel bei den ersten Suchtreffern von Google landen konnte.

Durch diese Blogartikel kam ein völlig neuer Strom an Interessenten auf seine Webseite.

Das Geheimnis dahinter ist eigentlich kein Geheimnis, denn es geht einfach darum, die Fragen die Kunden haben, bestmöglichst zu beantworten.

Ja das ist Arbeit, doch diese Arbeit ist extrem zielgerichtet auf das, was die Kunden im Kopf haben, wenn sie beginnen zu recherchieren.

Bei diesem inbound-marketing geht es darum, zu verstehen, dass die Kunden bereits mit sehr viel Wissen in eine Kontaktaufnahme hinein gehen.

Das ist nicht mehr wie vor fünf oder zehn Jahren, sondern hat sich grundlegend geändert.

Wenn du ein Geschäft hast, egal ob Produkte oder Dienstleistungen und du bloggst gerne, dann hol dir dieses Buch.

Ich kann dir garantieren, dass du darin Ansätze findest, die Du sofort für dein Business umsetzen kannst.

[PT Gastro Tourism Academy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buku ini tidak terlalu berat dibaca karena seperti membaca cerita pendek tapi memang disampaikan dengan studi kasus bisnis yang tidak terlalu besar. PT Gastro Tourism Academy menyukai cerita Marcus Sheridan (pengusaha kolam renang yang hampir bangkrut pada krisis ekonomi tahun 2008). Marcus menyadari kalau bisnis modern berfokus pada hal-hal baru sampai semua cara lama ditinggalkan, tapi anehnya cara tradisional masih dipertahankan seperti pemasaran harus beli iklan, butuh agensi, perlu penggerak/bintang iklan yang akhirnya menjadi biaya diluar anggaran usaha, dan bertanya-tanya relevansi di era digital : "bisnis digital tapi cara jadul ? butuh berapa duit lagi? haruskah ambil kredit/utang hanya demi iklan & coba-coba hal baru? ini tidak efisien!!!".



Marcus ​Sheridan kemudian menemukan kunci kesuksesan usahanya sendiri yang akhirnya meninggalkan hal-hal FOMO yang dia yakini tidak begitu berpengaruh pada usahanya, namun beberapa hal yang membawa bisnisnya stabil dan akhirnya menambah profit seperti :
1. Menjadi pendengar langganan & jujur apa adanya pada bisnisnya. Konsumen modern sudah berubah, konsumen sekarang tidak bisa dibodohi jargon,hal-hal tak berbasis bukti karena sebelum membeli mereka pasti mencari informasi.
2. Bisnis yang memenangkan pasar bukanlah bisnis yang terjebak dengan masa lalu, pasar pun amat sangat jenuh. Misalnya pembelian makanan organik, mana buktinya? Apa yang menyebabkan sebutan organik? Adalah sertifikasi legalnya? Dikurasi dan klaim sendiri? Hal ini tidak disukai konsumen cerdas, mereka seperti dibohongi kemasan. Sama seperti pembelian make-up, lipstik dengan pelembab ekstra. Ekstra apa? Pelindung UV? Ber-SPF ? Ya apa? Jangan omong kosong. Buktikan/Prove it!

Konten marketing yang baik adalah bentuk dari penjualan itu sendiri.

​Transparansi sebagai Keunggulan Kompetitif: Sheridan memberikan contoh ekstrem di mana perusahaannya mampu menjual kolam renang senilai lebih dari $100.000 secara online tanpa harus bertemu fisik dengan pelanggan terlebih dahulu, hanya karena ia menjawab semua pertanyaan pelanggan melalui konten yang jujur dan membantu, baginya lebih baik menjelaskan secara detil sebelumnya daripada menjawab komplain setelahnya.

Hal ini jarang dipahami para penjual yang hanya fokus pada branding, branding itu hanya pembungkus, konsumen itu perlu isinya. Banyak yang zonk ketika membeli produk/jasa yang diluar ekspektasi, justru bisnis yang lama bertahan karena jujur keduanya, pernah mendatangi kedai kopi tua lama yang bertahan namun relevan? Itu adalah contoh nyata bahwa kualitas diatas kuantitas. 10 konsumen yang selalu repeat order membantu stabilitas pemasukan dibanding 10.000 konsumen hanya sekali datang/beli dan pindah ke produk yang lebih murah/lebih menarik.

Pernah dengar dengan Ostrich Marketing Strategy? ini pemasaran dari mitos burung unta yang mengubur kepalanya didalam pasir saat menghadapi masalah karena mereka pikir masalah akan hilang begitu saja dengan sendirinya?

​
​Dalam konteks bisnis, strategi ini merujuk pada kecenderungan perusahaan untuk menghindari pembahasan masalah atau pertanyaan sulit yang diajukan oleh calon pelanggan di situs web mereka/admin toko mereka yang tidak pernah memuaskan pelanggan, jangan memuaskan pelanggan, informasi detilnya saja sulit dilakukan. Sering menemukan tipe penjual yang tidak memasang harga jelas dan komposisi produknya? Mereka pikir calon konsumen tertarik menanyakannya secara privat? Buang waktu!

​Perusahaan sering kali memilih untuk menunggu sampai mereka berhadapan langsung (face-to-face) dengan pelanggan untuk membahas topik-topik sensitif tersebut, alih-alih bersikap transparan sejak awal secara online.


​2. Mengapa Banyak Perusahaan Melakukannya? ​Keinginan Mengontrol Percakapan yang tidak pernah seru didiskusikan. Perusahaan sering menghindari topik tertentu di situs web karena mereka merasa itu akan merugikan posisi mereka atau memberi mereka kerugian strategis jika dibahas secara terbuka.

​Paradoks Digital: Meskipun konsumen saat ini sangat terinformasi dan ingin mendapatkan informasi, banyak perusahaan justru takut untuk membahas kekhawatiran yang sebenarnya dipikirkan oleh pelanggan mereka. Kesimpulannya banyak pengusaha yang tidak paham apa yang mereka jual.


​3. Pentingnya Transparansi (Konsep "They Ask, You Answer").

​Marcus Sheridan menekankan pergeseran paradigma yang krusial yaitu
​Perubahan Perilaku Konsumen.

Dulu, tenaga penjual adalah sumber informasi utama, namun kini konsumen melakukan riset sendiri dan menjadi ahli sebelum mereka memutuskan untuk membeli.

​Membangun Kepercayaan itulah Keberhasilan bisnis saat ini yang bergantung pada kemampuan untuk bersikap benar-benar transparan, menjawab semua pertanyaan pelanggan, dan mendidik mereka tanpa bias.

​Penyatuan Peran: Marcus Sheridan menyadari bahwa ia tidak lagi hanya seorang pengusaha kolam renang, tetapi harus menjadi seorang "pengajar" bagi konsumennya.

​4. Langkah Praktis: "Brainstorming"
​Untuk keluar dari jebakan Ostrich Marketing, Marcus Sheridan menyarankan langkah praktis berikut seperti : ​Buat Sesi Brainstorming, Kumpulkan setiap pertanyaan yang pernah diajukan oleh prospek atau pelanggan kepada pengusaha/yg memiliki bisnis.

​Fokus pada Konsumen: Tuliskan pertanyaan tersebut tepat seperti cara konsumen bertanya atau mencari di internet, bukan berdasarkan cara Anda sebagai pemilik bisnis ingin menyatakannya. Ya, sekarang kita kenal dengan QnA atau FAQ.

​Buku ini dipilih oleh PT Gastro Tourism Academy karena kasusnya bisnisnya sederhana tentang bagaimana konsumen ingin transparansi dan bukan info-info gimmick/kosmetik dan bagaimana pemilik usaha selalu bisa evaluasi, berbenah, dan mengutamakan kualitas, konsumen juga suka kejujuran, tipe konsumen yang edukatif terlihat dari pemahaman harga yang ditawarkan pemilik bisnis.

Repa Kustipia,
Direktur PT Gastro Tourism Academy

[Nicolle Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

My boss bought us both a copy of this book and I actually can't wait to put this in practice. I attended one of Marcus Sheridan's webinars also. It's a very interesting but simple concept and it's very motivating to get up and do some basic content marketing that doesn't seem much but could change the landscape of your sales future. 4.5 stars

[Arturo Hernández · Rating 4 out of 5]

At its core, the writing of this book is a bit too simple, however the idea that it presents (even though simple as well) is quite revolutionary. I’m definitely applying this ASAP to improve communication with our users at the startup I work at. The book is over 200 pages, I feel it could have explained its objective in 100 pages or so (that’s the reason behind the 4 star review, otherwise this is a must read for any startup head).

[Jess Knaus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a great reminder of the importance of great content. I did find the structure of the book disjointed and it was long-winded. I felt the points could have been expressed more succinctly but I understand the repetition was designed to build emphasis. Overall the message is a constructive one and is still going to be useful for me, no matter what role I play.

[Zach Burger · Rating 2 out of 5]

While boasting a revolutionary approach to content marketing and cutting through the noise to speak directly to consumers, much of "They Ask, You Answer" is regurgitated guidelines and roadmaps cited throughout the content marketing world.

[Kayleigh Mihalko · Rating 5 out of 5]

They Ask You Answer by Marcus Sheridan should be required reading for business owners and marketers. Maybe even for sales too. I really enjoyed this book and found it very easy to read.

[Chloë Forbes-Kindlen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're new to Marcus Sheridan and 'They Ask You Answer', this book is a game changer!

[Christopher Shulgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it for entrepreneurs looking to improve their marketing. So inspiring.

[Robby Trione · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is wonderful! I'm looking to implement this at work.