Content Marketing Insights: Generating Leads Effectively via Content

Decades ago, businesses relied heavily on traditional marketing tactics, like direct mail, radio ads, and cold calling, to generate leads. With improved information accessibility and rapid progress in technology, however, these marketing tactics have become outdated over time. B2B consumers now have technologies to let them screen the information that reach them e.g. spam filters, internet radio and do-not-call lists. As such, marketers and business owners should find other smarter ways to get around such ‘blockages’.

The average B2B consumer these days -studies product information through industry news and blogs. Content marketing news show that, essentially, the kind of marketing that works today effectively disguises selling as teaching via content. If you want to keep your B2B consumers glued, therefore, you have to steer clear from antiquated tactics and redirect your budget instead to building a solid content marketing strategy. Below are tips to help you garner leads through content marketing:

Create a buyer profile. You can’t effectively craft your content unless you identify your target. A Salesforce.com (@Salesforce) article suggests building a buyer persona, which includes the following information:

age
education
income
work industry
life stage
job title
values
goals
information gathering behavior
challenges

By deciding who to relay your message to, you’ll be able to create content that will appeal to their interests.

Develop your content mix. Once your buyer persona is clear, you can now decide what content types to offer your target audience. Note that even if your audience is fond of a particular content type, you should keep your mix as diverse as possible to broaden your reach and avoid content rut. Here are formats HubSpot.com (@HubSpot) recommends:

Cheat sheets
Checklists
Contests
Tutorials
Product demo
Ebooks
Email series
Subscriptions
Guides
Interviews
Content kits
Industry data
Slideshare
Podcasts
Templates
Tickets
Tools
Trials
Videos
Webinars
Whitepapers
Worksheet
Zip files

Map your content strategy according to lead stage. Generally, leads are divided into 3 categories:

Research (75%)— the lead has a problem and is searching for a solution
Evaluation (20%)— the lead is comparing its vendor options
Purchase (5%)— the lead is set to buy your product

Determining at which stage your leads are will help you decide the nature of topics and content types you should put more effort on.

Consistently creating new opportunities for lead generation is vital to your business. Content marketing is a tested and proven tactic for building a steady lead pipeline. Does a great part of your marketing strategy still involve radio ads and cold calling? It might be time to take note of the above tips to implement new methods more effectively and efficiently. For more content marketing insights, check out resources like Marketing Digest.

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Megan Pearson

Community Manager at Marketing Digest

Megan Pearson is a hard-core online marketing consultant and evangelist. She is also passionate about design and fashion. Being part of Marketing Digest allows her to keep track of developments and innovation in the industry.