How Content Marketing Can Help You Generate Leads

What do you do if you need to find some information?

If I am not wrong the first thing that most of you do is to go online and gather desired information.

This is why an online presence has become crucial for any kind of business whether it is a startup or a well-established company.

But then what would be the most effective way to connect with your customers when the advent of internet has made traditional advertising less effective.

Perhaps anything that delivers value!

One such way is content marketing!

Content marketing!

Seems somewhat familiar to you! Right?

Still before we talk anything else about content marketing let me brush up your familiarity with it.

Content marketing is any marketing format that involves the creation and sharing of media and publishing content in order to acquire customers. In content marketing, you can present information in a variety of formats such as news, video, white papers, e-books, infographics, case studies, how-to guides, question and answer articles, photos, etc.
But the most remarkable fact about content marketing is that this is a type of marketing in which you don’t focus on selling, rather you try building trust and relationship with the customers and potential customers by communicating and educating them that further help you in moving them smoothly down the sales funnel.

There are various types of content that you can use for marketing, some of which help you directly generate leads while some help you build your brand indirectly. So, before we ahead with the ways to leverage content marketing to generate leads let’s have a sneak peek of these content marketing resources.

• eNewsletters
• Blogs
• eBooks
• Case studies
• White papers
• Videos
• Articles
• Podcasts
• Webinars

So, do all the methods of content marketing help you generate leads or are there a few specifications?

What would be the type of content you should create to generate more leads?

These are a few questions that must be answered before you create content so that you don’t end up wasting time by creating content that is hardly going to generate leads for you while your main objective behind content marketing is leads and sales at the end of the day.

Besides, the world is full of rivals and competitors and that there are countless businesses out there that are furnishing wonderful content through various methods and platforms and that simply having a blog , a video channel, eNewsletter or an eBook won’t work. You need to stand out in order to generate leads you need. So, what is that you can do differently or necessarily that would help outrival your competitors and generate more business leads?

Every one of us know that content marketing is all about connecting, engaging , inspiring and informing your potential customers. But how would you do that? Here’s what your content needs to do:

Provide Solutions

1

There should be an objective behind every piece of content you create. You should ask yourself what the content is going to do, is it going to solve a problem, entertain your audiences or educate them on something. People hunt for information online because they have a concern that need to be sorted out. So, the more educative and solution based content you create, the more people will consider it and trust you, which eventually brings you more leads and sales. So, make sure you post content regularly catering to different needs of different customers.

Tell success stories

2

Like money begets money, happy customers bring more customers. So, let your audiences know how happy your customers are by telling your success stories. Let them know how efficiently you have resolved past customer’s problems. The best thing is there are plenty of ways at your disposal to do so from video interviews and podcasts to testimonials and blog posts.

Showcase your expertise

3

It is a common tendency among masses to trust those who know more when it comes to purchasing a product. They think if you don’t know things related to your industry how you would be solving their problems then, which is not incorrect anyway. Hence, never hide your light under bushel as that is not going to bring you customers. Let your audiences know that yes you are really good at whatever you are dealing in. Carry out an industry study which you can present as an eBook or a white paper. Inform and educate your customers by writing articles explaining the intricacies of your industry in simple language. Beside, avoid using industry jargons while doing so, for your customers are not experts like you most of the times.

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Besides!

Now, how would you go about creating content that will not only establish you as a champ in your field but will also get you leads-your ultimate goal?

Here’s a how!

Identify your Audience

In order to figure out what type of content you should create, the first thing that you require to do is to recognize your audience. Find out what queries do they have or what problems they are going through that your product or service can resolve? Besides, if you can gather information about their demographic and persona, you can easily make out what type of content is going to work for you.

Manifestation does matters

Whether it is your website, your blog or any piece of content, remember that looks does matter and that present things in a way that they are soothing to eyes and convenient to read. Various studies in past have revealed that website design affects consumer behavior to a great extent.

Avoid the sales pitch

People love to buy but they hate to be sold and so avoid sales pitch in your content. Instead focus on delivering value to your audience. Try to generate the need for your product by educating the customer and never try to hard sell. Provide users with helpful information, entertain them, engage them, they will themselves come to you, for it incredibly builds trust in between.

Be innovative

It’s true that it’s easy to maintain a blog but then you can’t be monotonous and boring for your audience by sticking to the same pattern of writing. Be innovative, try different forms of content. You must provide what your audience wants. They don’t want the same thing over and over again. So, get creative with the way you deliver the answers.

This was all about lead generation through content marketing. So, remember to generate leads through content marketing you need to focus more on your target market or say your potential customers. Like you, even they want to buy from those who they know, like and trust. So, generate awareness about your brand, educate them, entertain them, engage them, in short help them with what they want or need through your content. Remain smart and subtle and trust me lead generation and conversions aren’t big deals.

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