There’s one constant companion your leads take with them on every part of their buying journey: content. SEO content is there for them when they start their search by typing a few keywords into the Google search bar. Feature articles, case studies, and white papers give them support in their buying decisions. How-to videos and product demonstrations help them even after they buy.
Lead gen without content marketing is a car without gas; it has all the necessary moving parts, but it’s missing the energy that propels it forward. Here’s how content can turbo-charge your lead gen.
Strategize
You don’t need to look far to see how collected, cohesive intellectual property attracts more attention than a scattershot approach. A strategic view of content that outlines goals and gives everything you create a purpose will have a significant impact on lead gen. Instead of leaving content on an island, link it in ways that create a flow from top-of-funnel blog posts and tweets to in-depth gated content that sales-ready leads need.
Think like a Lead
Content must pass one crucial test to succeed: Would you want to read or watch it if you hadn’t created it? Think about what your leads want to see and when they need to see it as you develop your content marketing strategy. A lead who’s just started the search for solutions isn’t yet ready to download a white paper, but a brief top-5 article might be just right. Conversely, a prospect who’s sending out strong signals of interest is well beyond such an article but might want a persuasive white paper to lend support to a buying decision.
Content Marketing Helps Leads
Your lead gen content is there to provide helpful information to your prospects, not display your trophy case. They already know (or will soon learn) that you’re an authoritative voice in your industry from the great content you supply; you don’t need to advertise in your content too. Your audience is smart enough to know when they’re being marketed to, and while they’ll accept a little light name-dropping here and there, your content shouldn’t read like an ad.
Develop Microsites
Organic traffic is so valuable in part because it’s self-selecting. You know exactly what leads want to know based on how they found you. With microsites that deliver narrow, but deep content, you take that specificity a step farther. Your microsites will typically get fewer hits than your more general official site, but prospects who land there are highly motivated by the relevant content they find.
Build a Blog
Company blogs are phenomenal lead gen tools. They contribute juice to your search engine standings, position you as an industry authority, and act as a lead-in to other content. With every post, you add to your library of knowledge and enhance your usefulness to leads. They’re also an excellent way to establish your brand’s personality and voice.
Go Multi-Channel
Content is an increasingly broad term, encompassing everything from brief tweets to hour-long webinars. Having a presence across multiple platforms and media, including video and audio, will open more inbound marketing avenues for leads to reach you.
Repurpose Content for Lead Gen
You aren’t just creating a knowledge base for your leads with your content; you’re also making a valuable library for your own marketing. A collection of blog posts on a similar theme can serve as the core of a white paper or webinar. A how-to article might inspire a companion video. This strategy also helps give leads a continuous thread of information to follow for more in-depth knowledge on relevant topics.
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