How to generate leads with content marketing: Five easy tips
Lead generation isn’t just about paid advertisement. Today, people don’t trust ads much and block them as frequently as ever before.
Instead, they’re looking for valuable content created by brands and influencers on social networks, blogs, and podcasts.
According to stats, Internet users are more likely to buy from those that deliver great content and have a unique brand voice.
So do not underestimate the power of content marketing. It can help you attract a new audience, become more recognizable, form a positive reputation, build a loyal community, and sell your products or services more effectively.
In this article, we’re going to talk about how you can generate leads with content marketing.
Tip 1: Start a blog
Your blog is a perfect place to share expert materials with your readers. Because it allows you to create a wide range of search engine optimized content, it attracts a large number of leads to your resource.
Also, when people find your blog helpful, chances are they’ll share links to it. This can boost your ranking and visibility.
When you develop a content strategy, answer the following questions:
- Who will consume your content?
- What problem(s) will it solve for your audience?
- Does it have a unique angle? How is it different from the content that already exists?
- What content formats will you use?
- What channels will you distribute your content across?
- How will you measure its success?
And be sure to align your content with your business goals. For example, if a company writes about the best websites to find freelancers, this content should meet the audience’s needs and support a customer’s journey with their brand. They match startups with freelancers. So this type of content makes much sense as it bridges the space between the offer and their audience needs.
Tip 2: Create industry development reports
Another excellent lead generation method for brands is a presentation of a report on the industry. It builds trust, proves expertise, and strengthens the online brand.
Interested people and researchers will download the report and are likely to become brand supporters.
Before you start working on this project, ensure your research topics are of exceptional interest to your target customer group.
When generating leads, you want to have people on your list that are the right fit for you (and you’re the right fit for them).
You’ll likely waste much time and effort if you don’t know who you’re creating your content for and what you expect from them.
A good report:
- Offers comprehensive data & analysis that is easy to digest;
- is created with a specific audience and its challenges in mind;
- is based on accurate and neutral facts;
- has actionable insights.
Tip 3: Consider guest blogging
The practice of writing blog posts for publication on other websites is an excellent opportunity to build your authority as an expert in your field and create brand awareness. The content you post tells new audiences about you.
Then, the readers may visit your website or blog, which means guest blogging helps you attract new potential customers and improve lead generation.
When looking for a website to submit your article to, make sure it has some authority. For example, you can use a tool that measures a DA rate (domain authority). Although there is no specific number of a good DA rate, 50 or higher is much more likely to give you better results than a DA of 20. Other things to pay attention to are monthly visitors, traffic sources, and the number of backlinks.
Use dedicated tools (e.g., Ubersuggest, SEMRush, SimilarWeb) to identify the above-mentioned metrics and choose the best website to submit your post to.
Tip 4: Offer content upgrades
A content upgrade is a valuable “freebie” that you offer as a bonus to your audience in exchange for their email addresses. For example, you post a long read with lots of great content. But instead of publishing the entire article on your blog, you can add an opt-in form and invite people to provide their email addresses. If they do so, they’ll “unlock” the rest of the content.
Content upgrades include:
- Guides
- Master lists
- Checklists
- Printables
- Case studies
- Reports
- Email courses
- Infographics
- And more.
Tip 5: Organize webinars
According to statistics, 73% of marketers say that webinars are an excellent way to generate more quality leads.
Such online events work great if you want to showcase your expertise and educate your audience.
You can also sell your products or services to attendees. On average, between 2% and 5% of webinar participants will buy.
However, there’s one crucial point to emphasize: a webinar isn’t a sales pitch. It’s not about your product or service; it’s about providing value. On the other hand, showing that value and building trustful relationships with your audience is also the reason why webinars offer the ideal opportunity to sell.
So come up with a suitable topic and start promoting your webinar at least two weeks before the run date.
Make sure you get your content marketing right
If you spend a lot of time and effort creating and distributing content for your brand, you want to ensure you’re doing it right. That means your content generates traffic, builds trust with your audience, and even generates leads.
The main idea behind this article is to make you think of your content marketing strategy as a big magnet to attract new potential customers and supporters.
So we presented five great ways to use content to generate leads. These include starting a blog, offering content upgrades to your readers, trying guest blogging, creating industry development reports, and organizing webinars.
And finally, remember that the more you tweak and test, the more you’ll improve.
Photo by Brooke Cagle
