Letter #30: 3 product-led content mistakes you’re making
Hint: you aren't positioning your product correctly
Hello hello 👋
In last week’s letter on creating content that’s not the same ol’ regurgitated stuff, there was also a teeny tiny mention of creating “content that offers a good opportunity to spotlight your product as the solution readers need.”
Felt like that needed more of the spotlight, hence, today’s topic.
So, to the meaty bit, the three mistakes you’re making:
1. You’re positioning your product as the ONLY solution your readers need
My honest take: the correct way to create high-converting product-led content is to lead people to solutions other than yours as well.
Why? Because that’ll help them see you as someone who is invested in their success — in genuinely helping them. And that’s exactly why they’ll come to you.
But that’s what I did and they didn’t come to me, Masooma — what kind of advice is this?
Assuming your product is good, if they don’t come right away, they’ll come later (either when they’re ready to buy or when they need to switch from a competitor). If not, they’ll refer someone.
The point is: readers will always remember your helpful approach. So they’d either use your tool or refer it to someone. It’s as simple as that.
2. You’re not creating a compelling enough narrative
But hang on, what’s a “compelling enough narrative” in product-led content?
It’s the way you make the case for your product. It goes like this:
List a few solutions
Then dive into each — explaining their strengths and shortcomings + how to overcome those shortcomings
Share your solution as a possible solution for beating all the shortcomings you’ve discussed
This is basically you making your product the hero in the story — building its character by and by so that readers start favoring it.
3. Wrong calls to action (CTAs)
Not every product-led piece needs to end with a big “sign up for us” CTA.
Because, you know, sometimes when that CTA doesn’t fit your narrative, it comes across as pushy.
The solution then is to add CTAs that make sense. For example, add a link to your product when talking about it.
At the end of the piece, add a CTA by reviewing what would most make sense to the reader.
Example: instead of saying “sign up for our tool,” share a template. Or lead them to an advanced guide on the topic.
And that’s all for today folks.
Want to dive deep into creating high-converting product-led content? I talked about that on this podcast — it’s only 20 minutes long because I wanted to share as much as I could without taking too much of your time.
Cheers,
Masooma
Sharing templates or links to advanced guides instead of salesy sign-up CTAs is awesome! Plus, making our solution the Captain America among the other solutions is cool!
Learning from your newsletter is really fun! I get to know amazing things. Thanks you, Masooma.