The Marketing 80/20 Rule: Why Your Content Should Be More Than a Sales Pitch

While the goal of marketing is to bring in customers and increase sales, that doesn’t mean you should be constantly shoving a sales pitch down your audience’s throat. 

Instead, focus on creating authentic, relevant, entertaining, and educational content. You can still showcase your brand, products, and services — but do it in a way that also gives your audience something of value.

Does this mean you should never sell? Of course not. But sales content shouldn’t make up the bulk of your online presence. For a better mix of content, follow the marketing 80/20 rule. 

What Is the Marketing 80/20 Rule?

This rule dictates that 80% of your content (blogs, social media posts, email newsletters, and so on) should focus on providing value to your audience through education, entertainment, or problem-solving.

Meanwhile, only 20% of the content you share should be promotional. 

Why? We’ll dig into all the benefits of following this rule in a moment, but generally speaking, your online presence is all about building relationships with your audience — not inundating them with sales pitch after sales pitch.

I know this can feel counterintuitive, as a traditional sales pitch seems like the most direct way to reach your sales goals. But in reality, even the best sales pitch won’t have a strong payoff if you don’t first build some kind of relationship with the people you’re trying to sell to. 

Why Follow the 80/20 Rule?

No One Likes a Sales Pitch

The truth is, no one likes to feel like they’re being sold to. Think about it: how closely do you pay attention to salesy TV ads? I’d be willing to bet they don’t grab your attention. If anything, they tend to be off-putting — while ads that tell a story or make you laugh are more likely to draw you in.

The old Subaru “We Lived” commercials were a great example of marketing that tells a story. These ads essentially sold the safety features of Subaru cars — but instead of listing all the safety features or giving a hard sell, they told stories of families who lived through serious car accidents because of their Subarus. Brilliant…and much more memorable than a sales pitch!

No one likes salesy marketing. Whether it’s in their email inbox, social media feed, or a blog post, people are looking for connection, entertainment, inspiration, and valuable information — not another sales spiel.

When It Comes To Selling, Less Is More

If all you ever do is sell, sell, sell…it’ll quickly become white noise. No one will pay attention.

But if most of your content is educational or entertaining, your promotional content will stand out. It’ll also be more palatable to your audience because you’ve worked to build a relationship with your other content.

Build Brand Awareness 

You wouldn’t introduce yourself to someone at a cocktail party with a sales pitch. So why would you do that with your brand marketing?

Sharing useful, relevant content gets your name in front of more people. Content that provides value to your audience is share-worthy, prompting people to distribute it to their friends and followers.

To make shareable content, you first need to understand your audience’s pain points. Then, craft content that addresses those pain points. The goal is to attract, nurture, and retain customers long-term — not just to make an immediate sale.

Create Lasting Value

This kind of content provides enduring value…whereas with a sales pitch, the value is extremely short-lived. Content like in-depth guides, detailed product information, virtual tours, product demos, how-tos, and so on will continue to nurture and convert prospects long after they’re created. 

Build Trust and Loyalty

The marketing 80/20 rule requires a paradigm shift: from typical product-centered messaging to attracting customers by offering something of value.

If you focus the majority of your content on creating value for your audience, sales will inevitably follow. That’s because when you offer something valuable without a hard sales push, it helps you establish trusting, long-term relationships…which in turn build brand loyalty.

So instead of a hard sell, use your content to speak directly to your audience’s pain points, offering them actionable insights they can apply right away.

Make an Authentic Connection

Traditional sales and marketing techniques fail in one major aspect: making meaningful personal connections. One of the biggest goals of the marketing 80/20 rule is to make authentic connections with prospective customers. And the best way to do that is to tell your story.

Telling your story helps people engage with your brand in a more personal way.

Today’s consumers want to know who they’re buying from. They want to hear about your company’s mission and values — your “why.” In other words, what’s the purpose of your business, beyond selling something?

This is your opportunity to tell your audience who you are and why you do what you do…making you more approachable, authentic, and likable to your potential customers. 

Differentiate Yourself From the Competition

In a sea of sales pitches, be the meme that makes people laugh.

Seriously though…when you focus on providing educational, engaging content, it makes you stand out from your competitors who are focused solely on selling. It establishes you as a subject matter authority and a trusted resource your audience can turn to when they have a problem your products or services can solve.

What Kind Of Content Should You Be Sharing? 

80% Educational or Entertaining Content

Sharing information that entertains, educates, or solves a problem for your audience without including a heavy-handed sales pitch helps to put them at ease. 

Your audience isn’t stupid — they know you’re there to sell something. But when you engage with them in a non-salesy way 80% of the time, they’ll be more receptive to hearing what you have to say…even when you do hit them with a sales pitch the other 20% of the time.

When we talk about offering value through educational or entertaining content, that can include:

• How-to blog posts (like this one) or videos
• Hacks, tips, and tricks
• Insights from industry experts (that’s you!)
• Timely reports and industry news
• Positive and uplifting content
• Holiday greetings
• Funny, entertaining content (bonus points if you can get your team to take part in a viral TikTok trend!)
• Your company backstory, behind-the-scenes peeks, or personal news from you or members of your team

20% Promotional Content

The other 20% of your content should be promotional — that’s right, it’s time to bust out your best sales pitch! That being said, using the same spiel every time can get old, so make sure to switch it up and find creative ways to sell. 

Your promotional content can include:

• Customer reviews, testimonials, and case studies
• Special offers and coupons
• Seasonal promotions
• Product or service spotlights 
• Demonstrations and detailed feature descriptions
• Side-by-side comparisons with competitors
• Third-party mentions and positive media coverage

And, of course, always include a good ol’ call to action (CTA) so your audience knows the next step to take to engage with you further. Learn how to write a great CTA in this blog!

So…are you ready to start following the marketing 80/20 rule and crafting great content?

If you're looking for help creating content — whether it’s educational or promotional — Wild Fig’s content marketing or social media marketing services might be just what you need! Schedule a FREE exploratory call to discuss your marketing goals and learn how we can help you meet them.