Our Enterprise beta is live! Apply here.
Learn More
Almost every business out there that has made inroads into the digital world and is leveraging the power of the internet, uses content marketing.
That's just about anything that can be classified as content: blogs, videos, vlogs, podcasts, books, the list is long (you'll check it out soon) So why do these businesses generate so much content anyway? could be your question and that is to generate leads.
In this article we'll be introducing you to lead generation using content marketing. We'll also share tips that you can use to generate leads and although this may sound far-fetched, tips that will grow your business.
So what is lead generation content? Well, it’s basically any type of content that exists to help you generate leads for your business. It can be eBooks, articles, infographics, how-to guides, podcasts, or videos—along with their respective accoutrements (e.g. banners, tags, and so on).
There are many different ways to deliver lead generation content, including providing a lot of relevant content links in your website footer. Users who visit this area of your site tend to be looking for information related to your industry, and each one of these links represents something interesting and helpful to them.
By incorporating relevant content into your website, you create interest and demand among your visitors. If they know they should come back next time they need info, they will. This encourages repeat visits, which means you produce more traffic from search engines and direct clicks from people visiting your web page.
The days of lead generation marketing where you only had two options are long gone, but the alternatives are useful to this day; you can do it by offering a discount or free trial, or you can ask people to give their contact information so they can be put on top of mailing lists for promotional offers.
The problem with both is that people don’t want to provide their personal details, especially over the phone. If you have worked in marketing or sold products before, then you know how much effort goes into winning new customers.
By getting ahead of them and starting a relationship (and trust) with your company, you will make them feel more comfortable giving you contact info at a later date.
That way, when they need something, you’ll already have a trusted connection. And as we all know, relationships are what help keep us coming back.
Times have changed and we're now in the golden age of content. Now, there are many ways to generate leads through content marketing. Time and space won't allow us to tell you about all of them, but here's the list:
Business objective, problem or need mapping into sales language, content format, media (infographics, videos, articles) with relevant links in order to capture emails or direct interactions (pushes), customer stories, keypoints or points that value your product or service.
How-to guides, step by step instructions, case studies, analytics reports or comparisons against competing products, testimonials from customers, personalization, approval quotes, webinars, popup messages and lead gen forms can also be mentioned among them.
Phew! That was a lot, wasn't it. It also goes to show you how many alternatives you have when it comes to lead generation content marketing.
There are many more things you can do with lead generation content, like giving away something for free but asking for an email address so you can send information about your product or service.
You can generate leads via content marketing by creating media just for website visitors or social media followers. Having a newsletter is one way to attract and then convert potential clients who may not know anything about you.
Social proof is when people think others must be doing something great if they’re using anyone else’s services. When companies share posts on Facebook, for example, lots of friends might see them and want to try out the product.
Videos are popular as well because humans love watching and learning. Google even created a formula for YouTube videos which helps new videos get recognized quickly.
Investing time into building relationships with people online is another way to reach out to possible buyers. Let them know you have knowledge and expertise and could help them solve their problems.
They will hopefully give you feedback and trust you enough to purchase what you sell. Content marketing takes time to produce, organize, promote and drive traffic to, but it’s worth it.
Even if you have a massive advertising budget, without leads, you can’t grow your business. So who are the lead generators of content marketing?
According to HubSpot, “Content marketers focus primarily on creating useful content products that attract buyers or subscribers and help them move up the sales funnel.”
Google states that content creators fill an important role in digital marketing. They say that great content provides relevant information and users can learn about how to use what they find. This helps people discover businesses through articles, videos, blogs, and other types of content.
Digital entrepreneurs are focused on coming up with ideas that generate traffic into their websites. Then, the ads targeted towards those visitors draw in customers. It’s almost impossible to avoid using Google Ads (adwords) to promote your website.
There’s an assumption that lead generation is some kind of magic trick. While it should be, it isn’t.
Lead generation is hard work and results from well-orchestrated, data-driven content campaigns combined with creative marketing approaches. It also includes paying attention to your branding and brand awareness.
Here are a few more things you need to know about lead generation:
You can lead people into becoming leads, but they first have to trust you. When done right, this initial trust will build loyalty and interest over time.
People want to give their money to good businesses who show them respect. Branding and logo design play important roles in building trust.
Content plays a large role in lead generation. You need to produce quality content to keep people engaged and subscribing.
Let’s look at how to put these tips into practice.
It’s impossible to grow your business if you don’t have any customers. And it is hard to attract new customers without having an abundance of lead generation content.
Content marketing has become a trend that almost every entrepreneur or small business owner includes in their marketing plan.
But what is really good content? Well, there’s only one way to find out – create some!
There are two types of people in the world. Those who learn by reading books and those who learn by doing.
For most people, trying something will make them more willing to do it. If you can’t be helpful to others, they won’t return the favor when they need help themselves.
That is why putting your content out there and getting feedback from your audience is such an important part of growing your brand. You want other people to succeed, especially when it comes to paying you money for your product or service.
Feedback is money. Without giving honest feedback about how your product or service works, we’re not going to get very far.
Fortunately, this task doesn’t have to be brutal. We know that designing products and delivering quality services takes work, so don’t worry about being too critical.
People want to trust you with their money and their time; let them see that you care enough to give them valuable feedback. The better you get at this, the more successful you will be.
If you’re not offering your readers a ‘free thing to read,’ then they will look for something else. It is up to you what type of content this is going to be but there are two things that matter here; quality and freshness.
Many people think that any kind of content is good content, but this is never the case. People still need to understand that while content may be free, the value has to be paid for in some other way.
For example, if I have to spend money to acquire someone’s email list, then the value of the content is only worth it if that person can help me generate sales from them.
Content marketing takes time and effort to produce high-quality content, so make sure that you put in the work before asking others to do the same.
You want professionals who know their stuff and are willing to invest time in learning more about your field, or at least are able to find people who can do this for them.
After all, these are unpaid interns or workers hired to create quality content by themselves. No one should have to pay big bucks to get unique and helpful content.
You can check how far you've come with this whole content marketing and lead generation thing by measuring. It is one of the most important benefits of using this type of marketing.
When people create content that they hope will drive traffic to their business or sell their product, it can be difficult to measure the effectiveness of those efforts.
You can measure the engagement of your audience through an analytics page which the outlet you use provides you with. Comments, shares and the likes (pun intended) are also great ways of knowing whether or not your content is hitting home.
The biggest help that measuring gives is information and data that is central to know if you should continue with your current strategy or brush up when it comes to your content.
This may not be all you need to know about lead generation content marketing, but we hope we've broken the ice for you, now go out there and break the internet.
