When you’re trying to do good B2B lead generation, you may sometimes feel like you’re shooting in the dark: you’re never quite sure if your shots are hitting the mark or not. Even if you are looking at all your metrics and watching where people are coming from, it’s very possible that it was a combination of methods that drove a person in.
Another difficulty is that many methods aren’t entirely quantifiable. Often, it is the totality of your content marketing efforts that brings in leads.
You need to take a comprehensive approach to content marketing to generate B2B leads. B2B lead generation doesn’t happen overnight, and it often requires a large investment of time and effort before it can yield anything.
Lead generation is like a garden—you don’t plant a single seed and expect it to yield a bed of flowers the next day. You have to plant many seeds, nurture them in a variety of different ways, be patient, and then see the garden grow to it’s full potential.
The same applies to lead generation—you need a comprehensive approach for your content marketing that includes a large variety of content marketing methods.
Here are 3 simple content marketing methods you can implement today to start cultivating better leads. Note that all 3 of these methods assume that you already have a website. If you don’t have a website, or if your current website doesn’t allow you to do these things, give us a shout to see what we can do to help you build a strong web presence.
1. Blog Posts—Make Yourself a Thought Leader
The key to content marketing is to establish yourself as a source of expertise—a thought leader. When people view you as an expert, they are more likely to consume your content. And when they consume your content, you have a chance to secure a lead.
Blog posts are a great way to show your expertise while helping people at the same time. If you notice that your customers often ask the same question over and over about your business, write a blog post that answers that question.
When you come up with a series of blog posts that answer the questions people are asking, you are establishing yourself as a thought leader.
In every blog post, you should have a call-to-action that directs your readers to a next step—usually a web form on your website that either gets them in direct contact with you for a job or a web form that signs them up for a newsletter or some other form of content. Remember, you need their name and email at minimum to continue the conversation and possibly turn them into a lead.
Becoming a thought leader doesn’t happen overnight, so remember when you start writing that this is a long game. You’ll need to devote time to this, but you’ll also need to consider other content marketing methods, like ebooks.
2. Ebooks and Worksheets—Give Your Potential Customers Valuable Content
Another great content marketing technique is the creation of ebooks and worksheets. Both ebooks and worksheets are longer forms of downloadable content that customers can use to solve a specific problem.
For instance, a window washing business might write an ebook on how to replace foggy windows (making sure not to give away any trade secrets of course).
Before a potential customer can download any of these longer forms of content, they should have to fill out a web form. One of the great benefits of this type of content is that, unlike a blog post, potential customers are required to fill out the form to get to the content.
Your blog supports your ebook and worksheet efforts in a couple ways. First, you can take several blog posts that you’ve written and turn them into a worksheet or an ebook.
Second, a blog post call-to-action can easily funnel a potential customer towards a download of a longer form of content.
The point of these longer forms of content is not just to build your email list—they also help you on your quest to become a thought leader. They are also a great form of content to push through social media.
3. Social Media—Setting the Stage for B2B Lead Generation
A lot of the information for this article is based off of these two great articles by John Jantsch and Jeremy Smith. I recommend you read both of these articles for more detailed information on B2B lead generation.
While social media isn’t necessarily going to give you a huge boost in your lead generation, it can definitely help you become a thought leader. If you are interacting with people, answering their questions, and helping them find resources, people are going to increasingly turn to you for answers.
Once people are paying attention to you, you can push your blog, ebook, and other tools through social media. Because these two forms of content are already pushing them towards a webform, you don’t have to push a sign-up directly.
Social media is a starting point for your B2B lead generation—it begins the process of moving a lead down the marketing funnel. Remember, you’re not going to get a huge number of leads through social media, so make sure you have other methods to supplement your social media efforts.
Once You Have Their Email, Let the Nurturing Begin
All of these methods begin the B2B lead generation process, but each lead should be treated differently.
Depending on the kind of web form your lead fills out, you may want to contact them directly (through phone or email), or you may just want to start sending them your email newsletter. Because the process has just begun, you will need to continually send them content.
If the idea of writing all this content on a regular basis gives you a headache, get in touch with us about our content marketing services, and we’ll discuss exactly what your content needs are and how we can supplement them.
