Problems with “They Ask, You Answer”
There’s a book that errrrrbody is talking about and quoting these days—it’s called They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan. It’s several years old at this point, but just like wide-leg jeans, what’s old is new again, and the entrepreneurial echo chamber is enthralled.
If you don’t know the book, here’s the premise: there’s a way to create content that inevitably pulls buyers toward you (aka ‘inbound marketing’), rather than you spending a ton of money on ads (aka ‘outbound marketing’).
They Ask, You Answer’s method encourages you to be obsessive about your customers’ problems, hone in on their questions, and provide the very best answers.
It’s all about being a thorough, accurate, and trustworthy subject matter expert, especially as buyers get further down the funnel, so that they’re more likely to buy from you rather than the competition.
When done right, search engine and social traffic allegedly abound, throwing you right to the top of any search result and gathering you a screaming mass of raving fans ready to throw their wallets at you.
Okay, that last bit is dramatic, but it’s the general gist.
And truthfully? I agree with all of it! People pay attention to the type of content that will either help them or entertain them—otherwise, it just gets scrolled over.
But if you’re salivating at the results They Ask, You Answer is dangling, know that there’s a fine line between ‘traffic’ and ‘meaningful traffic’—and therein lies the problem with this method.
Before you run into your next staff meeting with this book in hand to scream about how it’s the next best thing and will change your sales trajectory, read this.
This type of content is hard to outsource
Marcus says this in the book, but I want to reiterate it in case it’s a point you missed. After all, entrepreneurs and leaders everywhere are told constantly to ‘delegate, delegate, delegate,’ and because of that, leaders will think, ‘well, I’ll just get someone else to do this for me.’
Here’s the thing: if you’re an early-stage business or startup, you’re probably the type who started with a lot of passion, chutzpah, and expertise. As you grow and scale, you get frustrated that others don’t know as much as you and can’t do as good of a job.
Now, imagine outsourcing your important Q&A content to someone who may have never operated in your industry.
You want to thoroughly answer questions from a point of deep knowledge, not gloss over important details or stay surface level. In the same way that you feel you do the best work for your clients, only a true expert can fill in the meat for great content (at first, anyway).
Your strategy:
Taking hold of the reins doesn’t mean you’re stuck with all the heavy lifting—chances are, you might not be the best writer or content producer if you’re busy, say, installing crawlspaces—but you need to be very intentional with what you outsource.
Get a web-dev partner that understands conversion optimization.
Hire a production and editing team for any video content.
Write an outline and provide it to an SEO-specialized copywriter so it fits your brand voice and feels easy to read.
Find a social or content manager to dig deep and find even more questions people ask that you might have missed.
Whatever you do, don’t step back and expect them to write all the specialized details of the content. That’s where you need to come in and guide.
This makes sure that everyone is working in their genius and your content and user experience is set up to be the absolute best it can be.
You need conversion funnels before anything else
Following the They Ask, You Answer method isn’t a ‘write it and they’ll come’ situation.
You can have the best content in the world, but if you have a crappy website with absolutely no clear direction on what a visitor should do next, your content isn’t going to work. The prospects you’re drawing will be confused and they’ll quickly forget about you.
You need a way to push your visitors toward an end goal: more resources, a meeting, a newsletter…something to give you a permanent spot on their radar.
Your strategy:
Get the lay of the land on your website. Check:
Is your website updated, modern, and easy to navigate?
Does your site load quickly?
Is it easy to find your contact page?
Is your contact form short and sweet, without too many questions?
Do you have a system to collect email addresses and leads?
Is your mobile experience clean and error-free?
Do you have any other low-touch ways to capture leads apart from demos or a contact form?
These are the things you need to have in place to get your ship in order, otherwise, you’re not going to be optimized for conversion.
Know the difference between traffic and relevant traffic
Don’t chase page views, okay? Don’t pressure your team to aggressively build SEO numbers month over month.
What you want to see are *conversions—*what happens after the traffic is drawn and the page is viewed.
That’s why having conversion funnels, clear forms, CTAs, and high-quality resources are so important: it helps you understand if you’re attracting relevant traffic.
Your strategy:
You don’t need a hard sell or a contact request in every piece—it’s a little like asking for their hand in marriage on the first date.
Instead, brainstorm ways you can attract leads and build trust without needing to speak to them directly yet. And don’t feel limited to a simple download (though if that’s all you have time for, it’s okay).
One of my favorite lead magnets I’ve seen is from The Color Palette Studio, a website run by a graphic designer who wants to “help solve every color frustration designers face.”
Her short-form video content is *so good—*it educates, it entertains, it tells a story, and it never hard sells. By the end of each video, I want to go and check the contrast of every color I’ve ever tried to combine.
She leads you toward color palette quizzes, a free version of her premium tools, and even no-cost workshops for things like building brand guides, color palettes, and font pairings.
There’s so much value, knowledge, and trust there that I’d never even second guess before signing up for the premium version of her tool. I’ll throw my money at her.
The biggest takeaway? Always ask: what is something that could really help my customer get pointed in the right direction to solve their problem? Can you provide it for free as a way to build trust? Would it build a deeper relationship to your product, not just answer a surface-level question?
Have a plan to nurture and follow up on traffic and leads
So you’re pulling in curious searchers, getting a few leads to your magnets, and generally starting to see traction.
Don’t leave people hanging!
Now’s the time to get serious and stay top of mind. When searchers find your content, they’re either going to close a tab and move on, save a video and move on, fill out a form or move on…you get the drift.
You need to bring them back.
Your strategy:
If you’ve captured their email, think about different drips you can put them in.
Did they sign up for general news? Send out a general newsletter of helpful tips and company updates.
Did they sign up for a specific resource? Send out a several-day drip with more content relevant to that resource.
Did they request a pricing guide? Quick, get ‘em to the sales team! What kind of content or videos can you send to these leads to convince them to buy?
For those who are just viewing pages or social content without interacting, this is where you can consider retargeting ads. It’s harder to chase people you don’t know yet (ie, don’t have their email), so you’ll have to invest a little to find them and stay top of mind.
Long story short: if you’re investing in this type of content plan, make sure you’re going all the way and not ignoring those leads you’re working so hard to get.
Lastly, you need patience, time, a plan…and probably a dedicated hire
Do you feel overwhelmed yet?
If not, you should! Building a strategy around They Ask, You Answer is a lot of work. Years of it, even.
You simply can’t do it all on your own and run a business.
Your strategy:
In the book, Marcus suggests hiring a content manager, and I couldn’t agree more. (Or, if you have a special sort of multitool on your team, it might be time for a role change.)
This person should be eager to understand your business inside and out, and you should impress that need upon them.
You should be willing to train them and help them understand your expertise, because they’ll essentially be the first line between the business and the rest of the world.
Work with them to put together 30, 60, and 90 day plans every quarter. Start with your website and conversion points, build out lead magnets, hire the partners and expertise you need to create the highest quality experience possible, and then start your regularly-scheduled content production process.
Many, many entrepreneurs just want to hit the ground running and start yesterday—but this is a big strategy that takes knowledge, manpower, planning, systems, and time.
Weirdly, this is exactly where the marriage of operations and marketing comes into play, and where I shine.
I’m working on a Notion template that you can follow to implement this type of content strategy into your organization. If that’s something you’re interested in, sign up to get updates on my custom systems here.
