How content marketing can drive lead generation

Content marketing is a form of marketing that relies on the use of content to attract customers. This includes articles (blogs and thought leadership pieces), social media posts, videos, podcasts, whitepapers, ebooks, infographics and sales enablement materials. It’s often seen as an additional tool in the marketing arsenal alongside advertising and events, and at a time where print is declining, the art of digital content marketing is more important than ever.

Lead generation is a process through which marketers try to identify potential customers and convert them into genuine qualified leads. In order to generate these leads, marketers rely massively on effective content. This content can be used for many purposes like generating traffic for a website or blog, generating sales leads for businesses, or even increasing awareness about an event. It can also be used as an educational tool for those who are not aware of the product or service being offered by the business. This type of content can be used on its own or combined with other forms of digital marketing, such as search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay-per-click advertising.

79% of marketers reported “generating more quality leads” to be their top content priority in 2021. – Semrush, 2020

Effective lead generation only works if the business focuses on a very specific target audience and creates content that they will find the most valuable – this way the conversion rates increase and the sales cycle becomes shorter and more effective.

Here are 8 ways to use content marketing to boost lead generation.

1. Know your audience: create a content plan to attract and engage these people. Relevant content = realistic leads.
2. Make it shareable: it must be easy for people to see and share your content. Syndicate content to sites (publishers, affiliate sites, social media platforms) that have the most relevant audiences. Encourage, and make it easy, for people to share your articles, videos or infographics with others.
3. Track analytics: measuring the success of your content on various sites means that you can then feed those sites with more content and nurture the audience further.
4. Be interactive: use methods like questions and polls on social media sites to discover what your audience needs and wants – produce content that answers these needs.
5. Generate leads for ebooks, webinars or whitepapers by using forms or quizzes that collect email addresses. Be sure to remarket to this audience using additional relevant content.
6. Experiment with different headlines and visuals to target different audiences and assess success of your content marketing efforts.
7. Leverage influence: consider working with existing content creators in your field who already have influence and reach.
8. Test and learn: ensure that you monitor the performance of your content, then update it as needed. Map your content based on the potential buyers in your audience, and don't be afraid to experiment and change your strategy if the results don't live up to expectations.

Achieving your marketing goals and growing your business requires new business, which means effective lead generation is critical. An effective content marketing strategy can target potential leads with great accuracy. Publishing good content will not only help you move customers through the sales cycle, but it will help your content become an important part of your growth formula.

Sources and additional reading:

• How to use content marketing to improve lead generation
• Lead generation: A beginner's guide to generating business leads the inbound way
• How to generate leads through content marketing
• How content marketing, lead gen, and demand gen work together