Content strategy is much more than the role you may think it is. For example, content strategists can use their skills to help generate leads for your business says, Vito Proietti.
This blog post will cover six ways that you can use content strategy for lead generation:
1). Content audits (if necessary)
If you already have a blog and website with a large amount of existing content, it’s important to do a quick audit of what content is currently on your site and where it lives. For example, if you have a blog with 50 posts or articles, does each article link back to your home page? If not, then there’s probably no call-to-action for new visitors to contact you or even navigate to your homepage. In some cases, the content on your site may not even be relevant to what you’re selling or offering. This is a very important first step for lead generation with content strategy.
2). Launching a blog campaign
If you don’t have a blog already set up on your website, then it’s time to start one! A blog is going to allow you to create new content regularly in order to engage readers and make them want to learn more about your business. This will not only help generate leads but also bring authority inbound links from other sites linking back to yours because of the content that you are sharing in-depth with these bloggers. The best way I’ve seen it work before is having a list of bloggers who you would like to share your content, and then sending them an email every week or so asking if they’d be willing to write about anything that you’ve shared. For example:
Hey Blogger! I’m so stoked to bring you another great piece of content from my company today…
Would you be interested in writing a short piece for our website? We’re always looking for ways to grow our audience online and we think your blog is really cool!
Once those links start coming back, the traffic will follow as well as more people signing up for your services or starting to buy products. That’s how it works through link building. The more relevant links pointing towards relevant pages on your website, the more authority your site will gain and the more popular it will become explains Vito Proietti.
3). Guest blogging
This is one of my favorite strategies for generating leads online. Guest blogging means writing an article or post on someone else’s blog about a relevant topic to their audience. Typically you would submit this piece as a guest blogger and then receive a byline at the bottom stating that you wrote this post and/or lead the reader back to the page on your business’ website where they can contact you or buy something from you directly. Articles like these usually drive tons of traffic into your company which is exactly what we’re trying to do here (again…lead generation).
4). Social media
This is a given in today’s world, but it’s important to note that social media can direct traffic back to your website and generate leads says, Vito Proietti. The only thing I would add to this is using tools like Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule when you’re going to be sending out the content from your blog so that you have a steady stream of visitors coming in day after day.
5). Inbound marketing with PPC ads
In order to do this successfully, you’ll need solid keywords, great landing pages, and a lot of money for pay-per-click advertising (PPC). That being said, there are definitely some long-term benefits for this route because if done correctly then you should see an increase in conversions and sales.
6). Email marketing
The final step for lead generation with content strategy is to now focus on advertising your website within the various inboxes of people across the web. This can be an extremely effective way to drive traffic back to your site directly because typically, anyone who has opted-in through some sort of free offer or email list probably wants more information about what you’re offering. This forms a good relationship between visitors and potential customers that usually ends in them buying something from you or at least signing up for updates about future products being offered.
Conclusion:
If done correctly, this type of lead generation really works! It does take some time, money, effort, patience, and most importantly…great content! That’s why I recommend starting with just one or two of these techniques and really building up from there. Vito Proietti says by doing this, you’ll not only build a foundation that will make future projects much easier to complete, but you’ll also see a steady increase in traffic towards your website as well as more people buying your products online.