March 21, 2024
Content Marketing & Lead Generation: A Full Guide to Reaching New People
Last updated: November 17, 2023
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First of all, see what your target audience is searching for. Which keywords they are using to get the information they need. Look for a gap in the keywords and find the ones that aren’t used by similar brands. Then align those keywords with your content and your services.
There are a lot of tools you can use for keyword research and quickly get some valuable conclusions. Also, make sure to define your buyer persona extensively. Once you’ve done that, engage those people and ask them questions about products or services they need, likes, and dislikes.
In the end, make a list of your competitors and analyze their websites. See which keywords they are using and what kind of content they have. Look for a gap in content or try to deliver similar information in a better way.
Landing Page Structure
When someone opens your landing page, they need to see everything clearly. That’s where your page structure comes into play. First of all, you need to have a large and strong headline. The copy underneath it needs to be short and sweet so that it can deliver information quickly.
Add a couple of secondary headlines to make the page more appealing. Create subcategories based on what kind of information the content within them will provide. All of this copy allows you to include your keywords for SEO purposes.
Landing Page Design
Websites are often oriented dominantly on design. Yes, your landing page needs to look good. However, it shouldn’t be the focal point for viewers. The design needs to reflect your brand and help showcase what you are doing.
Don’t go overboard with design elements. Make it simple and easy to understand. You’re not making a landing page to impress people with your design, but to convert them into leads. Add professional photos that can further enhance the information you’re sharing.
Make sure to include a clear CTA because users aren’t often sure how they can buy something or perform any action. Make the CTA easy to spot. You can use different fonts, or different colors in the design of your CTA to fetch user's attention. Make sure to put the emphasis on the conveniences of your service. Are you offering free trials? Free sign-ups? You should consider highlighting these elements. Simply put, provide something that is really valuable to them.
Make sure to include a clear CTA because users aren’t often sure how they can buy something or perform any action. Make the CTA easy to spot. You can use different fonts, or different colors in the design of your CTA to fetch user's attention.
Recognizing Valuable Prospects
Collect data about your potential leads. Learn their contact details, where they live, their income, age, gender, and other important demographics. That’s how you will create a list of people that you can engage down the line.
Engaging Prospects
Engage people with personalized campaigns and use your knowledge to address their pain spots. At the same time, rely on the information you have about them to adjust your approach. You can use whitepapers, events, video, advertising, webinars, email, or any other channel to do this.
Market to Valuable Leads
Once you’ve successfully engaged your leads, the next step is to figure out which ones are worth pursuing. Not all leads have the same value and chances to convert into paying customers. Monitor engagement levels, how people are behaving, and where they came from to recognize the most valuable leads.
Once you’ve done that, you can use direct marketing to focus on those people. Depending on your business and marketing tactics, you can choose different approaches.
Videos are highly engaging, especially on social media. Consider attaching a form to your videos and use different types such as presentation videos, educational, how-to videos, product videos, and so on.
Guides
Guides are a very effective type of content. There’s not a single blog section on any website that doesn’t have a few guides. They are long and extensive and practical to update. They focus on a certain subject and explain everything throughout. So first of all, do a bit of research – read blogs and guides from your industry. See what they are missing and how you can explain things more simply.
Make sure that your guides have all the essential basics and add all the details you found are missing. Include screenshots and images that further explain the copy. Include real examples to make it clear what the end results need to be. In the end, add a call to action related to the guide’s topic.
For example, take a look at this guide to email marketing landing pages – screenshots from Uber, PayPal and Wishpond sites that are used here make a big difference.
White papers
According to the latest research, 60% of marketers that use whitepapers for lead generation report positive results. Whitepapers are extensive documents that cover a topic and provide a solution for it.
You shouldn’t make them sales-oriented but try to deliver value. Consider giving whitepapers to people who subscribe to your email list.
Case studies
Case studies eliminate doubts and help people confirm what they are thinking. Find objections or claims that come from your customers and prove them right or wrong with a case study.
On top of that, you can use the data you have about your potential leads to create a case study that will interest them. You can weave a story in your favor, and show how you can help them deal with the issues they are having.
Surveys
The forms on your site can’t collect a lot of detailed information about your leads. People simply don’t want to spend a lot of time filling out blank fields. That’s where surveys can help. You can collect so much useful input, stats and numbers.
For example, see this survey about blogging industry – it covers over 45 questions regarding the topic of blogging and is also available as a free downloadable PDF.
To get as many participants in your surveys, add a benefit for doing a survey: possible mention on your site, offer discounts, whitepapers, guides, or any other promotion. Ask people questions about your services, their needs, and what they think you can do better. Try to get a detailed picture of your market and which solutions it needs.
Social Media
94% of marketers use Facebook, and 76% of them use Instagram as one of their main online marketing channels, which shows just how important social media is. If you want people to see your content and turn into leads, you will have to be where they are – on social media.
Luckily, all forms of content can be promoted on social media. You can also use paid advertising to boost your results. Remember to choose the platform based on your target audience.
Many people think that email is dead, but they couldn’t be more wrong – 99% of people who use email check if they have new emails each day.
Email gives you a more direct and personalized approach to leads. It’s good for engaging them, keeping in touch, and promoting new content. Make sure to use an email list and have a strategy in place to make people subscribe to it.
Other
Some other worthwhile options for content promotion are blogging, guest posts, referral programs, reward programs, and webinars.
If you do everything above, converting leads will be easy. However, you should be proactive and avoid waiting for them to go cold. Engage leads as soon as they are ready to make a purchase. Sometimes it’s as simple as asking people if they are ready to buy something.
Incentives are also a good way to sway people into a purchase. Add a special discount or a free gift to make them convert. Another tactic is to remind people of the key advantages that your products or services offer.
All of these approaches are great, and the important thing is to keep leads warm and engaged, even if you don’t make a sale that day.
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