How Content Marketing Helps with Lead Generation

There are many posts on the importance of content marketing, but how does it help you acquire business? To understand the crucial role content plays in attracting prospects, it is important to establish the link between content marketing and lead generation.

The Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as “…a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

In this post we shed light on how businesses can generate leads through focused content marketing efforts.

Develop a smart content creation plan

Content has to be created and pushed out strategically in order for it to have the desired impact. Your content creation strategy should be based on the goals you want to achieve as a business.

When it comes to creating a content strategy, blogs are an obvious first step. However, content is so much more than text-based posts . While blog posts serve an important role in any content strategy, they should be supplemented by authoritative pieces such as whitepapers and ebooks. Webinars, podcasts and videos are other formats to consider.

Each of these formats serves a different purpose. Short and informative blog posts posted regularly keeps your content fresh. Whitepapers and ebooks establish your expertise and will have a long-lasting impact on potential customers.

Encourage visitors to subscribe to your blog by offering them free resources. Send regular newsletters and the latest blog updates. This will prime leads and your business will be at the forefront of their mind when they need your services.

Optimize content for the right keywords and trends

Using optimized keywords will help your content rank higher on Google. Ultimately, this is how content generates leads.

It is worth investing in tools that provide the intelligence required to find the precise keywords to be targeted. Don’t indulge in guesswork here since content creation is a time-intensive endeavor. When looking for keywords, consider the following:

• What kinds of businesses/individuals do you want to attract?
• What aspects of business do they struggle with and which terms or phrases are they likely to use in a Google search?
• Which areas do you excel in and on what topics can you provide guidance?
• Which locations are you targeting?
• Where do you want your business to head over the next few months?

Understand your audience

Finding the right keywords and understanding the requirements of your audience goes hand in hand. Creating content that brings the two together is the ultimate lead generation strategy as far as inbound marketing is concerned.

This research will help you tailor content to address the core issues facing your audience. When they discover solutions to their challenges in your content, you will be seen as an expert. They will follow you on social media, subscribe to your blog and, most importantly, come to you when they need your services.

We speak from experience. Content marketing has helped our company rank high on Google for our chosen keywords. We were able to achieve this by creating quality content aimed at helping businesses that need Web services and by guest posting our content on authority websites in order to:

• Establish our expertise
• Reach out to a new audience
• Benefit from the links back to our website from within the shared content

This strategy significantly improved the visibility of our company and continues to bring in new business.

Promote content on social media to attract more prospects

Quality content needs a proactive social media strategy to generate more business. This requires promoting your best content on a regular basis and sharing all your new posts soon as they come out.

Here are some suggestions to help you maximize the visibility of your content on Twitter. Social media is the hub of businesses and consumers alike and is an excellent platform for companies to promote their services. This would be best accomplished with the help of thoughtfully crafted blog posts, videos and resources that speak to your target audience.

How are you doing it?

Content marketing is telling the story of your brand, and doing it in a way that makes others want to learn from you and/or work with you. It puts you in charge of the message you convey as a business through easily accessible (and inexpensive) tools. The best part is that the demand for useful content is always high. This is incredibly empowering for small businesses looking to expand their footprint.

How has content marketing helped your company? What challenges have you faced in scaling your business with a robust content creation strategy? If you have any questions or insights to share, we would love to hear about them. Please leave a comment and let us know!